It was time for Elizabeth's second dental appointment. I did NOT want to pay another $60 for a child who refused to open her mouth for a cleaning!

 

Maybe the dental staff were concerned too, because they sent her home with quite the loot bag!

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I guess this is Elizabeth's first creative writing assignment...

 

Elizabeth is quite keen to learn how to read, so we've been working our way through Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington's Ordinary Parent's guide to Teaching Reading. The further we get, the more time she is spending sounding out the letters she sees. I'm realizing just how many brand names we are surrounded by. There is also nothing like a beginning reader to drive home how many exceptions there are in English!

 

She's always been keen on writing, and now that she's starting to learn to read she's keen to write out her thoughts too. It's very interesting because I always thought that the words she mispronounces were caused by difficulty forming the sounds with her tongue. Turns out that she actually hears them the way she says it. Eg Thank You (Fuh F ah A nnn N kuh is that C or K Mommy?)

 

Elizabeth also loves to type (like mommy and daddy!). I guess it was inevitable that she would start typing out her stories. She typed each letter after asking me how to spell the words she couldn't figure out on her own (and lest you get the wrong idea, let me hasten to add that that was most of them, except for "cat", "man" and "car"). Then I printed it for her and she illustrated it. The letters in the illustrations is the cat's name

 

She's pretty proud of the result. 

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Elizabeth wants to bike to the Agriculture museum, so I told her that we had to practice by going to the Arboretum (a little more than half way there) a few times first.

 

Matthew rode in Mommy's sling. He slept through the first daffodils poking their heads out in Commissioner's park, the discovery that the water is back in the canal, the greetings of the ducks and watching a very large fish launch itself entirely out of the water several times. Elizabeth was charmed.

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I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of a seven year old niece, so Elizabeth agreed to  dictate this guest post.

 

She wanted to know who we were writing to and I explained it was for those who weren't at the party. Aha! she said. I will write my letter for Xander.

 

Dear Xander,

 

It was so so good. There was even cake. I did play with Erika. Her boo the candles. I got to do whatever I wanted with Maria and Erika. Her got a book and her wed it. Why don't I know how to read a book, Mommy?

 

I hope you didn't do anything wrong for your mommy and daddy. 

 

Love, Elizabeth.

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Elizabeth has been "pwactissing" climbing trees, in case she ever needs to get away from a "not fwendly" wolf in a hurry. Xander wants to do everything Elizabeth is doing. Grandma H is a very indulgent grandma...

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