Daycare: week 1

Luthien seems to like it. She didn't nap every day she was there, but the days she didn't nap were days she'd slept late, so I guess it's not too surprising. The only thing that bothers me is that while they have the same 2 people there in the morning, by late afternoon it's different people who are often clueless about whether she ate her lunch or had nap, and who don't seem to be as on top of things in general. Part-timers. They're all nice, and interact well with the kids, but it does seem like a lot of coming and going. For her part, Luthien doesn't seem to mind, though.

LibraryThing

Here's an interesting site. It lets you catalog all the books in your personal library very quickly. Below is my profile. It includes Luthien's books:

http://www.librarything.com/profile/Ravin

Learning Luthien's Likes

One thing about Luthien getting a little older is that she's starting to develop her own idea of what sorts of things she likes and dislikes. She likes frogs. Great. She didn't seem so excited about the castle-themed toys I had my heart set on getting her for her birthday. There was a playset, with dolls of king/queen/princess/prince/jester/wizard/knight, a little folding doll-house castle, and castle blocks.

On the other hand, she is totally enthralled with the toy kitchen every time we go to Target. So, I'm getting her a toy kitchen. The wooden one at Target seems to be the best deal in something compact and not hideous, though there's one at Magic Cabin I think is pretty cool, too. And it'll be a nice thing to make suggestions to others who want to get her something, to get (preferably not plastic) accessories for her toy kitchen.

Maybe I should get castle blocks for MY birthday.

The Number 4

Luthien has been identifying the numeral 4 everywhere she sees it for several days. Today, she had me show her how to write it, and actually did! I mean, it wasn't perfect, but it was vaguely legible. She also tried to do triangles, without as much success.

I don't think she quite gets the purpose of the number 4, as in, counting 4 objects, exactly. But she definitely can identify the symbol.

I'm not sure why "4", as opposed to any of the other numerals, or a letter of the alphabet (though she has, on occasion, identified the letter "O", not with the insistent consistency she goes on about 4).

She has identified "4" on license plates, on a picture of a football player, on a calendar, and in books. She'll start pointing and saying "Four! Mommy, Four!", and if I look, inevitably there it is. The number 4. I guess that's her number. Hmm.

Summer--Where to begin?

Well, I suppose I could begin with our vacation. A definite high there, in that trip out to California. Luthien saw the ocean for the first time, and still asks to go to the beach. I got to feel like I was 9 years old again at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, and the Monterrey Bay Aquarium was amazing for all of us.

There were certainly lows. The restaurant burned down. We're back to where we were 2 years ago. Ugh.

Luthien is really speaking now, she's pretty much dropped baby babble altogether, though occasionally she's still quite difficult to understand. Her speech therapist doesn't think she'll qualify for EI preschool. Not sure I'd want to send her anyway, but I'm keeping options open.

She'll sit and work on a 20 piece puzzle with help. She does the activity cards with her Funtastic Frogs, when she's in the mood. Still haven't figured out why those are labeled age 5+. She's pretty much got her colors down, and a couple of days ago said "Bless you" when I sneezed.

Lesson I've learned: BK Veggie sandwich at Burger King has egg in it.

We're still working on getting the hang of coping with food allergies. Hopefully her new daycare will be accomodating.