Lex read the comics today and then decided to do the crossword puzzle. He got it all folded up, found a pen, and said, “I just need a little help from you mom. Will you tell me the answers?” :) So he read me the clues and I did my best to tell him the answers. I love that boy!
He tried so hard to write small.
I love his writing. It's so cute!
While I was making dinner tonight Lex decided to do some drawing. He got out his paper and new twistable colored pencils (which he LOVES!) and said, “I’m going to draw a picture of something I see.” He looked around for a minute, came over to me and told me that a map of your house is called a plan (knowledge gleaned from the book “There’s a map on my lap,” which they both love!), then said he was going to draw a plan of the kitchen. After a bit Alan came in and said “He’s doing perspective drawing!” and I replied, “Yep, and just because he wants to.” Amazing.
The artist at work. He even let me take his picture!
Plan of the kitchen, with "stove," "frige," and "cabanets" written out. The gray box is the sink.
He asked if we could hang it right there and I couldn't say no. Interestingly, if you look close you'll see he has the plan laid out correctly, except it's reversed from the actual kitchen.
On Thursday I volunteered to be a monitor on the bike path for the “bike/walk to school” day. Did I mention this? I’m sure I have. We all hurried down the hill and Eve and I stood on the path for half an hour watching kids go by, while Alan walked to school with Lex. Thursday afternoon when he got off the bus, Lex asked me, “Mom, how did you do today?” I said “With what?” and he said “With watching the kids on the bike path this morning.” It was so sweet because this is the first time I remember him ever asking about my day. He tells me about his day all the time, but I don’t think he’s ever asked me about my day. So sweet!
Isn't he handsome? Even with the pouty face. I was following him around all afternoon with the camera, despite his protests.
While we were out riding bikes this afternoon Lex asked me, “Mom, how did the first person come after the dinosaurs if there wasn’t a person’s belly for them to come out of?” Deep questions for an afternoon bike ride! I told him that I would happily explain when we got back to the house. He remembered the question and when we got back he crawled in my lap and asked me again. I explained about the theories of evolution and creationism, and what “theory” means. I told him there are two common theories and some people believe one while others believe the other. When I finished he said, “I think I believe in science.” I never linked one or the other to science, so I asked him which one he thought was science and he said evolution. Mind blowing! He amazes me.
Later, while eating dinner, he asked me why some children are born with autism. I explained as best I could. Then he asked me “Why is the man at school so fat?” Turns out their custodian is extremely overweight, which led us to a long conversation about fat. Personally I’m wondering why the custodians office is always just outside the little boy’s bathroom. Hmm… Anyway, we had a long chat about why people are fat and whether it’s ok to call them “fatso.” Apparently that’s a word he picked up from Encyclopedia Brown. Thanks! :) This conversation hit close to home because I’m feeling fatter and fatter by the day. Damn stress eating! Ahem, but this is not about me, it’s about my extremely bright son and how I hope he does not call his custodian “fatso.” I told him that’s not a nice thing to say and will hurt the man’s feelings. He told me he doesn’t know the custodian and therefore won’t talk to him anyway. I guess only time will tell how this plays out.
In the meantime, here are some more pictures of our afternoon.
Eve was singing happily and doing a puzzle, until she saw me with the camera. Then I got this face.
Silly on the swings
This sunflower stalk broke and the flower fell. It was fun to show the kids the seeds and see them understand the link between the flowers and the sunflower seeds they like to eat.
"MOM! Please don't take a picture of me!"
I think fall is coming. See the trees already turning and the leaves on the ground?
I was really pleased this morning when I dropped Lex off at school and his teacher gave me an unprompted progress report. As I was walking out the door she came over and told me that he has been doing really well in class. She said he participates in everything, including the singing (which he didn’t do in pre-k), and hasn’t had any bad behavior. She said yesterday they were doing a “jack be nimble” game and the kids were all jumping over blocks, but Lex (and another child) opted not to do the jumping part. She said he was very polite about it and waited patiently until the other kids were done. I have been hearing from him each day about how much he loves school and it was really nice to hear from the teacher as well. :)
I read a great blog post called Back to School: 6 Things Your Child’s Teacher Wants You to Know and it made me think that maybe his teacher is just shy. Not sure why I haven’t had this thought before. I figured she was just more concerned with the kids than with the parents, but perhaps she teaches kindergarten because she is more confident around 5yr olds. Perhaps. Either way, he likes her and likes the routines she has, and I am happy she reached out to me this morning.
I love Lex. Have I mentioned this lately? He has been telling me that he needs a better railroad crossing sign and some additional signage for his trains. I suggested perhaps we use clay and popsicle sticks to make some and he was thrilled! I love that he doesn’t want everything to be store bought or branded or just perfect. We got out the clay and he went to work. I was thinking a clay base, stick post, and paper sign, but Lex thought clay signs would be better. He also decided to make the base for the RR sign. “It looks like it’s secured in a slab of concrete!”
Railroad signs. He laughed when I ran out of room to write yield. :)
We did some painting today. Lex painted his signs (if you look closely you can see the silver bases in front of him), Eve painted acorns we gathered today, and I painted the ugly mirror we've had forever. I'm going to make it pretty and white and hang it in their room.
Yesterday we played Sorry. Eve quit early, I won the game, Alan came in second, and then Lex proceeded to draw cards until he got all of his players around the board. Alan and I came and went and Lex persisted. When he finished he jumped up and excitedly yelled, “I came in third!!!” He’s so funny!!
He's going the distance...
Lex also will smile for a camera now. That makes me sooooooo happy! So happy I don’t have to take pictures of the back of his head or be superman quick with the camera. Now he’ll sit still and smile and sometimes he even suggests we take a picture! I love it! :)
Hugs at the dinner table.
Thursdays are walk/bike to school day in our district. With that in mind Alan and Lex set off to walk to school. Lex, Eve and I did the walk on Tuesday as well, but I underestimated the time (or underestimated how slow the kids walk!) and we were late for school, so Lex was a little nervous to try it again. They got out the door nice and early (and didn’t have Eve to slow them down) and made it to school right on time. We may try a family walk tomorrow. Leaving very early! :)
Today was the big day! Guess what?! He did awesome! He woke up this morning and announced that he would like to stay home with me today and go to school next week. :) After I explained that things don’t really work that way he decide to be excited for school. Did his morning routine, played, and happily got in the car when it was time to go. He got a bit nervous again when we got to school and he saw all the cars. “Mom, there really are a lot of people here today.” His feet started to drag as we got closer to the classroom, but once we got in he hung up his bag, said good morning to his teacher and answered her questions, and then went to play. No tears, no fuss. I had to go ask for a hug goodbye. It was awesome. I wonder how long it will last :)
First day of school lunch: peanut butter and homemade blueberry jam on homemade whole wheat bread, watermelon, pineapple sunshine muffins, and carrot sticks. His choice and he loved it!
I asked him several times if he would pose for a first day of school picture and each time he politely declined. I decided not to force the issue, so this is what we have instead. I'm pretty sure the girl next to him is his new friend.
Nothing like a good puzzle to start your morning off right!
I was super nervous about the bus, as you know, but I talked to the lady in the office this morning in charge of bus stuff and she (mostly) clarified things for me. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Eve and I went out at 3pm and the bus came, stopped, and dropped off Lex. Aaahhh… survived the first day! :) He apparently had a blast. He told me all the things he did and he had recess and lunch and even made a friend. He said over and over how much fun he had. He’s so sweet! He even asked if he can ride the bus in the morning too… which I’ll have to think about. This week we are sticking to the mommy drop-off routine.
He made it home, safe and sound! Whew!! Doesn't he look so tiny compared to the bus? :)
All the way up the street he kept telling me how much fun he had and how tired he was. I thought we could sit outside and watch the tree guys work, but he wanted nothing more than to go into his house and relax. Can't argue with that.
Lex decided he wanted to finish his lunch for afternoon snack. Works for me! Eve decided she wanted a bento box snack as well, so I threw a few things in her lunch box and she was thrilled.
We spent a lot of the afternoon watching the tree guys through the window. The kids didn't want to go outside (too noisy), but it was pretty cool to watch the work. They will be back tomorrow to finish the job and I'll post pics then.
I’m sure you’re all curious how our family meal plan is going. I’m sorry I’ve gotten lax with the daily updates, but really it’s not that exciting. The first week Eve, Alan, and I enjoyed tasty meals and Lex went to bed hungry. This ended in him waking up Saturday morning feeling very sick. He threw up some stomach bile and eventually was able to eat some food. I think maybe he realized that his stomach was too empty. The next week Eve, Alan, and I enjoyed tasty meals while Lex sat at the table with us (yay!) and ate carrots. I think maybe he also had some cucumbers and applesauce that week. Earlier this week he decided to branch out and try green peppers. The next night he tried yellow peppers and told me that if I bought corn on the cob he would try that too. He says, “I think I used to like corn on the cob when I was little.” Oh if only he ate everything he used to like when he was little! Tonight he ate corn on the cob and grapes for dinner. And three bowls of watermelon for snack! The fruit and veggies dinners seem silly, but he gets plenty of grains throughout the day (like a big bowl of oatmeal for lunch) and milk with two or three meals, so I think we’re doing ok. The key is he now sits with us, eats what he likes on the table, and doesn’t complain. It’s awesome!! :)
PS. He starts school in 12 days. Eek!
The first item is “coloring books” but he got too lazy to finish it. That’s how much he wants them! :)