12/08/10 - Holidays

The holiday season seems to sneak up faster every year.  Halloween went by in a flash.  I vaguely recall a little Cinderella, Snow White and angel knocking on residents’ doors in Dave’s building yelling, “Trick or treat!”  The weather got colder, the winter coats and mittens came out of storage, and before long it was Thanksgiving.  We had our first snow (thought it didn’t stick), and took the five-hour drive down to Grandma and Grandpa’s for Thanksgiving dinner.   The girls got to gather eggs from the hen house, eat pumpkin pie and watch “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” with the family. 

 

Now the days are flying once again.  We set up the little tabletop tree, decorated the hedge with lights, and broke out the Christmas music.   We made a gingerbread house (though a little elf keeps sneaking M&M’s off of it) and decorated gluten-free sugar cookies.  Mom is racing the calendar to order presents online and get the Christmas cards out on time.  We’re looking forward to another trip to the Grandparents’, this time with the addition of Uncle Tim and the cousins.   Before you know it we’ll be ringing in a new year, and start the cycle all over again.   Where does the time go?

 

Time Keeper

Eva is becoming more aware of time now, asking me to show her where on the clock the big and little hands will point when it’s time for us to go somewhere or a friend to come over.   I put up a classroom calendar on the play room door, and Eva figured out pretty quickly how to keep track of the days until birthdays or holidays.  She’s very observant and curious, and you can tell from her questions that she’s figuring things out.  When I told her she needed to dress her naked Cinderella Barbie instead of letting her catch cold on the floor, Eva said that she needed a swimsuit to go swimming in.  I took a black permanent marker and painted a bathing suit on the doll for her, and Eva was so excited she asked me to do it for all of them.  When she got a new one a few weeks later, the first order of business was, “Mommy, Belle needs a bathing suit, too.” 

 

Eva loves to draw things that she’s interested in, and not a day goes by without a stack of new drawings appearing on my desk.  She has a very active imagination now and will make up elaborate scenarios to pretend.   A big Magic School Bus fan, Eva and Amanda were pretending a few days ago that they shrank and went into Miss Frizzle’s mouth during a trip to the dentist, to learn all about teeth.  To my knowledge, there’s no such episode of the Magic School Bus, but it was a very creative idea! 

 

Play Time

Amanda is getting to the age where she can come up with her own “make believe” ideas, and will interject what she wants to pretend instead of just following Eva’s lead.  It sometimes leads to friction, of course, but for the most part the girls play together wonderfully well.    She wants to follow along as Eva does her lessons, so I make photocopies of Eva’s worksheets for her to color on.  She already knows her colors, letters and numbers, and is beginning to pick up letter sounds from listening to Eva. 

 

Amanda is the princess of the family, and she naturally gravitates to all things girly.  She loves to play with dolls, tea sets and dress up…the toys Eva usually passed up in favor of stuffed animals, cars, and horses.   She’s noticed that none of her Disney princess dolls wear leggings under their gowns, so it’s become difficult to convince her that princesses DO wear leggings when it’s 40 degrees outside. 

 

Little Playmate

Bethany has started wanting to play with whatever her big sisters are engaged in.  She knocks down their block towers, rearranges play furniture, wraps their dolls in blankets, and gets really upset when they climb up on Mommy and Daddy’s bed to play where she can’t reach.   Her favorite toy right now is a cuddly Minnie Mouse in a Cinderella dress that Eva got from Disneyland.   Bethany carries it everywhere. 

 

No drawer or cabinet is safe now.  If it’s not childproofed, our busy toddler will find a way to get into it.  A couple of weeks ago I noticed that crayons were disappearing, and was mystified until I caught Bethany dropping them down the floor vents.  We’ve had to move the bathroom trash onto the countertop to keep her from playing in it, though she still manages to unravel the toilet paper roll.  She’s also figured out how to open the kitchen trash and throw things inside, so I’ve learned to inspect it for toys before taking it out. 

Gluten Intolerance

We got test results back last week, confirming that Bethany is gluten intolerant.  The report reads, “Intestinal antigliadin IgA antibody was elevated, indicating that you have active dietary gluten sensitivity. For optimal health, resolution of symptoms (if you have them), and prevention of small intestinal damage and malnutrition, osteoporosis, and damage to other tissues (like nerves, brain, joints, muscles, thyroid, pancreas, other glands, skin, liver, spleen, among others), it is recommended that you follow a STRICT and PERMANENT gluten free diet.”  Her Anti-gliadin IgA level was 117 units (normal range is less than 10 units).

 

It’s disappointing that she will have to stay on a gluten-free diet for the rest of her life, but I’m grateful that she hasn’t been eating it long enough to have done irreversible damage.   Also, I’m grateful that both she and Amanda were diagnosed at an early enough age that they are still developing their tastes, and won’t regret the loss of “favorite foods,” as they certainly would have if they’d had to change their diets later in life.   This way, all their favorites growing up will be gluten free. 

Hunter

A few weeks ago, Dave went to help our friends Christopher and Rocio put together a new shed in their backyard.  On his way out the door, one of their new kittens followed him to the car.  Christopher suggested that Dave take it home on a trial basis, depending on how Rebel handled it.  When he got home, Dave brought me a gift of organic beef from Rocio, but made no mention of his little companion.  I heard the girls yelling “Kitty! Kitty!” in the living room, and thought they were referring to Rebel.   When I came around the corner, there was Eva cradling a fuzzy orange bundle in her arms like a proud new momma.   She was in love.  The kitten was about 8 weeks old and already litter box trained.  The first couple of days it went around the house meowing for its mother, and Rebel would hiss at it whenever he came within sight.   Eva took it to bed every night for awhile, before it kept waking her up trying to play.  It wasn’t long before it was confidently stalking, pouncing and attacking everything in sight, so Eva named it “Hunter.” 

 

Now at about 12 weeks, Hunter is full of mischief.  He tries to climb the furniture with his claws, jumping onto the table or high chair to eat the girls’ food.  He lurks in corners and under furniture to spring on unsuspecting toes.  He launches sneak attacks on Rebel, pouncing and then dashing away.  Rebel calmly tolerates it until he gets his fill, at which point he’ll promptly flip the kitten onto his back and show him who’s boss.  The girls are learning to be more careful around a cat that actually has claws, and to steer clear when the kitten goes into what we call “hunting mode”. 

 

Eva's Ballet Class Oct '10

10/29/10 - Harvest Festival

We had an unusual 10-day stretch of fall sunshine last week, so the family took advantage of the opportunity to revel in autumn festivities before the rain arrived.  On Friday we took the girls to the Hood River Harvest Festival in the Columbia Gorge.  

Eva and Amanda each painted their own pumpkin and then made seed pictures as Bethany enjoyed playing with a tub full of beans and seeds.   Eva tried out the bounce house, though Amanda was too nap-deprived to be interested.   They slept in the car as we drove home with our annual treats of fresh-squeezed apple cider, giant peaches and cinnamon roasted almonds.

 

Now that cold weather is here to stay, we’ve officially broken out the fall décor and put away the summer clothes.  Flannel sheets are on the beds, the candles all smell of cinnamon and spice, and our garage is once again being used as our back-up “cooler”.   I found pumpkin spice, gingerbread, and eggnog syrups at the grocery store, so we can make seasonal coffee drinks at home. 

 

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we went to a little family farm called Twisted Creek Ranch, driving past the enormous crowds at Liepold farms in favor of a lesser-known pumpkin patch.   Each of the girls got a bag of food to hand-feed the animals, which enthralled them.   The farm had a llama, emus, goats, pigs, chickens, horses and rabbits. 

Even Bethany got to pet a little pygmy goat as it tried to nibble the food at her feet, though she cried indignantly when it tried to sniff her face.  The girls each got to ride a pony as it was led around the field by an attendant, which was a new adventure for them (not just in a circle around a pole like they do at fairs).  

 

Daddy pulled them in a wagon through the pumpkin patch and they enjoyed a free cup of hot cocoa in the little store as Bethany played with a tic-tac-toe game made of carved wooden pieces.  There was a playground, too, though the girls were too tired at the end of our visit to make much use of it.  It was nice to have a quieter family experience, though, and we definitely plan to return next year. 

 

Eva Starts Reading

Eva read her first words yesterday!  I took 5 lower-case letters from a puzzle and rearranged them into different words so she could sound them out, like “man,” “tan,” “Sam,” “sat,” etc.   She’s known her letter sounds for awhile, but this is the first time we’ve worked with them in combination with other letters to create words.  It was fun to see the light of recognition go off in her head as she realized that changing the letters around created different words.   She was so excited and said, “I can read!   Can I read a whole book now?”   I broke out “Green Eggs & Ham” and had her read the parts she already knew, like “Sam-I-Am”.  She was so proud to show Dave her new accomplishment when he got home.

 

Eva really enjoys school.  Every morning after breakfast she asks me, “Can we do school now?”  She especially enjoys the activities, which Amanda also loves because she can join in.  On week “A is for Apple,” the curriculum gave a recipe for making homemade applesauce.  It was so easy and tasty, the girls begged to do it again (of course, my version tastes more like pie filling, LOL).   During “N is for Nest”, the listed activity was to make a birds nest craft out of twigs, grass, paper and mud.   If we’re going to make that kind of mess, I prefer it be edible, so we made Birds Nest cookies instead from Cocoa Pebbles (gluten-free), coconut and a peanut butter mixture, topped off with jelly bean eggs.  It was a big hit!

 

This week is Eva’s final reading readiness class at the library.  They’ve worked on sequencing, problem solving, sorting, textures, and other topics for the past 8 weeks, and the best part is, it’s free!  It’s been some fun one-on-one time with Mommy, though, which we both enjoyed.  Next year Amanda will be old enough for the Preschool level class, and it’ll be her turn. 

Little Lady

Amanda wants to wear dresses all the time. Even if we put her in pants, she wants a skirt for every outfit.  Since dresses are usually more of a summer thing, it was originally hard to find some warm enough, but I managed to track down several at the used children’s clothing store.  Amanda calls them her “princess dresses” and wears them at every opportunity, embellishing them with a “crown” (headband) and “glass slippers” (dress shoes).  How did I get such a girly girl?

New Toddler

Bethany is reveling in her newfound biped status, toddling around the house as quickly as her short little legs can carry her.  She still stumbles and loses her balance a lot, but she no longer prefers crawling to walking.   She’s fascinated by pushing buttons and tries to snatch the remote control whenever it’s within reach.   She also loves playing with the girls’ baby dolls, holding them to her chest and patting them on the back like a devoted little mommy. 

 

Though she’s still mostly eating baby food, Bethany wants to eat whatever she sees us eating, and gets upset if we don’t give her a taste.  She can manage things like graham crackers that soften in her mouth.  I let her try as much as I think is safe, but with only four front teeth and no molars fully emerged yet, she’s limited by the fact that she can’t chew everything she’s interested in yet. 

 

Working Out

Dave got himself a treadmill to help burn off stress when the weather makes cycling impossible.  He set it up in the garage and made himself a “man cave”.  He also has his bike set up on a trainer to ride indoors, and propped the girls’ training wheels up on blocks so they can ride their bikes right along with him.  They crank up the music and burn off all that extra energy.  It’s like a miniature spin class. 

Bribery

In the trenches of potty training, nothing seems to work so well as a well-placed bribe (mind you, we don’t use this tactic in any other arena of parenting, but this is one area that is completely up to the child and needs to be a positive experience, or it backfires).  Eva has been resisting wiping her own bottom for months, afraid of getting her hands dirty. I finally told her if she went several days in a row without mommy having to wipe her, she could have an Ariel doll.  That was apparently all she needed to hear.  A few days later we took her to buy the doll and she proudly announced to the check-out clerk, “I’m a big girl now and I wipe my own bottom!”   The clerk looked at me and said, “TMI!”  Yep, there are no secrets with kids.  Now we’re waiting for Amanda to decide that she wants that Snow White doll badly enough to give up the training pants and start using the toilet for both.

Twisted Creek Ranch Oct '10

Feeding animals, pumpkin patch, pony rides.

Painting Pumpkins Oct 2010

Hood River Harvest Festival

Bethany's 1st Month

How quickly they grow!

Bethany Walks Sept 2010

10/01/10 - Baby Steps

Ladies and gentlemen, we officially have a walker!  Bethany beat both of her sisters by taking her first wobbly steps two weeks before her first birthday (Eva and Amanda both walked at 14 months).   She still crawls the majority of the time (it’s much faster), but every day she tries to walk a little further.  Right now she’s up to about six unassisted steps before she drops.  She took her first steps on September 5th, just a few hours after we learned of Grandma’s Geri’s passing.   It was a bittersweet day, especially since one of my first reactions was, “we have to call Grandma and let her know,” followed by the sad realization that that was no longer possible. 

 

Bethany Turns 1

Bethany had her first birthday on September 19^th.   I made cupcakes (regular and gluten-free) and planned to have a little family party over lunch, but Dave got delayed at work and Amanda couldn’t delay her nap any longer, so we waited and celebrated that evening after church group.   As is tradition, I gave Bethany her own cupcake to play with, eat, or destroy to her heart’s content.  Eva and Amanda were aghast, making comments like “Bethany’s making a mess!  Why is she smashing it?  It’s in her lap!”  Amanda even ran into the next room to bring me a wet wipe.  J   Bethany seemed rather unimpressed overall, preferring to quietly play with it more than eat it (she’s really not interested in putting things in her mouth unless they feel good for her sore gums to chew on).   We let her open a present from Aunt Laura (and a little later, one from Aunt Nanci), but we’re waiting to give her our present until we celebrate a family party with Grandma and Grandpa next week. 

Home Sweet Home School

Eva has started Kindergarten, and right now is on week two of the curriculum.  Last week the letter was “S” and the science theme was “sun”.  This week the letter is “M”, and the theme is “Moon” (they introduce the letters most often used first, rather than chronologically, so that kids can start sounding out small words within a few weeks).    So far it’s been pretty successful.  Eva has learned all about light and shadows, and loves to show me how she can duplicate the process with a flashlight.  Now she’s learning how the moon reflects the sun’s light and the names of its phases.  She’s also learning how to hold her pencil properly and improve her penmanship when she writes her letters (which she already knew), and is doing basic math exercises.  We’ve also talked about how Jesus is the Light of the world, and we are supposed to reflect His love just like the moon reflects the sun’s light.  Every week has a series of worksheets, recommended activities and simple experiments, and a list of books to check out from the library which further illustrate the theme.  Amanda likes to join in, so I make photocopies of the worksheets for her to scribble on and let her help with the activities (like drawing the moon’s phases with white crayon on black construction paper). 

 

Eva’s curriculum may be pretty straightforward, but when it comes to the Journalism class I’m teaching at our local “Monday School” home school co-op, it’s a work in progress.  How much can you teach in just 8 weekly 45-minute sessions?  More than I originally thought, apparently.   I have seven students, ages 12 to 16, and figured out pretty quickly that my lesson plan wasn’t challenging enough for them, so now I’m taking one week at a time when it comes to class prep.   The first day I ended up covering two lessons: different types of media and news sources, the role of the “gatekeeper”, headlines, bylines and leads, and the  “5W’s & H” (who, what, when, where, why, & how).   The second week we talked about the difference between news and features, “hard” leads and “soft” leads, and what makes a story newsworthy (timeliness, proximity, impact, etc.).  Then I had them practice identifying elements in printed news stories and writing their own headlines, bylines and leads.  Next week I’m planning to have them look at several different versions of the same news story, and see if they can differentiate how the stories are covered based on the audience each paper or news station is trying to reach, the frequency of their publication/broadcast, the region they cover, and which elements each emphasizes as the most important points in the story, etc.   I know they’re interested in putting together their own paper, but I’ll have to see how we can do that with just my laptop and a borrowed printer. 

Tiny Dancer

I signed Eva up for beginning ballet classes on Tuesday afternoons.  It’s a good way for her to get some exercise, to learn to be aware of her body and that she can control her movements with a little practice, discipline and forethought.  At first she didn’t like it because there were a couple of more experienced girls in her class who already some of the movements, and Eva (ever the perfectionist) became quickly frustrated that she couldn’t immediately do the same.  But now she’s starting to enjoy it, and loves to show us what she’s learned when we get home (parents aren’t allowed in the class, so I just watch through the window while entertaining Amanda and Bethany). 

 

Whatever Eva learns, she immediately wants to teach Amanda so they can play it together.   When she did swim classes over the summer, I caught Eva trying to give Amanda swimming lessons in the tub, telling her to put her face in the water and blow bubbles.   Now that it’s ballet, Eva will pretend she’s the teacher and tell Amanda how to hold her feet and point her toes.  Amanda goes along with it good-naturedly for the most part, but I’ve learned to be more watchful when Eva chooses the game.   Last month she decided to play “hairdresser” and cut Amanda’s hair three days in a row.  The first day I found some of Amanda’s golden locks (and some from a toy horse) stashed with the preschool scissors in a drawer (she had done a good job and Amanda’s hair was already layered, so I didn’t notice at first).   The second day I noticed her hair was again shorter, and Eva confessed she’d found the scissors that I’d hidden.  The third day Amanda came running into my bedroom at 7:30am to yell, “Eva cutting my hair!”, and it turned out she’d found another forgotten pair of scissors in a kitchen drawer.   Now she’s only allowed to use scissors under direct supervision for school projects, and then they’re quickly confiscated.