Since it's too much work to do the math to figure out how old a kid is much past 24 months, I've decided to rename Emily's monthly posts with the year + month. So now she's 4 + 1 and already talking about how she'll be 5 at her next birthday. Sigh...
An interesting development this month has been the arrival of some imaginary friends. "Alice" seems to be the favorite, although she tends to be a bit of a troublemaker. For instance, I once asked Emily about a half a roll of TP that had been unrolled and stuffed into a basket in the upstairs bathroom. She promptly blamed it on Alice. Sometimes all the colored washcloths in the bathroom also get laid out in a line in the hallway at night for Alice. Alice often plays preschool with Emily. One time Emily referred to Alice as her sister, but when asked Emily usually says Alice is her "house girl", whatever that is. Another friend is named "Jella". Emily likes to make up strange sounding names that makes you think she's reading from the Old Testament or something. Anyway, Jella also plays preschool and other games with Emily. It's kind of fun listening to Emily's imagination churn out loud.
A not-so-good development this month has been frequent nose-picking. I know every kid goes through this stage at some point, but it's kind of maddening. I've thought about instituting a strict policy where each and every time I catch her picking her nose she has to march straight to the bathroom to wash her hands with soap and water. Although it's a very good idea to do it anyway, I haven't had the energy to actual enforce a policy like that the way it would need to be in order to be effective. So if anyone has any easy shortcuts I'd be interested in hearing about them! ;o)
One of the reasons I haven't gone ahead with it is the fact that washing hands is often a long, drawn-out process that involves multiple distractions, lots of reminders and another little monkey named Lincoln always getting in the way. We're just aiming for remembering to wash hands (with soap!) after going to the bathroom. Fortunately or unfortunately, it's pretty easy to tell whether or not Emily has done it. If the water faucet is still dripping, the soap bottle is out of place and the towel is on the floor than she has most likely completed the task. If everything is still in place she probably hasn't.
Another battle area this month has been seating arrangements at the kitchen table. I usually sit in a certain spot because it offers the easiest access to getting things to and from the table and for assisting Lincoln. However, at breakfast time it's looser since Austin usually isn't there, Lincoln doesn't need as much help and Lincoln sometimes sits on a regular chair instead of in his booster seat. Anyway, Emily decided that she wanted to sit in "my" spot all the time and not just at breakfast and/or snack time. I made the mistake of letting her a few times when I was too tired to fight her on it. She has thrown fits, refused to come to the table and given lectures about how next time she's going to sit in that spot when she doesn't get her way. Thankfully, I think we're starting to move past it.
Emily discovered the game of Hide-and-Seek this month and we have had some fun times with it. She's not the most clever seeker yet, and our house has a lot of great hiding places, so it's pretty easy for me. I often sneak out and just scare her from behind a corner, thus preserving the secrecy of my best hiding spots. Both kids love been startled. Lincoln just runs around laughing. Emily is also not a very good hider yet. As soon as you say "Ready or not" she immediately starts yelling from her hiding spot, and if it's not the second or third place you look she just jumps out. I'm sure as her game evolves we'll have even more fun times.
Emily has become very interested in signs this month and is always asking what they say. She can recognize some words on them. I think I've explained "Left/Right turn lane must turn left/right" at least ten times. This one is particularly interesting to her because she recently figured out right and left.
I'll close this month with a funny quote. All of the Halloween candy is in a plastic container in the cupboard. Every once in awhile she asks to pick one out for a snack or dessert. Oftentimes when she does it takes her a long time to decide. When pushed to make a selection she has said on more than one occasion, "Hmm... but I want to pick something healthy." Sorry, honey, there ain't nothing healthy in there! :o)
2 comments:
Oh Hide and Seek so much fun!!! What neat ages your kiddos are at!
It's so interesting to see how kids the same age are similiar but different. Wendell has also just started having an imaginary friend... well rather, dog, Odie, after watching a Garfield movie at my parents house. He also recently has learned left and right, we practice while in the car and talking about things on the left or right side of the road or which way we are turning. As far as nose picking, with Wendell I would ask him if he needs a kleenex whenever I see him picking his nose. Eventually he learned to get one himself. Just be happy she's not eating it.. we went through that stage : (. Always fun to hear new updates!
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