Reading time with the animals

I admit I've been nervous about Samantha starting to read. Just a few months ago, she seemed ininterested. Encouraging her to read lead her from suddenly jumping on the couch to being 'too tired'. She is probably mentally tired (and physically fighting being so), but I was worried there was more to it. That she might be struggling and too self consciencous. But since the holidays, she has really become more interested now that I put the right books in her hands. I honestly think she was trying to read books that were too advanced for her. Now that she is making progress reading simple books designed for beginning readers, she is excited about it. Last night she read a 60 page book that was a "I can read" book. One of the most entertaining things is when she is sounding out a 3-4 syllabul word- she makes it up and its usually a pretty funny sounding word. Then we remind her of her 'techniques', "Use chunky monkey". She'll tell us, "I want to use helpful kangaroo." You can guess chunky monkey is breaking the word into smaller parts to sound it out, but we didn't know what 'helpful kangaroo' was, but we quickly learned- its when a helper (usually mom or dad) jumps in to help her with a word. AJ is in on the reading too. He doesn't always like her to read to him because she does take some time with some words and he'll request helpful kangaroo or remind her to use her 'eagle eyes'. Its actually pretty cute (but annoys her). I wonder if his teacher will also use these phrases.

Chunky Monkey- breaking down the word into smaller parts
Eagle Eyes- using pictures in the story to help you figure out what the text says
Helpful Kangaroo- asking a parent to jump in and help
Fish lips- getting lips ready to make sounds
Stretchy Snake- stretching the sounds of the word out and blend them together

I am sure there are more of these cute phrases. Do you know any for your kids?

Child of Light

As many of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, Alleluia.



Matthew was baptized on February 11th. It was a wonderful, blessed day for our family. We were so glad to have some of our family here for the weekend. So many friends came out to St. Ignatius to witness this sacrament. We feel so loved.

I should use this opportunity to introduce Matthew's godparents, Daniel and Sarah. They are members of our St. Ignatius Church family and we look forward to watching their relationship with Matthew grow. The godparents of each of our children (and our own godson's family) have become such an important part of our family (not to put pressure on Daniel and Sarah).

My mom was able to stay for an entire week before the Baptism and she kept Matthew home the whole week. I know he misses her. David's parents and his older sisters family made the drive to Nashville for the weekend and were a huge help pulling together the event. Its always wonderful to see the kids together with their cousins.

Who is this Child of Light? Matthew is so sweet and so charming. He loves to grin especially at other kids- Samantha being his favorite! Father says he smiles at the angels in Church too. Matthew seems so different every day. While he has been a pretty good night time sleeper, we don't really have him on a daytime nap schedule. He still likes his swaddle and refuses a pacifier, but wants to stick his whole fist into his mouth, so he tries to break out of his swaddle...yes, its becoming a bit of a problem. Its hard to keep up. Matthew is so strong. At 2 months the doctor said he looked like a 4 month old with his head control. Today his caretakers say his back strength is amazing. He is growing so fast. I still remember when I could fit the entire width of his back in my hand. Now he is into his 3 size of clothes...slow down kid. Momma cannot keep up.

The kids have taken over the seats next to his high chair (David and I never get to sit next to him). They want to compete over who gets his attention and who can make him laugh and smile. Its funny to watch but I have to keep a close eye on all of it because Samantha and Andrew still don't understand what is safe for baby Matthew. They still don't call him Matthew. He is just "Baby" or "My Baby". They are very proud of him.

Future lawyer? Politician?

AJ likes to argue. Drives me nuts.

"Oh AJ, look there is a sports car."

"That's not a sports car, Mommy. It has a funny face."

"Andrew, it's a Porsche. It's very fast."

"No mommy, it's a mingler."

"What's a 'mingler'?"

"A regular car. (defiantly) The porsche is a mingler NOT a sports car."

"Maybe you should ask Mr. Jesse."

"I don't need to. I know what a mingler is."

(under my breath, 'of course you do because you made it up, you stinker')

"Who told you what a mingler is?"

"My friend turtle." (here we go again with the turtle)

"So he is an expert? How does he know?"

"Well his mommy thought the Porsche was a sports car too, but she was wrong."

"like me?"

(exacerbated) "yes, like you."

Twenty minutes later we were stuck in traffic and there was an OLD beat up camero. So beat up that he had to restart his vehicle when traffic started moving again...and AJ told me, "Moomy, now THAT is a sports car. A race car that probably took off his number stick to be on the road.". I realize he is 4 and I should let it go, but I had to tell him, "AJ, I've got to break it to you Bud. THAT could not beat the Porsche, mingler in a race today." And yes, the arguement started again. Luckily it was short because he got distracted by the firemen putting out the fire on the side of the road.