The Monster loves cake.
Okay, so most five year olds love cake too. And the Monster has, correctly, correlated “cake” with “birthday” to realize that in general, going to a birthday party means getting cake. So the Monster likes birthdays.
He hasn’t quite… grasped the rest of the birthday concept yet. Continue reading
I’ve made plenty of references to it before, but the Monster is a picky eater.
We’ve gotten accustomed to the fact that his choice of cuisine’s been narrowed significantly over the years. When he was a baby, he ate just about anything put in front of him… but today, our dining out is limited to places where they serve things he’ll eat. Continue reading
With the rare exception, we’re getting through most days these days without a single accident.
It’s nice progress – the Monster is slowly but surely getting a grip on telling us when he needs to go to the bathroom, and seems to largely be holding it until appropriate opportunities when we’re out and about and he’s in his cloth underwear. I can’t remember – barring mornings where I’ve not brought a pair of briefs downstairs – the last time we felt a need to put him in a pull-up outside of bedtime. Continue reading
So we’re about half-way through the holiday break, and we’ve had really few enough disruptions to the status quo.
The Monster’s gotten into the routine – skewed as it is from his regular routine – of going to the JCC each day for his mini-camp. We don’t seem to be having too many real issues, after having made some adjustments to keep his sleep schedule somewhat aligned to the new day. Continue reading
As the year is drawing towards its close, and we’re trying to assess where the Monster is with things – especially in light of the possibility that he might be integrated next year (with help) into a ‘normal’ classroom… we’re left with trying to evaluate what more we can do to encourage his independence.
Most of the time, he is fairly independent. He can use a regular cup (though with us, he prefers not to), and he’s shown that he can use a fork and spoon just fine at the table most of the time. I might not be prepared to let him have milk in his cereal, were he to show willingness to do it, or to give him soup, but he’s mostly handling things himself on that regard. Continue reading
I know that, like a lot of other parents in our boat, we’re dealing with what to do with the Monster while the schools are closed for a week and a half.
When I was a child, I used to look forward to holiday break – it was the first of a whole span of week-long interruptions in the school schedule that, at least from that point forward, I could expect every six-or-so weeks. Now… it’s more dread about what to do with the kids while they’re both at home. Continue reading
Yesterday afternoon, since it was a nice day, we took the kids to the playground around the corner.
Going to the playground means watching the Monster and R while they’re around ‘typical’ kids. And that brings up all kinds of other issues, most principal among them being the fact that there’s the obvious grounds for comparison of the Monster with other children. Continue reading
Yesterday was the semi-annual trip to the dentist.
In theory, the Monster understands fully well that the dentist is not going to hurt. He’s able to vocalize that we’re going to the dentist, doesn’t put up a fight about the issue, and knows that the dentist is going to check his teeth. Continue reading
It’s nearly the holiday break, so that means it’s time for everyone to get sick in our house.
I happen to sniffle almost all winter. It has little enough to do with whether or not I’m sick, but I do seem to go through tissues like no one’s business. (I’m just used to it at this point.) Continue reading
Part of the Monster’s class’ curriculum is for the children to learn to write. There’s a variety of levels in his class, ranging from children who have had some preparation before arriving, down through children who are still learning to recognize letters. Obviously, even though we’re in a world where computers are increasingly important and kids aren’t being taught cursive handwriting anymore, he needs at some point to be able to learn to form the letters on his own. Continue reading