Birthday Weekend in Atlanta

Chris' parents had two of their children as Irish twins, one year apart to the day! As the story goes, my mother-in-law went into labor with Mike while decorating the first-year birthday cake for Brian. This weekend we went to Atlanta to celebrate Mike's birthday with him (Brian wasn't able to make it).


The children were fascinated with Pop-Pops playing the accordian. His father was part of a neighborhood band that played every weekend in an accordian jam session of sorts--Pop-Pops has very fond memories of participating in that as a child. And now he is creating those kinds of memories for his grandchildren.

Miss Sweet Pea Mary

Chris' parents put on a nice get-together to celebrate Mike's birthday. Another brother and his three daughters were able to come also.

Cousin Ava (with her first grown-up tooth!) and John enjoying chocolate cake.

For his birthday, Mike was overjoyed to have his guitar restrung and to receive a new case!

Extrapolation

Yesterday we drove past a school with children milling around outside it.

John asked, "What is that?"

I answered, "A school."

John: "That's where kids have schooltime with their mamas!"

Not Enough Food

I'm soon going to be imitating my mother when I was a child, saying with exasperation at me at the dinner table, "There are starving children in China!" (India, Africa, etc. . . .).

Last night at bedtime prayers we asked John what he wanted to thank God for. He replied, "pillows and toys!" For the first time I taught a tiny lesson about poverty: "That's wonderful, John. Some children don't have pillows or toys." Then Chris told me how John had been looking at a calendar we have, mailed to us by Food for the Poor and containing many pictures of starving children. So I took the opportunity to ask John, "Remember that calendar you were playing with? With all the pictures of children?"

Our subsequent exchange went something like this:

K: "There are children who are very hungry in their tummies. They don't have enough food."

John: "They need to get food from their pantry!"

K: "They don't have pantries."

John: "They need to go to the grocery store!"

K: "They don't have grocery stores."

John: "They need to go to Wendy's!" (the fast food chain).

K: "They don't have Wendy's. You are very blessed to have a Wendy's and lots of food for your tummy."

John: "You are very blessed that God gave me to you!" (And that last line is cute because, for a while now, I've been telling John every so often, "I am so blessed/happy that God gave you to me!" and then I kiss him. I thought he wasn't registering it because he basically ignored me. But apparently he was listening carefully!)

It made me feel kind of choked up inside. John is gaining so much cognitive ability, soon he'll start to comprehend other children having less than him. And that's a good thing. It is important to us that he have some understanding of poverty, giving alms, having gratitude. But it is still sad to think of his innocence being shattered. And I felt very grateful to God to have a child who has no reason to comprehend there not being enough food for his tummy.

Homemaker's Work Shift

Nearly four years into my marriage and nearly three years into motherhood, I realized something interesting (to me) within the last couple of months: homemakers don't work a standard "shift" but work a shift more like two peaks.

In the last few years, I've really resented having to do morning duties and dinner duties. In the morning, I'm waking up, often after insomnia and/or bad rest due to a baby, I'm sleepy, I want to wake up slowly with my coffee, maybe read the paper, have a nice time. I certainly don't want to wake up to the rush of emptying the dishwasher, cooking breakfast, cleaning the kitchen, getting everyone dressed, making beds, and getting us where we need to go or starting our day. Then dinner time rolls around and I'd feel resentful about those duties. I'm tired. It's the "end" of my day (when do I get to "be off work"?), yet there is dinner to make, cranky kids to manage, a kitchen to clean, then the bedtime routine before I collapse into bed.

It occurred to me recently that I've been thinking like the corporate employee I was for about ten years before I married. I was used to thinking of my working day as 8:00 to 5:00, so my early mornings were my "own," as was my time after the work day ended. But some of a homemaker's biggest duties are the morning and dinnertime chores!

So for at least a month I've been thinking of my "work shift" (like a homemaker is ever really "off duty") as having a double peak. I wake up in the morning and it's time for a big push, then my day has a slow time in the early afternoon, then the evening is time for another big push. Realizing the double peak, I've decided that it is very important that I take advantage of the slow time in the early afternoon. If I keep being productive all day long then I'd never get any downtime and I'd feel exhausted and resentful. (I've realized that all those more experienced mothers were wise when telling me, "Rest when the baby rests!!!") So, for the last couple months I've been trying to lie down when the kids do: I lay down with them for their afternoon nap (which I've coordinated to be simultaneous), then I rest for 30-45 minutes. Then I get up and try to do something enjoyable while they're asleep, even if it's just eating my own lunch in peace or reading a book. I feel much more energized for the dinner push.

Coming from a couple of generations of feminist nonsense, it has taken me several years to come to this idea for how to have a better attitude about fulfilling some of my most basic homemaking duties. I thought I'd put aside my pride (at how long this has taken me) and share, in case it helps any other wives and mothers out there. I know I've been feeling a better attitude about it all for the last month!

Three-Year-Old in Training

Only a few months away from three years old, John's personality is blossoming. He is asking endless "what" questions, but not "why" questions, although I know those are coming. John is now sharing information back with us, on his way to being a typical little know-it-all three-year-old. He chatters all day long, so what I might hear from the backseat while I'm driving is something like this:

". . . . That is a race car. Daddy drove a race car. Race cars go fast, like vroom! Fire engines are fast. Fire engines are loud. They go woo-ah woo-ah! You have to cover your ears. And you cry a little. But then your mama says it's okay. And then it's okay. Space shuttles are loud too. Space shuttles lift off. Then there is fire. Fire is hot! You could get an ouchie. You should never touch the stove. You would need a Band-Aid. . . ."

And that is an example of what I hear most of the day, from about 6:30 a.m. till about 8:30 p.m., with a break for an afternoon nap and a couple of short television shows. It's tiring, but I love it too!

Artist and Engineer

On Wednesday John made paper bag animal puppets.

This is the bag he made when I was the "creative director." (He decided where to put all the green marker drawings, like the mouth, cheeks, and forehead.)

This is the bag he created when he was the creative director!

I was impressed in the evening when John engineered a ramp out of Duplo for his taxi cab. Chris had shown him once and John remembered how to build it. He has to use exactly the right number of the right size of Duplo blocks, a certain number of rows in from the edge, then turn it upside down against the stair step. Then the taxi cab can zoom down the ramp and across the room.

And this is a photo of yet one more reason why I don't like to take the trash to the curb when Chris is out of town on Wednesdays. We have the biggest, weirdest bugs here in the humid South!

Apple Pie

Today I baked an apple pie (an idea leftover from last week's study of the letter 'A' and reading a book about apple pies). I have baked an apple pie once or twice per year since I was about ten years old. They've needed a lot of improvement and I think today's pie was the first one I'd call good! The crust was not burned, the apples were not soupy, nor were they too raw. Next: get the spice mix more perfect and the crust more golden!

While I cooked dinner, Chris colored with the kids and Mary got to try her hand at it for the first time.

In the evening, I went alone to the vigil in anticipation of the latest 40 Days of Life campaign. I've left Mary with Chris a couple of times, but this was the first time in the evening, which perhaps explains why I felt really disturbed. I was quite distressed and almost turned my car around! I felt so strongly that something (somebody) was missing, I kept checking my outfit to make sure I'd gotten fully dressed. Anyway, it was an enjoyable 90 minutes alone, I feel inspired and encouraged about the upcoming pro-life campaign, and Mary did well with her daddy.

Preschool Curriculum Week Three

I have found it so interesting to observe which preschool activities are big hits with John and which don't hold his interest. Learning about astronauts last week thrilled him and he's enjoyed watching real videos on the Internet, as well as a few scenes from Apollo 13.

One of John's favorites that he requests is to play the matching game with Trader Joe's alphabet cookies. He won't eat them without my getting the puzzle so he can match! When we began this little preschooling a few weeks ago, John couldn't recognize any letters and I quickly thought that this experiment was too academic, that I should focus on more "life skills" (a la Montessori)--you know, the boy is only two! That probably holds true still, but I was startled to see after a week or so, suddenly John started to recognize letters all over the place! Below is a photo of just a few of the letters John matched today; he matched many more and identified some by name too. Yesterday he even noticed a letter on a sign while we were driving. That's pretty fun for me! Also, John has begun rhyming when he invents songs.

Nonetheless, I think I'll cut some things in order to add in some more of his current passions: calendars and maps! That's my goal for when I design next week's curriculum for the letter 'C'.

Week Three (9/21-25/09): Letter “B”

Language Arts

The sound this letter stands for is - /b/ as in banana.

Theme words - banana, bird, bus, bumblebee (coloring pictures printed out)

Sign Language - Teach the sign for the letter B (ASL Alphabet Coloring Pages)

Poetry and Rhymes:

"Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" a nursery rhyme (Mother Goose)

“Bye, baby bunting” (Mother Goose)

“Betty Botter bought some butter” (Mother Goose)

Books to read aloud:

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

The Berenstains' B Book (requested from Library)

B is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC by June Sobel (requested from library)

Music

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (lyrics printed)

Snacks

Bake banana bread, bread and butter, bagels, blueberries

Religion

Tell story of The Tower of Babel
Bravery

Science

Color - blue (play “I Spy” for blue things around the house or on a walk or driving in the car)

Social Studies & Field Trip

Talk about what goes on in a bakery (while we’re baking banana bread?), then visit the bakery when we’re at the grocery store.

Sport/Game

Blow bubbles.

Montessori

Introduce the Geometric solids
http://www.joymontessori.net/2007/04/sensorial-geometric-solids.html

Disaster Averted

I allowed John to eat his fish sticks for lunch using toothpicks, as toothpicks make any eating more fun. In the midst of lunch, Mary had a potty situation that required attention, so I walked into the bathroom right next to the kitchen, within earshot of John. Everything sounded fine and then I ushered the kids upstairs for naps. Only later did Chris discover and show me what John did with those toothpicks. Glad they weren't metal.

Women's Society Luncheon

I'm only peripherally involved in our parish's women's society, but yesterday was its annual luncheon, which I attended.

I took Mary with me. My sweet, easy baby fell asleep in the car and let me transfer her into a stroller and kept sleeping. It was yet one more moment when I remarked to myself how that never happened with John!

When I came home, I walked in to find a Playdough creation waiting for me. Chris had done quite the little "home school" activity with John: They changed the mouth expressions and talked about what it means to be happy and to be sad and what things make us happy and sad. John even created little tears for his sad face!

Playing Communion

One gets to control almost everything about one's firstborn, but not so with the later children, I've been told by many moms. So, I posted on the blog recently about how John has begun playing priest. This morning, it occurred to him to play Communion, so he began feeding me cereal, pretending he was giving me Communion. He would say, "Get on your knees, Mama." Very cute. (Especially cute since we're at a Novus Ordo parish in which Chris and I are almost the only people who receive Communion while kneeling and on the tongue. That is John's model!)

I was working in the kitchen when I heard John shout with glee from the den, "Mary did it! Mary did it!" I rushed in there with a bad feeling. He had fed my mere 10-month-old shredded wheat, playing Communion with her! Thank God, my baby girl--who has no tongue tie or texture aversions like her big brother--did not choke on the big bite of hard, choking food. She was happily chewing and swallowing it when I rushed it!

First Official Step for Mary

Mary took her first official step today, quite a few times! We have no photos, but at least a half dozen times today she took one step all by herself. This led me to look back in blog archives to learn when John took his first step.

John: 10 months 6 days

Mary: 10 months 7 days

Wow! So close to each other in age! In other interesting (to me) comparisons: John was born at 37 weeks 1 day, and Mary was born at 38 weeks 2 days, but two pounds and two inches bigger. She currently weighs about two pounds bigger still than John did at ten months old.

Mama goofing around with John today.

Playing Priest

I know my Catholic mom friends will know how my heart was warmed to see my firstborn son "playing priest" for the first time this morning. He was eating yogurt-covered raisins and kept saying, "I am a priest." I asked him what he meant and he knelt and lifted the raisin "host" over his head in consecration. So cute!

And later, out of the blue, he told me, "We do this when the priest walks by," and he bowed slightly. Chris and I bow slightly every time the priest passes in procession and recession, and apparently John has noticed! He also told me, "We do this," and made the triple sign of the cross for when the Gospel is about to be read. I love that he is reaching this age of observation and increased reason!

Want a brain workout for the day? This morning John asked me what it mean to be "in orbit" (which led to "what is planet Earth?") and what it means to "be modest." Try explaining those concepts to a child two years and nine months old! Certainly challenges my brain.

Two Masses Today

Two Masses in one day! Today was busy. Wednesdays are always busy because I have to get both kids out the door by 7:50 for John's occupational therapy appointment. Right now driving anywhere requires more time because John goes potty right before we leave, right when we get there, as we're leaving there, and as soon as we get home.


After OT, we drove straight to the cathedral downtown for a special Mass being given by Bishop Jugis for local homeschoolers. It was a 45-minute drive and John needed to use the potty when leaving the OT's office, twice more along the drive, and as soon as we parked at the cathedral. It was a hassle, but when one's potty training two-year-old says from the back seat, "Mama, I have a feeling in my body!" one is simply grateful to be pulling over somewhere instead of changing another pair of wet pants.

We were late to the Mass, so I arrived feeling harried. The Mass was a really neat experience because it was full of mothers (and a couple of fathers) and a tremendous number of children. Little ones far outnumbered adults. This made for a loud Mass. Now, these children happened to be a subset of Catholic children far-better behaved than most, but even with well-behaved older kids, the sounds of so many scootching bottoms, toddlers, and babies squealing makes for a din of noise. For once, I felt comfortable just staying in the Mass with my own children's small noises. It had me thinking that maybe this is how Mass used to be for century after century until the prior century's acceptance of contraception and the disgusting ideas of "population control," such that now we have antiseptic Masses with very few children and the remaining adults think that any children who happen to be there need to be silent, no matter how young. It's very sad. I loved the feeling today of a Mass burgeoning with life, and the Bishop was utterly calm and perfectly capable of talking over us.

In the afternoon, John did some school. We had talked a lot about what a bishop is on the way to Mass, so when we got home, we looked up "bishop" in our children's Catholic picture dictionary. We read a book about colors, which John seems to be recognizing much more consistently now. Then we read a book about astronauts, which led to so many interesting discussions trying to define vocabulary at a two-year-old's level (gravity, mission, space shuttle, and outer space were some of the concepts John asked me about)! Later we went online to the NASA television website to watch some videos of shuttles taking off and landing.


That endeavor led to interesting explanations of computer lingo. John was asking specific questions about the mouse icon when it is a pointing finger, when it is an hourglass, what is happening when a video is downloading or the computer freezes. John has long been interested in working the computer and can do more than I give him credit for, but I always shoo him away from the computer. I'm wondering if I can/should start actually allowing him to type, what a mouse is, how to "click," and so forth. I've certainly heard of two- and three-year-olds who can use computers!


Also, I talked through the first part of the story of Adam and Eve, which is as much as I could get through while holding John's attention. We were looking at an illustration of the Garden of Eve and John asked what the volcano was, so that led to an interesting explanation.

I introduced the Montessori geometric solids. I simply let John manipulate all of them and he would imitate me running my hands all over them. I didn't give them names yet, but John and I discoursed about their different properties. He pointed out quickly that round shapes could roll, but the shapes with sharp edges just "tumbled." It was actually really neat to watch his mind working.

All in all, I think we covered religion, computer science, geometry, natural science, and art.

[Edit: I published this post without finishing my story!] In the evening, we went to a second Mass, this time as a family. Our parish has been building a new church for about a year and it was rumored that we had our certificate of occupancy, making that night's Latin Mass the first Mass to be in the new church. So we showed up for it, but, alas, the C of O had not been procured, so we attended Mass in the cafeteria-turned-church, as usual. It's always a good thing to attend a Mass, but you can imagine it was a "bit" tiring to go through the rigamarole of two tiny tots in Mass twice in one day. Mary is just getting to a tough age, with lots of angry screaming because I hold her instead of allowing her to play.

It was a busy, good day!

Good Literature at Any Age

This morning when I was parking the van in front of some one's house, a dog in their front yard began barking at us. Without hesitation and with perfect pronunciation, John (2-3/4) recited:

"Hark, hark, the dogs do bark.
The beggars are coming to town.
Some in jags and some in rags,
And some in velvet gown."

Then he added, by way of explanation to me, "There was a dog barking."

I know I'm making certain parenting mistakes right and left, but it made me happy to know that John has very few popular references, but he knows obscure nursery rhymes.

Mary at 10 Months

Mary turned ten months old yesterday and is chubby and full of health. Praise God! And thank God for mama's milk! We are incredibly blessed and she is a joy.

Play Date

Today we enjoyed a visit from Wendy and her youngest son. The kids had a lot of fun playing with him.

If you can believe it, that big boy is only 14 months old!

Mary held her own, getting right in there with the big kids.

Exaltation of the Cross

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, so John made a cross!

Kids in a Box

Growing Up

As John comes to slowly understand time, he is beginning to understand age. When he sees baby photos of himself, he says, "That was me when I was born!" He understands that Mary can't or isn't allowed to do certain things because she is a baby instead of a big kid and the same is true for John because he is a little boy instead of a grown-up.

Yesterday he said something cute to his dad: "You're not a little boy! You're a daddy! Someday you will grow up to be me." (Then correcting himself . . .) "I will grow up to be you. When I grow up I will be a daddy and I will use a screwdriver to fix my Jeep!"

I don't know whether the joy of procreating life with God or using a real screwdriver holds more appeal for a two-year-old. Well, yes, I do know!

Didn't Sound Good

I knew it probably wasn't good when I heard from the pantry, "I'm making chocolate milk, Mama!"

It could have been much worse. John had found the unsweetened cocoa powder and a straw, and had stuck the straw into the powder and was sucking it up dry into his mouth to eat it. (Of course, also spilling it on the ground.) This kid won't drink any cow's milk (or goat or soy or almond . . .), but he'll eat chocolate "milk" dry!

Preschool Curriculum Week Two

We're almost done with our first week of home-preschool. My biggest lesson I'm learning so far is that it seems to be working best for me and John (who, I must remember is still two years old, not even three) to squeeze in lessons where they fit and in casual settings. This needs to be fun for all involved! Therefore, with my below curriculum, I am considering it as a list of ideas to keep in mind. I will try to check off most of the ideas throughout the week, but many of these things can be done on the fly or in different locations. Reading can be done anytime, anywhere around the house. Food-related crafts and activities can be done when snack time would be happening anyway. I'm due to buy cat food anyway, so there is our "field trip" to see an aquarium. Songs can be sung in the car, on walks, wherever. The other thing I'm realizing is that this looks like a lot, but most of these "lessons" can be extremely short. Reading a book takes five minutes. We can crab walk around the living room for as short or as long as we want. This is a fun experiment.


Week Two (9/14-18/09): Letter “A”

http://www.letteroftheweek.com/letterA.html


Language Arts


The sound this letter stands for is the short vowel sound - /a/ as in apple.

Theme words - printed out coloring pages for apple, ant, ambulance


Sign Language - teach the ASL sign for the Letter A


Books and Poetry:

Ten Apples up on Top! by Dr. Seuss (requested from library)The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall (requested from library)
"Apple Song" by Frances Frost
"Applesauce" by Martha T. Lyon
“Ten Red Apples” by Author Unknown


Music

The Ants Go Marching (idea: sing while marching around the yard)

Snacks


Apples (try sprinkling with sugar & cinnamon to see if John will eat them), animal crackers (do simple math exercise with crackers: see below)

Religion


Monday: Feast day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (idea: color a cross, mount it on a stick, march around exalting a crucifix, like at Mass)

Tuesday: Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (maybe go to Mass)


Read story of Adam and Eve (“Bible Stories for Little Children” pp. 5-9; various children’s Bibles)


Math


Addition on an abacus - If you have an abacus this could be fun. If not you can use animal crackers or some other manipulatives and teach simple addition such as 1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 1 = 3, 3 + 1 = 4, 4 + 1 = 5, 2 + 2 = 4, 2 + 3 = 5. ( If your child is ready you could add up to 10 or more)


Social Studies

Talk about the job of an Astronaut.

“I want to be an astronaut” by Byron Barton.(requested from library)

Art Project


Animal Paper Bag Puppet

Supplies: paper bag, construction paper, crayons, scissors, glue

Choose your favorite animal to draw on the bag. Use construction paper to add ears, whiskers, etc. Color the puppet. Have a puppet show.

Sport/Game/Activity


Do animal walks (e.g., crab walk)

Field Trip


Visit a pet store to see aquariums (to do: buy cat food and litter).

Montessori activities


Introduce the Montessori Color Tablets (got paint chips at paint store; need to organize)

http://homepage.mac.com/montessoriworld/mwei/sensory/scolortb.html

Packers

For the last few days, John has been asking me, "When are the packers coming back?" This was a mystifying question.

Today he asked me again while on our walk and, again, I told him that I didn't know what packers were.

John: "Packers! They have beaks." (He signed BIRD.) "And they go like this on trees." (Envision a two-year-old flailing his head like he is in a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert.)

Mama: "Oh! Woodpeckers!"

Coloring Letters

Today I offered John that he could color in some print-outs of the letters spelling his name. I figured he'd just scribble wildly all over the page. He doesn't yet understand "coloring something in." I was so surprised to see that John spontaneously traced the inside the letters, in a manner of speaking.

Then John got to practice cutting, which is a favorite activity. He concentrates so hard: he either purses his lips or he opens them wide like a lady putting on mascara.

Where was Mary all the while? Sleeping on Mama's back!

In the late afternoon I took the kids for a walk in our new tandem stroller! I bought one months ago and ended up returning it because I didn't like some of the features. All this time I've continued to look in the market. Today I was buying diapers when I discovered a floor model on major clearance because the new model had arrived in: nothing had changed with the new model but the color! I think I found a real winner. This is a beast of a stroller, but I don't use a tandem stroller in the car, out and about. I just carry an umbrella stroller and use it rarely. The tandem stroller will be for walks in the neighborhood. It accommodates such a long stride that someone six feet tall would have room to spare. The wheels swivel. Steering is so easy that I was walking through the neighborhood, steering with one hand, talking on my cell phone with the other. The seats move into all positions: each forward-facing, each rear-facing, and facing each other, plus they each recline. I think this will serve these and future kids (God willing!) well!

Teaching Manners

Lately names have become important to John. He is learning that people have names. Yesterday when we went to buy the van, John kept asking me the name of the seller: "But what is his name, Mama?" Now he asks me about strangers in public, what the name of that person on the street is.

So today I was at Babies R Us and a clerk helped us with something. Then we went to our van and were driving out when John saw that same clerk outside the store. He asked me, "What is that man's name?" I answered, "I don't know his name, honey." John said, "I think his name is Gentleman." I asked him to say it again and he did, just as clearly.

That is funny because I make an effort to say "lady" and "gentleman" when speaking of strangers instead of "that guy" as is my bad habit and typical of my generation. If we're in a store, I'll try to say to John, "I'm going to ask that gentleman for help." Apparently my efforts in this little area are rubbing off!

Our New (Used) Van

We bought a new-to-us minivan!

I am so thankful to my husband for our ("my") new van! Yesterday, we bought a 2004 model van to replace our older 1998 van.

Some of our friends know that we've gotten on board with Dave Ramsey and we like the idea of buying cars in cash (well, we like the idea of not acquiring debt for an asset that depreciates quickly), which means buying only so much as one can afford. When we got married, we were upside down on two car loans, so we got rid of those and borrowed an old car that had a little bit of life left in it (thanks Grandmom and Pop-Pop!) till we could save up a little bit of cash for an old car. (That first old car we bought ourselves was so rickety that once when I was out shopping at seven months pregnant, the driver's door got stuck shut and the only way for me to get back in was to climb through the passenger side door, a procedure that took me about 15 minutes. I think Chris was out of town, which is why he couldn't help me.)

Then we kept saving, sold our old car, and bought a slightly less old car. We did that a few more times till we bought our '98 model van right before John was born. Three more years of saving and now we were able to buy an '04 model (and now we can sell our old van).

Praise God for this blessing and thanks to my husband for my new ride!

On another note: John will remember yesterday as The Day He Discovered that Ants Bite. In California where I grew up, kids knocked over ant piles for fun because I don't recall that any ants bit, but here in the South children are taught never to go near ant piles. Yesterday I was occupying the children while Chris worked out the purchase of the van and we went to look at a parked cherry picker. I looked down at John, holding my hand, and saw that he was standing in an ant pile and now the angry ants were swarming up to his knees. I began screaming, causing him to begin screaming, and I dragged him away and began swatting at his legs. Ultimately, he got only three bites (which show up as angry red welts for my blissfully naive West Coast friends), but it could have been much worse. Then we went and found Daddy so John could say, "We found scary ants!"

"Curious George," Starring John

This morning as I was making the bed and John was walking in circles throughout the room, he burst forth with this story, spoken clearly and without halting.

"Once there was a little monkey named Curious George. He was a good little monkey. But he was always very curious. One day Curious George had a feeling in his body. He ran to the potty. He went pee-pee in the potty! The man in the yellow hat was so proud of him. And he got a dump truck."

(A dump truck was the latest Matchbox car John picked out as a prize for his big accomplishment.)

I am fascinated to see that John can now cast himself inside another story, imagining himself as Curious George and his parent as The Man With the Yellow Hat. The child's brain develops in leaps and bounds!

If You're Happy and You Know It

John loves the above video . . .


. . . and now sings the song.

Five Little Ducks

John has been requesting the below video of "Five Little Ducks" way more often than he is ever going to be allowed to watch it and Mary has fallen in love with her first television media. She smiles, laughs, and "dances" when it comes on. It really is rather cute, but maybe not so much when we've seen it dozens and dozens and dozens of times . . .

Second Day of Preschool

Today was our second semi-official day of preschool and, again, it didn't look exactly like I'd planned. I was operating on fewer than five hours of broken sleep (thanks, insomnia) and had been awake since about 4:00 a.m. (thanks, Mary), plus the baby and I are sick, so she was a real crab. I, on the other hand, was positively cheerful (not--Chris can testify to that!).

Today was the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady (Mary's birthday!) and I decided to take the kids to Mass. I felt sort of conflicted, but then I thought, this is what homeschooling is all about! Anyone could teach my children their ABCs, but because I "stay home" and they "stay home," I can take them out for experiences like Mass and following the liturgical calendar.

I was driving to the church for nine o'clock Mass--harried, having gathered up all the extra things one needs when leaving the house with a child in early potty training, myself only barely "put together"--and I was wondering, disappointed, how can I have been awake for nearly five hours and it still was very hard to get ready and to Mass on time. God sent a nice older lady to say just what I needed to hear. As I was walking the children in from the parking lot, this lady said to me, "It takes a lot to get two children together for Mass!" I said, "Thank you! It really is hard." She replied, "I did it for years." It turns out that she raised eight children. So, she knows how hard it is and she validated my feelings and gave me encouragement when I needed it.

Also, John did so great at Mass. He made the sign of the cross in the holy water, then spent much of Mass quietly practicing his genuflecting right at the edge of the pew. When we had to leave because Mary was fussy, John quietly sorted holy cards in the vestibule. At the Gospel, John made the triple cross on his forehead, mouth, and chest--something he must have learned by osmosis. Then when we went up for me to receive Communion, for the first time John knelt while I was kneeling.

Here you can see John matching a 'G' cookie to the puzzle while I put away groceries.

Later we took a walk on which we chatted about innumerable subjects interesting to boys (like whether those two dog droppings in the grass were from one or two doggies) and sang for the world to hear. (But John is singing shyly in the below video.)

John has already figured out how to operate my iPhone, unlocking it, opening up the camera to take a picture, rearrange the icons, and today he wrote this email from my iPhone:

To: "xyt@tty" xyt@tty

&54Bnnnnn]~[[=]

TykeudopwLopytsSent from my iPhones
A
QuputffdfghgfsdAaaaaaaasanspsprewwsj

We baked cupcakes to celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mother's birth. Unfortunately, they were prettier than they were tasty.

Mary did not get to eat any cupcake, but she did lunge after them. John ate only the top.

Apparently it did make an impression on John that I took him to Mass to celebrate the Virgin Mary's birthday and we baked cupcakes (and say "Happy Birthday" and "Immaculate Mary"). He snuck off quietly and when I walked in on him, he announced happily that he was painting a picture of the Virgin Mary on the extra refrigerator in the laundry room . . . with the cat's bowl of water. Do you know what kind of germs are in the water?!

First Day of Home-Preschool

John, standing ready for "school" with his backpack (stocked with two chopsticks he found), bare bottomed because of his current potty training.

Mama reading Curious George Learns His ABCs to John, who found a use for those chopsticks: pointing at the letters.

The first official day of home-preschool didn't go as picture perfect as I had envisioned, but it was good and I'm already learning some lessons. Our day was altered because I woke up sick (again or a resurgence of last week's illness), I had two errands to do, and the first three hours of John's morning were spent with me giving undivided attention on a potty training matter. I'll spare you the details, but by the end John made a big accomplishment and was proud of himself.

Therefore, my organized day wasn't exactly how I envisioned it, but that is a lesson about how homeschooling fits real life. We did spend about 15 minutes reading alphabet books and then John brought me some other books and puzzles to do together. Later I was working in the kitchen and had John play a matching game using Trader Joe's alphabet cookies and an alphabet puzzle. When he matched a letter, he got to eat the cookie. We did that for about 10 minutes, multitasking with me working in the kitchen, John eating a snack he was going to eat anyway, and homeschooling.

It will be interesting to get an idea of what is age appropriate, as I don't know. I noticed quickly that John had no ability to match letters if given the entire 26 letters from which to choose, the same way I imagine I'd see lines swimming if I tried to look at the Chinese alphabet of characters. He can match with some success if I hover the alphabet cookie over three choices on the puzzle, very slowly. I noticed that he has age-typical dyslexia in that, for example, when shown an 'L', he'll match it to a 'J,' or he'll match an 'M' to a 'W.' All very normal.

I'd like to put in more time reading about how the Montessori Method teaches letters, reading, and writing. It teaches children shapes first, which makes sense since they have to be able to discern shapes before they can discern letters (which are 2-D shapes). I just ordered a set of Montessori geometric solids and I look forward someday to buying some sandpaper letters.