I is for Interest

Today was an interesting and happy day.  Good friend Kelly and her 8 year old daughter Gillian came over for a good long visit today.  I call this social interaction education day.  We all had such a great visit and the kids were ecstatic.  They had a lot of difficulty when it was time for their good friend Gillian to go home.  Gill is so great with the kids, and is so considerate of them.  She loves to play with them, read to them, color with them and teach them all sorts of games.  They even brought them chairs that are their size that Gill has outgrown and a CJ size Scooby Doo fishing pole!  That will be used when we go camping in September.  Can't wait!

Kelly helped me can salsa, and we had some wonderful adult conversation.  I know so few parents my age besides Kelly so it was very uplifting to have a visit.  We share a lot of ideas on child rearing and education, so it is invaluable to have a supportive friend with like opinions.  It was also so refreshing having another older child here to keep the little ones busy, while I was able to talk with an adult in another room.  I really needed that adult time.  I feel so much better.

As for I day, we started the morning routine just the same, and we practiced all the sounds we have learned so far.  We looked at our letter posters and read all the words we had written and added a few more.  I pointed out the lower case letters to Eliza in more detail.  She seems to recognize more of them today.  They colored on the easel outside, and CJ practiced writing his name.  His C's are pretty good.  J looks a lot like C.  But he is becoming more interested in the writing every day.  We didn't work in the workbooks today.  Tomorrow will be a quiet day with no canning or major projects, so I think we will do some intensive work on writing and letter sounds.  I am going to make the flashcards that I didn't get to today, and start some work with numbers.  I also want to spend some time working with their animal flashcards.  They love naming the animals, and I want to discuss habitats and animal types with them.  I think this weekend I will spend a little time on the computer making a template for their animal alphabet book we are going to make after our visit to the zoo.  I like to plan ahead a little.

The coolest thing ever happened today.  I was putting CJ's socks away this morning, and he told me he needed to look in the drawer.  I let him, and he pulled out  underpants and said he needed them.  I asked him why and he said no more diapers today.  He wore big boy underpants all day except nap!  And only one accident late towards the evening, after not sleeping at all at naptime.  He used the potty by himself, all day long!  I am so proud, and really hope this lasts.  Eliza used the potty more today too, since CJ was doing it.  No more diapers, here we come, slowly but surely!!!

So we ate icy juice for breakfast, iced tea with lunch, and Italian bread, Italian meatballs and pasta for dinner.  Then Rich went to get ice cream, because I was not letting I day go without ice cream!  I was having some difficulty coming up with many I foods.  And I wasn't about to eat chocolate covered insects, which is what the kids suggested.  YUCK!  At least they are intrepid adventurers, me not so much!  When I got CJ out of his crib I had barely said good morning when he told me it was I day, I says /i/ and icky and igloo start with I!  It was incredible.  The important thing is that the kids are showing more and more interest in learning, and my friends are showing lots of interest in what we do.  This keeps me and the kids challenged, interested and intelligent!  The kids are showing individualism, independence, intellect and an incorrigible attitude.  And I love every interesting minute!