Friday, February 10, 2012

Remembering Bear

I’ve heard the expression, “the uncluttered mind of a child”, but haven’t appreciated it so much as in the present, observing Ethan’s power of memory. Not only can he sometimes beat Beth and me in the game Memory, but he can remember details from long ago that I’ve forgotten. On Monday, we had friends over for a game night and were considering an outdoor running-around game. It’s often called Ghost in the Graveyard, or Bunnies in the Garden as we’re fond of. But there was another name for the game, too, which I’d learned when the kids were playing it for a bit back in December at a Christmas party. I couldn’t remember was it was called, though. When I asked Ethan, his answer was shy and uncertain (unusual for him), but he remembered that the name of the game was Bear.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

An Eliana first: She played peek-a-boo.

Before changing Eliana into her into her pajamas, I put them over her face while she was laying on her back. A few times, I pulled them from her eyes and said “peek-a-boo”, which brought about some extra large smiles. Then she started pulling away the pajamas herself—even more fun, with giggles and great big grins!

Another Ethan first: He listened through chapter three of Redwall.

A friend at church recommended the Redwall Adventures series by Brian Jacques as excellent for children. Knowing almost nothing about it, I decided to take a look a few days ago when biking past the library with Ethan. My first thoughts when I picked up the book: (1) novel, (2) no pictures. This would be new to Ethan, but I figured there was no harm in checking out the book to see what would happen.

When Ethan saw the book, he told me he didn’t want to hear the story. I offered to just read a bit while he put his pajamas on. Reluctantly, he agreed. By the time he had changed, he was hooked. He climbed into the rocking chair with me, and we finished chapter one. That was a couple days ago. He still likes his picture books, which keep variety at story times, but as of this evening, we’re through chapter three and he can’t wait to see if Cluny the Scourge is going to ruin all the feasting delights at the Redwall abbey. Daddy wants to know, too.

Another Ethan first: He admonished Mommy to be home on time.

Ethan likes to watch and wave goodbye when Beth or I leave to go somewhere. As Beth got into the car to go to orchestra rehearsal, he offered this advice: “Make sure you get home before it gets sleepy time for you.”

Wednesday, February 1, 2012