My son Dean just turned eight months today.  It is incredible how fast the time has gone.  When he came home with my wife and I, he weighed in at 6 pounds and only 18 inches and is now 19pounds and 10 ounces as well as being 28 inches long.  To watch how much he has changed physically, is amazing, but o also recognize the developments into his own person emotionally and personality wise is more amazing.

     Dean is a fearless daredevil, who is filled with wonder and curiosity.  He has begun to crawl, which while having created problems such as watching him, has also been a delight to witness.  Everything around him is new and enchanting, and to see his joy in something as simple as a blinking light is so amazing.  He is scared of nothing and interested in everything, a quality that I wish I could once again instill in myself.

     Being a first time father has been every bit the experience I was foretold about, while also very different as all parents and children are different.  I have similar but also very different experiences with my son, when compared to other parents.  I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Vocabulary:
Physically:Of or relating to the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit.
Recognize:identify (someone or something) from having encountered them before; know again.
Daredevil:One who takes chances
Witness:watch over or see in person
Instill:gradually but firmly establish (an idea or attitude, esp. a desirable one) in a person's mind.
Foretold: past tense of foretell(to predict)

Vocabulary Excercises:
1)After his workout, he was mentally alert, but         tired.
2) A         is the type of person who would be a good stuntman.
3)A parent should also try to        good morals, in his or her children.
4)I feel bad for those people who had to     the tragedy of 9/11 first hand.
5)The gypsy      of John meeting his wife in a library.
6)A doctor should be able to       a broken bone from looking at an x-ray.

Grammar Point:
To pluralize the word book we write books.  To pluralize the word housefly we write houseflies.  Identify 5 othernouns that are plurailzed by more than simply adding "s'".

Every year around this time I begin to get ansty. The New York Islanders are a hockey team in the NHL I I have followed them religiously for as long as I can remember. This time of year is the start of their preseason, and in less than three weeks they will begin their regular season. The Islanders once won Stanley Cups in a row, a feat that no other American team has accomplished. However, since their last Stanley Cup victory in 1983 the Islanders have fallen on tough times. They have not won a playoff round since 1993, and have missed the playoffs for 6 straight year before this past season. Islanders fans constantly tell themselves that the new year will be different, and they will take the steps in the process of once again becoming perenial contenders. I feel that after last years accomplishment of making he playoffs, that this season the Islanders will finally take the next step in recapturing their previous glory. I sure hop I am right.

  Vocabulary: Antsy: (adjective) agitated, impatient, or restless. religiously: (adjectiv) Extremely scrupulous or conscientious: religious devotion to duty. feat: (noun) an achievement that requires great courage, skill, or strength. Constantly: (averb) continuously over a period of time; always. perennial: (adjective) existing or continuing in the same way for a long time.  accomplishment: (noun) something that has been achieved successfully.
  Vocabulary Close Exercise: Put the correct vocabulary word in the blanks 1) I want a present very badly, and am getting        for Christmas to arrive.
 2) A      I want to accomplish is to recieve a 4.0 in my graduate school. 
3)The New York Yankees are        contenders because they always make the playoffs.
4)The man who cleans himself everyday could be said to be a man who washes himself         .
5)I seem to have homework everyday, which means my teachers are         assigning homework.
 6)I hope to do well in this class. That wold be a major             .

 Grammar Point: The passage above includes many verbs that are in the past tense. List those verbs and any words that indicate the past time, such as once, then, and so on.

  Grammar Exercise: Write a short paragraph of how you think I would feel if the New York Islanders were to win the Stanley Cup using future tense verbs.


A link to hockey vocabulary.  http://www.firstbasesports.com/hockey_glossary.html