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Emily is learning
about frogs in kindergarten, and talks to us about amphibians ("frogs
live on land AND in the water"), the life cycle of a frog ("their
tail keeps getting smaller and their legs keep getting bigger,")
the difference between a frog and a toad, and what frogs look like when
they eat a bug (we see a lot of exaggerated swallowing with closed eyes
at dinner this week)! 10/3
Emily gets to go to Emily's grandma's house after school today! We give
Emily's dad permission to pick Em up, and they walk over to Miss Pat's
house together. Emily has a swingset there that both girls enjoy. 10/3
This is hard to explain, but there is an activity on Emily's new Blue's
Clues computer game at which she excels. The activity consists of using
triangle shaped blocks to manipulate the direction of a boat--the boat
heads in one direction, and you need to place the triangles so that the
boat glances off the angles, changes direction and reaches a goal. Daddy
reports that this was too easy for Em, and she kept placing more and more
triangles, so that instead of taking a direct route, the boat traveled
around and around in circles, crossing its own path again and again, and
THEN reached its goal! 10/5
Emily got 5 little lollipops from Miss Heather today. It was her reward
for good behavior during September. Every day that they behave nicely,
the kids in the afternoon club get a sticker. Miss Heather set a goal
that everyone try to get 16 stickers during September. Em got 20!!! She
got a sticker every day! 10/6
Emily and I started to read "Dinosaurs
Before Dark," which is the first book of the wildly popular "Magic
Tree House" easy chapter books. The chapters are short enough
that we read two or three a night, but the story is so suspenseful that
Emily has a nightmare about a dinosaur chasing her! Emily and I hurry
to finish all the chapters the next day so we can make sure everything
turns out all right. After I read the ending and handed Emily the book,
she turned to the cover and said, "Can we read 'Magic
Tree House Number Two' next?" so I guess she wasn't too traumatized!
10/10-11
It's opening night for the Avalanche! The girls wear their jerseys at
dinnertime! 10/10
While Mom and Sarah are at Nigel's party, Dad and Emily go out for ice
cream! 10/11
Cousin Liz comes over for dinner! Emily reads her Em's homework book.10/11
Emily has been on a real artistic streak lately; she has drawn dozens
of pictures in the last week or so. Her kindergarten class is studying
Eric Carle, and Emily showed
me a drawing she'd done with "pencil marks first" then coloring
in, because she said, "I'm an artist, just like Eric Carle."
10/12
Em gets out of bed after tuck-in time tonight. I say, "What's up,
Em?" She says, "I just had a feeling that I needed to be near
you." 10/12
Emily wants to be a bunch of purple grapes for Halloween! 10/03
Emily watches as Daddy flips through the channel guide on TV, and says,
"Emeril! I want to watch Emeril!" We ask, "How did you
know Emeril was on?" Em says, "I saw the E and the M and I guessed!"
Once again we head to the Rutenbeck's for the annual DMS student potluck.
Leah, one of the other "teacher spouses" brings her face-painting
stuff and paints all the kids' faces for a Halloween treat! Emily chooses
a dragon (all the other girls choose butterflies, but not our Em) and
again has a wonderful time running around with Anna and Mary, Jeff and
Claire's daughters, and snitching chips and cold shrimp appetizers off
the food table. 10/17
Tonight we head to Todd's birthday party! Emily asks, "Do we get
to dress up like Todd again?" (Like last year!) This year, everybody
was asked to bring crayons and Todd provides pads of paper and we all,
kids and adults, spend the evening coloring and writing funny stories.
10/18
Emily helped Sarah unwrap a Halloween decoration from Grandma Z., and
looked at them both, and without any hesitation at all, said, "Okay,
Sarah, THIS one says, 'Boo to you,' and THIS one says, 'Happy Halloween.'"
Bill and I just stood there and gave each other a high five...Em was so
confident about reading them. She didn't ask us what they said, didn't
ask us to help her sound them out...just gave it a shot. 10/20
We had a great parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Cameron, Em's Kindergarten
teacher, and she said Emily is a great student and a great friend. She
said Em will step in and help the other kids without being bossy at all;
when she's asked a question she doesn't blurt out an answer but really
thinks about it first; she's "very smart" and doing wonderfully
at reading and is ahead or on target for her math skills, too. "If
I had 25 Emilys!!!" Bill and I just felt so happy after talking with
her!10/21
Emily is trying SO HARD to "get" jokes...she wants us to tell
her lots of jokes and then wants us to "explain" them. "Tell
me the joke about the backstroke," (the fly and the soup) then, "Tell
me the story about that joke," (meaning, explain why it is funny!).
She is trying and trying to make up her own jokes and just not quite there
cognitively to consistently nail the double meanings. But when we do chance
on one that she understands, wow, does she crack up! 10/03
We pick up our pumpkins at the Grace Methodist Pumpkin Patch. This is
Emily's 6th year choosing her pumpkin there! 10/26
Emily LOVES her science club and her friends from a past Purple Coyote
class (Emily and Hunter, 1st graders this year) are in it as well, so
that is really neat. They have learned all sorts of basic physics principles
and always make a VERY cool project to take home. We will do this again!
10/28
We go to Miss Lisa's evening Halloween storytime at my library in our
costumes! Lisa reads some books and sings some songs, then we get to join
a costume parade and trick or treat at all the reference desks in the
library! 10/29
Uncle Todd comes over to help with carving pumpkins, and brings 3 of
his own for us to work on! Daddy, Todd, Mommy, Emily and Sarah all sit
on the kitchen floor and get our hand goopy scooping pumpkins and planning
faces. 10/30
Halloween! Emily has a party in kindergarten
in the morning, then Mom and Dad join her during Afternoon Club when the
whole school does a costume parade. Then we come home and get her costume
ready for trick or treating with Christine! 10/31
Sarah thinks she wants to be
a ghost for Halloween! 10/1
Daddy and Sarah pick up Em at school, and met Miss Kelly, Em's old PC
teacher. When I ran into Kelly myself on Thursday, she said, "I had
a REAL CONVERSATION with Sarah! I couldn't believe it!" Sarah has
taken one of those big cognitive jumps forward and is a marvel to talk
with...Bill explains the difference by saying, she's not just responding
to you, she's coming up with her own contributions, too. 10/4
Em comes to snuggle in bed with Mom and Dad in the morning, and while
we are all together, we hear Sarah wake up and start talking to herself
via the monitor. I can hear her voice, but not what she says. After a
minute, Emily tells me, "Mommy! Sarah is singing the ABC song and
she's singing ALL the letters!" Sure enough, Sarah has finally gotten
past her infamous "ABCD QRS" version and can recite the alphabet
all the way through. She goes very slowly through the "LMNOP"
part, though! 10/03
We are reading "Be
Nice To Spiders" and instead of reading the phrase, 'quick as
lightning,' I just say, "quick as...." to see if the girls can
remember what comes next. Sarah says, "Thunder!" 10/03
The other night Sarah had a little meltdown at bedtime, and Daddy came
in to help her calm down. When they were done, I told her to say thank
you to Daddy for helping her. Sarah said, "Thank you for making me
happy, Daddy." 10/03
Sarah doesn't want to go to church this morning. When I ask her why, she
says, "Because I want to go to Nigel's party!" 10/5
Sarah thinks she wants to be a train for Halloween! 10/6
I tell Sarah at bedtime that tomorrow, Mommy will take her to school and
Daddy will pick her up. She says, "No! Daddy take me to school AND
pick me up!" Then she added, "That a com-po-mise!" 10/6
It's opening night for the Avalanche! The girls wear their jerseys at
dinnertime! 10/10
Sarah listens to Emily talk about her nightmare, then tells us, "I
had a BAD DREAM. A shark came out of the bathtub! It had SHARP CLAWS!"
10/11
Sarah goes to Nigel's 3rd birthday party! She has chosen some chunky crayons
and some playdoh toys for his present. She meets Sam, Nigel's friend from
his music class and the three of them play for awhile. Then they have
peanut butter sandwiches, chocolate cupcakes, and open Nigel's presents!
All 4 of Nigel's grandmas and grandpas were there! 10/11
Cousin Liz comes over for dinner! 10/11
Sarah's new book with the Abiyoyos is "Picking
Apples and Pumpkins." We loaned the classroom our apple peeler-corer-slicer
for a few weeks! 10/13
"When Daddy was a baby, he in my womb." 10/13
Sarah is such a good "reader" and listener. She will remember
the titles of library books we have only looked at once or twice, and
will sit all the way through the "long" books Emily chooses,
and understands the whole thing! 10/03
Last night I go in to Sarah's room around 9.30pm to tell Sarah it's time
to stop singing and close her eyes. I pick her up and wrap her up in a
blanket, which reminds Sarah of how they played taking care of babies
in her classroom. She says, "I good at takin' care of babies."
And I said, "I know you are, sweetie." She said, "And throwin'
butter out the window." I said, "Why did you throw butter out
the window?" And she said, "To make butterflies!" ---Now,
NOWHERE in the baby books did it say my daughter would be setting me up
as her straight man before her 3rd birthday! 10/14
We are watching "Emeril" after dinner and Sarah announces, "We
have a BWOO one!" After a second, I realize she has recognized the
KitchenAid on his counter, and I say, "Yes, Sarah, we have a BLUE
mixer--Emeril has a green one!"
Sarah is trying out knock-knock jokes. Here is one from this weekend:
Knock-knock
Who's there?
Aunt Amy!
Aunt Amy who?
I love Aunt Amy! 10/18
Once again we head to the Rutenbeck's for the annual DMS student potluck.
Leah, one of the other "teacher spouses" brings her face-painting
stuff and paints all the kids' faces for a Halloween treat! Sarah chooses
not to have her face painted, but wants a friendly ghost on her arm. The
party is a little loud for Sarah, but she winds up spending a happy half
hour in the corner of the family room sharing someone else's train set!
10/17
Tonight we head to Todd's birthday party! Everybody was asked to bring
crayons and Todd provides pads of paper and we all, kids and adults, spend
the evening coloring and writing funny stories. 10/18
Daddy comes home with his hair cut, and Sarah asks, "Why you have
THAT hair?" 10/21
Sarah is happy as a clam, except at dinnertime, (and sometimes breakfast
and lunch) when she has decided not to eat. Very frustrating! 10/03
Sarah says, "I want to be a mommy." I say, "You can be
a mommy when you grow up, if you want. What will you do when you're a
mommy?" Sarah says, "Take care of my kitties and my dogs!"
10/24
Sarah sings the Backwards Alphabet song! 10/25
We pick up our pumpkins at the Grace Methodist Pumpkin Patch! Sarah has
more fun walking up and down the "aisles" than actually choosing
a pumpkin, but eventually we bring one home! 10/26
The girls play hide and seek while I rake leaves. Sarah counts to 20 while
it's her turn to be It: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20!"
Sarah's joke: "How did the frog cross the river?"
Answer: "In a hop!" 10/27
The Abiyoyo class takes a "field trip" to the grocery store
to look for apples and pumpkins, just like in their book. I go along with
and help pull the wagons! The teachers have put some leaves and straw
in the Radio Flyers to make a little "hayride" for the kids.
10/28
We go to Miss Lisa's evening Halloween storytime at my library in our
costumes! Lisa reads some books and sings some songs, then we get to join
a costume parade and trick or treat at all the reference desks in the
library! 10/29
Uncle Todd comes over to help with carving pumpkins, and brings 3 of his
own for us to work on! Daddy, Todd, Mommy, Emily and Sarah all sit on
the kitchen floor and get our hand goopy scooping pumpkins and planning
faces. 10/30
It's Halloween! Mommy joins Sarah
during the morning for her costume parade at school, then she stays to
watch a video and have some popcorn! After school we get ready for trick-or-treating
with Christine! 10/31