Some weeks before Christmas, Gum told me she’d unpacked several boxes of my old books from the basement. It turns out the collection, which fills a whole bookshelf, has some books dating back to Gum and even to her mother and beyond. Hallie was ecstatic as she scoured the shelves. She immediately started pulling down ones she wanted to bring home. They were mostly horse books, with a few dog books thrown in. We finally agreed that she could bring ten back with her and we’d get others as we worked our way through those (Gum and Gup have lots more storage space than we do!). Read the rest of this entry »
Travis continues to do a great job with his potty use. I don’t pay nearly as much attention to his bathroom visits as I used to, trusting that he’ll let me know when he needs to go and get himself there in time. For a while I was waking him before I went to bed to help him make it through the night. And a few times a week he’ll still wake up about that time, or sometimes in the middle of the night, and stagger out of his room calling for “potty patrol.” Read the rest of this entry »
After saving her allowance for weeks and weeks, Mark’s $2 contribution to her fruit shop put Hallie over the edge and she finally had enough money to buy the horses that have been living in my closet for ages. After the catastrophe of first bringing them home (which was early in the school year, at which point most everything was a catastrophe in Hallie’s world), the liberating of them was fairly anticlimactic. She’s thrilled to have them, and they’ve blended right in with her new stable and several other horse-related things from Christmas. But they sure didn’t turn out to be the big deal they were at first. I’ll be curious to see what she starts saving for next.
We hadn’t been at Gum and Gup’s house for more than a an hour or two before Hallie had gone into business. She used a collection of colored blocks and various plates, cups, and containers to launch “Dubel’s Fruit Shop” (or “Dubelis Froot Shop” as she spelled it). Ms. Dubel is another kindergarten teacher at Conn, and teachers’ names frequently appear in Hallie’s creative endeavors. Read the rest of this entry »
Hallie sure does like her projects! And her friends and family know her well, giving her several kits as Christmas presents. In the last week, Hallie’s painted “suncatchers,” decorated foam gingerbread ornaments, made several necklaces, started a sewing project, woven a purse on her new loom, started writing and illustrating another book, made signs for her various “businesses” (see other post), and (with a little help from her Aunt Anna) decorated a life-size Hallie cut-out. And that’s just what I can think of right now and doesn’t count her usual daily writing (she’s into lists right now) and drawing. That girl looks for paper and pens before she gets out of bed in the morning!
We’re just back from the early edition of Raleigh’s First Night celebration, courtesy of tickets provided by Sandra (Thanks, Sandra!). We weren’t sure what to expect but we ended up having a great time. With Mark working most of the day, we didn’t get downtown until about 5. We missed the last set of scheduled shows, but we had fun wandering the different booths as we made our way from the museums down to Fayetteville Street. Read the rest of this entry »
The week before Christmas Travis helped me deliver gift cards to our recycling crew. We heard the truck coming and raced outside. Travis beamed as he handed over the cards, and he was rewarded by hearty waves and several good horn honks as they pulled away. (He understood the spirit of giving, if not the specific content. “What did we give them?” he asked as we came back inside. “Magnets?”)
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We’re in Warrenton at Gum and Gup’s for the week and having a wonderful time. The kids couldn’t wait to hit to road on Saturday, and Travis even complained at the idea of stopping for lunch. He just wanted to get here! Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve written many times about T’s love of music and sound. He does a remarkable job at picking different intstruments out of songs. He’ll often pick things out that I don’t recognize at first. It amazes me that he can do this. I’ve taught him the sounds of lots of instruments as we listen to different types of music. But he’s able to learn the sound of a saxophone where the instrument is quite clear (to me) and apply that to picking out a sax when it’s buried under lots of other sounds and not nearly as distinctive. He’s not always right, but I’ve lost track of the number of times he’s surprised me with what he can pick out well before I can hear it. Read the rest of this entry »
Travis is really into helping these days. Sometimes to the point of being remarkably unhelpful, but his intentions are good. He’s eager to “help cook,” which always means getting on his apron and getting out his stepstool. And he wants to make his own lunches, usually PB&Js that he’s more interested in making than eating. He wants to turn my hairdryer on and off for me each morning. And heaven forbid someone go out for the newspaper or the mail without involving him. In fact, if he sees he’s missed or is missing any opportunity to help he’ll often go ballistic. When I wouldn’t let him join me, barefoot and in his pajamas, to take the trash around front through the frost this morning he stood and wailed until I came back in and well beyond. So, we’re working here (as everywhere else) on finding the right balance of independence, guidance, and saying “no.” But overall I’m enjoying the phase. And it has the added benefit that, at least right now, it’s greatly improved his performance when I ask him to pick up his toys. I hope that lasts!
