Moriarty has been having reading lessons for several months now and is legit reading. He’s recognizing sight words, he’s sounding out words, he’s identifying letter blends. It’s SO COOL. This week he read an entire book for very early readers. He’s so proud. We’re so proud. He’s also getting better with 2- and 3-digit numbers. We practice reading times on the microwave, on timers, scales, the thermometer, etc. I try to build in random practice rather than make it a specific lesson time where we work on numbers.
Another type of practice he’s doing is with his nanny. They set up Mo’s Diner and Market. He practices writing by filling in the specials board. He practices math by having people pay and creating change. He role plays as the diner owner taking orders or helping people shop in the market. It’s charming. I’ve eaten a dozen plastic food meals. The market has been taken down and they’re setting up a workshop for making Christmas toys.
Lorelei is scheduled for her 18 month well baby visit this month. Our pediatrician gave us a questionnaire about her current abilities and the questions about language started with ‘does your baby say 8 words beyond mama/dada’, and ended with ‘does your baby initiate 2-word phrases’. Um...A month ago she was saying maybe 4 words past mama/dada (this, bump, uh-oh and hot). She’s been on the slower side for spoken language, which is common in younger siblings because so many people are around figuring out what she wants. But I was stressing, because I’m a person who chooses stressing out over being rational and calm. Then something clicked. And she started saying a word a day, or more. Within a week she’d added: book, up, apple, bye bye, dance, and bath. There are easily 10 more since. My personal favorite was dance. We were in the kitchen having breakfast. Lorelei got up and stood in the middle of the floor and said ‘dance’, then pranced around the kitchen island. She looked at me again and said ‘dance’ and did it over and over. Incredible. Her current favorite book is Barnyard Dance and she gets off the couch to dance to it every night during book time.
Moriarty can be very motivated and responsible, but also very controlling with his sister. He’s gotten obsessed with mopping and wants to mop every day. I’m not complaining, I want to encourage all cleaning and organizing initiatives. But he needs a lot of help and that’s kinda draining. I could do without having to tell him every single day not to put things in his sister’s mouth or take things out (mostly pacifiers). That she doesn’t want to be picked up like a doll. That he needs to respect her space when she asks for it. That’s the most draining.
We did have some fun holiday highlights. Since Moriarty couldn’t go trick-or-treating we set up a scavenger hunt throughout the yard with candy in tupperwares. We had a lot of fun. He got a set of fairy surprises that the adults conspire to bring fairy magic to him, mostly art stuff. It included a set of fairy runes and their meanings and Pip used the laser cutter to write the runes on leaves for Moriarty to find. Amazing use of technology IMO. We’re trying hard to not let Covid keep him from having positive memories of this year. There’s a lot of discussion right now about the vaccine and how it’ll save everything blah blah yay yay. But no one has started doing tests on children. So we’re still trapped in a position of not having them start school/daycare until they’re vaccinated, possibly fall or later of next year. It’s sinking in that this has no end in sight.
So we don’t end on such a downer, Pip and Moriarty were watching a nature wilderness show on YouTube. The guy (‘safely’) gets bitten or stung by things and then talks about the creature and safety precautions. Moriarty LOVES it. On a recent episode where the YouTuber was being bitten by leeches, Moriarty said, ‘This is cool. I LIKE looking at blood.’ We certainly discuss medical stuff a lot and I’m proud to be raising someone like me.
Extra Videos Below, Pictures Here (pass ‘mal’)
Lorelei playing a falling game
Lorelei eating kale
Lorelei alone on the trampoline
Lorelei directed this video about her socks. She asked Pip to take it, there were multiple takes.