some totally random thoughts and observations i want to write down so that years later the kids can know what they were like...probably not all that interesting to the average reader.

ava does not like goat chese, maple syrup, or honey anymore. however, she now likes bananas and milk (separately).

she has these new facial expressions that totally change her appearance--i cannot do them--they are expressions that are exactly her father's. i swear there must be a gene. most involve her jaw, and i cannot figure out what she is doing. but it conveys the message "i am thinking about this and am wondering what your reaction is"

it is weird.

we hosted 4 monarch caterpillars this year, with a 50% success rate. both butterflies emerged on the same day, and both were girls. the other 2 appeared to have liquefied in their chrisalyses.

carter loves daddy longlegs -- DADDY! and he grabs them and carries them around in a pincher grasp, finally relocating them (usually) outside.

if he sees something interesting (usually a backhoe), he says "Ava! ava! ava! ava!" over and over until she looks. if she is not around, he calls me. the other day, there was a sunset that was remarkable, and he stood and called Mom! over and over until i finally emerged from the bedroom, and there he was standing and pointing at the beautiful sky.

he likes to come over to you and take your hand and say "daddy." -- as in, "hello, my name is daddy, it is nice to meet you.."

he knows his letters, so he is on track. i think that while he is staying silent, he is secretly teaching himself to read.

ava seems to think school is an ok place to be. not superb, not awful, simply acceptable. i think this is the year that the teacher may lose some of her mythical status, and her friends might become more important.

she keeps asking me when she can do math, and so i keep saying that she already does, and then we do a little number game or something (we are usually in the car for this), and finally she said "mom, i thought math was writing your letters..." and so i clarified. she is very into practicing her letters. and she has become quite good at lining them up left to right and keeping them the same (approximately) size. but if i give her that lined paper used in grade shcool--the big lines with the middle dotted line--she balks.

the other thing about school is that she has suddenly taken interest in the parts of the room that barely got a passing nod last year. you could have blown me over with a feather when she decided to go to the easel and paint on monday. last year she produced 1 painting, and all of her other artwork was 3 dimensional. if is was impossible to make it into a sculpture, say for example, they were decorating a paper teddy bear, she would stick one piece of tissue paper on her teddy bear cut out and call it a day. the enthusiasm was overwhelming.

but she also likes the dressup box, the blocks, and the reading couch. it is amazing how different she is.

we went on a walk on the brewster peninsula nature trails on monday after school. unbelievably perfect for little people. safe, no cars, no drops, no climbs, just woods. some roots, some rocks and of course, lake placid lake, but manageable. we will be visiting it again. very pretty. and we found a slug.