The Things Jonathan Says

Jonathan cracks me up every day with at least one thing he says/does.  Here are a few examples:

Today we just got home from the grocery store and the garbage man was coming by.  Jonathan watched him take our garbage and our neighbors.  I was carrying in groceries and saw Jonathan talking to the garbage man and I saw the man say something back and smile but I didn't hear what it was.  After the garbage man drove to the next house he says to me "Did you hear what he asked me?"  I said "No" and he said "He asked me if I have to take a shower after I get done with work?"  The guy thought it was funny and a very appropriate question.  Later Jonathan said, I saw him put his head in a garbage can.  I think that is what sparked the question.

Last night Jonathan was practicing his typing on the computer.  He would ask me how to spell things and then he would type them.  This is what he wrote:
no jt!


no strangers!

how old are you?

what is your number?

how are you?

Does anyone see a trend in the last 3 questions?  Pick up lines from a 4-year-old perhaps.  Ha!  This child is going to be a heart breaker I can see it coming.  There are only 4 girls in his preschool class and he talks about all of them and one of them told her dad that she was going to marry Jonathan.  :-)

The other funny thing he said the other day was when I asked him to turn off the light in Diana's room (he was the last one out of there), he moaned and said "Why do I have to do everything for this family?!?!"

Diana Molars

I am happy to report that Diana's top two molar's are finally in.  She started cutting them around October 18th and after a lot of sleepless nights and angry Diana chewing on things, I think they are cut!  No for the bottom two to break through.

Jonathan's Preschool Evaluation

This is the evaluation Jonathan's preschool teacher sent about him.

From our class observations, I am pleased to tell you of your child's growth. As we progress through the year, additional incremental goals are set for each child. Please note that preschool development is not linear.
Each area--social and emotional, fine motor, gross motor, cognitive and language literacy usually develops at different rates and intensities. One area usually takes center stage at any given point. While cognitive (facts or rote) information is important----SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS MOST IMPORTANT AT THIS STAGE OF THEIR GROWTH. Creativity is a subjective area - I can confirm each child is creative in his or her own way. Please note the following observations are not all inclusive.

enters classroom enthusiastically
enters play appropriately
self regulates
respectful with good manner
plays with boys and girls
enjoys approaching new experiences
volunteers to help out
on task
loves to read books with friends and be read to
responsible-does his job daily
great imagination-always getting children to make up scenarios to play
makes rational decisions
rhymes
counts well
likes math games
empathic and always concerned for others
good pencil grasp
kind and considerate
cuts well
improved writing
able to resolve most simple conflicts-comes to teacher when he needs support
uses new vocabulary learned in class
enjoys making things out of paper
attentive in large group
enjoys math games
follows 4 step directions
gets inferential information
a good friend but, functions well on his own
expresses himself with detail and relevancy
is patient and asks others to be patient
fluid body movement
is very forgiving

Gymnastics Timber

Jonathan started gymnastics "tumbling" today.  He had a blast!  This video of course was of his favorite part.  They stretched and did some coordination/balance movements and then it was off to the obstacle course which included a vault, some ladders to climb, a beam with obstacles to step over and then a mat to do a "forward roll" (i.e. somersault) down.  At the end of class, the teacher held up the mat and then let it fall with the kids on it.

Gymnastics Vault Video



Cold Turkey

After a couple of months now struggling with Diana to get rid of her bottle, (yes, she won last time...she is far more stubborn than her mother), I am happy to report that it is GONE!  I couldn't take the bottle anymore and I really didn't want to travel with it on all of our upcoming trips.  On Monday and Tuesday, I let her have it first thing in the morning and right before bed.  During the day, I miked the Danimals (yogurt smoothie) with milk in a sippy cup and she drank it.  Wednesday she didn't get it at all and then that was it.  She still will fuss for it or go to where it used to be in the cupboard but I am NOT giving in this time.  She definitely doesn't drink nearly the amount of milk that she used to but I am not going to worry about it.  She eats plenty of cheese, yogurt and ice cream to get her calcium.    She wants her pacifier a lot more since we got rid of the bottle but I decided one thing at a time and I definitely am not ready to travel on a plane with her without the pacifier (we have trips scheduled for Nov, Dec & Jan).  We did cut a slit in one of her pacifiers last weekend though and she doesn't like that one, obviously, so I think we will start using that pacifier more and eventually phase that out too.   Diana is growing up!

Preschool Pictures

I am so far behind in my blog that I don't even know where to start, so look for backdated posts in the future.  I wanted to post some pictures of Jonathan from school though.  Mrs. Riccardi brought in pipes and other items for the kids to build with.  I told her she needs to turn it into Blue Man Group music as well.

This one is of juicing lemons and cleaning pennies.  Jonathan was very excited about his shinny penny.