A Problem Solver...

After having trouble staying in bed the night before... Bea created this to keep herself in bed. (its masking tape)

Children's Choir

Ballerina

Bea's Tea Party

Bea had a tea party for her fourth birthday. Very sweet. Nathan helped out as a server.

Snatch a Cold

Nathan: Bea snatched my germs.
Bea: Yeah, I snatched them!
Nathan: But not all of them because I was still sick.

Happy 4th Birthday Beatrice!

Hats from Texas

Happy Halloween!

Soundbites

B: Me and mom and Nathan don't have fur like Daddy.

While Bea is whining and fussing that mom is leaving the house:
N: Bea just wants mom to come back so she can trick her.

B: Swing me.
Mom gives a big push.
B: Not up to God!

Nathan, thinking about age:
N: Daddy is the furthest, then me, then Bea.

B: There's a spider over there. He's just starin' at me 'cause he doesn't know my name.

Looking at a mosquito swarm:
N: There's a whole bug palace.

After spending the morning with his Sunday School class that is all African-American:
N: In our family we're all twins.
M: Why?
N: Because we're all light-skinned.

Plunge

Nathan has been taking swimming lessons for over a year now. He is an excellent swimmer but has refused to put his head under the water. He's mastered techniques of jumping in, swimming across the pool and even a kind of dive without letting his head go under.

Tonight in the bathtub he finally decided to try going under with his goggles on. Not surprisingly, he loved it. He instantly started playing multiple underwater games. He was guessing how many fingers were held underwater, saying his name underwater, making a fountain, meeting his sister underwater... I think he had watched his friends play these games for quite a while.

Reading

Nathan sounded out the word bug today! He was reading his Reading A-Z level B book from school with his dad and I was pretending not to notice nearby. It's been really fun to watch him put the pieces together, checking the pictures, looking at the letters, checking the sounds, matching words on the page to words he says.

As someone who teaches this to children for my work, I am very aware that I don't want to push my child too fast just because I know what step they'll probably take next in his reading development. My professional self says, "Great! He's right on track. He's using concepts of print, self-monitoring for meaning, using his phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge." But my mother self says, "He is the smartest 5 year old ever! What an amazing one-of-a-kind kid!"

Outing to the Art Museum

We had a fun adventure to the art museum. The L ride there was probably the most fun. Nate and Bea were real troopers.

Soundbites

Bea just got 2 new sets of jammies- one is a purple cheetah design, one is a gumball design.
M: Which jammies are you going to wear tonight?
B: Well, if I wear the cheetahs I will be wild. If I wear the gumballs I will be settled.
M: Oh, which one will it be tonight?
B: Gumballs.
Bea came into storytime in her Cheetahs and true enough, she was right about the wild thing.

Bea bumped her head on the car door.
M: Oooo, are you okay.
B: Yeah, it was just a crump.

Dancing

Nate and Bea have really enjoyed dancing lately. Bea likes to wear her ballerina costume and dance to ballerina music with leaps and twirls. She also likes our family dance nights and has a few moves that are her own. She shakes her hands in front of her and wiggles her hips. She also does a version of the twist. These are her moves and we are told we cannot do them. Nathan's dancing involves a lot of jumping and sliding these days. His favorite song is Monster Mash, but he also really likes Dynamite. He sings along and dances crazy when this song comes on.

Last night we noticed Bea hit a milestone in her dancing. She started following along with whatever dance move Nils or I did. She was watching and mirroring it back. Once I noticed this I tried to see how much she could do and it was amazing. She got weight changes, arm movements, hip movements, Nils' fancy footwork, tempo. I was quite impressed.

Soundbites

"Thanks for making this great food, honey!" Bea at the dinner table... showing some good habits she learned from her dad.

When Bea was asked what flavor her lollipop was: "It tastes like chocolate Parmesan cheese!"

Nathan: "You never know when you might change into a grown up. 'Cause maybe when your 5 you'll be sleepin' and then you'll change into a grown up."

Bea: "What does the tooth fairy leave under your pillow?"
Nathan: "A tooth."
Bea: "I thought you left..."
Nathan: "No. Toothfairies... First... It doesn't really happen."

While a yogurt snack is being served...
Bea: "Don't eat it because its goo!"
Mom: "Do you like goo?"
Bea: "Yes, because I'm a goo monster and I eat all the goo in the world."

Mom: "Its four days until my birthday!"
Bea: "Wow! How old are you gonna be?"
Mom: "34"
Bea: "We have to make you a BIG cake, work hard on it and get our energy out!"


And now some soundbites heard afterschool. Now that they're both in pre-school full-time, Nathan and Bea have been processing school rules and classroom culture among 3yr olds or 5 yr olds.

Bea: "I was good all day long. No hitting, biting, kicking, or grabbing!"
(then she promptly hit and kicked her brother 2 minutes later)

Nathan: "No kissin' at school because you might get spit all over the floor! If you kiss it's automatic red. (referring to the traffic light behavior system in his classroom). You can hug a friend not no kissin'!

Bea: "Don't tickle eyes. No. You will run away. You can tickle like this (touches the corner of her eye) but not like this (pushes on the middle of her eyes) No."

Valentine Shoes

Bea has started to express her interest in more "girly clothes." I usually dress her in pants, sneakers, soft materials for comfort and mobility, but I see that she is ready to expand another part of her wardrobe.
Yesterday as she was getting dressed she asked me, "Where are my skirts?" She asked this as if I had been keeping them in a different drawer that she hadn't come across yet.
Today as she got dressed she asked, "Where are my party shoes?" Once again, she did not ask me for new shoes but inquired in a tone that could be used when looking for her favorite shoes she wore every day.
After school today she asked, "Where are my Valentine shoes?" This time I had to clarify and without hesitation she described, "They are red, sparkly and have bows on them."
Okay.... I think I see a pattern- more twirly, sparkly kind of clothes. I can do that.

Angry Birds

Big Snow

Director

Bea has taken the lead in directing plays. Our standards are The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Little Red Ridding Hood, The Three Little Pigs and Jack and the Beanstalk. This weekend we were at Mimi and Papa's house with her Great Aunt Cindy and Great Grandma Lucille and Bea assigned parts to everyone. She had Lucille tasting porridge, Cindy saying Fe Fi Fo Fum and Nils pretending to be a wolf. The wolf part actually did scare her a bit. No matter how much it still looks like dad sitting in mimi's chair... it makes a kid look a little closer and walk a little slower when that creapy voice says "All the better to see you with, my darling!" Bea jumped and ran before that wolf could finish saying "eat you up!"