Month: November 2008

Liam Reads His First Book

Dick and Jane: We Look and See

I had the whole book typed out so that I could print flash cards of these words at school. I did at first, but then didn’t any longer. His flash cards seem to help and I’ve picked the Dick and Jane story words out of the deck for him to use.

This was the first book that Helena read as well. I’m not exactly sure how old she was when she first got through it all, but my guess would be a month or so earlier than Liam. However, Liam was much more receptive to reading the book than Helena was – she fought reading it for a long time. Once we began, it took Liam about four or five nights (with a day or two off) to get through the whole story. Helena took much longer. Liam probably could have started earlier than he did, but regardless, he’s reading a little, and that is good.

Dick
Look, look
Oh, oh, oh
Look, look, look,
Oh, look

Jane
See, see
See Jane
Oh, Jane
Look, look, look.
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, see.
Oh, see Jane
Funny, funny, Jane

Baby
Look, Dick.
Look, Jane
See Baby.
See, see.
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, Dick.
Look and see.
See Baby.
Look, Jane, look.
See Baby.
Oh, oh, oh.
Funny, funny Baby.

Spot
Come, Dick.
Come and see.
Come, come.
Come and see.
Come and see Spot.
Look, Spot.
Oh, look.
Look and see.
Oh, see.
Run, Spot.
Run, run, run.
Oh, oh, oh.
Funny, funny Spot.

Puff
Jump, Puff.
Jump, jump, jump.
Run, Puff.
Run and jump.
Run, run, run.
Jump, jump, jump.
Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, Puff.
Look and see.
Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, see.

Tim
Jump up, Baby.
Jump up.
Up, up, up.
Jump up.
Come up, Tim.
Come up.
Up, up, up.
Come up.
Look, Dick, look.
See Baby and Tim.
Funny Baby.
Funny Tim.

Tim and Spot
Go up, Tim.
Go up.
Go up, up, up.
Go down, Tim.
Go down.
Go down, down, down.
Oh, Jane.
See Spot and Tim.
See Spot run.
Funny, funny Spot.
Funny, funny Tim.

Up and Down
Come, Puff.
Come and go up.
Go up, up, up.
Come down, down, down.
Go up and down.
Up and down.
Up and down.
Go up, up, up.
Come down, down, down.
Oh, Baby.
See Puff jump.
See Puff run.
Oh, oh, oh.
See Puff jump and run.

Puff and Dick
Come, Baby.
Run, run
Run and see.
Look up, Baby.
Look up and see Puff.
Look up, Baby.
Look up and see Dick.
See Dick go up.
See Dick go up, up, up.
Oh, Jane.
See Dick come down.
See Puff come down.
Down, down, down.
Oh, oh, oh.
See Puff come down.

Look and See
Look, Spot.
Look, Puff.
Look and see.
See Baby and Tim.
Come, Spot, come.
Jump up.
See Puff jump.
Jump up, Spot.
Jump up and see.
Come, Dick, come.
Come and see.
See Spot and Puff.
See Baby and Tim.
Look, look.
Look and see.

See Baby Go
Look, Spot, look.
See Tim and Puff.
Jump, Spot, jump.
Jump up.
Jump up.
Oh, Jane.
Look and see.
See Baby go.
See Tim go.
See Spot and Puff go.
Oh, Dick.
Look, look.
Look and see.
See Spot jump.
See Puff jump.
Oh, oh, oh.

Liam and Lying

Liam has been getting in trouble for lying lately. He does it at home and we’ve told him to stop – that hasn’t happened.

Wednesday at daycare, Liam was lying about a few things – one of which was trying to get some other kid in trouble for something she didn’t do. Dalen was told when she picked him up.

Thursday I picked the kids up because Dalen had parent-teacher conferences. All was well. I told him both at daycare and at home that I’m happy and proud of him that he had a good day.

Friday Dalen gets a call. Liam apparently was telling the workers there that some red ball was his from home and he wanted to bring it with him. I wanted to make him eat only vegetables for dinner, but Dalen gave him some spaghetti sauce and candied apples, too. Then we didn’t let him watch the video with the other kids. Who knows how long this will go on.

Conversation

As I’m typing grades into the computer, the three kids are in the dining room drawing. Helena and Liam are talking about a girl at daycare.

Liam: Her dog died
Helena: That’s okay, she can always just buy a new one.
Liam: Yeah, except she says that she doesn’t have the money.

Liam’s Accident

Today at Target Ada was dragging behind us – well, walking down aisles just for fun as Helena, Liam, and I walked ahead. Helena and Liam were trying to get Ada to come along. Liam was especially determined…he was saying, “C’mon Ada” while running in my direction but looking back at Ada. Then he just turned to face forward just as he hit one of the poles in the aisle. You can really tell that those poles are hollow from the sound that it made. Ouch!

Ada Asks for Help

Last night when I was swinging Ada around (which I always do), she happens to see the stuffed dragon that she brought home from daycare on the floor whose name is “Dave”. So in the middle of a wild swing, she says, “Help me, Dave”. When most of her sentences are three words like, “more milk, peees”, to hear her ask a stuffed animal for help in a complete sentence was pretty funny. Helena laughed for ten minutes.

Latest with Ada

She loves the Wiggles.

She calls herself “A-D-A” since she can’t say her own name yet.

She’s been stealing Halloween candy and hiding in corners to eat it. She steals lollipops at daycare and runs and hides to eat them, too.

She won’t eat dinner and won’t touch a vegetable except for broccoli.

She’s still hitting people when she gets angry.

Helena’s World

After school at Lake Harriet I had a parent call me and she began asking questions about the new algebra curriculum. I told her that there wasn’t a new algebra curriculum – the new material was for K-8 kids. She asked what the publisher was, but I wasn’t sure. Since Helena was in the room, I asked her. She looks at me with the look like she’s trying to remember and then she remembered: “Oh, oh, one book is called daily work and the other is called home work.” Thanks honey.

Then on the drive home, I was driving down Dupont Avenue like I usually do but a bus pulled out in front of me so I didn’t want to get behind it. Helena starts talking about buses and how we have to stop behind them if the stop sign comes out the side. I told her that our buses didn’t have those stop signs and we didn’t have the bar that comes out in front of the bus. She begins talking about the bus and starts rattling off things with terms that really have no “standard” meaning but she thinks that they are universal:

“Yeah, the SAFETY BAR. It is there so kids can’t get too close to the bus and that way the bus driver can see them. Because if the SAFETY BAR wasn’t there, you would be in the DANGER ZONE and you might get run over”.

When I was pulling into the driveway she tells me that people weren’t too smart back then if they didn’t have SAFETY BARS on buses.

Late Bus

I’m waiting for Helena to come upstairs at school but she is a little late. So I go look for her. Sometimes she’s in the science room across the hall looking at the animals. Not today. I’m walking up and down the hallways looking for her. I look in the office, which is where I told her to go if she cannot find me. Nowhere. I call Dalen to see if Helena called her. I check my email to see if Dalen just picked her up without telling me…nope.

So I go back outside and immediately see her – she’s crying because she can’t get in. Her bus dropped her off late and the doors are locked on the outside. After hugging her for a minute to calm her down, I walk to the front door to tell her what to do if this happens again since there is a doorbell buzzer thing there and explain how to do it. She already knows how to because they have it at the lower campus as well. While I’m showing her, I try the door …. it was open.

While walking to the car, we walked past another door – the one that we usually come out of and I told her that there is a doorbell on that door as well…..that door is open too.

I think she went to the only two doors that (may have been) locked.

Ada’s Current Modus Operandi

Ada climbs up on the kitchen stool – sneaks Halloween candy – and then hides while eating it…often behind the dining room table but also upstairs or in the kitchen when everyone is in the living room. She’s always been a snack drawer robber, now she’s getting even more greedy.