Some thoughts on the unthinkable

In 1999, I was a graduate student at Northern Illinois working toward certification as an English teacher. One April evening, the class I was taking did not did not have the usual discussion on curriculum and pedagogy. We talked instead on the tragic news of the day. Among other topics, our instructor asked us if the horrific shooting at Columbine High School affected our desire to become teachers. My answer was impulsive, but true. I wanted to teach more than ever. Honestly, I can't remember what my exact explanation was in the moment, but I know I that day moved me from looking at teaching as a job and into seeing it as a vocation. Unfortunately, it also made it very real that schools were not safe from the world's evils. A few years later, I stood in my own classroom flipping through the school's "incident manual" and thinking through ways that I could possibility protect students of my own in a similar, horrible situation. Then NIU itself suffered through a tragic shooting and the feeling was not just "How could this happen?" but also, "Why, here? Why so close to home?"

Friday's violence in Connecticut was not physically close to home, but the grief it brings is so physically real. Those children, those beautiful, sweet children, were the same age Erik and his friends. I think I heard the beginning of the news on the radio early in the day, but it didn't register in my mind what the announcers were saying. Thinking it was about the recent mall shooting in Colorado, I turned off the station quickly, as I usually do when any of my kids are in the car and news of violence is reported. Just before heading out to pick up Erik at the end of the school day, I checked my email. The public schools sent out a message recommending ways to address the situation in Connecticut with children. Confused, I checked the news. And then I started crying. I did not wait in the car line to pick up Erik. I parked and stood where his class lines up. I watched the faces of other moms and dads who were all visibly distracted and upset, but trying to keep their emotions out of view of the kids. I took Erik's hand as soon as I saw him and we all went home, where -- for once -- I ignored the clutter and I sat with my kids. There were not enough hugs, kisses or books to be read to satisfy me.

Almost every night, I end William's bedtime routine by singing the last verse of "Away in a Manger" If you've forgotten, it goes like this: "Be near me, Lord Jesus/ I ask thee to stay/ Close by me forever/ And love me, I pray./ Bless all the dear children/ in thy tender care/ And take us to heaven/ to live with thee there." Saturday night Anna was in the Preschool Christmas Worship service (with a cute little sheep hat, singing every word right in the center of the stage). This morning, Erik was in his Sunday School Christmas service (as a wise man, who sang almost every word, when he wasn't grinning at his friends, the shepherds). In both services, the kids and congregation sang "Away in a Manger." Both times, I first thought it was sweet that William  seemed to think we were all trying to sing him to sleep. By the second verse, though, I was crying. I was crying for the children and teachers who won't be celebrating Christmas, or any other holiday, with their families. And I was crying because I can't protect my children. I can do my very best to take care of them when they are sick, to make them fasten their seat belts, to teach them not to talk to strangers. Their school will lock the doors and use every safety procedure. It may not be enough.

The thought of letting any of the kids out of my sight is now terrifying. Erik and Jamieson went to the final event of his Lego club Saturday morning, a big open house and competition. When I got there and saw a police car parked by the entrance I felt relieved that someone there could keep all the kids safe. Then the squad car drove away and I wondered if the dads manning the entrances really knew what they were doing. Sunday morning during church, William got squirmy and I was about to take him to the nursery, but I just couldn't. I wanted to hold him and listen to Pastor try to assure us that God really is in control, not worry about who might be coming in to the building and walking down the hall. In the morning, every parent in America has to let their child go to school and trust that it will be okay. We will see them again. We will serve snacks and dinner, and do homework and argue over how much computer time is okay and read to them and tuck them in with a kiss. Please, God. Please bring home safely. Every last child.

I will take Erik to school. I will not drop him off in the car line. I will walk him to the classroom. I will give him a hug. I will exchange glances with other moms that say we will be praying for all of them all day. I will try to fill my day with business so I can stand the wait till he comes home. I will pray and pray and pray. I will pray God protects my child. I will pray God gives his teachers wisdom and courage. I will pray for the peace of the families grieving right now. I will pray that God gives me peace, too, because I  know that He loves all these children more than even moms and dads. I know they really belong to Him. I also know that He gave them to us to take care of. We love them. I love my children more than my very own life. And I do not want to give them up. Ever. Please, God, help us all.

Well done

As I was backing out of the driveway to take the kids to school, I observed that it was a wet and foggy morning. That, I said, was why I decided to exercise safely inside instead of running outside in the dark and fog.

"You made a good choice, Mom," said Erik.

Aw. Positive affirmation for moms.

Why the election turned out right

Christian voters were handed a great blessing last night. That may be a surprising thing to hear coming from someone who was disappointed last night that "my guy" didn't win. Frankly, I woke up feeling very discouraged. Then, this morning, I read an email sent out from Helen Alvare of Women Speak for Themselves. Her point was that had the presidency gone to the Republicans, Christians may have found it too easy to rely on government to address important matters of social policy.  As the results stand, Conservative voters know that there is much work to be done and we -- individual Christians -- need to get busy.

We Christian types often toss around the Biblical paraphrase that we are to be "in the world but not of it." Yet, our daily lives don't reflect that we believe that truth. American Christians have it too easy. Sure, we know our neighbors may find it odd that we get out of bed early on a Sunday and write checks to that big building on the corner, but we don't live with the reality of daily persecution that Christians in other parts of the world experience. Yet. Despite what the vice president said in the debate a few weeks back, the healthcare mandate is truly attempting to take away religious liberty from people of faith. Those who define family in traditional terms are being made into pariahs by government policy, school "awareness" weeks, and, of course, nightly television programs. The heart of Christianity -- sharing the Gospel message -- is viewed as offensive by our culture, and so we enter the season of "Happy Holidays" rather than celebrating the love that is Baby Jesus.

So, Election Day 2012 was a blessing. It means the policies that brought us to this point have only just begun and it means life as an outspoken Christian will get harder. And that means put up or shut up time for people who claim to believe the Bible. Do you believe those rock-star preachers who proclaim that if you believe enough you'll have success in life or if your church follows just the right steps it, too, will have overflowing parking lots every Sunday? It's a lie, folks. If they put our savior on the cross with nails, how dare we think life will be easy for us? A presidential administration that makes Christians uncomfortable is a good thing. It means we will stop coasting on the fallacy that this is a "Christian nation" and start doing the things that each and every Christian ought to do. If our leaders are passing laws that make us cringe, we need to do better. None of us will ever get it right. There will always be more, so much more we could do. Yet, we need to try.  Instead of spending the next four years griping about the election that got away, do something.

That something, by the way, is love. Jesus, himself said: " Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Kill 'em with kindness. Supporting your favorite candidate is a grand thing, but so much better is shoveling snow for a neighbor or donating the same food to the food pantry that you feed your own family. Christians love to proclaim the evils of abortion, but do we celebrate family and help crisis pregnancy centers or do we look down our noses at the girl who got "caught" and make jokes about the big families who "haven't figured out how that happens yet." Be better. If a family with a mom and a dad and some kids is ideal, live like it is. Don't complain about your kids and roll your eyes about your spouse. Make it something worth aspiring to instead of just another bunch of people in the same house. I'm talking to myself here, too. Nothing changes until we all act like that Jesus guy actually matters.

The world is going to be messed up. All the time; every day. That's a given. In Heaven we can ask God why he put people in charge of running his creation and why he left us running the shop for so long. Until then, we can sit in the mire and talk about how it used to be better and it ought to be different or we can be better and do different. Remember all that talk of hope and change? Our hope is in Jesus, but our mission is to change hearts and lives for him now.





"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  -- Jesus in Matthew 5: 44 

"I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." -- Jesus in John 17: 14-17.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." -- Romans 12:2

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Mom: Erik, what do you want to be in the Sunday School Christmas program? Sheep? Cow? Donkey? Shepherd? Angel?
Erik: Ummm...
Anna: I think Erik should be a train engineer.

Well, that would have made an easier journey for Mary -- Nazareth to Bethlehem by train.

Columbus Day Weekend Get Away

Okay, so we knew several days away from home with three small kids was probably going to be challenging. We knew it would probably be more fun to remember the trip, than to actually do it. Turns out we were totally right. On the way home from our travel adventure, I contemplated renaming my kids Tornado, Temper and Timebomb. (And they would probably name their parents Tired and/or Testy.) Oh, well. We did it. We survived. And in the pictures it looks like we really had fun! It's all about making memories, and that I think we accomplished. So here are some highlights...

First Stop: Sweet Stop

We started off on Friday with the intention to make the Jelly Belly Center near Kenosha our first stop to break up the drive to Milwaukee. A friend mentioned the train ride to me a few months ago since we have such a train fan in our house. It was such advertising, but we enjoyed it (as I mentioned here). I have to admit, I loved the chance to sample those nasty flavors you see on the Harry Potter Bertie Botts Beans boxes and Halloween packages. They cracked me up. I do have this advice to share, which should be obvious, do not under any circumstances allow your children to bring the chocolate beans into the car to eat during the drive! I'm still finding chocolate covered jelly beans in the back of the van and I don't know if a certain middle child's car seat will ever be the same. Like I said, should be obvious!

Some of the delightful flavors offered at the bulk bins.
The free-sample bar  had plenty available for taste testing!

On to Milwaukee ...

We went to Kopp's Frozen Custard for lunch because it was a favorite place of Jamieson in his Marquette days. To the kids' disappointment we did not have any dessert, what with having bellies full of Jelly Bellys and all, however, the burgers were more than adequate. Then it was time to check in. 

"Are we there yet?" is generally the question that drives driving parents nuts. For this parent, the grit-my-teeth question was "When do we get to the hotel?" We had planned to visit several sites to make our trip worth the effort. Honestly, we could have parked ourselves at a hotel seven minutes from our own front door and, as long as it had a pool, the kids would have been thrilled. I hate hotels. Even the nicest hotels make me feel claustrophobic, but the kids were beside themselves with the wonders of a unique room with all its hotel features, you know:  microwave, lights, multiple beds, and, William's favorite, tissue boxes at eye level in the bathroom. Really it's hard to know what William liked best because he was so busy getting into ALL of it. There is NOTHING relaxing about being in a hotel room with a toddler. Nothing is baby proofed and everything is a potential hazard. So all time is spent either telling big kids to stop bouncing on the beds or removing William from the threat of wiggling the full-length mirror, dresser drawers, outlets, curtains, closet doors, and escaping down really long hallways. Ever see those shirts for kids and pets that say, "I'm the reason we can't have nice things"? He needs one that says "I'm the reason we don't travel." And don't even think about asking about how we slept. Five people; one room. Even suite style, there's no making up for the fact that the world's most inflexible family really, really prefers our own beds. Oh well, we survived those sleepless early baby days and somehow we all survived the sleepless travel days. Just. 

The kids got their afternoon pool time in and they were happy. In both Milwaukee and Green Bay we chose hotels that had shallow toddler pools with small slides and water jets. They were no water parks, but good enough for my crew. Since I haven't seen fit to enroll the kids in year-round swimming lessons, their swimming skills are erratic at best. So it was nice to have more than just a oval-shaped, sorta deep hotel pool  for them to really enjoy and not just bob about in mom-mandated life vests. 

For dinner, everyone seemed unlikely to manage a sit-down dinner so Jamieson chose a drive-though fish fry place: Serb Hall. How very Milwaukee to have such a thing but it was amazing. The kids ate the peanut butter and fruit we picked up at a grocery store on the way back to the hotel -- more fry for us!

In the Desert Dome

Saturday morning, we basked it the glory of the hotel breakfast. Kids love Fruit Loops. Adults love the waffle bar. Mmm. 

Tropical Dome = camera fog

We then drove through Jamieson's old college  stomping grounds and then headed over to the Domes. The kids enjoy the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, so we thought they might like three! Ever since the hail storm of a year ago took out much of the glass at Garfield Park, Erik has been very concerned about the progress of repair. At the Domes he immediately asked if a hailstorm would break their glass. I think the technology of greenhouse glass improved by the time these windows were installed. One of the brochures said they used mesh glass from Germany. Nice of him to be concerned, though! 

Sheboygan is more than a sausage!

For the next leg of our journey we headed toward Sheboygan for lunch and a visit to Bookworm Gardens. Kudos to my mom for the recommendation to visit Bookworm Gardens! When Jamieson and I were little we both visited a place in the Wisconsin Dells called Storybook Gardens. We used to think it would be neat to take our kids there someday. Unfortunately, it closed a few years ago, so no photo ops of multiple generations in the same place. Enter Bookworm Gardens. Also inspired by stories, but so, so much better. Instead of being just statues of storybook characters, this garden is filled with book inspired vignettes and activity areas. The kids knew many, many of the stories that inspired the various garden areas but even where they didn't they had fun just playing. It's the kind of place the kids love because no one is saying, "Don't touch." They are supposed to explore and they do. 

The entrance 

Bookworm Gardens: I totally want our new shed to look like this.

William having a moment of zen

Notice a theme? He did NOT want to relinquish that broom. 

The Three Little Pigs: feel free to make your own comments

For the record, I caught William before he fell out of this chair.
Getting a nice picture of these three bears is impossible!

Without hesitation, I would definitely stop at Bookworm Gardens again and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to families with kids, as well as adults who love gardens and/or books. It was a delight.

On to Green Bay...

We made it to Green Bay with enough time to squeeze in some pool time for the kids again before attempting bedtimes. Sheer exhaustion helped everyone sleep a bit better for the second night of the trip.

Our plan for Sunday was to enjoy another ample hotel breakfast and then make our way to the reason for our Green Bay destination: the National Railroad Museum. We needed to make one other stop, though. It's no surprise to anyone that we aren't the biggest football fans around, but if football needs watching, it needs to be the Packers. Jamieson feels more than a bit of loyalty to his Wisconsin roots and I find the Packers to be the only team I can stomach. The whole fan ownership thing is a win in my book. So, we swung by Lambeau. We had checked that there wouldn't be a game in town while we were there, since we did want to be able to afford a hotel room, but it seemed worth it to stop by. So, the kids ran around the atrium for awhile -- nice place! -- and then we marveled at all the Packer products in the gift shop. Packers paper towels, really? Alas, our attention to the team did not bring them a good score later in the day. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing the stadium, at least. I love how Green Bay is just a mid-sized town that anyone's cousin or grandma could live in and then all of a sudden, there's an NFL stadium down the street. Not sure where everyone parks for the big games, but it is a nice place.

The gift shop is that way!

The high point of the day was the train museum, of course. I've already written about it here, but it deserves a few more thoughts. The National Train Museum is a great place. It's not huge, but their collection of rolling stock is first rate. Someday I wouldn't mind going back to take in the truly historical aspects of the museum and its displays (when I can do so without loosing track of my peeps). Not unexpectedly, by the end of our visit, our tired train lover Erik was declaring that he didn't really like trains. We predicted that within a few minutes after leaving he would declare it his favorite place ever. Guess what? "I loved that place. This is a great vacation." So, I think it's time to adjust a parenting strategy just to see what will happen. Generally, I don't tell the kids about play dates, parties and trips till just before they happen. If things get changed or cancelled, the grief is much easier to manage if they never knew about the plans in the first place! On the other hand, it's more than time to begin learning to adjust to disappointment. Plus, maybe some advance notice will help take the edge off that overwhelmed feeling all three kids seem to get when they're doing something out of the ordinary. It will mean a lot more "No, it's not time for that yet." from me, but maybe moods will even out in the long run. Who knows.

An action shot of Anna at the railroad museum playground.
Honestly, action shots are about all we can get. 

Loving the cab inside the Big Boy

Oh, look. William is sticking his fingers in a random hole in a train car. Again. 

The boys on the ground while Anna and I climb to the top of the observation tower.
She made it to the very top, all 99 steps. That's my girl! 

View of Green Bay from the observation tower.
The clouds don't give it justice, but the fall color during the trip was spectacular.

To end our train-themed day, we had dinner Sunday Evening at the Titletown Brewing Company. Despite the name, it was more about railroads than Packers. Housed in an old depot, the historical building was a great place to end the trip. Or would have been if not for the 20 raucous middle-aged women having the time of their life in the table next to ours. The silver lining there was that William could be as loud as he wanted and no one cared. Anna had crayons and a kids' placemat to decorate, so she was happy. Jamieson and I liked the history of the place. So, the majority had a good time.

How I felt at the end of the trip.
(Actually, another cute statue at Bookworm Gardens.)

So, final thoughts. It was a good trip. It was a hard trip, but we expected that. I don't think we are going to plan any further excursions until William is more comfortable with alterations to his routine. Not that any of us do change very well, but he will be easier to tote along as he gets older, I hope. Every place we visited was fun and worth a repeat visit in future years. It's not all bad, though, to hear the kids say that it's good to be home. Maybe that's worth the effort of a trip, too. 

I'm Bored!

Dearest Children,

Believe it or not, "I'm bored. There's nothing to dooooooo," does not inspire me to turn on the TV for you. In fact, it tends to make me want to load up all your toys and drop them off at Goodwill. Also, "I'm going to my room!" isn't generally perceived as a bad thing by the adults of the house.

With love,
Mom

Melancholy Mom/Proud Mom

So, I thought that once I sent Erik off to first grade -- in school all day for the first time -- I would be relieved. There would be one less chatterbox and one less instigator to contend with for most of the day. Turns out, I don't like it so much. I miss the little guy. I feel antsy all day knowing that he's not home. Of course, he's fine. He's in an excellent school with a wonderful teacher. The long day tires him out, but he seems to be doing well and enjoying most of it. (Lunch! Two recesses!) Once he does come home, my anxieties shift from "Where's my boy?" to "What's my boy's mood?" since doing homework and dealing with little siblings is not really what he wants to do (pleasantly) when he returns. So, the days haven't gotten easier for me, just different. (And, to all you more experienced moms, please don't tell me tales of when bigger kids go farther away. My heart can't take it this week.)

As if I wasn't feeling sentimental enough with my oldest heading off to first grade, my youngest chose this week to master walking. Every day he's walking farther, faster. This weekend he definitely started to show a preference for walking over crawling. It seems like I just got used to having him here. Now I have to get used to not just having a little person keeping us company, but to having another little firecracker zooming around and getting into all sorts of mischief. I'm already finding him climbing on all sorts of furniture and exploring things that are really best not touched by toddlers. He's going to be my gray-hair causing monkey. Not like the other two were giving me lots of sitting around time!

So my boys are insisting on growing up and I'm not sure I appreciate that. My pensiveness is only amplified by an excellent book I started this weekend: Boys Should Be Boys by Dr. Meg Meeker. I read a fair number of parenting books, but I can honestly say this one is one of the best. There's no parenting philosophy agenda at play here, just a mom who wants to encourage parents to be actively present with and for their boys. As she sees it the world outside our homes is filled with all sorts of challenging influences ranging from subtle peer pressure on parents to overschedule kids to the immoral vices enticing all of us through media use. It's our job to simply spend time with our kids, trust our guts and be the the parent our own unique children require. The ideas aren't new or revolutionary, but Dr. Meeker states them clearly and compassionately. I can't speak highly enough about this book. It so moved me that I wanted to wake up all my kids last night and hug them. But I didn't. Let sleeping kids lie. (Because the teething baby will wake up crying in a few hours anyway!)

As always, it's not just two of the trio who are growing and changing. Our dear sweet middle child keeps me hopping, too. Anna seems to have brought a bit more drama into age 4 than she had just a few weeks ago at ol' age 3, but she's also becoming such a young lady in delightful ways, too. I will spend the rest of the school year second guessing the decision to enroll her in preschool only two days a week because she loves it so. On the other hand, she keeps so happily busy at home, that I have no doubt that she will do fine in school years to come. That new Lego set is getting a workout already. Like her big brother, she studies the instruction booklet and has begun to build structures of her own. I can see her ideas and imagination really take off. It's always been there, but I love seeing it evidenced in such a traditionally "boy" area as building. She's also our household entomologist, a fearless explorer of all sorts of back yard muck, and an aficionado of old National Geographic kids' science books. And she really likes Disney princesses. Well rounded, indeed.

Tomorrow the younger two have their annual check up. I'm looking forward to seeing if they are really as tall, on the growth charts, as everyone says.

William at 12 months: Milestones aplenty

Yesterday was a big day for Master William. For the past two weeks or so, he's been taking a tentative step or two here and there. Every day he gets stronger, cruises faster, stands longer, and generally seems ready to take off running. Yesterday evening Daddy, who was witness to the very first step, enticed him to take a few more steps and this time there was nothing tentative about it. He walked quite strongly across most of the living room and the whole family was there to see it. Of course, he had no interest in repeating it for the camera. Crawling is ever so much faster, you see. So instead I got the great video of our newly minted four-year old reading. Excellence all around!

As if that wasn't enough of a milestone, yesterday was the day William finally demonstrated his competence at feeding himself. Last week he deemed Mum-Mums worthy of picking up and eating. Maybe the crunch was satisfying for those four new teeth. I had never heard of them before last month when I bought them in a spree of grabbing every toddler snack in the baby aisle, hoping that they would inspire self feeding. Theorizing that maybe crispy round things were his thing, I tried some generic Ritz crackers at lunch yesterday. Success. He grabbed them and ate with relish. By dinner, he was an eating machine. Crackers, yes. Pasta, yes, but what else do you have. Ham? Yes, yes and yes! Breakfast this morning was a blur of rapidly consumed zucchini bread. (Thanks, Grandma!) As anticipated, the problem is now that he shoves too much into his mouth at once and gets crabby if anyone tries to do it for him. Anna decided she needed to serve him yogurt today, though, and he seemed happier to let her feed him than if I was doing it. Aside from the vast quantity of yogurt on his face, this worked out fine.

Meanwhile Erik and I labeled his school supplies yesterday. Today we went to Target to get the last few items, including red scissors. Foolish me for thinking orange would be adequate. Since we still needed to get Dixie cups for Anna's list, I was willing to humor him. No doubt in my mind that someone in this house will use the orange ones at some point.

So, a walking little boy, a reading little girl and a first grader. Whew.

Lego girl!

Anna and her new Legos

It's quiet time in our house right now. That means that William is sleeping and Erik and Anna are playing "quietly" in their rooms. Erik has spent most of the day building a diesel switcher and train station platform (with cafe) out of his Lego bricks. This summer he discovered the joy of audio books, so he's been listing to 101 Dalmatians repeatedly while building. Multitasking at 6-years old. Impressive. Erik gave Anna Legos for her birthday. It's the basic pink girl set. Admittedly I'm the one who strongly suggested Erik "get" them for Anna. I'm also the person who would have had a small fit if anyone gave me pink Legos as a kid -- too girly! Times change.

Until Thursday, Erik had every standard-sized Lego in our house in his room. Because of his love of trains and Legos, he is saving his money for a Lego train set. The basic sets start at $150. He gets about .50 to .75 per week in allowance. He will be saving for awhile. I love that Erik loves Legos and I have no problems with his interest in trains, but I won't be buying that train set any time soon, either. Why should I when he spends his time building train engines, cars and stations that are far more imaginative than anything I've seen in a toy catalog? It's entirely possible that he will indeed keep saving till he has enough, which would be a wonderful lesson in financial discipline. Until then, he has Lego-related synapses developing all the time.

Erik and one of his recent creations: subway station

Half the Legos in Erik's collection were mine, and I still feel pretty attached to them. As much as I love Erik's love for them, I also have two other children in the house who I feel need access to all the wonders of Lego building. For now, we chase William out of Erik's room and direct him to our collection of large Duplo Legos, but what about Anna? That's where the pink Legos come in. If we gave Anna a box of any old Lego set, Erik would decide that it should really join the other Legos, which just so happen to be in his room. Even with her new set, he argued that an orange piece (we think it's supposed to be a diving board?) should become his because "orange is a boy color." Um, no. So, the pink Legos make our princess lover very happy and they stay in her room because pink and purple just don't work with Erik's vision for his Lego railroad empire. No, it's not a box of Technics or Mindstorms, but it's a start. As I closed the doors for "nap" time this afternoon, Anna was building a house of her very own creation. I know that there's been an uproar about the Lego Friends collection, and I purposefully didn't bring that set and its doll scenes into the house at this point. They will probably come in time, though. Yes, I'd rather just giver her a box of any-colored blocks, but I honestly don't believe a few sets of girly Legos will damage her development. Anna is surrounded with a science-loving engineer father, a tomboy, book loving (fashion impaired) mother, and two all-boy brothers. The princess culture can only go so far in this house. Anna is a girl who keeps choosing books on robots, space and electricity to read. Last week, while she was prancing around in a princess dress she deflected my complement on her appearance with, "I'm not pretty, I'm strong." (You can be both, honey, and you are.) So, I can live with her current love of princesses, too, because I think my princess is on her way to royally great things. Thanks for the pink bricks, Lego. They work just fine.

August birthdays

Time for a tea party

We're coming off of a big week here at the Olsen house. Last Wednesday, Erik had a morning of basketball camp at school, which gave him a rare chance to do some sports. We aren't the most athletic folks around here. He was glad to see his school friends and even happier to have one of his best friends (equally obsessed with trains, thankfully) come over for lunch afterwards. He also spent some time on his bike which he has just figured out how to ride with no training wheels and, even better, no falling over! So, Erik had that as his special day, which was important when the younger two had big days next.

Not to miss the spotlight for any length of time, William showed us on Wednesday that he can indeed feed himself if he's so inclined. I've been fretting because he refuses to pick up food for himself despite his ability to use a cup well and to generally use his hands and fingers with notable dexterity for a baby. Baby Mum-Mum, a strangely named rice rusk product did the trick. He picked them up and ate them repeatedly. But only them. (Postscript, one week later: On a hunch, because he also picks up and gnaws round cork coasters, I gave him Ritz today. Same story, picked up and ate. Guess he only wants round, thin food. Hmm.) So, there's one less worry to hold. Baby can feed himself. Sometimes.

Sprinkles!

On Thursday, our little girl turned four. We opened presents in the morning. The Birthday Fairy (a joke I made once that seems to have been taken to heart) brought Anna a tea set much to her delight. Erik was very happy to show her how to build with the Lego set "he" got for her. (I apologize to my younger tomboy self for the pink Lego set, but if it's not pink it will be absorbed by Erik's collection. A girl needs her very own Legos, too!) Later in the morning we walked over to our favorite doughnut shop -- Dimples!-- for a birthday treat. We were a bit late in the morning for a full selection of goodies but the birthday girl was given an extra one just because it was her day. I love those folks. Glad we walked, though! As if that wasn't enough sugar, after lunch -- and our usual birthday reading of Dr. Seuss' Happy Birthday to You -- we made the birthday cake. I was feeling a tiny bit guilty for not creating a fancy birthday cake of my own for the day. Now, I think I will always have the kids help make their own cake. It's so much more fun than staying up late to make a cake I hope will be good enough. Anna loved helping to make the cake and you should have seen the decorating! It was a strawberry cake for our lover of all things pink. We frosted it white and then had a pink sprinkle side and and green sprinkle side in honor of the next day's birthday boy. Anna and Erik each took over decorating their halves and they did it in a big way. Children do not apply sprinkles gently. Half a bottle on each side. Wow. Jamieson described it as a Peep cake. It had that same so-sugary-it-hurts-your-teeth feeling. But the kids were happy, so it was worth the mess. For dinner we went to 2 Toots. We tried to let Anna chose a restaurant since we don't want to always be heading off to train destinations as if only Erik's interests matter. She didn't want to make another choice though, so we tried a different location and enjoyed it, too. Anna had a birthday cupcake at the restaurant. The rest of us refrained since we had cake to enjoy at home. Highly sugared all around, we called it a good day.

Happy birthday to me!

This was not the end of birthday celebrations, though. Anna just barely escaped having a birthday twin. (Sorry, kids.) On Friday, we celebrated the first birthday of the boy formerly known as "The Baby." William is now an official 1-year old toddler. Anna and Erik very eagerly gave him his presents. (Trying to hold them back from totally unwrapping them and playing with them was the challenge of the weekend.) William had the good manners to be interested in all his toys, even the diaper covers mom thought would be okay for a birthday gift. He seems especially thrilled with the trucks. Although anything with buttons has him smiling, too.

Daddy took the day off and we spent most of the morning getting ready for the big party on Saturday. In time for lunch Grandma and Grandpa G arrived to enjoy some pre-party time with the kids, including a walk to the park to see the monkeys play.

On Saturday we were ever so grateful for the absolutely beautiful day. After the dry hot summer we've had, I was bracing for a houseful of people trying to avoid the heat. What we got was a sunny, breezy day in the 70s. It was absolutely perfect. We had all the grandparents and many good friends. The kids were able to stay in the yard and play. They were pretty well entertained with our collection of fabric tents and tunnels, a ball pit made from the wading pool, a craft table to make sun visors and bubbles aplenty. We ended up with way too much leftover food, but that means no cooking for our own meals right after the party. Yay!

It's so hard to believe that our little William is an entire year already, although his newly toothy grin makes him look more like a little boy and a lot less like a baby. Even Anna moving from 3 to 4 sounds like quite the age jump. In just a week she and Erik will begin a new school year. The kids are all getting big rather quickly. I'm doing my best to appreciate these little kid years. They wear me out, but I couldn't be more proud of all of them. What a blessing to watch them grow.

Seriously, folks? A pink cake? Do I have to share birthday stuff with my sister every year?

William at 11 months: Doing my own thing

Good morning, William!

I've been thinking about what I wrote yesterday about William. Unfortunately, he didn't magically learn to feed himself over night. Despite what the Baby Center told me this morning "wordlike sounds" are not "spilling out" of my now 11-month old baby. And, as long as we're on the subject of what's not happening, he hasn't started running after his siblings, despite many predictions on the amazing skills of the third baby. So, natural momma reaction is to start fretting. Hard. What if he's, gasp, "slow"???

Deep breath time. Look at that face. Adorable, right? That is one happy baby. William is adept at communicating hunger, getting fed and eating well. He chatters all the time, including a well-placed "Da" a few days ago when I carried him into a room and he saw Daddy. He also seemed to be singing along with one of the hymns at church on Sunday if the looks from folks in the other pews are to be believed. He's been crawling and cruising well and now he's starting to stand independently here and there, so the walking will begin soon. Above all, William does not sit in the corner like a lump. There's a lot going on around him all the time and he is happily engaged in all of it. If he isn't feeding himself or talking in sentences yet, it's probably just because he hasn't needed to. The people around him, big and little, are apparently meeting his needs to his liking.

It's hard not to get antsy about baby milestones even when the process is old hat. Everyone wants to have bragging rights -- good sleeping, good eating, good walking, good talking -- and it would be nice to have those first before everyone else (because he is the best baby in the world, right?). Except babies, and bigger kids too, aren't learning their various skills to appease family egos. Sleeping, eating, riding a bike -- it all comes when the minds and bodies are ready, not because some checklist said it should be mastered by now or because all the other kids in the neighborhood are doing it.

So, here's what I'm learning from William: slow down, Mom. This is my baby who was induced two days after his due date. Odds are good that left up to him, he would have been one of those week or two "overdue" babies. He was happy in the womb; he was happy to look around when he got kicked out. He is learning and doing at his own pace. It may not be my pace, but it works for him. You know what he is best at? Love. He is a snuggler. He knows how to give big, delicious hugs and he knows how to receive them. Several times a day, he gets a bear hug and "I love you, William" from his sister. From his brother, he gets constant encouragement and a few well-placed hugs, too. So, do your own thing, William. No matter where you go in life, you are already a success.

Joy!

Love!

Dinner time blues

This adorable young man REFUSES to feed himself, despite totally mastery of the cup, a delight in mushing food all over the place, and no refusal to anything coming his way via spoon. He will happily crawl across dry grass to play in dirt and mulch, delights in the bathtub (and dog dishes) and grabs anything and everything he can find, so we're not looking at a tactile sensitivity issues near as I can tell. He can throw a ball with accuracy, so I'm pretty sure the fine motor skills are developing well. What I do know is he's the only baby his age -- 11 months -- who isn't feeding himself. Most likely, he's on his own timeline. He eats every meal with us, but the best way to get attention is, of course, refusing to feed himself. He's already learned how to push mom's buttons. (Side note, whoever came up with the parenting advice of not letting kids get a rise out of you, come up with something else. When the kids annoy me, I appear annoyed. Seems like the world could use a little more honesty about emotions, rather than less, but I digress.) Unfortunately, this refusal to put the food in his hands into his mouth is making his parents a little crazy because it just seems odd. We're considering putting a stack of Oreos on his tray, just to entice him, but he will probably just throw them on the floor, like he throws everything on the floor. Seems like a waste of a good cookie to me. So, chances are that this soon-to-be one year old will end up with very little birthday cake unless he gets this eating thing figured out soon. Feed yourself already, kid! 

Here we go again

Of course I can't let this one sneak by: Cherie Blair, wife of the former British prime minister, has declared that women who stay at home full-time with their kids aren't setting a good example for their children. Sigh. Very exciting to know that I am a "yummy mummy." Seriously, wasn't the point of feminism to give women CHOICES, not to guilt women into fulfilling someone else's life ambitions? I can assure you children raised by a full-time at-home mom have NO problem with a "sense of independence." Let's call it what it is folks: if you aren't earning money, society calls you worthless. Please, someone look me in the eye and tell me that I'm wasting my time and education. Otherwise can we stop demanding that the only women who dare call themselves feminists or even good mothers are those who refuse a life that looks remotely like the life of a woman from our grandmothers' era. 

Remembering Grandpa

Grandpa and "Christy" 

This past Sunday marked 10 years since my grandfather, Ernest Steinhorst, passed away. I still have to remind myself sometimes that he and Grandma aren't in their old house on Fifth Street, which makes me so very sad. There's nothing I would enjoy more than introducing them to my kids. I know Grandma would fill them full of cookies. I can picture Grandpa letting them sit on his lap while they look at books. I think they would have been tickled to fill their tiny house with yet more great-grandkids.

Grandma visiting with Callie and Molly, 2004

By some standards, my grandparents may not be memorable. They were farm folks of limited formal education. They were soft-spoken people who lived simply. I can tell you, though, that it's because of them, that I am who I am and I do what I do. Every year our family would file into "their" church pew on Christmas Eve. My humble grandparents would beam with joy to have everyone home for Christmas. I have never seen anyone of business or wealth or status who was as happy as they were just to be with family. Because of them, I can be home with my children every day knowing that I don't have to do anything else with my life for it to be a success. From Ernest and Dorothy Steinhorst I learned that a life well lived is one in which you work hard, put your faith in God and cherish family. Anything beyond that is just icing on the cake.

Grandma and Grandpa, I love you and miss you.

Good Books

I just wanted to give a quick mention of two books I have recently finished reading and thoroughly enjoyed. (I know it's surprising that I have time to read given my complete inability to accomplish basic household tasks but one of the many joys of having a nursing baby is mandated reading time. I hope the kids will all forgive me for reading over their precious little noggins. Maybe it's those early memories of mom reading that turn them into the book lovers they are.)

The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming Our Passion, Purpose and Sanity by Meg Meeker. I recently heard a Family Life Today podcast interview of Dr. Meeker and tracked down her most recent book the next day. She's a mother of four and a pediatrician, so right there she has some life experience to back up her advice for mothers. There's really nothing mentioned here that most mothers don't intuitively know. Her topics are common sense points like don't give in to mom competition, make time for friends, let go of fear, and have faith. Sometimes we need the reminder and Dr. Meeker has a very approachable, non-judgmental tone. Especially on issues of faith, I appreciate that she is honest with both her faith and her doubts. She admits to having moments of questioning God in the face of struggle and suffering. To my mind that gives her more credibility as a woman of faith than those who serve out platitudes and "let go and let God" religious cliches. 

Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party)."  by Rod Dreher. This book was recommended to me when it was first published several years ago. I probably wouldn't have appreciated it at the time, but now it was a most refreshing read. In this era of divisive politics and rigid ideology, I appreciated reading something I could relate to -- someone who is a conservative voter yet socially adheres to many practices assumed to be the domain of only liberal folks: organic food, environmental conservation, architectural preservation, modest consumption. I doubt it's a book to change minds, unfortunately, because I think very few people dare to read anything that doesn't promise to support their preexisting views. That's a shame because Drehers ideas are incredibly common sense and deserve wider consideration. Here's the article that prompted Dreher to write the book in the first place.

William - Nine Months Already!

William: Nine Months

On Thursday, William hit the 9-month old milestone. Despite a mild cold, he had a great well-baby check up. He is over 19 inches tall and 29 pounds of baby awesomeness. He was pleased that this doctor visit involved no shots. Maybe that's why he gave the nurse practitioner several hugs. Not even a year and already the little flirt!

William has spent the past few weeks rapidly leaving behind all things infant and leaping into little boy territory. About two weeks ago he mastered crawling. He's been more or less mobile longer than that, with rolling, scooting and dragging himself along getting him where he wanted to go. Once the "real" baby crawl technique clicked for him, though, he was able to get places ever so much faster. Now we're back to baby-proofing everything at baby level. It's so interesting to see what catches his eye. So far William hasn't pinched his fingers on the toy kitchen cabinets, but we do have the oddity of a baby lock on one of the doors. William is fascinated with doors -- he's realized he needs to back up before pulling a his bedroom forward and crawling through. Then he zips down the hallway, either heading into Anna's room to play with the alphabet magnets or, more often, into Erik's room to bang together pieces of wooden train track. It seems that we have another railfan because William is captivated by Erik's various trains and train layouts. Good to know we won't have to pursue any new toys or activities at this point. William's interest in Erik's things means we have now arrived at the moment I've been fretting about -- keeping big kid toys (Legoland!) out of little kid hands. So far, William hasn't put anything other his own fingers in his mouth, but keeping the tiny stuff away from him is going to be a major challenge for our household for the next few years.

I was going to write that William is finally getting into consistent good sleep habits, but I'm listening to him whimper on and on right now instead of napping. As it's a Saturday, the day's schedule is just different enough to convince him that he might miss something if he gives in to sleep. Overall, he's becoming a good sleeper. After a few weeks of micro naps, he's been taking two solid naps a day most of the time. Now I can't seem to do any errands since I need to be home for his sleep time, but that's fine for now. At night he's always been a decent sleeper. When he wakes it's usually just once, or twice if he's not feeling well. A few weeks ago I thought I was ready to enforce the no-nightime snacks rule and eliminate our 11:30 nursing session, but when it dawned on me that it was one of the few times I could enjoy my littlest boy without company, I postponed the event a few more weeks. So, it was Mom's issue, not his that kept his night waking going. This week I decided he was old enough for us to all sleep better, and with just mild protest he's been doing great. The catch here is that he still has no teeth, which means once I get used to full nights of sleep again, we're bound to have a few nights of discomfort when they finally come in.

The nap protest continues, so I think we have a small grump to deal with today. I think we can cure what ails him with his second-favorite activity after crawling -- eating. William despises prepackaged babyfood (except Sprout chicken dishes. Good stuff. Even I could tollerate that, I think.) but nibbling on whatever else is on the table makes him very happy indeed. So, snack time, here we come.

Boys being boys

See that little face? That's the look of absolute adoration for the big brother. These guys are already bonding over trains. An even better brother moment came last night at bedtime when Erik showed off his new-found talent for making, ahem, farting noises with his arms. William laughed uproariously every time. Then he stopped and grabbed Erik's hand. Erik got the most thoughtful expression on his face and said, "He just held my hand for the very first time!" Pause. Resume boy noises and laughter. I think these two are going to have a beautiful relationship.

Erik shows William all the features of the flashing, ringing train signals. 

Normal morning:
Erik building train tracks;
Anna in William's space;
William at the center of everything.

(To keep things fair, here's a cute Anna moment.  Anna is always trying to figure out the boundaries of our neighborhood and the location of everything else. So, when notified that our errands would take us to  West Chicago yesterday, she inquired, "Not Big 'Cago?" Try to find the zip code for that one.)

Mommy Roars

So, the Mommy Wars have roared back to life with Hilary Rosen's comment about Ann Romney not working a day in her life. As a mother, you would think that Ms. Rosen would be well aware that day after day with children is no vacation. Maybe her children are so talented or such angels that being with them is smooth sailing all the time. I doubt it. All we know for sure is that she made a dumb comment and proved without a doubt that the "women's vote" is no unified front. And she made a whole lot of sweet little stay-at-home moms like myself see red. As in, "She said WHAT?" and I haven't gotten my blood to stop boiling since, red.

What Ms. Rosen and like minded folks may not realize is that I don't really have time to sit here and write about this, or any, topic. My job, while not of the battle rush hour and punch a time clock variety, is rather demanding and relentless. There's a to-do list of items left from Monday taunting me as I sit here, but in the interest of sparing my nearest and dearest further rage on this topic, I'll get a bit of it out right here.

First of all, five boys! The Romneys have FIVE boys. Anyone who has watched ONE boy, or even one energetic girl, for an afternoon knows that keeping busy children alive and out of trouble requires superhuman strength. Then there's the little matter of Mrs. Romney's health. She's survived multiple sclerosis and cancer. Forget Mitt. Ann Romney for president!

The point Ms. Rosen was trying to make was an economic one. Clearly the Romneys are in a financial position most of us can't even imagine. Without a doubt there are many, many, many families who need multiple wage-earners bringing in checks to make ends meet. Our family is incredibly blessed that Jamieson's job can support us without my needing to work also. I have to say that around here I have more than once gotten the "it must be nice" vibe in response to my own full-time mom status. It is nice. I am fortunate. But we have made choices that enable me to be home. We do not have a lawn service, cleaning service, or cable TV. Our cell phones are pay-as-you go, non-smart phones that can't take pictures and certainly can't find the Internet. Jamieson walks to work. I wash and line dry A LOT of cloth diapers (and napkins, and use a rain barrel, and compost kitchen scraps and do other green things if you'd like to talk green cred, too). Our kids wear a lot of second-hand clothes and don't go to summer camp. We don't take Florida vacations -- or any vacations much beyond a night or two and one, gulp, tank of gas. I clip coupons, compare prices and we only buy on credit what we can afford to pay off when the bill arrives. The idea that stay-at-home moms are spending their days at the health club or in front of the TV while the kids are off playing calmly and quietly somewhere is a joke. No, it's offensive. It's pathetic how often people throw around the "I'm offended" card, but here's mine. Don't you DARE say or even imply that I am somehow wasting my education (magna cum laude from a private university, for those of you who think we housewives are a bit dim) by spending my time with my children. Jamieson and I wanted these children because we believe family is important. We want me home with them for now because we believe they are worth it. Of course they would have been fine in day care or longer school day setting. Sure it would be great for my mental health if I more frequently got away from the sibling bickering and general kid drama. Maybe the world would even be a better place if I were using my talents in a paid job right now. But that's not what we are doing. My kids are home because I want to be with them. I am willing to sacrifice some nicer stuff so we can all be together. My kids love their teachers and their teachers are so good for them, but no one will ever love them or know them as much as I do. During these early years, my kids deserve to have the stability of being home so that THEY can go out into the world and work and make it a better place. Anna can be a mom or a CEO or a gas station attendant. I really don't care, as long as she, and her brothers, know that their parents love them more than anything in the world. (And just to clarify, I'm not saying working moms don't love their kids. I know they do and they have my respect for their amazing ability to juggle all their commitments. I just know that if I were working right now, the kids would feel the stress, not the love.)

So, as for the economy, I feel the effects of the economy with every choice I make for my household -- food, gas, kids' activities. As for being a mom at home, it's the best JOB in the world. It makes every bit of difference in my children's lives and maybe other folks in the community, too. Don't underestimate the housewives of America. We're a bit distracted, what with the dishes, laundry, school drop-off and pick up, homework, grocery shopping, home maintenance and what not, but we are paying attention to the people who affect and influence our families. And we vote.

Beware the germs of March

Six years ago, I would have proclaimed that the hardest part of being a parent is surviving a night with a sleepless baby. This week I discovered that those sleepless nights of early momhood were nothing compared to night after night after night of tending the needs of three sick children. Erik is recovering from a cold and only woke up once  last night from a bad dream. The younger two, however, are testing my physical endurance with their nighttime woes. William has been battling a cold for at least two weeks and a cough for several weeks prior to that. On Thursday he was diagnosed with RSV. Previously I thought that it was only something preemies and sickly children caught, but not this year and not in this house. It seems like half the families we know have been battling some respiratory problem. Fortunately, William is generally fairly healthy. That didn't stop us from taking a trip to the ER Thursday to get his breathing under control. Anna has a nasty cold, too, and a fever that spiked dramatically late yesterday afternoon. I've been up with all the kids on and off all week, but last night I just seemed to go from room to room all night. Coffee is my very, very best friend.

The good news is that everyone seems to be much more like themselves this morning. The fevers are breaking. The coughing is still rather unpleasant but it hasn't brought anyone to hysterics today yet. I'm grateful for the tools we have for dealing with these illnesses, but I'm amazed at how much medical junk I'm wielding right now: ibuprofen, acetaminophen, Benadryll, nebulizer, inhaler, oximeter. My personal favorite: the Snot Sucker -- yet another leap past the icky frontier of stuff a person will do only because they are a parent.

I'm also beyond grateful for the local friends who have been so helpful and encouraging as we try to mend. Sure, this isn't the worst illness we could be battling, but it's been a bit scary and a lot exhausting. So, thank you to everyone who's kind words have done wonders to keep me sane.

And now, to have more coffee.

William at SEVEN months!

Another train-loving Olsen boy

William's current favorite toy: Legos!  

I can do something with this block!

Tomorrow William turns 7 months old! I can't believe the time has gone so quickly. Of course, those late-night wake ups seem to have been going on forever, but the transformation from tiny newborn-- well, he was never really "tiny" -- to curious and personable little man has happened so fast. Our current challenges are separation anxiety and a refusal to nap more than 45 minutes at a time most days. When William thinks he's being left alone and missing out on fun somewhere else, he can pitch a fit with the best of them. Almost no one outside of the walls of this house believes this truth, though. Most of the time, William is a happy guy. When we are out and about, he gets constant comments on how alert he is and how he's clearing watching everything and taking it all in. We will know in a few months what devious schemes he's been planning!

I do believe William is observant and clever, but I think he strikes people as particularly aware because he's just more visible than most babies who have been wrapped up for the winter in buntings and blanket-covered car seats. I gave up on the baby-carrying bucket seat a few months ago because William is heavy enough even without accessories. Thankfully, this mild winter has made it easy to dart in and out of buildings with a basic coat and hat on him. Either in my arms or in the Ergo carrier (Why, oh why, did it take me three kids to discover the joy of the Ergo?) William is up at eye level looking at the world.

As for other developmental milestones, William is eating whatever he can get his hands on. He seems frustrated that food doesn't get to his mouth fast enough and he's starting to hold a sippy cup on his own, ever so briefly. The bottle just never interested him, but he's likes the Nuby cups. He can grab baby puffs but hasn't quite mastered getting them from his hand to mouth. Soon enough. He's not crawling yet, but he rolls across the floor with speed. Sometimes he just rolls and giggles. He's always pretty excited to do something on his own.

As you can see from the pictures, William is very happy to play with big kid toys. He likes Erik's trains, which Erik expected. Erik does not appreciate when William rolls across the tracks, though. William likes Legos, too. Our major struggle is going to be keeping all the tiny construction toys away from him. Fortunately, we have an ample collection of Duplo and Quatro Legos for our Junior-est civil engineer.

In recent weeks, a few times I've been out shopping when someone, usually a clerk at Aldi as it happens, fusses over William and says "Congratulations." Honestly, my mental response is: "Congratulations for what? Oh, yeah! I have a new baby." In many ways, it seems like William was a novelty for just a week or so after he was born and then it was as if he had always been a part of the family. With Erik and Anna's school and social schedules to keep me busy, I just haven't had time to bask in Williams new-baby-ness. I don't feel like he's missing out on attention, though. Even though his baby days are zipping by, he gets so much love from his brother and sister and attention from everyone we meet taking them where ever they need to go. Sometimes I have a moment of panic thinking, "Wow, who put me in charge of three kids?" I also have many moments of absolute love for all the kids. When I'm getting William ready for bed each night I can' t help but thank God for the miracle of three healthy children, three happy, smart, loving children. I am so thankful that one more time I get to participate in a child's discovery of the world, step by step. Happy seven-month birthday, William.

My big kid

(I meant to publish this last week, but time got away from me...)

Erik and Grandma G playing Connect Four

Time to brag on my oldest child for a moment. Every day before "quiet time" and bed time, we read to the kids. Now that Erik is a big kindergartner, sometimes he does some of the reading. Today, I was able to tuck in William for a nap first, then read with Anna and Erik separately. That gave me some nice one-on-one time with each child.

Last week Erik's papers from school included notice that he had jumped two reading levels since the last time he was evaluated. I wasn't really surprised since his reading skills and willingness to do the reading has really taken off since Christmastime. Being an observant and clever kid, Erik early on was showing off his reading skills by memorizing signs and favorite words ("train," "Lego"). As he began kindergarten, I was convinced he knew how to read at a basic level for his age. He preferred to let others do the reading to him, though, so I couldn't determine what he really knew. It's very exciting now to hear him read aloud and see concrete evaluations of his reading skill. Since imparting a love of books is one of my main goals as a mother, it is so gratifying to see all my kids delight in reading and being read to. It's also fascinating to see the process of reading development from small person who chews on books to bigger person who devours books!

Long live words!