Chad Comello

Tag: IPC

  • The Birthday Bowl

    Happy 6th birthday to our firstborn! We celebrated by going out to breakfast and then bringing him bowling for the first time. He got second place with a bumper-assisted 85, while I snuck into first place with a well-timed strike at 95. While it had been about a decade since I’ve played, I also have just never been a good bowler. But that’s OK because it’s still a great thing to do for a date of any kind.

    I’m happy to report that the state of one of America’s longtime third places was strong, with a bunch of retirees and families at the bowling alley on a weekday morning. Also happy to report the style and amenities were firmly stuck in 1993, including an Addams Family pinball machine:

  • Maple trees and moles

    During a recent songwriting session with my five year old (i.e. in the six minutes before he got distracted by something else), he improvised these lyrics while I strummed my guitar and took notes:

    There’s a maple tree in the meadow
    And every winter it’s not making progress 
    But in the spring, the tree starts growing away
    And once you know
    It’s taking so
    Long to grow
    Then you know
    There’s a maple tree close

    Twigs in the grass
    And down below
    You might know
    Something slow
    It’s a mole. Yes it’s a mole, ohhhh
    What do you see under the snow?
    Why it’s a mole!
    So give it a dole
    It’s hard to be a mole

    Grammy Award when?

  • 2024 in review

    See previous year in review posts.

    My view from the end of all things 2024:

    A red-tailed hawk plopped itself on our backyard power line this morning, making for a colorful breakfast companion on an otherwise gloomy New Year’s Eve. May we all seek to achieve its steady serenity in 2025.

    A few highlights from the year:

    • This blog turned 18 and I wrote some posts on:
    • Did fun stuff as a family:
      • Went to our local zoo, arboretum, and forest preserves
      • Watched the solar eclipse
      • Spent Independence Day at the family’s beach cottage in Michigan
      • Did a staycation overnight in downtown Chicago for a friend’s wedding, exploring the River North neighborhood and trekking to The Bean
      • Stayed at Timber Ridge Lodge in Lake Geneva for the weekend with my family
      • Went trick-or-treating in Wild Kratts style: the boys were Chris and Martin, my wife was Aviva, and I was Zach
    • Did fun stuff with the 5 year old:
      • Classes for soccer, gymnastics, track & field, and fishing
      • Went to a minor league baseball game
      • Spotted a coyote on a suburban street on our way home from the park
      • Went to a mini golf birthday party
    • Did a bunch of stuff for Cinema Sugar, including:
    • Noted some choice quotes from the 5 year old, including:
      • “This bonfire is like a waving hand. I could stare at it every day forever.”
      • “It smells like days I remember.”
      • [to his baby brother] “Don’t distract me, this is one yummy taco.”
      • [about the toilet he just flushed] “It was as dirty as a mud puddle but now it’s as clean as a diamond.”
    • Acquired Criterion Blu-rays of Double Indemnity, Badlands, Days of Heaven, and Paper Moon
    • Read 9 books and watched 87 movies
    • Watched probably the least amount of TV in my life, sticking with just three excellent limited series (Masters of the Air, OJ: Made in America, and Midnight Mass) and one mediocre season (The Bear season 3)
    • Held a garage sale and made $52
    • Hosted my cousin’s daughter from New Zealand
    • Got my first new winter boots in a long time

  • Gotta catch ‘em all, I guess?

    Somehow the 5 year old has gotten really into Pokémon. He’s never seen the show nor the cards nor the video game, so it must have been from a friend or kid at the playground.

    Though I was at the prime age of 12 when it exploded globally and was all the rage among my peers, I never got into it myself. As such, I’ve been rather bewildered now as an adult reading the different character guides and books that are full of names and powers and regions and whoseewhatsees that just wouldn’t appeal to me otherwise. But I’m trying to be a curious elder and follow his interests along with him, knowing full well he (probably) won’t be into Pokémon forever.

  • My sons’ media of the moment

    A spinoff of an ongoing series

    Yotos and Tonies. All day every day. Seriously great screen-free stories, learning, and music for the 5 year old, and something to hold and play with for the 18 month old. Great holiday gifts too for the parents/kids in your life.

    Card games. The 5 year old has gotten big into Uno and enjoyed learning others like Old Maid and Slapjack. It’s been fun to watch his strategy evolve to the point where I don’t even have to consider letting him win since he wins plenty on his own.

    Board games. While at the library a while back with the 5 year old, on a lark we sat down at their public chess board and I started teaching him the basics. He was hooked, so we got our own teaching set for home. Strategic thinking for chess has taken longer to develop but he’ll get there.

    Books. The 18 month old’s current favorites: The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss, Find the Duck by Stephen Cartwright, Moimoi—Look At Me! by Jun Ichihara, and more. The 5 year old’s current favorites: the InvestiGators comics series, Pokémon character books, and a variety of library picture books.

    The Wild Kratts theme song. Obviously we still watch the show itself often, since it’s usually the 5 year old’s pick for his limited screentime. But for some reason the 18 month old really loves the theme song, so when he gets upset while in the car (which is often), we’ll play a YouTube video that plays the song over and over again. Shoutout to whomever made that video!

  • Oh and guess what

    Our 5 year old likes to say that a lot when he gets on a roll telling us about something he’s excited about. It could be science facts or recounting a fun outing or his latest playground escapades. He’ll sprinkle it in throughout the story, which shows he’s both excited to share and keen on building some suspense into the telling.

    Oh and guess what? It’s so endearing.

  • Recent Views

    More photography here.

    Partly cloudy in the Windy City:

    Feeling reflective at our park:

    Fishing class with the five year old:

    First time downtown with the lads:

    Enjoying the hotel room balcony at Timber Ridge Lodge:

    Burgundy boy blending in with the fallen leaves:

  • In favor of the opposition of Saturn

    My wife sent me something about the opposition of Saturn last Saturday night, which meant it’d be more visible than usual. While at the library that day I saw they had a monocular telescope for checkout to use with smartphones, so I decided to check it out in case I had the opportunity to try for a shot.

    And we did. Before bedtime for our five year old, we managed to catch a glimpse of it between some trees outside our back door. Behold my hasty, heavily magnified iPhone astrophotography:

    I kept jumping between regular and night mode and playing with the focus for the best possible shot, and that’s what I managed to get. I told him how special it was that we were able to see it, both due to the astronomical factors and just being alive during a time when Saturn still has its rings (it’ll have to say goodbye in about 100 million years).

    Science!

  • Recent Views, Michigan edition

    More photography here.

    Scenes from some time in Michigan with extended family…

    Gas station architecture:

    Boatin’:

    Cousins dancing to the sunset (also a perfect album cover for their future band):

    Happened to catch the sunset reflected near the five year old:

    Early morning dune summit:

    In between teaching the five year old how to play and then letting him beat me, I absolutely smoked him in a game I’ve played since elementary school:

    Some pre-dinner heckling of the granddads on the grill (notice the thumbs-down in the middle lol):

  • Recent Views

    More photography here.

    Shadow play:

    The tunnel into Brookfield Zoo:

    Garbage Day is appointment viewing:

    Barking up the front yard tree:

    Puddle hunting:

  • Rules for Biking

    I recently went on a bike ride to the library with my 5 year old. It was the first time he was on his own (training-wheeled) bike instead of riding along in the trailer and it was really fun. He was so jazzed up about it, which caused him to start monologuing his thoughts throughout the entire ride.

    Some of those thoughts morphed into what he considers the Rules for Biking, which are as follows:

    1. “Always look forward, except when there’s wildlife or really beautiful parks, and you can just look for a second.”

    2. “If you get a scrape on your leg, it looks cool. Not too much cool, just still a little bit of cool.”

    3. “Everyone who loves biking should stick together.”

    Bonus quote: “Ahhhh, don’t you just love having the wind in your face?”

  • All zig, no zag

    Today I was in the backyard playing tag with our freshly minted 5 year old. He likes when I zig-zag around while he tries to catch me, something he indicated he couldn’t do himself thusly:

    “I can only do the zig, not the zag.”

    It’s a great line, but it also make me think of another similar iconic quote:

  • Not Art

    The 4 year old and I were drawing shapes on our whiteboard, and he told me to draw a beehive. I guess it wasn’t up to his standards because he said “this is not art” and drew a red circle and slash over it:

    I agree it wasn’t my best work but still… harsh.

  • My sons’ media of the moment

    A spinoff of an ongoing series

    Raffi. His greatest hits have been on heavy rotation as it seems to be the only music that calms down our 8 month old when he’s upset, which is often.

    Hamster maze videos on YouTube. The 4 year old is delighted by these. Random but could be a lot worse.

    Who Smarted? A fun and educational podcast for kids about all kinds of topics.

    Toniebox. As audio players for kids go, we’ve hitherto been a hardcore Yoto family. But several characters the 4 year old loves are only available as Tonies (Wild Kratts among them), so he got several for Christmas. It’s nice to have more variety for listening, even if the overall experience is less ideal than Yoto.

    Mr. Men and Little Miss. The 4 year old has been on a kick with this book series. We own an old copy of Little Miss Scatterbrain but we got more of them from the library and he just loves them. He especially loves looking at the grid of characters on the back covers and asking us what each of their names are.

  • The Indecisive GPS

    Sometimes when we’re driving, our 4 year old will provide turn-by-turn directions in a robotic voice as they do in Bluey as the “sat nav” (i.e. GPS). Which is always funny because he doesn’t understand directions. But it was especially funny the last time he did it because his directions were not only wrong but hilariously indifferent.

    Go in a straight line, he droned, then go whichever way you want. It’s up to you, whatever makes sense.

    It went on like this for a bit. My wife and I were trying not to laugh, but it felt like an SNL skit waiting to happen.

  • Recent Views

    More photography here and on my Instagram.

    Tiles and toes:

    Always the bright spot on rainy walks:

    The puddle jumper approaches:

    Sunset reflections:

    Sunday morning clips and coffee:

    The backyard bubbles are back:

    Some dramatic lighting at a local library:

  • Recent Views

    More photography here and on my Instagram.

    When you go into an elevator and look up to see this face of doom:

    The skyward view outside my workplace:

    Caught this partially melted ice cube on a countertop:

    Why save your Halloween costume for a few hours on one day when you can wear it all the time around town and look like a superhero:

    View from a bridge at a mini golf outing:

    Autumn is upon us:

  • I don’t know, I need to learn

    Here’s an exchange I had with my 4 year old while on a recent walk around the pond:

    “Papa, guess what: penguins cannot fly.”

    “Why is that?”

    “I don’t know, I need to learn.”

    We were walking past some ducks when he said this so that must have triggered the fact about penguins, which I’m guessing he learned from one of his Yoto cards.

    I love that part—that urge to share what he knows. But I also love his response to my follow-up question: when confronted with something he didn’t know, he both admitted ignorance and expressed the desire to investigate further.

    Both of those impulses come naturally at his age, so I’m not saying he’s special in that way. I just really respect and enjoy the preschooler’s tendency to declare what they know (or think they know) and remain insatiably curious about what they don’t.