Naomi's new ambition

is not to be Hello Dolly any more. She wants to be a scientist.

Me: Oh, what will you study?
N: Bugs.
Me: What kind of bugs?
N: The kind that Dada has at work.
Michael: [looks puzzled]
Me: Oh, like computer bugs?
N: Yes! I want to fix bugs all day long.

Michael wishes that more of his coworkers felt the same way...

Huh.

Hannah: Let's be leaves! We can dance around like leaves that have fallen!

Boy Cousin: And I'll be something that eats the leaves!

Errands are slower

these days. It's not because of the number of kids I bring, it's because of the number of potty breaks Sim likes to take when we're out. He loves checking out the potty at the stores we go to. Yesterday we went to the grocery store. Two potty breaks. Today we went to Costco. Two potty breaks. And he actually went each time, so I can't really say that it was a waste of time. I may have to do errands by myself for a while, though, because I don't really like checking out all the potties at all the stores and it's a lot faster.

Poetry

I bought a children's book of poetry recently, the kind with lots of poems and lots of illustrations. Naomi loves it. She loves looking at the pictures, she loves having the poems read to her, she loves asking things like, "Why is the elephant crying?" Hannah is fine with poetry occasionally, but for a couple of days now, this book has been Naomi's top choice for reading. That isn't Hannah's idea of a good time. "I want a real story, not a rhyming one!"

Naomi, however, happily asks for "pottery" (or any other "p" word she can think of) many times a day. I admit that, before I figured out the new " any word starting with p = poetry" formula, I was in the dark about what she was talking about. "Which book, Naomi?" But now that I've figured it out, we're reading a lot of poetry.

Naomi's current favorite: The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat.

Signing

Simeon has a bunch of signs now, and I've found that, in addition to being incredibly useful for communication, it's also a life saver for moments when I need him to hold still, preferably without screaming -- like when I'm trying to put his diaper on him. When I put him on the changing table, he almost always has the reaction of screaming, arching his back, and trying with all his might to get away. But the other day, I started asking, "Can you sign..." questions, and this distracted him enough that I was able to get his diaper on without any more acrobatics -- a very helpful thing, indeed.

He's also discovered that if he puts his hands over his eyes, he can play peek-a-boo. Since peek-a-boo ranks among his absolute favorite pastimes at the moment, this also helps with the changing table blues. It's also one of the cutest things you'll ever see: Sim puts his hands up over his face (most of the time over his eyes, but sometimes just over his forehead), pulls them down, and says, "Boo!" Then he laughs and starts over.

Should it concern me

that if I relate anything in Hannah's math lesson to money, she's a lot more eager to do it?...

Snippets

It turns out that having 6, 3, and 1 and getting back from a trip and homeschooling makes things pretty busy. Hence the lack of content here lately! Sorry about that. Here are some highlights of late:

Hannah: I finished Chippewa Trail [a book I'd given her to read], Mama! Now I'm going to start it again.

[The next day...] Hannah: I finished Chippewa Trail again Mama! You should read it... I know! You can read it twice and then I'll read it twice again. And then you can read it twice again!

****

Sim: Dada? [Signs "Dada"]
Me: Dada's at work, sorry Sim.
Sim: [looks at me significantly, tries the "Dada" sign again] Dada?
Me: Sorry, Sim, but Dada's at work today.
Sim: [obviously believing that I don't understand him, signs "Dada" again -- more slowly and deliberately -- and says, slightly louder] DADA?

...I had no idea that the "just say it slower and louder" reaction started so young!

****

Naomi: I want to wear a dress today.
Me: How about this one?
Naomi: [scornfully] Not a jumper, a dress!

****

Naomi, at Mass, began to fidget and pick at others around the time for the Gospel. Our friend Fr. Jerome was in town and saying the Mass, so I said, "Naomi, look, Fr. Jerome is going to read the Gospel! Ask Dada to pick you up so you can see!"

And it worked! She watched him through the Gospel and through most of the rest of Mass...how shall I convince him to return this week?

****

Hannah: Why do they call all this stuff with shapes and parallel lines MATH? Math is about NUMBERS!

****

Me: Sim, what do you have?
Sim: [Tries to flee as fast as possible, which is difficult, since he's indoors and can only combat crawl. Plus, he seems to have a hard time deciding which direction to pursue flight, but he is fast once he gets going. Of course, this tips me off that he has something he probably shouldn't, so I continue the chase. If I ask him what he has -- or what he's doing -- and he smiles and doesn't move, he's probably fine.]