Birdsong

Children's stories can be so cool and informative! I picked this book at the library several weeks ago:


Each page is a beautiful illustration depicting one or more North American birds in their habitat. Eighteen bird species and 14 States are included. For a little taste, here is the one for Tennessee:

For a secret lunch, Jason's neighborhood friends meet in their tree house hideaway. CHICK-A-DEE-DEE-DEE---friendly chickadees flutter down to eat walnuts from their hands.

And one for Texas:

The day is long, there's plenty of time for adventure, so Ranto and Navara paddle down a winding river. RICKITY-CRICK-CRICK, RICKITY-CRICK-CRICK---crafty kingfishers dive for insects, tadpoles, and silvery minnows.

Jonah and Miles both really enjoy this book, although sometimes I do need to shorten the text to keep their attention. (That's permissable - they're young!) I have noticed that Jonah has memorized the sounds made by owls, crows, hawks, and chickadees. Plus he recognizes the sound of a loon as well (good Canadian boy!). I suppose he may know more. I haven't tested him or anything!

Below I have listed all the "birdsongs" in this book. Don't just read them. First, feel way deep down inside you, and find that part of you that wants to be at one with nature, raise the pitch of your voice, add a little extra air, make like you're a bird and give their sounds a try!! Then make a recording and email it to me! I dare you!

Great Horned Owl: who? who?

American Crow: caw-caw-caw

Red-Tailed Hawk: keeyer, keeyer, keeyer

Black-Capped Chickadee: chick-a-dee-dee-dee

Northern Cardinal: what-cheer, what-cheer, wheat-wheat-wheat

Rock Pigeon: coo-a-roo, coo-a-roo, coo-a-roo

Anna's Hummingbird: chip-chee-chee

Bobolink: bob-o-link, bob-o-link, spink-spank-spink

American Goldfinch: dear-me, dear-me

Great Blue Heron: gawk! gawk!

Belted Kingfisher: rickity-crick-crick, rickity-crick-crick

Northern Bobwhite: bob-white, bob-white

Summer Tanager: Chicky-tucky-tuck

Pileated Woodpecker: yucca-yucca-yucca

American Bittern: pumperlunk, pumperlunk

Clapper Rail: kek-kek-kek

Ovenbird: teacher-teacher-teacher

Whippoorwill: whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will

Crying and Whining

Oh, the power of crying and whining. Parents out there will understand what I'm talking about. Do you ever notice yourself avoiding doing something for fear that your child will whine or cry? I've been noticing that lately myself. Just the sound of that cry or whine is enough to drive a parent crazy!

Glenn and I bought a double stroller a few weeks ago, so I can finally get out for walks with both boys. The first two times we had them in there, Jonah did NOT like it. They were all bundled up for winter and squished into a tight space. Jonah seems to need his space. Miles? He didn't mind at all. He likes a good cuddle. Anyway, the third time I put them in there, they were fine!! However, late last week I purposely didn't go for a walk because the idea of putting both of them in the stroller was making me cringe - yes, because the whining and crying that Jonah did the first two times was so powerful, more powerful than the more recent positive experience.

Amazing, isn't it? What do you avoid or put off because of the dreaded whine?

I finally took them out again yesterday. It was nice enough that they weren't too bundled up. I even had to take their outer layers off part way through the walk because it was so warm! I couldn't decide which pic to post here, so there are two - one cheesey smile each! Glenn says they look like little old men in here. Do you agree?




Once we started walking, Jonah did start whining, because he really wanted to stay home for 'nanbah nine' - translation? Sandbox Time! Fortunately, there was a garbage truck on the street that we were able to follow for quite a while and that sufficiently distracted him. We also got to see the water tower! VERY exciting. Once we got back, the boys got into the sandbox together for the first time this year. Miles pretty much covered himself in sand.



Check out the pics taken of these boys on the first day of summer last year - they've changed so much!! I'm hoping that outfit will still fit Jonah this summer (well, the shirt will be too short this summer, but I think the shorts will do)!

Convinced

OK, OK, I'm convinced - I should keep blogging! Thanks for the encouragement!

Here are today's development and thoughts...

Jonah just ran through the room saying, "Idea! Idea!" Then he picked up a step stool and took it into his bedroom. I gave him a few seconds and then followed. He had put the stool beside his crib and used it to get in - I found him cuddling his beloved dog "I.V./ Ivy" (I can't decide how to spell it, but he pronounces correctly now!) with a big grin on his face. I put the side of the crib up to lock him in and told him to call for me when he wanted to get out. Instead though, a few minutes later, I heard a thud and a cry - he had tried to climb out by himself... Not such a good idea, Jonah!

I haven't updated my blog on Jonah's potty situation... He is pretty much potty trained but there's one big catch - he has to be completely nude for that to be true!!! And nude all the time just isn't practical, and I always feel slightly uncomfortable. Ha ha. Anyway, today I gave him a nude morning. I could tell he needed to poop, but he's a little scared of doing it, and needs encouragement -- hugs, extra stories, reminders that he has done it before. I also told him today that he could paint if he pooped on the potty, so eventually he did!

So off we went to paint. I figured since his potty is red, I would choose the colors red and brown for his painting experience today. I was really amazed because once I told him why I chose those colors, he wanted 'help' to paint a potty. So, I helped him by painting a red circle. Then he used the brown and put "poo" in the potty. He wanted to do this, over and over again, asking for 'new paper' and help from me. I encouraged him to do it himself, showing 'around and around' gestures and he actually succeeded a couple times in creating an oval. That was ALWAYS followed by the brown paint - "poo" he would say. Then more "poo" or "new paper". It was very interesting for me - how he seemed to be processing it all. Eventually I turned the red paint pink and turned the brown paint to purple, but he still insisted on creating more potties and poops. Too funny! Eventually I convinced him to let me paint his hand - he loves doing handprints.

And what's the deal with kids sleeping with their bums up? My nephew is a big 'bum up sleeper' - no matter what, he ends up on his belly, knees tucked under his tummy, bum up. This afternoon he fell asleep in my arms in the rocking chair. I put him in bed, asleep, and immediately he assumed that position. For experimentation's sake, I decided to straighten his legs out, but immediately he drew them up again. I don't get it - I don't think I could sleep like that! Could you? Hmmmm... maybe I'll go try that position and see how it feels!

Oh, and "Dodah" is no more - Now it's "Nonah" - that's a little closer to "Jonah" I suppose!

And can anyone give me any advice on moving to a clothed potty trained child? Do I just need to put up with a lot of accidents for a few days until he gets it? I've gotta say, it's a little frustrating to continue changing poopy diapers when I KNOW he's capable of using the potty!!

Happy Bloggiversary, Me!

Yes, it has been exactly one year since I started blogging. I have absolutely nothing brilliant to say today as usual.

Anyone else's head hurt? Anyone else need a full body massage? Anyone else ready to shed the winter clothes? Ugh! CABIN FEVER!

Hey - I have a great bloggiversary idea! Why don't YOU wish me a Happy Bloggiversary and tell me why I should keep blogging?

Camp Reminiscing [Part 3]

See Part 1 and Part 2 for some history on this series.

I learned a lot from Dyan, who was the Program Director for “Holiday Camps” (for children ages 7-12) when I was a camp counselor in the mid-to-late 90s. Dyan was what you could consider a “camp person extraordinaire”!

She loved having fun and being adventurous. She liked to make camp exciting and fun and busy for the campers. She was a great program director because she was a kid herself – I think she maybe even loved some of the outdoor games more than the kids themselves! She really prepared her counselors well, covering all kinds of safety issues, ideas for managing behavior and so on. I also learned to tire the kids out having so much fun that they can't help but flop into bed in exhaustion each night, and a plethora of other things. For example, if you PLAN a ‘late night sneak out’ during the first night or two of camp, you’ll win the campers over, PLUS they will be so tired during the week that they aren’t likely to try sneaking out themselves later!

I found a picture I took of a paved landing outside a boys' cabin during one of our 'planned sneak-outs.' On the landing we wrote in chalk, "Cabin 1 Rules, Cabin 2 Drools! We were here at 11:33pm... where were you snoozers?"

In this picture, we had taken some teenage campers up north to go camping. You can find Dyan near the bottom left, looking like she’s punching someone. I’m on the top right lookin’ mighty hot-to-trot.

This camping trip up north definitely had some memorable moments for me. One of the biggest was the night Leanne and I spent quite a long time boiling chicken - it takes a WHILE to boil chicken and our campers were starving but right as the chicken was done, Dyan showed up with PIZZA!!!! We were SO MAD - We had slaved over the chicken and the campers abandoned it for pizza. On the left here is a pic we took to capture that moment. Although the memory is not forgotten, Dyan, it IS forgiven!

Finally, that same trip, Leanne and I got left on the island as the campers and other counsellors were boated away. Luckily my good friend (another counsellor) Karen realized I was missing! Sorry no one noticed your absense Leanne - I'm sure someone would have noticed eventually though! We all learned a lesson that day -- to make sure you have everyone, count all the campers AND all the COUNSELLORS!

Conquered sleep and the great escape

Well, if you keep up with my blog, you know that Jonah has had sleeping issues ever since I started taking care of Miles early in January. It has been wearing me out. Well, we think we figured out the problem. Jonah sleeps in what we like to call "a glorified hallway" beside a closet containing a water heater (catch an interesting link there?) Jonah has been waking up super early because the water heater kicks in when Aunt Tracy showers in the morning. [This was never an issue before because Tracy was on her maternity leave and didn't have to get up early to shower!] Jonah wouldn't go back to sleep, had poor naps, and in the end, was in an overtired cycle. We tried everything - putting him to bed early, putting him to bed later, one nap vs. two naps, you get my drift. He was still waking up early, napping poorly, and having trouble falling asleep at night. All that to say, we've finally conquered, and here's the new routine that's working:

Jonah has to be in bed every night by about 6:25pm at the latest (this requires an afternoon bath, since supper doesn't even start 'til 5:30pm). Every night before we go to bed, we set up a playpen in our living room. We then move sleeping Jonah into that playpen. He will sleep for at least a 12-hour night. And then take one 1.5-hour nap over the lunch hour. HALLELUJAH!!! And a special thanks to Glenn who came up with this idea.

And what's "the great escape?" Well, we have Miles' playpen set up upstairs, which I use for timeouts and as a holding tank for Jonah when I'm putting Miles down for naps. On Thursday, I put him in there for a timeout and went back to the playroom to read books to Miles. I heard a little grunting, a thump/grunt combination, and within seconds Jonah appeared at the playroom gate. We were wondering when this would happen!! Today he did it again, so we put him back in and videotaped his third escape. He was quite proud! So, does anyone want to place bets on when he figures out that he can also climb out of the playpen in the morning??!?!?!? Very soon, I'm sure, I will be awaken my Jonah climbing onto our bed! At least, I HOPE that's the first thing he does when he climbs out!

By the way, here's the interesting progression of pronounciations that Jonah has gone through for Miles' name:

Step 1: Mah
Step 2: Meye-o
Step 3: My-of

fun . . .

Our reading center has gone masculine:
(who needs comfy chairs when you can sit in trucks to read!?)

Winter dress-up fun!