Giggle Fest

From 2012 Feb

Songs and Rules

That is apparently what preschool is made of.

We don't usually get much out of Nicholas when we ask him what he did at school that day, but the boy does randomly break out into songs and recitations of various school rules. And if you listen carefully and piece it all together, you can get a lot of information about what is going on.

The songs are the most impressive--he seems to have a new one every day. This weekend he sang us songs for days of the week and months of the year. In fact, any time you mention a day of the week, he starts singing. On cue. Every time. Funniest part? We were at a friend's house for dinner and she asked him if he wanted an ice cream sundae for dessert and he immediately began his rendition: "Sunday, Monday . . ."

And while it is sort of impressive that he knows the months (heck, who are we kidding, I'm impressed the kid can say "November" let alone that he can put it in the proper order), what actually impresses me more is his musical ear. I have never heard most of the songs they sing at school and yet I can confidently sing most of them because he does such a good job on the tune.

The rules are not nearly as cute but often more informative about what is going on at school. "Rules" may actually not be quite the right word because these are not the set list of 10 things on the wall. It is more like Nicholas recites every lecture the teachers gave them to correct behaviors all day. And his teachers apparently give very thorough explanations for the reasons behind each chastisement. And you know when he is parroting something from school because it almost always involves the word "friends" or "bodies" and often both.

For example: "When we sit criss- cross-applesauce we put our hands on our own bodies. If our hands are on the floor our friends might step on them. Our hands go on our own bodies when we sit criss-cross-applesauce." I may not have that quote exactly verbatim, but it is pretty close.

Another school-ism (said as he falls down): "I just threw my body on the floor. We don't throw our bodies on the floor when we play freeze dance. Our friends will trip if we throw our bodies on the floor."

I appreciate the explanations of rules, but I have to stifle a laugh over the phrasings. "Throw our bodies on the floor?" Really? Did I miss the memo where saying "fall down" will destroy children's development?

Adding a Twist

Like most 2 year olds Nicholas likes to read the same books and watch the same tv shows over and over and over again. I know this is normal. I know this is good in some way for cognitive development. I find it impressive that he has whole books memorized. (I'm a little scared about the tv shows he has basically memorized, though.)

But, let's be honest. While 2 year olds love reading the same books a bazillion times, parents get bored. I am at that stage with Clifford. Seriously, the book might disappear.

So tonight I decided to stave off the mind-numbing boredom by reading Clifford in a silly fake-Southern accent. And whether you measure success by the fact that I made it through the entire book without wanting to bang my head against the wall or by Nicholas' peals of laughter, it worked.

The only problem is that it was probably a little too hilarious for wind-down time.

A Different Kind of Snow

We have finally started getting snow this past week, after a very mild winter. The first two snows in the past week and a half have been of the 1-2 inch variety and very similar to what we got in Maryland--wet and slushy and gone within a few days.

But this weekend we were introduced to a different kind of snow. It wasn't much still, only about 3 inches, and so not what I would say is a real introduction to New England winter. But there was a really important difference--it was COLD out!

The snow was so powdery that there was no way to play in it. No snowballs. No snowmen. Nothing. It would work for sledding if we didn't live in a complex that was completely flat. And if we had a sled. So while Nicholas was happy just walking around in the snow and throwing it up in the air and watching it go everywhere, I got bored pretty quickly. And my chin started to go numb!

Anyway, here are a few pictures:

From 2012 January

From 2012 January

From 2012 January

From 2012 January

From 2012 January

Negotiating Skills

Apparently Nicholas has been taking lessons at the Uncle Patrick School of Negotiating Tactics.

We just finished dinner and he asked if he could play with his train. Sarah said, "yes, for 10 minutes." (It is, after all, almost time for bed.)

Nicholas replied, "No, 5 minutes!!"

"Sure!" we said in unison.

This comes on top of yesterday, when we offered him ten stickers for a successful potty trip, and he corrected us that he deserved two. So some skills we've still got a ways to go.

Orthography

Nicholas has a habit of trying to do the hard part of a new skill first: he tried to walk before he could crawl, and his second "word" was almost a sentence.

Now he's been learning his letters and noticing words (when the letters are uppercase, and I've decided not to teach him yet why they're called that). So what are the first two words he can spell?

NICHOLAS is first. Now, it's a difficult word, polysyllabic, with odd sounds ("ch" as "k"). But it is his name, so he sees it plenty and it's very familiar.

The second word: XAVIER, which he noticed on Sarah's sweatshirt last weekend. He practiced a few times and has started to memorize it. He's been practicing too. We happened to see in Target this weekend a bath toy that consists of foam letters that stick to the side of the tub when they get wet. He's been very excited about this new toy. The first time he had them he immediately wanted to spell Nicholas, and then insisted that we try Xavier as well, so we did. He's got his name down pretty well, actually, and he's getting better with Sarah's alma mater.

At this point, I'm basically expecting that he'll be trying to take derivatives before he can add and compose poetry in iambic pentameter before he can write a sentence.

Big Blue

Nicholas got his first real taste of the NFL playoffs yesterday with the Giants-Packers game (we were all in the air during last week's game against the Falcons). Since the game coincided with dinner time, Sarah offered to make it a mini-party; we got some appetizer dip-and-chips on our grocery run, and had dinner in the living room (which we do very, very rarely with our little toddler). I have assumed since about Week 15 (when the Giants were embarrassed by the Redskins to fall to 7-7) that the Giants were done for and anything positive they did was a bonus.

They've won four straight since then. "Serenity now!" is my new catchphrase.

Anyway, Nicholas and I put on our Giants t-shirts for the game, and we practiced our "Go Giants!" chant that he's learned:

From 2012 January

Nicholas is starting to pick up on some of the subtleties of the game. He can now identify quarterback Eli Manning, though singling out receivers, backs, and anything the Giants do on defense is still a bit beyond him. (He has the charmingly naive habit of cheering for every reception, even if it results in a touchdown for the Giants' opponents.)

Because the game went rather well, we also got to practice different ways to celebrate touchdowns. The best was to do a double high-five and shout, "oh yeah!"

From 2012 January

That then turned into a game where he shouted "oh yeah" and I had to shout "oh no," followed by him rolling on the floor and laughing. But he was having fun.

Next week the game doesn't start until 6:30, which is a little late to get Nicholas riled up, so we'll probably DVR the start of the game, put Nicholas to bed, and then catch up.

As Nicholas would say, "Go Giants!"