Tara Wangleston

I can't recall exactly how we got on the subject, but Liliana and I were talking about how I had a friend in middle school named Tara. "What was her last name?" Liliana asked. "Hmmm...You know, I can't seem to remember," I answered. "Tara...uh...Wangleston?" Liliana offered. After stifling back a laugh I told her, "No, it wasn't that, but I think you're really close. Good guess." This kid comes up with the most random stuff!

Liliana's Schooling

Back in February we got the disappointing news that Liliana's name was not drawn for the lottery school we were hoping to have her attend. We knew chances were slim, as there were more than 300 kindergarteners in the drawing pool, and less than 40 open slots. So a few days later when kindergarten registration began at our neighborhood school,I headed over to fill out the paperwork. Our consolation was that the school was only 2 streets away and that several kids from our church congregation would also be in her class. Well, it turns out that our school board redrew the boundaries for the schools in our area this summer, and although we are in the walking zone for our neighborhood school, we are on the wrong side of the street and Liliana was to be bussed to another school some miles from our house. I went to tour the other school, which was nice, but was nearly 15 minutes from my house by car.I discovered that Liliana was the farthest out and would be first pickup and last drop, meaning an over 30 minute bus ride, which I felt unacceptable for a five year old in half-day kindergarten. Transporting Liliana back and forth myself didn't seem like a great option, as I would have to load the boys up twice a day to do that, and we'd spend nearly an hour cumulatively driving back and forth. Also, I had sat in on the kindergarten class and was surprised to see they were still discussing letter sounds, colors, and shapes, and at this time it was mid-March. I asked both the teacher and the principal what supplementation they had to offer for kids who already know how to read, and they told me they let reading-ready kids use a reading program on the computer. That sealed the deal for me to find another option. I felt it was not worth the transportation debacle just to have Liliana placed in front of a computer screen. Luckily our school district has an "umbrella school" with a program that allows parents to check out curriculum and materials for home learning, as well as offers classes in all subject areas that kids can attend, if desired. Parents can do as much home schooling or as much in-school learning as wanted. Liliana is two weeks into the program I created for her and we are loving it. I selected two classes for Liliana to take on campus (sewing and 1st/2nd grade writing) and am teaching all other subjects at home - supplementing her p.e. with a ballet /tap class. When I went to check out the curriculum, we realized that the kindergarten math curriculum was too easy, so Lilian jumped straight into a first grade math program. We only have to trek the 20 minutes in to the school once a week, and the boys love the preschool room and indoor and outdoor play grounds that they get to enjoy while Liliana is in class. We'll continue to press forward and see if this is the right course for us, but so far, it is looking very promising.

Edison's 1 Year stats

Better late than never, right? Edison celebrated his first birthday on August 10th and had his checkup shortly thereafter. The results...drumroll please...He weighed in at 23 pounds, 15 ounces - making him the lightest of my three at this age. He was 31 and 1/4 inches tall, and his head was a whopping 19 inches in circumference - to fit all that brain matter, of course. He had six teeth and wasn't walking yet (and even now at 13 months, both of these statements hold true). In the days following his birthday he began to sign the words "more," "food," and "all done." Occasionally he says something that resembles daddy and mommy, but I am not 100% certain that he is using them to name his father or I yet. He blows kisses when prompted and shakes his head often because it makes people laugh when they think he is telling them no. Edison finds his big brother, Emmett, to be the most hysterical and entertaining thing in existence. They have a special bond that many people have noticed. I am so thankful for the love and joy our little guy brings to our family.

Liliana's Profound Question

"Why is there no tomorrow?" Liliana asked David and I tonight. "What do you mean?" I asked, thinking that maybe she knew something about the end of the world that we should be preparing for (*just kidding). She then began to sing the 'Days of the Week' song. "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, the you start again.... See. No tomorrow!" I love this little girl! Seeing how her little brain works is fascinating for me. We had a little discussion about tomorrow not being the name of a specific day, but referring to the day after the one we are in at the moment. I asked her what day it was and she responded, "Sunday." I asked her what day tomorrow will be and she replied, "Monday." Then I told her to pretend that it was Monday now and asked her what day it would be and she responded, "Tuesday." I know she already can answer these questions, because we do it as part of our preschool calendar activity all the time, but I wanted her to talk it out as part of this discussion to help her understand the abstract concept of tomorrow not being a specific day of the week. She, like most people, gets those "ah ha" moments much more frequently when I let her talk it out herself than when I try to explain things to her outright. Giving her nuggets of information and then helping to guide her thinking through questions enables her to feel like she can figure things out on her own and helps her develop problem solving skills and the ability to think about things and come to conclusions/resolutions without just waiting for someone to tell her what or how things are. I am not always good about facilitating this type of discovery thinking, but I am working on it because it is important.

No Rubbing His Belly!

A few nights ago I was helping Emmett change into his pajamas. Once I had his shirt off him, I said, "I like your belly. I want to rub it." I started to reach my hand up to rub his adorable toddler tummy. Emmett swiftly shielded his belly with his arms and twisted away from me. "No! That's just for decoration!" he exclaimed. I love this kid!

Emmett Versus The Crab

Some weeks ago we went on a preschool field trip to Carkeek Park. For those who have not been there, it is a park that overlooks the Puget Sound. The parking lot and play area are up on a bit of a hillside, and then you can take a footbridge over some train tracks and down onto the beach. My kids loved being there. Emmett saw the train tracks right away and made a beeline for the footbridge. He stood excitedly over the tracks and I hurried to catch up to him. We waited for only a few minutes before we saw a train heading our way. Emmett was so excited that the train was going to pass right underneath us. It ended up being much noisier and windier than we expected, and that made him a bit nervous when we had the chance to see another train pass under us later on that day. He actually started to run off the bridge to the side, but when I called him back and one of the other moms in our group offered to sit on the ground with Emmett and her little one, he happily (and skittishly) returned to the center of the bridge. I couldn't get down quite so nimbly because I had Edison strapped to me in a baby carrier. Otherwise, I would have offered to sit or kneel with him myself. After seeing the train pass, our group worked our way down to the beach. It was a very low tide, so we were lucky enough to catch a peak at some crabs and a sea star, among other things in a rocky tide-pool area. Our little group worked its way towards the water's edge and Emmett decided to start wading - shoes, pants, and all. I called him back and we removed his shoes and rolled up his pants and he went back to wading. I noticed he was working his way back to the rocky tide-pool, but didn't seem to want to get to close without his shoes on. I kept scanning the beach to help keep an eye on all the kids - while keeping Emmett in my peripheral vision. All of a sudden I heard Emmett screaming and crying hysterically. I looked over to see he had taken several steps into the rocky area, near where we had seen the crabs, and appeared to be panicking about something, picking one foot up and down, and yet unable to move away from whatever was hurting him. Now remember, I had Edison strapped to me and was surrounded by rocky beach myself. I started to hurry towards him, but two other moms in our group without the extra weight and balance challenge of a loaded baby carrier beat me to him. One of them scooped him up and brought him toward me as I hurried their way, too. She said, "I think the crab got him. He was standing right next to it and that seems to be what he was scared about." Once we calmed Emmett down a bit, he let us examine his foot. He had a bloody gash on the inside of the arch of his foot and seemed to have a couple punctures near the gash. We used fresh water from a water bottle to rinse it off and put his wet socks and shoes back on him. He was still uncomfortable, but until we could get him back up across the footbridge and to the car - where my first aid kit was - I couldn't do much else for him. Our group climbed the stairs up to the train bridge and then my little train nut decided to wait for another train to pass - even though his foot hurt. We finally made it to the car, where we could more thoroughly clean and bandage his foot and where I had a change of socks for him. On the ride home, I asked Emmett to tell me about what had happened. He said, "The crab pinch me four times. Pinch, pinch, pinch, pinch. Really hard!" I asked him why he went back by the crab and why the crab wanted to pinch him. Emmett said, "I walk on the crab and I kick the crab." At this point I was trying not to laugh. I knew Emmett was still in pain, but the thought of him trying to pick a fight with a purple shore crab was pretty funny. In as un-laughing a voice as I could muster, I asked, "Why did you kick the crab and step on him?" Emmett told me that he didn't like the crab and that it looked scary. "Do you think the crab liked being kicked and stepped on?" I asked - still trying not to chuckle. Emmett admitted that the crab probably did not enjoy that kind of attention. He promised not to harass crabs ever again. It appears Emmett has a bit of an obsession with crabs as a result of this experience. When we went camping a few weekends later, we went down to the beach and found little tiny crabs under some rocks. Emmett couldn't help but look under every rock and in every tiny tide pool he could see in search of crabs. He wouldn't touch them though, so maybe he has learned his lesson.

Why a 5 Year Old Needs a Cell Phone

Recently, Liliana asked me, "When will I get a cell phone?" Wanting to know what caused her to feel like she needed a phone, I responded with a question. "Why do you want a cell phone?" I asked. Her response made me laugh. It was definitely not the 'so I can call my friends' answer I was expecting. Rather, she very seriously said, "Well, I need to play my own games." Ha ha! Phones are not just for communicating anymore, and kids figure that out young. Liliana and I chatted about what the main purpose of a phone is - smartphone, or otherwise. She agreed that she has plenty of other ways to play games and accepted that she won't be getting a phone any time soon.