Today is Hayden’s birthday!
And yesterday, he participated in the science fair:
I asked him what kind of party he’d like. He said, “Surprise!” So we’
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Tag: Pictures
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Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
We almost didn’t do a family costume this year, since initially Rebecca wanted to be a princess and Hayden wanted to be a ghost. After flirting with the idea of pirates, finally Hayden settled on . . . KING, “for Princess Becca.” (Becca, however, insisted she was “Princess Beyya” and also from Princess and the Frog. Got me.)
Rachel’s sticky gem tiara lasted longer than half her earrings—but still not very long.
I made Rebecca’s dress, and you can read more about that over on Wayward Girls’ Crafts (if that doesn’t work, I’ll be along to fix it soon!).
Here’s the royal family. If Hayden’s the king, I guess I’m the Regent. No way I’m letting my five year old rule the country. And I just realized our royal orders are worn opposite. Oh well.
At the end of the night, we handed down our tiaras for a little while:
And where was Ryan? Well, mostly he was running the church Halloween party, but when you caught a glimpse of him, he was part of the entourage, too.
Head of royal security, of course. (And yes, it was his idea.)
What are you doing for Halloween?
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Hayden: cool boy, school boy
I’d post a video of Hayden reading, but I still don’t have a way to upload videos from my video camera to our newer desktop. Barring that, here is a list of words Hayden read (yes, READ) one evening last week:
| Sounding out bat black cat block cut pin pen pan cob cap cub cup pup up yup nap |
Sight words like see can no go am he and at it yes I love you |
challenge word: pumpkin
Sentence: I can see like you.
(The sight words came from a school list, and from words I know he knows already; everything else I made up. They’re working on sight words at school, which mystifies me to some extent. When I hear “sight words,” I assume you’d focus on words that aren’t phonetic, and then focus on phonics for the rest of the words. The first sight words Hayden learned [I, am, can, see, like] follow regular phonetic rules. While there’s definitely something to be said for the feeling of accomplishment at reading a whole word, it seems more worthwhile to focus on teaching broadly applicable phonetic rules. I mean, the only reason the kid can read is because I’ve been teaching him his vowel sounds. </rant>)
I’m suitably proud of him. I might be praising him a bit too much. The other night, after he put together a toy, he sighed in satisfaction and said under his breath, “I’m always a genius.” He turned to me and added more loudly, “I’m always thinkin’, Mom!”
Yep.
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Rachel has adopted
Hayden is very interested about when Rebecca and Rachel will have babies. I have tried to convince him it will not be for a long time (I’m hoping around 20 years here), but he still brings it up from time to time.
Both girls do love to play with baby dolls and stuffed animals. My in-laws just gave Rachel a stuffed caterpillar that’s a miniature version of her lovey, “Callie” (they didn’t actually know about Callie). We call the little one “Baby Callie,” because we’re imaginative like that.
But today, before and after her nap, Rachel has adopted a new favorite:
Yes, a book. But what book?
Oookay. She also bawled for twenty minutes when Rebecca took it from her (and started screaming when I took it to turn it around). I think she hadn’t quite gotten through it yet. But she does like the sound of flipping the pages.
(I don’t know why I have this book.)
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Don’t overthink happiness!
Ryan got a subscription to Fitness magazine, thinking with a name like “Fitness” it would be for both genders. Of course, it’s really not. (I don’t know; are the pictures of half- and quarter-dressed women supposed to appeal to women? I know I don’t work out in underwear.)
I like to read it, though, especially after I saw this blurb on a study from Perspectives on Psychological Science in the October 2011 issue of Fitness (p 105; emphasis mine):
Women reported experiencing worse moods after reading an article touting the importance of joy and then immediately taking part in a fun activity. “Setting higher expectations for happiness can actually lead you to feel less happy,” says study coauthor Jane Gruber, Ph.D. . . . To avoid that buzzkill, pause to savor little feel-good moments. . . . “Enjoying the activities themselves, rather than because you think they are going to make you happy, is key,” Gruber says.
What do you think? What are your “little feel-good moments”? (You can see one of mine at right!)
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Hayden’s a kindergartener!
Yesterday was Hayden’s first day!
Riding to school (It’s just a couple blocks from door to door.)
Saying bye
(The little boy behind him is the one mentioned below)
Walking in
His teacher is the woman leading the line. Ryan said the yellow-shirted man had a college ID, so he might have been a student teacher? I didn’t see him today.
Naturally, Hayden can’t give me a minute-by-minute account of the day, but I’ve gathered that he got to play with play dough, draw a picture of himself, sit criss-cross apple sauce(d) on the multi color carpet with our neighbor in his class, make a new friend (Who greeted him today by saying, “Hey! You! With glasses!” and holding out his arms as if to say “DUUUH, I’m right HERE!” [Ack, I can’t believe my son is “the one in the glasses!”]). Also, there are stars decorating the classroom. Hayden did his screening interview in this room, and at the time he asked if he could write his name on one of the stars hanging from the ceiling. He tells me he doesn’t have a desk, but a table. Tonight is his back to school night, so we’ll get a better idea of what school is really like.
But he was glad to see me at noon:
And I’m not sure when he picked this trick up, but this was the first I’d seen it:
Rachel slept the whole time. Rebecca loved having me to herself: yesterday, we played games, including one number game (the fourth one here), the entire time. I spent less than half an hour straightening up/on the computer. Today, we laid on the floor and snuggled for 2 hours while we watched Curious George and Toy Story. Every time I even sat up, she’d roll over and say in a perfectly innocent voice, “I thought you were going to duggle me.”
I think she needs a picture:
And Rachel, too. The first time she climbed up in the stroller on her own (I think):
She was very adventurous at the park after school today. She was very upset to leave!
Oh, and what you’re really wondering: how did I take it? Ryan actually took off work and we all went down together, and I teared up, but didn’t cry. My friend/neighbor (mother of Hayden’s friend) pointed out that this is kind of the beginning of the end: from here on out, our sphere of influence will only shrink in their lives. Ouch. But I still managed to keep it together. (Another friend’s son told her that “It was the worst day of my life because you left me,” so I think we all handled it pretty well, eh?)