Old books

Grammy Lynn and Grampy Don gave us a huge box of books when the kids were young(er), books that were Alan and Amanda’s when they were kids.  It’s interesting reading them now.  Some are fun, some are classics and we have new copies of the exact same book, and others are just plain weird.  Many use the word “gay” in it’s original meaning, which is noteworthy only because no books use that word for that meaning today.  What made me think of this is last night I was reading Julius by Syd Hoff (author of Danny and the Dinosaur of which, at one point, we had four copies!).  The book is all about a man and boy who go to the jungle to find a gorilla for their zoo.  All the animals want to go to the zoo and are disappointed that only the gorilla is allowed to go.  Another book we have has a similar theme, something about elephants and they all want to go to the zoo.  I don’t think they write books like that anymore, do that?  These days it seems like zoos are an evil necessity, not a glamorous place where the animals all want to live.  The original Curious George is written such that George is living happily in the jungle, eating his bananas, and then the Man With The Yellow Hat “rescues” him from his normal life and brings him to a zoo.  Like this is a good thing.  Weird.

There are a few books that I have gotten rid of because I don’t like the general message, including “What Mommy Does” and “What Daddy Does.”  I laughed though, because a few days after getting rid of those two books I read a blog where the lady was talking about how much she loves these books and how important it is to teach these things.  Perhaps kids can just observe what mommies and daddies do these days, because a lot has changed since the writing of those books (even in our relatively traditional house)!  It’s fun to see how the content of kids books has changed through the years.

We got the bookshelf painted and put into the kids room so last night we went through the books and sorted them and put them on the shelf.  We have a lot of books!  I’m going to cull out a few more when the kids aren’t around (just the broken, missing pages, falling apart ones) but they like to cling to every single page, whether it’s attached to a book or not, so I have to do my collection trimming when they aren’t around.  Shhh….. ;)

Soon we’ll be getting out the holiday books too.  Yay!

On a completely different note, Alan and I are going out tonight.  I’m excited.  We’ve got a babysitter for the first time in awhile and we’re going to dinner and to see Red.  I hope it’s a good movie!  The previews look funny.

Reading is awesome!

Lex
Lex can read. Really, seriously read. Have I mentioned this lately? I tend to take it for granted since he’s been reading for years (what 5yr old hasn’t?!?) but every now and then it really strikes me. Like yesterday when he told me that saliva is another name for spit. “I read that in The Encyclopedia of the Human Body!” he tells me. Or this morning when he sat on the couch for quite awhile reading a Raggedy Ann book, a 93 page chapter book with very few pictures. He whizzed right through it. A few days ago we were sitting on the couch together and he was reading a Magic Tree House book while I waited for Eve to pick out a book for me to read to her. I started reading over his shoulder and I was barely finishing pages before he was turning them. Mind blowing! At lunch today he informed me that he is not color blind and that his tongue was playing tricks on his brain. He then gave me lots of details about color blindness and taste buds. Separate thoughts, of course. Awhile ago he stopped reading in the car and it was pure torture. I’ve always considered him a great traveler and it only sort of occurred to me that it’s because he reads. When he stopped reading in the car he whined and complained the whole way to my parents house. Fortunately we figured out the problem and he’s reading again. Whew!

The only down side to this is I have to be careful of the content he reads. I was going to buy him some books at a yard sale last weekend, but they are aimed at 5th and 6th graders and seemed to have some ideas that I don’t want him to have yet. Along the lines of school bullying, teasing, harassing the teacher, etc. Things that might be funny for 12yr olds, but I’m not ready for him to have that exposure yet.

I’m just so proud of him lately. He has been overcoming his fears and accomplishing some big things lately. Sitting at the table, eating a few things, learning to wipe himself, wiggling that tooth until it came out… all things that don’t seem monumental, but to him I know they are. He even asked me today what we’re having for dinner.  I told him and he said, “Don’t forget the carrots.  They are my favorite!” :)  He worked (and continues to work) hard and I’m so proud of him. I love the boy he is growing into.

Here are a few pics from our week…

Eve pouting

Eve pouting, playfully, at Walgreens

blueberry field

Our own piece of heaven, our new favorite blueberry patch.

Lex waving

"C'mon mom!" he calls to me.

Blueberry Eve

Happy Blueberry Eve

Eve checks out the hair dryer

Eve checks out the hair dryer while...

Lex gets a haircut

Lex gets a much needed haircut.

Climbing boy

Climbing boy

Climbing girl

"I can do it. I'm very strong!" she encourages herself, all the way up and back down.

Rockets in your pockets

Lex filled his pockets with rocks, with Eve's help, and then happily told me "Mom, I have rockets in my pockets!" He is big into rhyming these days :)

Rocks by the track

Those rocks, as well as a few we painted eons ago, made their way into the elaborate train setup covering my living room floor.

Bear hugs

We went to the science museum this morning and ended up taking a walk on the nature trails. It was fun.

Reading

The fact that Lex can read is funny sometimes.  Here is a situation that often occurs… When we leave him with someone new (teacher, babysitter, etc.) we tell them that he can read and that he settles himself with books.  They nod and say ok.  Sometimes I try to emphasize that he really CAN read, but other times I just say it and move on.  Invariably, when we get home the person says, “He can READ!”  :)  We always laugh and say, yes, we told you he can read.  I don’t think people really get it until they hear him read.  Sometimes I wonder if people think we are exaggerating, or just don’t fully grasp the idea, or what, but it’s funny how impressed people are when they actually see it!

This post was prompted by the reaction from our new babysitter.  Our old (and only) sitter went away to college a few weeks ago so we had to find a new one.  Always a scary process, for me.  Luckily the kids are awesome!  They were pretty obnoxious for Alan and I today (overtired from yesterday) but apparently put on their A-game for her tonight.  At dinner Lex was flipping through a magazine and apparently read something that shocked her.  She said she figured he could recognize words, but was amazed to hear him sounding out big words.  I think her example was “vinaigrette.” That’s a big word to hear a little boy sound out :)