Back in April, Nyan went for his latest taekwondo grading exercise — proving to a panel of judges that he has the skill to move up to the next level, and get a new color of belt.
Some photos from before and after the grading (parents aren’t allowed in to see the actual grading itself):
And some video as he and others warmed up and practiced, waiting to go in and get graded:
So did he pass? Reader, he passed. Check him out as his instructor, Master Lee, awards the new yellow belt:
He was rightfully very proud of himself:
Bonus: Our boy is rising through the taekwondo ranks, but he still manages to have fun in class. Here he is one day, playing some sort of dodge ball with his classmates and Master Lee.
Next up: green-tip belt. Grading is in August. Fingers crossed!
A few weeks back, Jayden’s parents organized a little get-together for a handful of kids at a nearby indoor wall-climbing place. Daddy had been climbing once before and loved it; Nyan hadn’t been but said he was willing to give it a go. So off we went!
The afternoon started with everyone getting fitted for their harnesses and going through a safety and how-to briefing. Nyan, of course, had to put on his most miserable face for the camera.
We did some climbing on the walls, but it wasn’t long before Nyan and Jayden decided they’d rather spend some time in the little area that simulates, I guess, cave climbing — with more of a slope to the wall, and not as high.
It was fun, but it wasn’t long before one of the staffers came over to tell us that while kids aren’t exactly banned from that part of the facility, they aren’t exactly encouraged to be there either. We took the hint and headed back to the climbing walls.
Here’s our boy bravely scaling the wall:
And here he is, live. Jayden too.
Okay, so Nyan isn’t yet the next [insert name of a famous rock climber here]. And maybe he never will be. But he gave it a go, and didn’t give up when the going got tough. Well done, Nyan!
Check out this two-minute video from a recent scrimmage at our boy’s Saturday afternoon soccer club.
Okay, clearly, he is still not the most aggressive or talented soccer player. But he has fun, he’s getting exercise, he’s not bad on defense, and we do think he’s showing improvement in his overall skills! And check out near the end how he got pushed to the ground. Our boy just popped right back up, no whining or fussing or retaliation, and got back into the action. That’s our boy!
Bonus video: a little blurry and a little shaky. Just Nyan running around the field.
One hot Sunday afternoon in March, Daddy took Nyan to the free waterpark above the shopping mall that’s attached to the National Stadium. It’s not a huge waterpark at all — a small pool and a waterslide, basically — but it’s nice enough, especially for the price. Just next door is a lazy river attraction: for $2, you get an inner tube and unlimited spins around a slowly moving ‘river’. It’s quite pleasant.
No photos of any of that, but here’s our boy doing a little dance after the lazy river. Not sure if he was dancing or trying to avoid the hot bricks. Maybe both?
As we were making our way home, we passed by the main entrance to the stadium. Turns out they were having an open house — inviting anyone and everyone to come in, check the place out and run around the track. So of course we did. We’ve been to the stadium many times, of course — for Monster Jam, for soccer matches, for rock concerts — but never been down on the floor when it was set up for athletics. Pretty cool.
Nyan and Daddy went for a run, covering about half of the circular track. No video or photos of that either, though — we were too busy running.
And finally, they had one of those awards-podium thingies like you see at the Olympics. Nyan had Daddy take a bunch of pictures of Nyan being No. 1. Then he took a picture of Daddy — but made sure that Daddy was number 2.
When Nyan’s not reading or playing with his Legos, he’s doing… well, all sorts of things. Let’s take a look.
There’s his Lego robotics class every Saturday morning. Recently he built a Lego machine gun.
Also on Saturdays is his afternoon/evening soccer class. Check out how excited he gets when he… kicks the ball.
Then there’s his Thursday evening taekwondo class, which always starts out with some stretching. (And of course, any video that Daddy takes through the window of the classroom inevitably ends with Nyan looking at the camera and grinning.)
Not all of his fun comes from a class, though. Several evenings per week, Nyan is downstairs at our condo complex, running around and playing. Usually with Jayden, but sometimes Jayden isn’t around, like one recent evening when only Lily was there. Here they are playing a little one-on-one soccer.
Nyan has a complicated relationship with Lily: his bestie is Jayden, and Lily is also close to Jayden. Nyan does not like it when Jayden is playing with Lily and so is not especially warm toward the young lady. So, it’s somewhat remarkable, in a good way, that Nyan is able to play nicely with Lily. Of course, it tends to be only when Jayden isn’t around, but it’s something at least.
On a sweltering Friday morning in February, everyone at Nyan’s school headed over to a sports track near the National Stadium for the school’s annual Sports Day – a morning of running, throwing, jumping, and general sweating. Let’s see how our hero did.
The kids made sure to do plenty of stretching.
Then it was on to the competitions! Okay, it wasn’t a competition – just kids doing athletic things, like throwing things.
There was also a sprint:
And a longer run – maybe 100 meters? You can see Nyan pulling up the rear here, mostly (we think) because he’s more interested in looking around rather than in running. We still think he could be a decent runner, if he focuses, and in fact Daddy took him on a 1-kilometer run around the block the other day. So maybe it’ll become a habit.
There was jumping too – from a stand-still and from a running start. (Sorry – not sure what those are specifically called. It’s been many years since your humble blogger was in PE class.)
In February, Nyan’s Saturday afternoon soccer club arranged a friendly match with another club. They had done this before, with a team that was several steps higher in terms of skill and experience (see here). This time, the organizers promised a friendly against a team that was more on the level of Nyan’s.
Were they right? Eh, no. The other team jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, although some shifting of players from one side to the other definitely staunched the bleeding, and the game ended up being almost competitive by the end. But whatever: the kids all had fun, which of course is what really counts.
Here’s a good example of the skills on display:
Nyan certainly got into the spirit; check out the celebrating when his team scored on a penalty kick.
Probably the most fun that Nyan, and many of the other kids, had was when the ball would roll off-field, down a slight slope and into some bushes. That’s because the kids had discovered a little tunnel under the bushes, so they could crawl away and into, presumably, some world of imagination. Check out the mad rush for the ball as it headed to the bush:
We can’t recall what the final score was – it’s possible that no one was keeping very good track – but, again, it didn’t really matter. The kids had a blast, got some exercise – and even showed some sportsmanship at the end.
We do think Nyan is showing some slight signs of improvement in his soccer, though these things are relative, and we’re not expecting him to play in the World Cup anytime soon. But, as we’ve said many times, the point is to get him some exercise, expose him to team sport, mix it up with other kids, and all that. So it’s all good.
We close with some group shots of the soccer warriors, celebrating their near-victory.
In February, Nyan’s school had a day devoted to “student-led conferences.” It was a time for the parents to get up to speed on what the kids had been doing in school — and it was up to the kids to show them. Nyan took us around to various stations, showing off his skills in reading, math, PE, music and more.
He’s been learning about Singaporean history, so he shared some of his knowledge:
He read some Chinese. Translated it too!
For the music section, he taught Daddy how to do some rhythmic clapping. There were bells to ring too.
For the PE segment, the students were getting ready for their Sports Day exhibition, so Nyan demonstrated some of what he would be doing. Like long jumps:
There was throwing as well:
And sprinting too!
We’ll have more on Sports Day in an upcoming post. We’ll also share excerpts from Nyan’s portfolio — the big book chock full of some of his recent writings, drawings, and other school work. Stay tuned!
We try to always emphasize to Nyan the importance of exercise and movement – running around, swimming, walking, just moving. We’re blessed that the Singapore climate means cold air doesn’t keep us inside for several months of the year, so we do our best to take advantage. Let’s take a quick look at some of his activities.
There’s plenty of soccer, of course. We think he’s showing slight improvement! Slight, but it’s better than nothing. And, of course, the whole point is to get some exercise, learn teamwork, and get outside.
Here’s some recent taekwondo photos:
Sometimes he joins Mommy for some yoga:
Finally, for good measure, one more video of Nyan Thomas, soccer star.
It was a cold, cold time in late December in Iowa; we would routinely wake up to temperatures of -10 degrees F (-25 Celsius). So we decided to celebrate by – what else – going to an ice hockey game!
The city of Cedar Rapids, just up the road from Grandma and Grandpa’s place, has a semi-pro hockey team, and Uncle Scott pulled together a family outing to a game against a team from Chicago one night. It was good turnout: besides Nyan and Daddy, we had Grandma and Grandpa; Scott and Maggie; Mike, Sarah and Mia; and Alycia, Brad and young Kennedy.
The ice arena wasn’t huge, but it was pretty crowded, especially given how painfully cold it was outside.
Nyan spent time sitting on various laps:
(Note: it wasn’t *that* cold inside. Those photos where we’re in winter coats were taken shortly after arrival. The coats came off soon after.)
We had good seats, near the ice and just to the left of the goal. They were also right next to where the Cedar Rapids team came off and on the ice, which gave a chance to steal some high-fives from the players (along with a *very* zealous fan):
For much of the game, Nyan and Kennedy hung out by the glass, watching the action, jumping around, chit-chatting and generally being goofy with each other. These two are about two years apart in age, but have never spent any significant time together, since Nyan lives on the other side of the planet. So it was heartening to see them hanging out and being pals.
Check out that excitement when Cedar Rapids scored a goal!
The game ended with an overtime loss for Cedar Rapids. Bit of a bummer, that, but still a fun evening. Here’s Nyan giving Uncle Scott and thank-you hug in the frigid parking lot after the game:
And finally, here’s Daddy, showing his “ten-below-zero” face. Brr.
Nyan Thomas L's Blog 