To be clear, I did contact them first ... years ago, when I was working in Starkville, #MS, because I wanted to buy team jerseys for #GD1, #GD2, and #A1. They didn't have jerseys in A1's size, so I bought him a onesie.
That's on top of the bank switch. (Note: I think I figured out part of the bank's issue--they are smaller, so many services are provided through disinterested third party contracted services that have no incentive to meet consumer expectations nor any interest in putting forth any exyra effort.)
Through it all, I have persevered, and my favorite ten year old will soon be enjoying his one-year #Crunch_Labs subscription.
So on the video, he said "Grandpa sent me something about planets", and his brother #GS4 (almost 2 years old) started asking whether they were going to have a videochat with "ganpa".
Anyway, I'm going to try to order some clothing for both of them. The 4 year old is too tall for most of this clothes, but the next size up are too wide for him. This has been the case for about a year, so it isn't a change, except he's moved up another size. But now, the 2 year old has outgrown almost all his clothes height-wise, but width-wise, he can still fit clothes from a year ago.
Likewise, I couldn't get anything for their cousin #A1 around the time of his birthday, but I've picked something that I will try to order soon. I'm waiting to hear back from #Daddy_A that this is something the 10 year old will like ... and that someone will be involved with exploring it with him.
Speaking of #A1, he's gained weight. He used to be tall and thin. He doesn't look fat, but he's no longer noticeably thin, either. When I was 10, I reached 66lb / 30kg. I'd expect he's beyond that already.
They are bigger these days. #A1 will soon be ten. He's as tall as the light switches in recent photos. If those switches are at the same height as the ones in my home, he's about as tall as I was at age 16.
In in the pic, blue haired kid and dog are on the couch; kid is watching TV. And kid has gained some weight. He used to wear "slim" and even they were too loose. Now he looks like he's in "regular".
I sent a ♥️, but otherwise did not respond, as I did not want to get him in trouble. Still, I am glad that he's learning to thank people. It isn't something his parents emphasize, so it means even more.
(In case you're wondering, I'm not attempting to set up a chat this weekend with 24 year old #GS2 nor 26 year old #GS1. I will try to get in touch with GS1 for a chat some time in August, and try to have a voice call with GS2 later this year.)
#GS3 and #GS4 are a little younger, so probably too young to get much out of walkie talkies, but I found a pair with Star Wars / Baby Yoda markings ... they like that show, so I got them their own set.
On the other hand, we had toy cars. One brother had Hot Wheels. I had Matchbox. Another brother had Johnny Lightning. I cannot remember what the other brothers had.
We also had original Legos, before the special sets with single use pieces. Legos and shag carpets together are the enemy of shoeless feet.
A few years ago, I was able to purchase over 100 Hot Wheels cars and a couple of trach sets for #A1 and #A2. I still send about 10 cars per year.
I sent a telescope. Well, I sent a telescope for #A1 last year, but it was one of those kids' science kit tabletop telescopes. This year's telescope is an entry level stargazing scope from Celestron. It came with a cellphone mount, so they can watch the screen and take photos of what they see instead of sticking their eyes up to the scope and potentially knocking it down. Oh, and it comes with some sort of astronomy software package.
I asked #sonTwo to call him and find out what we can do to help, but apparently, he recovered without intervention. (I also mentioned that #sonOne is 2-3 hours away, which is about 3 hours closer than #sonTwo.)
Anyway, he's better now and is repurposing a #Raspberry_Pi 3 that I sent for #A1 into a project combined with an #Arduino UNO R3.
The younger one is thrilled with a book 📕 that has places to feel dinosaurs. Not that anyone knows what a dinosaur 🦕’s skin felt like. The older one is pushing buttons on a talking, singing electronic toy.
I told them (and #sonTwo) that the only career that will always have jobs is plumbing, but that I will try to prepare them as much as I can for the things I know.
I also mentioned that their cousin #A1 is getting a micro:Bit and a couple of projects for it.