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October 24, 2005
Zeke can read and spell his own name now. It's the only word he can read and spell, but he's pretty good at it! Sometimes when I'm reading him a story, I'll point to a word in a passage we've just read, and ask him what it is, and he often guesses which word I've chosen. I think I must be subconsciously picking the words that I've also emphasized vocally, or something, because if I pick a book off the shelf that we haven't read for awhile, and point to a word in it, he has pretty much a 0% success rate identifying words that way. Not that I care; I only tried that once or twice to see if he was really reading or not. I figure he's only three and a half and there's no need to be pushy about it.
In other Zeke news, he helped me make roasted pumpkin seeds today. I let him pour in the melted butter, measure the chili powder and dump it in, and stir. It took quite a bit of persuasion to get him to actually try one when they were done -- he said they looked too spicy -- but when I finally coaxed him into eating one ("Zeke! You helped make those with Mommy! Don't you want to know what they taste like?") he finished off the whole bowl.
Posted by Jan at 3:59 PM | Comments (0)
Zeke and Stazi currently share a room, because that is our only option, unless we converted our office into a bedroom, and that is not happening, because then where would our computers, desks, and 57 metric tons of crap get stored? The room-sharing is working out more or less okay so far, but I think when we move into the new house, we're going to give them each their own bedroom.
This is partly because they're eventually going to get their own rooms anyway, as Keith and I both feel it's important to have gender-separated bedrooms once the kids get to a certain age, but partly just because it will be a lot easier on us at bedtime. Last night, for example, Zeke was in bed, drifting off to sleep curled up around his 15 books as is usual for him, when Stazi decided it was time to go play. She went into their room, got the cup of water from his nightstand, and promptly dumped it all over the floor. This, needless to say, caused Major Trauma and it took like half an hour to get Zeke re-settled and the floor dried off and so forth.
I'm not saying stuff like this will not happen if they have their own rooms, but I think it would be a little easier to avoid.
In other news, I bought Stazi her very first toothbrush, this morning. So that will be interesting at bedtime tonight. Zeke's been regularly brushing his teeth for a little while now, but it's kind of new to Stazi. I think you're supposed to start when they're babies and use a soft cloth to wipe their gums and then graduate to a small toothbrush, but we've been a little lax in that area. But! Tonight, the entire family will brush their teeth! Whether they like it or not!
Actually, Zeke loves brushing his teeth. We have that toddler-safe non-flouridated toothpaste that tastes like candy, and he brushes his teeth for like 30 seconds, spits, and then gives me this toothy little grin to show off his handiwork. It is the cute.
Posted by Jan at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2005
Ways my life has changed since becoming a parent, #489
Any time I hear a car screech on its brakes, no matter where I am or what time of night it is, I do a quick mental check of where my children are at, to make sure there's no possibility that they were out in the street when it happened.
"Ah, yes, we're all at home and in bed sound asleep, all systems nominal." zzzzzzz
Posted by Jan at 1:20 AM | Comments (1)