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Showing posts from May, 2012

Marshmallow Test

Today we had dinner at Noodles, and we had a coupon for a free dessert so we got to the table with a huge snickerdoodle.  I decided trying to keep it from them until after dinner was futile, so I split it into four pieces and handed it out.  I think I finished first (in my defense, I had to go get all the sodas so I didn't have extra hands).  Emmett and Henry took a little more time, but Luke just took a tiny nibble and then wrapped his chunk up in the plastic wrap the cookie came in. We waited a long time for food.  Luke opened up his cookie and took a tiny nibble.  He shared a tiny bit with Emmett (whose cookie was long gone!).  He wrapped it back up.  He played with it at the table.  We waited a long time. Finally the food arrived and we all ate.  Luke ate his cookie on the way home in the car.  He seemed pleased to have some cookie when no one else did, but I think he still shared a tiny bit with Emmett. Remind anyone of the marshmallow test ?  Luke passed with flying c

Wrong words

Henry was telling me something, and then he said, "Mom, can you help me?  I'm saying wrong words!"  I wasn't sure what he meant, but quickly figured out that he was having trouble saying "Emily," the name of his music teacher.  He kept saying "Elmy" instead.  After a little coaching he got it down and was much happier.

Luke rides, too.

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When we bought the new bikes, Luke wanted the training wheels on.  Of course I immediately ran across an article talking about how training wheels give kids bad habits and make it harder to really learn to ride.  I saw him leaning out going around a turn, relying on the training wheels to keep him up and I worried that it was happening.  ( balance bikes are better - we have one, and Luke's used it in the past)  Yesterday David gave Luke a little pep-talk in the morning, reminding him that he's a great skiier because he's willing to try things he's never done before.  In the evening, Luke asked for the training wheels to be taken off, and he just started riding.  This video starts around lap 3 - he just started and didn't stop.

Time for breakfast!

The kids have not been getting enough sleep - it's light out until late so they go to bed late, but it's also light early, so they get up.  Poor Henry gets more and more tired until he crashes for a long nap every few days. Yesterday he woke up from his long nap at around 5pm.  He was actually pretty happy when he came down the hall, which surprised me a bit.  Then he announced it was breakfast time, and he wanted some cereal.  I was making dinner, but he was hungry, so I poured him some Cheerios and he happily ate them.

Miracle on Grass

Emmett's soccer team tied again today (that makes 1 loss and 2 ties so far for the season).  It was 2-2, and Emmett did a couple of really great things.  First, while he was playing in goal, he charged from the goal line at the right time when an offensive player was uncontested coming towards the goal. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), his self-preservation instinct prevented him from coming up with the ball in that encounter and they scored.  Still, he charged at the right time and I consider that a win. Another time, when Emmett was deep in our half of the field, he got the ball and quickly passed it to an Zack near the half line.  Zack carried the ball a bit and then passed to McKenzie who was open.  After beating one defender, McKenzie passed it to Ashely who took a shot on goal.  She missed, but I never expected these kids to be able to complete a passing chain and effectively move the ball up the field like that!  It was great.

The real reason I'm uploading videos!

Emmett's neighborhood friends both have bikes and have been riding them for a while.  David and I figured we should help him learn to ride one sometime soon, but hadn't gotten around to it.  The only thing I did was to tell him that if he learned to ride his friends' bikes, we'd buy him his own.  Well, leave him alone for long enough and he'll teach himself!  These videos were taken over a period of about 15 minutes this evening. In the first one, notice the helpful brother and neighbor kids scooting right into his path as he goes by: A few minutes later, he's doing a bit better: Not much later and by George, I think he's got it!

Henry is odd

Henry was "spitting" audibly into his hands over and over.  It was odd and pictures just didn't do it, so I took a little video:

Henry sings the ABC song

At bedtime, Henry was torturing Luke by singing the ABC song over and over and over again.  I took a video and promised to post it if he promised to stop singing the song in bed.  He agreed, so here's the video.