Noah Got A Bike!

And it isn't a hand-me-down. He likes its new bike smell.

Angus Spells

Last night, Angus started putting words together on his own using his alphabet puzzle. He spelled ANGUS, EXIT, and WHY.

Today he said, "Look, Momma! Today is April." I nearly let this statement slip past without a second thought, ordinary as it was. Since they do the calendar reading every day during circle time at school I have grown used to his proclamations of today's Marchness or Tuesdayness or Twenty-Thirdness. But then he repeated it and waved toward the dining table. And when I looked where he'd gestured toward I saw that he had spelled out APRIL, too.

This means he can move on to the movable alphabet at school now. Which means he may no longer be so bored. He has been having trouble finding work that interests him or work that he isn't intimidated by lately. So this is huge. Well, it's huge when any three year old can read, but my kid has language difficulties so this is a really big deal. And it means that he is progressing after all, just at his own pace and on his own timetable. Far ahead of others his age in some areas, and far behind in others. It all evens out in the end. Not that it ever needs to for him to keep on impressing me.

Hello Again

it's been awhile since i posted here. things were crazy. sick kid, short hospital stint, then playing catch up, you know how it goes. then spring just sort of happened overnight. so we have been busy cramming as much fun as can fit into each minute of every day.

here is a short (and fairly dull) list of some happenings since i last wrote:
1. angus rekindled his relationship with Maurice Ravel's Bolero. it is once again spinning at least once daily. from the time he was 2 to 3 we listened to it about four times a day. you'd think we'd all be sick of this piece of music by now, but it still feels new. the kid has excellent taste. angus calls it "angy's music."
2. noah became lobster boy. pinching is his new favorite pastime. he has these gigantic thumbs which give him incredible strength seemingly designed specifically for this task. we were all ill equipped to handle the abuse from something so cute. nasty little bugger. he has been spending quite a bit of time in the penalty box lately.
3. angus, fresh out of the hospital after six days of gastrointestinal distress courtesy of the ever-so-awesome rotavirus bug (jerk), started refusing to take naps. the kid went from a regular daily routine of a 4 hour nap to zilch. his explanation was so sweet and so true. "no nap, momma! i already slept for five days!" he is back to napping now. phew. this mommy's not ready to give those up yet, kiddo.
4. i saw the trailer for pineapple express and laugh/cried myself silly. i can't wait to see this.
5. i discovered this amazing artist.
6. and participated in my first photo trade through nectar & light. the theme for the month was "a faerie tale told" and we were to photograph our own take on a fairy tale. i received the greatest alice in wonderland-inspired package from a really cool girl. i hope mine stacked up ok. i based mine on hansel & gretel. but with boys. hansel & hansel, i guess. it was fun and i want to do it again.