Writing Poetry

A couple of days ago Q4 went off to a playdate so C6 and I had some together time ... and what she wanted to do was collect nature (acorns, tulip tree buds, gumballs, leaves), then write nature poems, attach a piece of nature to the poem and pass them out to neighbors.

So we did. C6 sat on the little table on the porch and wrote poetry for the neighbors.



It was interesting to listen to her compose her poetry. That one above is quite short (they all were) but she went over the word order over and over multiple times, reading aloud, listening to the poem and how she wanted it. It was fascinating.

Things you wouldn't eat part 5

Dinner:


For whatever reason, C6 really wanted to make some pink beans and honey. Sounded unpleasant to me, but I promised she could make something for a potluck we were going to Sunday night. We didn't have time for the potluck, but the next night she had to make this.



Q4 saw that C6 was cooking and wanted to join in. Hers was especially gross. She didn't even eat it.


I obliged both of them, however, and took a bite of each. The beans were eatible, but the cheese, sugar, milk, water thing ... not so much.

4-year-old check up

The 4 year old check up (forgotten in April, May, and June, and finally scheduled in August for September) went worse than expected, but reading back about C6's 4 year old check up ... went just about as well as I could have hoped.

Actually, Q4 was nervous about the tounge depressor, the ear check (she remembers the little pink spoon that scooped out copious amounts of ear wax last spring), the eye check , and nose check. She was NOT nervous at all about the Sthesocope, though. So we practiced everything she was worried about and made a deal that if she didn't fuss we'd go get donuts for her class at school.

Which was 100% on track ... She flinched when the doctor did look in her ears, but no fussing. She deliberately held herself together and was looking forward to bringing donut holes to class to share.

But then the nurse mentioned shots.

Which actually was OK ... I told her it would hurt, gave her a pinch, and told her it would hurt something like that. She was OK with that. We discussed that it would go in her arms, not her legs, that she wasn't going to fuss.

UNTIL -- Q4 saw the needles and she went apeshit, screaming, crying, holding her arms in and locking them together. We had to unlock her arms from each other and I didn't do a good job holdingher still so the first shot, I think, hurt quite a bit. And then there were 3 more. By the last one she did hold still for a bit -- or maybe my grip was better -- but was still screaming the whole time: NO! NEVER! I WILL NEVER GET SHOTS! GO AWAY! NO! NO! NO! NO! I DO NOT WANT A SHOT! NO!

And so forth.

And then it was all over and the sobbing and crying slowly tapered off and was gone by the time we hit Dunkin' Donuts. She picked a pink donut, but couldn't buy any to share with her friends. She even saved a bite to share with C4, who she has dubbed her best friend since N4 moved away.

Oh, stats! BP 92/58, Height 41", Weight, 37.5# ... yes, she's in the 50% range! Let's just ignore the fact that she is 4.5, shall we? Taller and heaver than C4 was at that age. I'm rooting for her, I really am.

Some good sister shots

The light was fading, but I managed to get a couple of shots of them together.

One step away from being a butterfly

We grow parsley in the garden and one benefit is the Butterflies. Apparently the Black Swallowtail loves to eat parsley (and fennel and carrots). And I've seen the adults flitting around out butterfly bushes all summer!



I found 7 catepillars on the parsley yesterday. The above is just one of them.

WOW face

C41 is home~

Yippee!!

We had a lovely week with Ninoo. Perfect. Thank you so very very much!!

C41 is asleep in bed with Celeste (I'm sure he just shut his eyes for a minute) and I just overheard Q4 reading to herself in bed!! She's working hard on some words she doesn't know. She won't do that if we are watching. Love it. Love love love it!!

Embroidery

C6 asked to embroider today. We decided on a Halloween theme. M6 did a pumpkin, I started but never got far witha ghost, and C6 decidedon a black cat.

I was very impressed with her embroidery. She drew the black cat and stitched it very very well. She isn't 100% done, but her stitching is really good! Yes, it looks like a cross between a rat and a racoon, but c'mon, she's six. She stitched every toe on the cat!



Q4 got in on the act and drew a spooky tree & then a pumpkin. She stitched half the tree and a chunk of the pumpkin. Know what ... her stitching is very straight too. I've got to remember not to judge her abilities against C6's ... C6 is 19 months older. Great job, both.

4 year old worries

Q4 has been worried for 2 weeks about pre-k. We haevn't even told her it is "Pre-K" or that she needs to know anything, but she apparently picked up some vibes that she'd be learning something this year, because she's been worried.

About math. And reading. And everything she didn't know. And just the fact that she didn't know what was going to happen.

So whenever she is particularly worried (like last night) I have to reassure her with what they will be doing in class.

She was particularly worried about math, so I had to go over the math she'd be learning this year ... counting to 20, shapes, AB patterns, less than, more than, older, younger, bigger, smaller. All of which she knew, of course, although she was focused on the fact that she couldn't write a number 3. Sigh.

Bubbles!

Bubbles!
You can hear Q4 blowing, but they both got some nice bubbles.

Happy Birthday to C6

It has now been 6 years since C6 was born. She's still a hoot, and we are so pleased that she is who she is!

She had a request to go to West Virginia for her birthday, since she'd never been. It sounded good to both C41 & me. We hyped it up telling her we'd see an old fashioned town (Harper's Ferry), rivers, a little hike, history, rocks. And then we juiced her up with ice cream and a stop at an orchard on the way home ("I didn't know I'd get to pick apples on my birthday!!!" was my favorite quote from her today). All in all a very good day. No cake, but we ate that pie. I'll make cake tomorrow.

No photos with this post and you'll thank me

So, today Q4 had some stinging, blood, and a small scratch in a place that would make a mother of a 4-year-old worried.

But three conversations with Q4 later it was still "nothing happened, didn't scratch myself, didn't wipe the wrong way, nobody touched me (well, except for E3 who kissed me on the cheek and one on the lips)" and I was stumped as to what might have caused the blood (an insect? a bad wedgie? toilet paper?? mulch in underwear?? what?)

Finally, at dinner Q4 got up and acted out a scene from today where she and E3 "my best best bestest friend" were walking around the whole playground on the balance beam and they jumped up and fell down and Q4 landed right on the balance beam -- right in the middle, she confirmed.

Oh. There it was. Mystery solved. Balance beams can scratch, bruise, and cause pain and bleeding.

Blueberry pie for breakfast

Except that I'm going to the dentist. After, then.

Sleep

I don't know why she put the lamp on the radio or why she is holding it, but it was cute.

confusion

Q4 was on the fragile side today, so I was focused on her quite a bit. We did go to the pool, but I think she was hanging on me most of the time. After one entire kid-swim it really was time to go (I didn't even do laps myself, today. I didn't think Q4 could handle it).

After we showered C5 headed directly for the bookshelves where the bookswap/free books are, and Q4 and I went to the picnic table to get our stuff.

Once there, Q4 reminded me I promised her I'd read her a book at the pool and pulled out the book. A short one, so I sat down to read it. 5 minutes later we were done, and picked up our wet towels and bags and tubes and flipflops and headed out.

We passed by the bookshelves to pick up C5 ... but she wasn't there. I rotated around to scan the grounds of the pool. No C5. I looked for a minute or so and then thought maybe she'd stepped out to wait for us.

She had. But she had stepped out thinking we'd forgotten her and left without her. So she was crying at the end of the sidewalk by the parkinglot, with another mom and some kids. The other mom handed her off and C5 told me how she hadn't been able to see our car, and thought we'd forgotten her.

We discussed what she should do if she couldn't find me or C41, and then I said to her "I'd never forget you, I always am thinking of you: At work I think of you, when I am running I think of you, when I'm swimming I think of you. I think of you when I'm thinking, because I'm dreaming of you"

Q4 piped up at this point ... "Do you ever think of me?"
And of course I assured her that it was BOTH of them I'm always thinking of.

And, on a happy happy note, welcome C0 ... very zero, indeed! She was born today at 4:30 this afternoon, on my brother and his wife's anniversary! Welcome and congratulations!!!!