BoBoswell.com Piccal Updates

Jul 29, 10: Slidemaster

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Turner and I had some time to hang out at the playground this morning before his MDO. He is getting better at sliding on his own and I ended up with a few cute clips of him.

When Traci went to pick him up today, one of his teachers showed her a photo she'd taken on her phone. Apparently, after all the kids woke up from their nap today, one little kid was still asleep on the floor laying on his stomach. Turner noticed this and went and laid his head on the boy until he woke up. I wish Traci had asked to have that photo forwarded to her. I'd like to see it.

Jul 28, 10: Pretty Crayons

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

It's a pretty shot of crayons. What more could you want out of a day?

Jul 27, 10: Buddy Up

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Turner is going through a phase right now where he favors me at times. But he still has his moments when he buddies up to his mamma.

Jul 26, 10: Holed Up

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

On our way back from Lowe's and Babys-r-us tonight, we saw quite a display of lightning in the direction of downtown. As we got closer to home, we heard our community tornado sirens going off. We turned on the radio and heard that there was a tornado warning for our neck of the woods. We hustled our way home and then hung out in the basement for a bit until the warning was over.

It all went pretty quick, but it felt strangely calm outside while the warning was in effect. Kinda concerned me more because of the whole "calm before the storm" thing. I was kinda hoping things would become less calm.

Jul 25, 10: The Wipers On The Bus

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I'm working on another little photo/video slideshow and this is a shot from a clip that will likely be in the video. Kind of a boring shot now that I look at it. But Turner and I were singing "Wheels on the Bus" at the time.

Jul 24, 10: Night Train

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

What a grumpy looking train!

Jul 23, 10: Three One

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

At this point, getting older doesn't really get any funner. It just kinda gets in the way. Thank goodness there's cake. I don't think I'll ever get too old for cake. My mom went out of her way to put a layer of raspberry filling in my white cake with white icing. Awesome.

My folks came up to hang with us for my birthday. I had originally planned on going out to eat, but we decided just to order pizza from Jett's and eat at home. I think Turner had a good time as well.

Jul 22, 10: Abbi Layne

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Little Abbi Layne Holt was born yesterday. We got the chance to go up and visit her and her parents tonight after work. Kennye and Jared seemed to be holding up well after the delivery, and Miss Abbi was doing good as well. This sets off a season of baby deliveries for my circle of friends. It made me both more excited and more nervous about our pending family addition.

Congrats to the Holts! Abbi is a beautiful little girl.

Jul 21, 10: Play Ground

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Turner and I went to the playground tonight to...play. It's been hot, but cool enough in the evenings to spend a little bit of time outside.

Jul 20, 10: Back

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I know this doesn't make much sense. But I'll explain at some point.

Jul 19, 10: Animated

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Ever since I can remember, I've been intrigued by animation. I loved to draw and watch cartoons, as most kids do. I even remember waking up early in the mornings when we lived in a trailer and going to sit in my beanbag to watch cartoons before school. We only had one TV at the time with a tower antenna outside attached to the side of our house. There were a few times I'd wake up too early and the station was off-air, so I'd just sit and look at the colorful bars and wait for he signal to click on.

I remember my parents taking us on a tour of a studio (PBS?) that detailed how cartoons were made. We later bought a video camera that supported stop motion animation, which I spent a good deal of time experimenting with making my Matchbox cars race around in circles and crash into each other.

Then I began to have more and more responsibilities handed to me and I had less time to play around with it. The fascination resurfaced with the birth of thepokerstrips.com, but then my brief infatuation with poker died and so my practice was again cast to the side.

Lately, thanks to Turner, we've been spending quite a bit of time watching cartoons. And now the urge is creeping back in. It thrills me to see Turner light up when he sees Woody or Buzz on the screen, or see Handy Manny fixing stuff with his tools. It's giving me the craving to animate something, so I've been studying trying to find the best and most efficient way to go about it.

For some reason, I started tooling around with 3d animation. I'm honestly not sure if it will be harder or easier than 2d animation in the long run, but I can say for sure that it's starting off a lot harder. This humble model of Turner the screwdriver has taken me a week of studying and several hours of modeling to get this far. I likely could've had a short sequence completed if I'd just started working with 2d flash animation.

Turner is on a huge Toy Story kick right now. We recently went to see Toy Story 3 in the theater and I found it deeply saddening because it dealt with a kid growing up and losing the interest and need for his toys. Right now, Woody and Buzz are real to Turner, but I know the day will come when they are no longer real and no longer make him laugh and giggle when he sees them. But while they are still real I want to try and make that experience as awesome as possible.

Jul 18, 10: Ring Around the Nosey

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I'm not really sure what prompted this, but I think Turner saw me put my ring on my nose one time and then he wanted to do it. Now when he sees me with my ring off he'll point at it and say "Nose".

Jul 17, 10: Katie's Birthday

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Today we went down to Murfreesboro to celebrate Katie's 3rd birthday. I think everyone had a good time and survive the heat. Thanks again to the Canarys for inviting us!

Jul 16, 10: iPadder

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I got a new app for Turner for on my iPad and he just loves playing with it. I just wanted to post this as proof that I do let my child touch the iPad.

Jul 15, 10: Giddiup!

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Turner had the urge to climb into his wagon this morning and be pulled around. Although he did require me to put his blanket in the bottom of the wagon for him to sit on so that he'd be more comfortable. I mean, who wouldn't want to be more comfortable as they're getting carted around the house in their wagon?

Jul 14, 10: The Other Turner

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

There's actually a reason I took this photo. I hope that I'll be able to show you why very soon.

Jul 13, 10: On Track

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Thank you, Mamaw, for the truck track. This is a Chuck brand track, and as we were sitting there playing with it I realized why the truck's name is Chuck; when toddlers say truck, it sounds just like "Chuck". A Tonka "Chuck". Very clever.

Jul 12, 10: Miss Shank

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I was told to call this girl "Shank-a-doodle". Apparently a former Miss Louisiana (or something), she's auditioning for a reality show and needed to have a short audition tape made. She's friends with one of the guys I worked with and so she came in to do the tapes. Her "people" are going to be editing the video...not sure if I'll ever see a final copy of it but if I do I'll be sure to post it.

Jul 11, 10: 'Splaining

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I guess you're expecting an explanation for this pic. I'll try and give you one at some point down the road.

Jul 10, 10: Zooropa

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

We're keeping up the trend of our Saturday trip to the Zoo. We went today and scored 2 free tokens for the carousel. Turner cried last time we rode it when we were the only ones on it. This time he said he didn't want to ride on an animal, but rather ride on the booth seats. He liked those much better, for some reason.

Jul 9, 10: Woody Hat

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

When I was a kid, I remember the times when my mom would give me an unexpected gift in a fun way. I'd wake up sometimes and find a new toy proudly displayed next to my cereal. I loved that.

I'd ordered a cowboy hat to go along with Turner's Woody pajamas. Before he woke up from his nap, I setup this little scene for him to wake up to. I know it doesn't look like much, but it tickled me just seeing it.

Jul 8, 10: Playin'

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Turner and I visited the playground before his MDO today. We had a great time as always, until we came across the little spider below.

Jul 7, 10: From The Park

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Traci's cousin is getting married next month and they asked me to do some quick casual photos for their announcement. They suggested meeting up at Ellington Agricultural center, which Turner and I are very familiar with. We met here just before sunset to take some quick pics.

Most of the shots were close-up, like I normally shoot. This one was a bit different so I figured I'd make it the featured one. I recognize that my photos are weak in this category. I am typically wanting to get as close to my subject as I can, but I am feeling like I need to start putting a little more distance between us sometimes too.

Jul 6, 10: Accessor-eyes!

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

This is a mask that Turner made in school today. It's posed neatly beside some Woody and Buzz Lightyear pajamas that I ordered for Turner. He hasn't tried them on yet because they are long sleeved and it's been hot. I'm sure you know that you'll be seeing pictures of him once he does put them on.

Jul 5, 10: Jump, Jump!

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Traci's mom recently approached us about getting a trampoline for Turner. Traci's reply was literally an immediate "No". I understand how dangerous they are, but I had one when I was a kid (one with no covers on the springs and no safety net) and I had a blast on it, so I wanted to consider it a bit longer.

Obviously, right now, Turner is too young to get much out of a trampoline. He loves bouncing on the couch and I doubt he'd catch much air on the trampoline anyways. Our concern is when he gets older and braver and tries to do tricks or flips or something. Even with all the safety features that trampolines have nowadays, the person bouncing is still propelling his or her body into the air and subjecting it to the empowering laws of physics.

I've discussed this a bit with some of my friends and I was surprised to find that quite a few of my friends personally know people who were injured on a trampoline; from broken bones (one kid broke both his ankles at the same time) to head injuries (another kid had staples in his head from a bad fall).

I received plenty of hits, knocks, and bumps in my experience with a trampoline. Fortunately, I never broke any bones or had a serious injury (the worst home-based injury I can remember was when a mule threw me and my dad out of the cart it was pulling). It's hard to argue for the safety of a trampoline. Ultimately, no one is every surprised if/when someone gets injured while jumping on a trampoline. No one.

Traci found this article in a magazine and cut it out for her mom, just as factual, numbers-based evidence of why Traci is so adamant against it. For me, it's more about what I'm likely to regret more; having one versus not having one. Feel free to leave a comment if you feel that Traci and I are out of line in our reasoning.

Jul 4, 10: Fireworks!

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

We decided to brave the crowds again downtown for the fireworks this year. In previous years we just parked at LP Field and set up camp in the back of my truck. This year we took a blanket and some camping chairs and set up camp near the base of the pedestrian bridge next to the stadium. These turned out to be great seats and we'll likely do the same thing next year.

As we were walking to our spot, they were shooting some test fireworks and they scared Turner. But he did good and braved his way through it.

By the time the big show started, Turner was getting sleepy. Traci and I had expected him to burst out in tears when the show started, but he did really good. The fireworks made quite an impression on him as he talked about them for several days afterwards.

Jul 3, 10: Zoo Crew

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

Turner and I went to the zoo today. Guys' day out. Turner got butted lightly by a goat; not enough to hurt, just to wake him up a bit. It didn't keep him from kissing another goat before we left.

There weren't many folks at the zoo today. It was kinda nice. We had the carousel all to ourselves, but after only a few times around Turner decided he didn't like being the only folks on it and started crying. So the operator stopped it to let us off.

Jul 2, 10: Boogsitting

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I don't think Traci nor I realized how much we needed a date night until Boog txted me with the offer to babysit for us. I immediately replied to Boog's txt affirming her date with Turner, and then txted Traci our plans for the night.

Traci and I had a nice dinner at Stoney River, then went to the mall, Toys R' Us and Target before admitting that we had nothing else to do but return home early. I think Boog and Turner had a good time (despite a brief incident when Boog discovered Turner's intense dislike of the Vuvuzela app on the iPad). Thanks again to Boog for keeping the kiddo!

Jul 1, 10: iPossible

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST

I know a lot of folks have something against the iPad. A lot of what I hear is that "it doesn't do this" or "it doesn't support that". While I agree that those are valid complaints, I tend to focus on what it can do. In addition to all the things I use it for, it can also provide my son with entertainment while he eats his breakfast. Granted, it's not the only device in our house that will play the Toy Story movie, but it is by far the coolest.

Jun 30, 10: Fore Sale

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:00:00 CST

I haven't played with my Nintendo DS in years. And now that I have my iPad I'm expecting to play the DS even less (assuming that's possible). Yet, despite having said that, it still pains me a bit to be selling this stuff. Some would argue that I should just save it for Turner, but by the time he gets around to wanting to play with this it will likely be so outdated that he won't want to.