Pumpkin picking

Even though we didn't carve up our pumpkins this year, C is still enamored with them and wanted to pick out a pumpkin for the season. We went up to Red Barn Farm with friends this year and the girls chose pumpkins. C picked three. One big-ish, one medium, and one little mini pumpkin. She said "one for Daddy, one for Mommy and one for ME!" The girls rode the ponies, checked out the animals, played on the haystack a little, and then picked their pumpkins. It was a good afternoon.

Dashy Doctor

One of C's favorite activities lately is "doctor". However, there are times when neither Mommy nor a friend are available to play with her. She has finally discovered a great alternative--doctoring her "friends". She still doesn't do much with her dolls, but last year we got a great pony baby Rainbow Dash for a dollar at the Post yard sale and she has proven to be a fantastic patient.

Firehouse

The second week of October is fire safety week so that was the focus of C's preschool that week. They made several related crafts and coloring pages, learned about firefighters and not playing with matches or lighters. The week culminated with a field trip to the local firestation where they had a tour of the station, the truck and learned about getting out of their room if there is a fire, and about "stop, drop and roll". We saw a short video about it, and then the kids got to practice. Fun! Finally, one of the firemen (they were all men here), got dressed in his gear in front of them, so the children could see that underneath all the "stuff" was a real person and they didn't need to be scared of him if there is a fire in their house and someone dressed like him comes to help them. I thought it was quite amusing that once he was dressed in all his gear, the kids acted like he was one of the characters from an amusement park and wanted to hug him, give him "high fives" and have their photos taken with him. Cute!

Just try it

The last few weeks have been a battle at almost every meal, as I've decided not to "short order cook" for C anymore...at least not until she's tried everything on the regular, adult menu. All I ask is one bite of each item, including all the little bits that are included in some meals, like the peppers in my hoisin beef dish, or the veggies in the chicken & biscuits that F made tonight. To her surprise, she's even discovered some new things she likes! She discovered that she liked the beef part of the hoisin beef, and said mmmm, to the cauliflower and carrots tonight. Funny thing is, she's been adamantly refusing to eat carrots for months now...in any shape or form. Tonight was the real breakthrough. She said, "Mommy, I have to try everything, right?" When I said yes, she put her fork to the broccoli and ate it. "I tried the broccoli, just like last time." Then, she ate a carrot ("mmmm") and a cauliflower, ("mmmmm") and a piece of the chicken in the sauce. I asked her if she'd tried the peas. The answer was "No, Mommy," but the significant thing was that nothing else followed. She put her fork into her peas and ate them! No argument, no hiding them, no bargaining, she just ate them! Then, she ate more of the biscuit, a bit more chicken and another carrot. Happily! A carrot!

There's more than one baby in the Bible? Get it right, Mom.

C loves telling me all about her day as I drive her home from preschool. Lord, please let her continue to tell me as much when she's a preteen and teen-ager. Seriously, that's a real prayer.

Here's the scoop on today.

C: we did church at school today (she goes to a Christian preschool).
M: you did? That's wonderful. What did you do in church?
C: we singed songs
M: what did you sing? (the content of the question goes ignored)
C: we talked about a baby
M: what baby? (thinking that they're already getting ready for Christmas program and is thus, Jesus)
C: there was a mean king who didn't like babies and he wanted to hurt the baby and the baby's mommy put him in a RIVER! But don't worry, Mommy, the beautiful princess (because of course all princesses must be beautiful, right--thanks Disneyfication) found him and saved him.
M: Oh, baby Moses.
C: He didn't have a name. But the beautiful princess found him and she named him Moses.

Weird literacy

C is writing. Tonight we spent an hour at her easel practicing her writing. I didn't get pictures, but ...

C: Mommy, how do you write cat?
M: why?
C: I want to write cat.
M: c. a. t.
C: come by my easel! watch me write cat
M: okay. (walk to easel)
C: how do you write cat?
M: c.
(C writes a giant c)
M: a.
(C writes a giant a, correctly placed after the c)
M: t.
(C writes a giant t, correctly placed after the a)

We sound out the word, very, very slowly. Then, she drew a cat.
Much the same scene ensued with sun, mouse, spider, frog, dog, fairy and mom.
So, she loves to write. The sounding out of words is much more like pulling teeth. I hit on something though...

M: would you like to write a special word?
C: a special word?
M: yes, special. write E.
C: E...one stick, one on top, one on bottom, one in the middle
M: now, R
C: Stick, loop, stick, R.
M: now, I.
C: Stick, and a hat, now shoes, I
M: now, N.
C: Stick, help me mommy. (I help with the slant), stick. N.
M: what word do you think that is.
(5 minutes of progressively faster sounding.)
C: ERIN! It's Erin!!! (does her excited dance). I can write Erin!

Erin would be the name of her "bestest friend in the whole world. I love her."
I think this may be the first sign of appreciating the appeal of reading words herself. Now if it would take less than five minutes to do the sounding...

Lazy Sunday

Go Chiefs? Seriously, they're watching a Chiefs game.

This is lazy Sunday in our house. Our climate-control system has not been switched from air conditioning to heat yet with outside temps of 50s and 60s, so F and C are conserving their body heat by snuggling up to watch the football game. F's a 3rd generation Steeler fan, so we're usually a Steeler household, but right now we live right outside Kansas City, so we watch Chiefs games when we can't get the Steelers on TV. That would be today.