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Remembering Dr. King
2008-01-11 (Friday) 10:23 CST
Last night I was reading to Cameron a Martin Luther King Jr. book we had
checked out from the library. The book was simply written for young
readers, but I had to explain difficult concepts like "laws" and why some
people "hate" other people. After I started talking, I almost regretted
going into this part of history in the first place. I felt I was going to
damage his innocent mind, but I feel one role as a mother is to educate
and glossing over American history serves no purpose. So, after our
discussion about the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on January
15th, Cameron said "Mom, when I grow up I am going to become a police
officer so I can shoot the bad guy that killd that nice man". Cameron is
very much into "good guy"/"bad guy" play and believes shooting bad guys
is the only way police officer's deal with them. He's learning, but it is
good to know that what rang true from our talk was that Martin Luther King
Jr. was a nice guy and ending his life was wrong.
Why do things fall?
2008-01-11 (Friday) 10:03 CST
The other day I was explaining to Cameron the concept of gravity. We were
talking about why snow falls to the ground and I attempted to explain
the definition of gravity in 3-year-old terms. Following my layman's
definition, Cameron was quiet for a few moments and then said "Mom gravity
is like a magnet isn't it?" Wow, and I thought I was confusing him, but
he is full of surprises. Cam has a great talent for relating two concepts
together to wrap his growing mind around new knowledge.
Happy New Year!
2008-01-01 (Tuesday) 16:09 CST
Porter is now 19 months old. I have lost count of the words he can speak.
His vocabulary is awesome. He understands when we ask him a question
or give him a task. He puts toys away, helps unload the dishwasher, and
knows when something needs to be thrown away or put in the sink.
According to the charts, Porter is 30% in weight, and 40% in height. His
hair is getting a little thicker, but is still so baby fine. Porter's
health has been better this winter, so I hope this continues. We hoped he
would not have as much upper respiratory infections this winter. He
has had a couple of colds, but no lingering coughs like last winter.
Porter continues to imitate his brother all the time. If Cameron is
jumping, Porter is jumping. If Cameron is singing, Porter is singing.
Porter's favorite past time is playing trains. He loves the train table
and will spend a half an hour at a time moving the trains around the
tracks.
We are currently working on puzzles and identifying pictures. I take
Porter to a storytime once a week while Cameron is in preschool. He
dances and claps to all the songs. The three of us go to MOPS and Porter
enjoys the nursery time. He is usually a little sad at first when I drop
him off, but he quickly adjusts to playing with the other children. We
are all so blessed to have Porter in our lives. He is a unique little
boy.
Cameron is now 3 1/2 years old. Cameron brought homemade cupcakes to his
preschool class in December to celebrate his 1/2 birthday. His teachers
let
those with summer birthdays celebrate their 1/2 birthdays in class. On
the last day of school before Christmas break, his class performed in front of
all the parents, teachers, and peers. His class sang two Christmas songs
on their own and then sang a few more with the other classes. I have to
say, Cameron belted out the lyrics. It was fun to watch him put so much
effort into the songs. We are very proud of Cameron's progress in
preschool. He is very eager each day to go to school and wants to write
down a book title on a paper leaf to give to his teacher to put on the
reading tree in the classroom. He has always loved to read books and
wants to impress his teacher with telling them about the stories.
Recently Cameron has been more and more interested in spelling words that
he sees written in books or on signs. He identifies his name and attempts
to identify Mom, Dad, and Porter's name as well. He had a lot of practice
at Christmas time looking at the gift tags on packages. Cameron has been
participating in gymnastics for the last four months and wants to continue
in January. He is learning many skills, including head stands,
somersaults, flipping around the bar and rings, and walking on the balance
beam. Cameron has always been very coordinated and gymnastics has
improved this skill plus improved his strength and patience. This fall
Cameron has learned a lot about taking turns and being patient. Cam's
patience with his brother has improved as well as he and Porter have
become better playmates. Cameron has demonstrated more compassion toward
Porter, but we still have our sibling squabbles (but do those ever go
away?). Cameron is becoming his own person, and demonstrates
his own thoughts, ideas, and feelings. We are very fortunate to have
Cameron in our lives.
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