John at four has now blossomed into recognizing his letters, starting to learn the sounds, and getting the concepts of sounding out words and spelling. I've long wondered how much he knew but he's such a perfectionist that he wouldn't "confess" to what he knew or didn't know. But he went from seeming to know none of his letters to knowing most of his letters almost overnight, which makes my suspicion more likely that he's long known more than he was letting on. Meanwhile, Mary has no problems guessing or learning and being wrong on her way to getting it right, so I know she already knows the names and sounds of about a half dozen letters. Of course, she has the benefit of mimicking her older brother and wanting to be just like him.
We bought our third car seat (at about one-third off!) and installed it in the van--check that off our to do list! Now John will sit in the third row while Mary and the baby are in the middle row. The kids had fun climbing all over the new seating arrangement in the van.Another item on our to do list in preparation for the baby's arrival was checked off today: my doula came for a visit today to reconnect with me and to discuss comfort measures for labor and any fears, hopes, goals, and so forth. That was a lovely visit.
We bought this tri-fold pad, which can serve as a portable mattress for guests or kids. The kids decided it made a great tumbling pad, at first jumping on it while it was folded in three and then spreading it out flat for the jump-and-somersault maneuver.
Katherine, as you know, we have the same van as you (and for those who don't know, my husband and I have 2 children close to Mary and John's age and we just had a baby girl this past Wednesday)...Today was my first outing alone in the car with all three children...Leo (age 3 1/2) was in the third row of the van for the first time. The kids were starting to get whiny, so I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get the boys bagels. I went through the Drive-Thru and realized I had a logistical problem...how was I to get Leo his bagel in the third row (my other two children are a newborn and a 2 year old, so not old enough to understand to pass Leo the bagel)...I didn't want to have to stop the car for fear the newborn would start crying, so I told Leo to put out his arms and to "catch the bagel" - shoot and score! I threw him the bagel and he caught it! Never something I dreamt I'd be doing as a parent, but hey, whatever works? :-) You look great, by the way. Can't wait to hear the news of your little one :-)
ReplyDeleteRebecca: That is so funny! Thanks for preparing me for a logistical problem I had not considered yet!
ReplyDeleteJust make sure John is good at buckling and unbuckling himself. That will help you a ton :-)
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