Word Girl

Isabel is rarely found these days without a notebook or paper and a large collection of writing utensils in hand. Her life revolves around words - writing them, reading them, spelling them, saying them. She can't get enough.

As such, it comes as no surprise that she has started reading. Reading! She has a strong command of phonetics and can sound out many words, although she remains largely limited to words with short vowel sounds for now. We are working on the long vowel-silent "e" combination, it's a much trickier concept to grasp.

She watches with envy as Connor does his nightly homework, and asks me to give her homework of her own to do. The other day she wanted a spelling test, so I dictated about 12 or 15 words to her, and she wrote each one correctly with the exception of "stop," wherein she got a bit ahead of herself and transposed the "o" and "p." So we have moved on to sentences, and she can write entire sentences correctly. On her own the other day she wrote, "the cat is in the home," with no resources for help other than her mind. I asked her how she knew the word home, and she told me because of the sign I have in our entryway that says "home. " Very resourceful.

We have been working on a list of 40 sight words that the kindergarten teachers here focus on, and she has mastered many of these, and is working on the rest. And I have to stress - I do not force her in any way to do any of these, only help her along as she is motivated to do. But she wants it all! I am merely keeping up.

It is nothing short of magic when a child learns to read. Doors are unlocked, things are learned, imaginations are expanded. Literacy makes my heart happy. When we are out and about she can pick out words everywhere and read them. It makes her so happy.

I recently finished re-reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I first read it almost 5 years ago, and just finished it for book club. I had forgotten how much I adore this book. So glad to have re-read it. I especially love the way it extols the benefits of education and literacy. One of my (many) favorite passages is when the main character Francie has learned to read:

"Oh, magic hour when a child first knows it can read printed words!
For quite a while, Francie had been spelling out letters, sounding them and then putting the sounds together to mean a word. But one day, she looked at a page and the word "mouse" had instantaneous meaning. She looked at the word, and the picture of a gray mouse scampered through her mind. She looked further and when she saw "horse," she heard him pawing the ground and saw the sun glint on his glossy coat. The word "running" hit her suddenly and she breathed hard as though running herself. The barrier between the individual sound of each letter and the whole meaning of the word was removed and the printed word meant a thing at one quick glance. She read a few pages rapidly and almost became ill with excitement. She wanted to shout it out. She could read! She could read!"

I see this same joy on Isabel's face frequently as she crosses the threshold from recognizing letters, to recognizing words and their meaning. She beams! It truly is a magic moment each time.

I shouldn't be surprised she can read and write so well at the age of 4. She has always been a word girl. When she was 18 months she came along with Connor and I to an appointment at Children's, wherein Connor was being evaluated by a team that included a developmental pediatrician, child psychologist, speech therapist and occupational therapist. They kept commenting on Isabel's speaking ability, asking me if I knew how exceptionally well she spoke for an 18-month-old. I really didn't, because Connor didn't speak at all at that age.

It's difficult to believe that she doesn't start kindergarten for more than a year, August of 2011. Our cut-0ff for kindergarten is age 5 by Oct. 1, and she will turn 5 this year on Oct. 11. So she just misses it. A new law allows those children just on the other side of the cut-off to test in and, if they qualify, to start kindergarten early. I flirted with the idea of having her tested, and ultimately decided against it. So she will do one more year of preschool, and start kindergarten the following fall when she is scheduled to do so. I think down the road it will be the right decision.

When I was in high school I became trained as a literary tutor, although it wasn't until I had graduated from college that I actually volunteered as a tutor. I was 23 and tutored a 32-year-old father of 5 who had a 3rd-grade reading ability. It broke my heart to see his literary struggles, but it also was so rewarding to see him better grasp and apply language in his life. To say it makes a huge difference when one is literate is a gigantic understatement.

Forgive my rambling, but I love words. I love that my children love words. Connor is in the top reading group in his class, and Lucas has always adored books and being read to, and knows most of his letters. Seeing them excel in reading and writing is pure joy to me as a mom. To fully describe it, there really are no words.

An astronomy afternoon

Saturday was National Astronomy Day (I happened to hear that on the news that morning), and the planetarium and observatory at CU Boulder offered free family fun all day - kids activities, telescopic viewings, science labs, and such. Brian had to work part of the day, and I've been wanting to take the kids to the planetarium, so the kiddos and I went on an outing. We had a great time; I lost track of how many times Connor exclaimed "awesome!" as we went to a new activity. He was in science heaven, and was over the moon (pun intended) for everything we did and saw. They all loved it, really, and have been playing various forms of space adventures since then.

The planetarium-

One of our favorite things was this Science on a Sphere, which appeared to be a floating sphere that could appear like any of the planets or moons, with some interesting facts. The kids were mesmerized by this (me too!)

The moon
Jupiter

They thought this moon play station - with space shuttles, moon rocks and more - was fabulous-

There were many science rooms we could visit and learn, and grad students were on hand to teach and help. One room had fun experiments with radio waves; another had a heat sensor camera and television, and the kids could draw on themselves with an ice cube, and then with the special camera they could see themselves on TV and everywhere the ice had been was black. Very cool! One of their favorite rooms was the ultraviolet room; they had to wear goggles, and played with glow in the dark markers, fingernail polish (Isabel's highlight of the day!), papers, etc., to see how it looked under the UV lights. They also had sunscreen to play with, to see how it blocks the UV rays. My pictures of course can't show the UV light, so it doesn't look nearly as cool as it did for real.

We were able to look in the massive telescopes; on this one we saw Venus. It was daylight, so the viewing wasn't nearly as good as after dark, but we did see Venus. Lucas looks so small next to this telescope!
On the observation deck we used telescopes to look at the moon. We got a pretty good view of the moon.

The Boulder campus is so beautiful.

Earth Day and a sweet note

When Connor asked if we could clean up trash around the neighborhood for Earth Day, how could I say no? He was really excited about it, and the rest of us caught the clean-up bug too. So after school on Thursday, we grubbed up, grabbed some trash bags and gloves, and went to four areas in and around our neighborhood. It had been a stormy, rainy day, and we were happy that the rain stopped just enough for us to do our work, although it was rather cold and windy. I was really impressed at how dedicated the kids - all three of them - were to picking up trash; they lasted a lot longer than I would have guessed. I've never seen people get so excited to spot trash! We actually collected quite a bit.

After our clean-up, we had a dinner/movie party where we watched a couple of our Planet Earth DVDs (we have the entire Planet Earth and Blue Earth collection)-
and then we sweetened the night with the Earth Day globe cookies I made. So they won't win any beauty contests, but they worked.

Sweet Note
The other day, Brian pulled out a box of memorabilia from when he was young, and showed its contents to the kids. Connor especially was fascinated by the things from his dad's younger days. So much so, that the next day Brian found this 2-page stapled note on his computer desk. And I do believe it was the cause of Brian's subsequent beaming face.

More bedroom

My bedroom makeover may be a slow process, but what I have thus far makes me tremendously happy.

I already showed you this little beauty of a pillow-

Here are the other pillows-

And the bed as a whole. We've had our bedroom set since we got married almost 9 years ago. I'd pick something totally different now, but have to work with what I've got.

When my friend Monique suggested a wall art project involving canvases and vinyl, I knew I had to do it. So I bought three canvases - debated square, but very happy I went with rectangle - and purchased a vinyl print from Etsy of a branch with flowers and a bird in the colors I wanted that would fit my canvases a whole. I spray painted the canvases- and am VERY pleased with how well the spray paint ended up matching my grayish/brown color (the paint is called London Gray). Then I applied the vinyl, and cut it between each canvas. Oh, sweet mercy - they make me giddy. I truly love the result, although I can see that one needs to be slightly lowered...


My next project is my nightstands; as you can see, we are missing a lamp, which broke, and in general they need some excitement.

And if you like a good makeover - and who doesn't love some eye candy - check out my friend Monique's recent bedroom makeover. Seriously gorgy.

A (sort of) sleepover

When my dear friend Paula and her husband Mike decided to take a (much-needed) getaway to the City by the Bay, I offered to take their 10-year-old son Joseph and twin 5-year-old daughters Rachel and Juliana for one of the nights. Isabel, however, interpreted this as her first sleepover. She adores Rachel and Juliana, and had been waiting for months for the big day/night.

Mike and Paula dropped off the kiddos at 7 a.m. on Friday, and I brought them to another friend on Saturday morning. I have to say, for having 6 kids, it went great! The girls especially had a blast; Isabel rejoiced in non-stop girl fun.

Playing Candyland:

The boy slumber fest:

And the girls:

Breakfast (aka proof that we survived the night). I totally had Rachel and Juliana figured out the day they arrived based on their outfits, but once they changed into matching PJs, and then the next morning, I had to keep asking who was who. But I felt better at breakfast when even Joseph couldn't tell his sisters apart. It would be quite an experience having identical twins!

The girls having to say goodbye. I kid you not, Isabel shed big ole' tears when they left. Between the girls, I heard things exchanged like, "I'll always remember you!" and "I love you!" and "Don't forget to write!" I had to remind them that we live in the same metro area and they will see each other again before too long. :)

I'm Living in Lego Land
In other news, Brian came home with a fancy new toolbox a few days ago and asked me to guess what it was for. "Uh, tools?" Nope. "Fishing gear?" Nope. I was glad when he tired of the guessing game and just came out with it. "Legos!" he said. And subsequently, all three of my boys have died and gone to organized-Lego heaven. Legos are huge in my house. Lucas even has gotten really good at them, and he and Connor will play Legos together for HOURS. Now they are organized by color, purpose, etc. Um, whatever works I guess.

Connor's Lego-building abilities continue to impress. He will follow instructions, but prefers to freestyle build. Over the weekend, he constructed this fire station that houses two fire trucks. It's difficult to capture the detail, but he has lots of nifty little details/contraptions throughout the station that are most amazing.

And yes, Connor is back at school. I don't think his lungs are 100% yet, but he's doing much better.

Pno fun

After years of saying "I've never had a child have to be on antibiotics and I've never had to take a child to the ER/urgent care," I've now checked both of these off the list within the past month. The urgent care visit was for Lucas's broken leg of course, and the antibiotics are for Connor's PNEUMONIA.

Connor came down with a pretty high fever (almost 103) on Tuesday evening, had a bad cough and was complaining of a stomach ache for several days. He was also fairly lethargic and just didn't seem himself. So on Wednesday I took him to the pediatrician - hesitantly, b/c I didn't think ultimately he had more than a virus - and the ped performed a rather lengthy chest exam, and said Connor had "crackling" in his chest. He also had a fever again. So they checked his oxygen levels, and they were really low: the number should be at 97 or higher; his was hovering at 88/89, and occasionally dropped to 86. The ped said below 88 often requires someone to be on oxygen! I was so stunned. The ped said the three main factors for a pneumonia diagnosis are fever, crackling chest and low oxygen levels, and he had all three. Although the doctor did say he thought the pneumonia was in the early stages, so we caught it at a good time. He also thought that had we not come in that day, Connor likely would have made an ER visit that night.

They gave him a breathing treatment, and his numbers improved enough for the doctor to feel he would be out of the woods for the night on an aggressive treatment plan.

Connor also has significant nasal congestion; every Spring his sinuses basically turn into the Great Wall of Stuffiness. The doctor doesn't know if his allergy congestion led to the pneumonia, or if it was a virus. Either way, he is on 5 different meds: an antibiotic, an oral steroid, an albuterol inhaler, and two nasal sprays.
He's missed 3 days of school this week (he'd only missed 1.5 days the entire school year thus far), but by Monday he should be back to his routine.

Other highlights

More highlights from last week while my parents were visiting-

- My mom came to my 29-week checkup with me. I thought she'd just get to hear the heartbeat, but my doctor decided to do a surprise ultrasound, so she got to see babykins too. That was very fun. Everything looks great: baby and calendar both measured 29 weeks, but my stomach measured 32 1/2 weeks. Surprise, surprise. I'll have to share some of the "fun" comments I've been receiving about my baby bump. Then we went shopping and out to lunch - lovely lady time.

- My parents were able to spend a morning volunteering in Connor's classroom. Connor was beaming with excitement, and couldn't wait for all of his classmates to meet his Minnesota grandparents. They were able to help with reading groups, and then Mrs. W invited them to stay for recess.

- Isabel attended her friend's puppy-themed birthday party. By all accounts, she had a marvelous time. They each got puppy-ear headbands, puppy noses and whiskers, dog collars, and dog bowls. They even got to eat their cake and ice cream out of dog bowls on the floor. This went over very well.

- Connor got to challenge grandpa and grandpa to a few rounds of his favorite game, Sorry.

- My mom and I attended an adult and child CPR/choking class. My friend Susan, who is in a neighboring stake, literally saved her 10-month-old daughter's life recently when she choked badly on a bead. Susan is an EMT, and literally had to work on her daughter for about 5 minutes - while on the phone with 911- before the bead came out and paramedics arrived. Super scary. So she talked to her husband, who is the director of the ER of a nearby hospital - and had his trained staff come and teach a CPR course for a Relief Society activity, and Susan invited me. It worked out great that my mom was in town and was able to come with me. So I'm having my 4th child and finally took a CPR course, but I'm going with the proverbial "better late than never" mantra. And my mom has 9 grandchildren and counting, so the info was great for her too. I totally wish I would have brought my camera to get pictures of us working on the CPR dummies. I was especially lovely in my full glory. You'll have to use your imagination.
- So long Big Blue! Lucas got his cast off (that time went by at sonic speed). My dad came with me, and Lucas did great. He didn't mind the loud sawing so much, but was in a lot of pain when it first came off, thanks to some stiffness. But we got him walking around after a bit, and he was able to (gingerly) walk out of the doctor's office on his own, and then around Target where he got some special treats for being such a trooper during the entire cast ordeal. The break didn't affect his growth plate, but because the break was so high on his tibia, there is some concern that the bone might start to grow crooked, so we have to go back in 6 months to make sure the bone is growing straight.

- We celebrated Big Blue's departure with a pizza party and an evening swimming at our stellar Rec Center. Lucas was so happy to be able to go in the water again. We had so much fun that we were at the rec center until after bedtime, a rare treat. Connor is truly a fish, and has become rather fearless in the water. Isabel, too, has made great strides. We love the rec center

- My mom made all new pillows/pillow covers for my bedroom makeover. She is a much better sewer than me, and had brought her top-of-the-line fancy-dancy machine. I am thrilled with how they turned out. I'm in the process of making wall art to go above my bed, so I'm only giving a sneak peak of one of the pillows. Love! Thanks a million mom!

- My parents were able to watch Isabel's dance class. They are sad to have to miss her recital next month, but were pleased to at least see her in class. My mom was flooded with memories of years of watching her daughters (all 3 of us) in dance classes. And Isabel does fabulous in her class. I'm her mom, so I can brag (and my parents also pointed out) that she is super flexible, graceful, strong, and tiny - a perfect combo for a tiny dancer! Oh, how she loves her dance class.

In addition, my mom scrubbed my house for me, dad took Isabel on a fun library/puppet show outing, and they took the kids on walks, outside adventures, etc. and gave me some nap time, and just generally lightened my load while they were here. So grateful for them, and for loving us so much. And so grateful Brian continues to lighten my load. I am getting ready to not be prego anymore.