MARCH 2011

Fave Videos...




-The Yellow Submarine (1968)
-The Point (1972)
-Free To Be, You And Me (1974)
-Toy Story 2 (1999)

Fave Books...




-The BFG by Roald Dahl (audio book) performed by Natasha Richardson
-The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery; Adapted by Joann Sfar
-Baloney (Henry P.) by Jon Sciescka / Artwork by Lane Smith
-Yellow Submarine Adapted by Charlie Gardner / Artwork by Heinz Edelmann
-Charlie And Lola; I Completely Know About Guinea Pigs by Lauren Child
-Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip by Tove Jansson
-The Funny Thing by Wanda G'ag
-Rolie Polie Olie by William Joyce

3.1.11

Yesterday we went to Danny's Warehouse to look for some tap and ballet shoes for Henry. He was so cute trying on all the different pairs of shoes, and the sales girls there adored him. I really think Henry is going to like his dance class. I can't wait to see him get his ballet groove on.

We later headed over to Ikea and finally bit the bullet on purchasing an Expidit shelf unit for Henry's room, swapping out the piano into the living room. I was really nervous about moving the piano by ourselves, since the legs are so spindly, but Nicole and I managed. I know Nicole isn't completely thrilled with the move, but I think it looks great in its new spot, and Henry's room just seems to breathe more. The living room definitely needs some work and feels a bit in process at the moment, but I know we'll get it in shape once we find the right accent pieces. I'm trying to minimize my visual clutter in the dining room, and just make things more accessible, yet tidy. Ramping up for my Art Class which starts next WED, I need to really kick in gear with my prep and up my game with some handouts.

Henry is now 4 days in a row pooping on the potty, but I feel we need to pull back on the movie reward. It's feeling a bit excessive, and I'm afraid of getting into this cycle of false reward over personal achievement. I think we'll give him the privilege to watch movies twice a week for the next couple of weeks, regardless of whether he poops or not, and then scale back to once a week for the remaining two weeks. Nicole and I were also exploring the idea of having a TV free month in April, and just literally putting it in the garage, just as an experiment to encourage us all to focus on other things in its absence. More so for Nicole and I, since most of our free time is spent just sitting in front of the TV at night, when we could be hanging out, talking, planning meals, reading, or maybe even integrate some family game time. I would be psyched if we had no TV at all to be frank, but I know Henry really enjoys his videos from time to time. But maybe this experiment will give us a gauge of where we can go from here.

Today Henry had gym class, and coach Scott said he did great. All the parents have been waiting outside class since it was beginning to cause some distractions. I really value the fact that he's listening and taking direction from someone other than me or Nicole, and I want Henry to continue with that kind of discipline. After wards we headed to Kidspace with his friend Liam, from the gym class, and his mom Kelly. Spent
the rest of the day there and made it home by 5pm, just enough time to get dinner ready and Henry to bed by 6:30pm. Since he had been up late two nights before (last night Henry stayed up and watched the Oscars with us) I wanted him to catch up on his sleep. Surprisingly he wanted to go straight to bed with lights out, no books, and wanted to listen to BFG by Roald Dahl on audio book. I also think he's excited by the new table lamp that's on his dresser by his bedside, that he can turn on and off by himself with the pull string. I'm not sure if he's quite understanding what's being described in the book, but it seems that it's got his interest. This is his first chapter book he's listened to thus far, beyond the short stories that have lasted anywhere from 5-20 minutes in length, so I'm curious to see how this pans out over time and see what he actually takes in.

3.6.11

Yesterday Henry went to his second dance class. He was really shy going into the ballet portion, but once they started doing tap, he was totally on board. He had been feeling a bit under the weather these past few days, so I should have seen the signs when I took him out for lunch at Mix and Munch. he wouldn't eat anything, and I thought he was just being a picky eater. I kept trying to get him to eat some peanut butter and jelly with bananas, and after taking a few mouthfuls, he just throw it all up. I felt horrible, because I was literally crouching there next to him force feeding him, and I should have realized that he wasn't chewing it all up.

We went next store really quick, because he had been asking about Space Ghost that was at this used bookstore he had seen the week before. The owner there remembered us, and said that we could buy the Space Ghost if we wanted it. Henry was on cloud nine, and it gave us a good exit strategy so we could take him home to rest. He slept on the way home.

When he woke up, we listened to the BFG and hung out in his room for a bit. I also tried out the bean bags and target sheet I've been planning for my Art Class. I made it from the paper body trace we made a couple of days ago, but the real one for class will be from an actual bed sheet.

As we were getting ready for bed last night, were we both washing our hands and he said, "Darth Vader's hands get really black so he needs to wash them off. Then when he repaints them black, he's the real Darth Vader."

3.16.11

These last two weeks have flown by. Two weekends ago, basically the SUN after Henry's 2nd dance class (where he threw up), Nicole caught the bug and then that night, passed it to me. We were both nauseous and it wasn't until Tues morning that we started feeling fine. Just in time too, because my first MAKE ART Class of the spring session was that following WED. I was still dragging a cold, with congested head, and sore throat, but finally it lifted by that following weekend. We have since had 2 MAKE ART classes, both have gone well.

One new development I've been noticing about Henry this past month or so, is this new fascination with shadows and reflections. The latter of which, has become a bit of a morning ritual, where he stands on the couch in the living room, and checks himself out in the mirror. Sometimes looking at his profile as he jumps on the couch. I often catch him checking himself in reflections as well when we're out and about, like when I'm opening the car door or when we walk past store front windows. He also is interested in his shadow, and looks for it whenever we're out, and remarks about how we're passing in and out of a shadow in the car when we're on a street where the buildings have created shade. "Daddy, it gets much darker in the shade". He also notices the change in light, when we're sitting inside, when a cloud passes over the sun momentarily.

Our first MAKE ART project involved body tracing, but I think to take it one step further, I bet some explorations of shadow tracing would be interesting for Henry as well. I'm happy that he's been more engaged this time around with my art classes, because in the recent past, when I was doing double duty at Peekaboo and at the park, I feel he was really acting out and having a hard time not being able to get my undivided attention. Plus, teaching art in a playspace I think had way too many challenges beyond my control. But even within my own art classes, I'm always striving to make it more professional and focus in on ways to improve.