She was born at 1:06pm and is 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 19.75 in. long.

More pics to follow shortly.

First, I Know what you're thinking: It doesn't seem like much of a competition. Papa's probably going easy on Joseph, teaching the little kid how to play, right?

Wrong.

See, this is the rematch. And the first time, Joseph wiped the board with Papa.

In fact, this one ended up being called for time. I took a picture of the board in the end, so the game can be resumed next time.

My workload was light today. And since it was only going up to 86 today (versus the low to mid 90s over the weekend), I figured the boys and I would get out of the house. We dropped Sean off at the Nana's house (Just shy of two, he's too young to tag along), and Joseph (7) Matthew (4) and I (old) set off for Moss Rock Preserve in Hoover.

Some of the older of us might remember it better as the Boulder Fields. Well, today, Joseph (who, last time, was not at all eager to climb the rocks) surprised me by scrambling up every single rock face he could squeeze his fingers and toes into. Not to be outdone, Matthew was right behind him.

It was wonderful out there...the dense canopy and the steady breeze held the temperature comfortably around the low 80s.

We only had two "incidents" Joseph hurt himself a bit when he slipped off a 30-foot rock face. Granted he was only about 3 feet up when he slipped...but the kids at school don't have to know that, do they? ; ) Matthew, despite my warnings, was running along the trail when he was viciously attacked by a tree root, which brought him down hard right on top of a lovely tangle of more roots, hurting his chest.

However, nothing broken (I haven't even noticed any bruising, yet), so I'm claiming today a victory.

 

I've seen some disturbingly somber and serious 4th of July posts today, so I'm showing everyone how Joseph celebrated.

It's the anticipation that gets you... ;)

Most days, to break up the monotony, we have "Dance Party" time.

Okay...I know I just jumped into that without preparing you...but come on. You're busy. I'm busy. Time is money. No rest for the weary. And assorted other pearls of wisdom. So let's just cut to the chase here.

My boys like to dance. And it's a good way to burn off some energy, especially when it's so hot outside that the ice-cold, refreshing water from the fountain at the local park turns to steam before it hits your lips. So I crank up the iTunes and turn the boys loose on the den.

I'm convinced that Joseph (age 7) is going to be an actor. His dance moves tend to end up acting out the songs in a very kinetic sort of story-telling...which is quite entertaining when I'm playing songs like "Bob" by Weird Al, and the Guess Who's "American Woman."

Matthew (age 4), by contrast, is about as street as the come, busting out some hard core hip-hop moves. Funny thing is...we don't normally watch anything where he might have picked up the moves---he was dancing like this even before "So You Think You Can Dance" first aired. He seems to have come by it spontaneously.

I'm talking ear-to-the-ground, kick-your-feet-up-in-the-air kind of stuff. And he even has the hardcore "I'm gonna steal your lunch money while I dance all over you" face on.

I enjoy watching him get down too much to remember to take video...suffice it to say that this 6-year-old would so get served...

...and then there's Sean. First, let me preface by saying that, to my knowledge, Sean has never seen Bill Cosby, much less seen the man dance.

And yet...watching Sean move to the music is like watching the intro to The Cosby Show in the late 80s/early 90s. Right down to the facial expressions and arm motions. Like this (from about :45 to the end of the clip):

This week, I'll try to capture some video of all three to share. Until then, these clips will have to do.

Okay...so I am in love with Posterous.com. First off, you can update all of your social media sites (twitter, facebook, flickr, picassa, friendfeed, etc, etc)---or just selected sites---with a single email. Including adding/uploading pictures.

For example...if you're my friend on facebook, you'll get this message about my new personal site...but not if you're following my Twitter stream (I've got different puposes for the two) or subscribed to my website feed (lefthandedwriter.com).

The new site, where I'll be posting personal/family updates (you can just follow the link below) is http://thompsons.posterous.com. Or you can just keep an eye on facebook ;)