We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.

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Monday, Mar. 14, 2005 - 8:24 A.M.

Lilypie 4th Birthday Ticker

Yep, chaos still reigns

Finding time to blog continues to be difficult. At work, I am working just about "flat out". At home, Jack sees computer time as shared time. It's hard to blog with a small assistant randoming tapping keys to see what will happen. Especially if he's a small boy who has figured out which keys are "boring" and which keys are far more fun because not only do they do something, but they get a reaction from Mamma, too!

Ah, well. I do my best, and work is bound to slow down eventually. Meanwhile I thank you for your patience.

Morning

Morning has changed quite a bit since Rod got his own car.

For most of Jack's life, five days a week, we all woke up at 6am. One parent showered while the other dressed Jack and fed him a quick breakfast -- usually his beloved "yu-guck" (yogurt). Then we all got dressed and rushed into the car to get Mamma to work on time.

For the first few weeks after Dad got a car, he and Jack would get up when the alarm went off and Rod made my lunch and poured my coffee into a traveler while I got dressed. Then Jack started breakfast while I ran off to work.

These day, I get up alone, shower, dress, and get my coffee and lunch all by myself while Jack and Rod sleep on. And I have been getting to work before 8am most days. (I used to consider it a triumph to arrive before 9, but nearer 10 was far more frequent.)

Rod tells me that Jack was somewhat disconcerted the first few days of each change. He was sad when he and Dad didn't drive me to work, but then he adjusted. Then he was sad to wake up after I'd left. This one is taking him longer to adjust to -- so I've started waking him up for a bit of a cuddle before I leave. I'm hoping that works better for him.

Reading

I mentioned a while ago that Jack seems determined to learn to read before he turns two.

Well, the intent still seems to be there.

He can now recognize about 1/3 (maybe half) of the alphabet. He can name the letters and also say their sound when he sees them. Similar letters like A and V or E and F still perplex him, but Rod sat down with him last night and they discussed how to tell the difference, and for that session, at least, Jack didn't confuse them again.

Lest it sound like we're pushing him, I want to point out that Jack *always* initiates these alphabet sessions. He asks for his window markers and draws for a few minutes -- and then brings a marker to the nearest adult and asks for a letter by name. The adult in question is then supposed to use the marker to write the letter on the window -- and then he asks for another, and another. This can go on for an hour! Or he points to his barrel of foam letters and asks for one by name -- and then he asks for any letters he can see or think of the name of. And then he puts them in some order on the desk, and we're supposed to "read" them. Quite a challenge when he hasn't picked a vowel yet! [laugh]

And, of course, reading books is very important. We read the stories, of course. But after we've read the story we go through and name all the letters on the pages.

I have to say, I am proud of him, but I will be so glad when Jack can read for himself. I would so like to be able to just sit down with him and read a story for the story's sake!

(Jack now refers to reading as "Again!" from so many instances of asking me to read hima book for the fifteenth time and having me exclaim "Again?!?! We just read that one, let's pick another!")

Walks

It's cold. (-7� C) It's been cold for months, with the occasional reprieve of a really warm (10�C), sunny day.

Jack really misses his daily walks. We've taken a few, but with the cold wind and the footpath icy and slippery, with periodic drifts of snow up to Jack's knees, it hasn't very appealing to either Rod or me to go out for walks.

Nonetheless, Jack talked us into going for a walk as a family yesterday. We even stopped to feed the ducks!

It was, predictably, very cold, so we went for a small segment of our "usual" walk. Jack had a blast, though. He seemed to enjoy walking as a family even more than he seems to enjoy it with Mamma alone!

He loved feeding the ducks, though with the lake frozen the ducks decided to be up on the bridge near us. I was concerned because the solitary grey goose who hangs out with the ducks is pretty stupid and pretty aggressive. I was worried that he might go after the bread Jack was eating, since he didn't have much luck getting the bread I was throwing. Fortunately I wear a long coat and when I grab the opening of my coat and lift it like wings, the goose backs way off. Evidently I resembled the biggest, meanest goose he had ever seen.

By the time we got home, Jack was a tiny ice cube of a boy and it didn't take as much convincing as usual to get him upstairs, but I know that he will be very, very happy when it warms up again and he can go for long walks every day.

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