Kindergarten

DS1 now readily and easily answers the questions "What grade are you in?" and "Where do you go to school?" without my help. Last August, when we did not enroll him in public school kindergarten, we talked a lot about the fact that we homeschool and that he doesn't go to school somewhere else. It really threw him (and me) when, after being asked his age, he was asked if he was "in kindergarten", and he did not know how to answer because he did not know what kindergarten meant. I had not thought to add that word to his vocabulary. It is much simpler now that he can answer. He is enjoying learning and playing at home and at our weekly co-op, and it floors me sometimes how much he is growing intellectually.

Service

DS1 just brought me a lemonade in a tall glass glass. I had commented that my tummy didn't feel good, so he said he would be me something to drink. I was expecting water in a paper bathroom cup. He went to the kitchen, got a glass from the high cabinet (using the cooler for a step), got the lemonade from the refrigerator (in a 1/2 gallon milk jug), poured my lemonade, put the jug back, then brought the glass to me. So sweet! And so grown up!

Blog Revision

Today I discovered that my old-style archive links didn't work any longer, so I switched (finally) to the new template format for this blog. I have lost most of my sidebar entries, but I did save the template to a text file. So if I ever get around to taking care of this blog again, I'll add the milestone links back into the sidebar.

Five

Happy Birthday!

Wow, DS1 is 5. Time flies. I've had this blog for over 6 years!

We had quite a fun filled day today. DH took the day off work to spend with us. DS1 has been asking for a surprise birthday party for over a month. We said "surprise" at him once this morning at home, then we got the homeschool co-op group to say it when he arrived today. We brought a cake to share, and DS1 was quite shy while everyone was singing. Overall he is much more comfortable with the group than he was 6 months ago, but apparently he still is not comfortable being the center of attention.

We tried to go bowling, but the alley was full, so we went to play miniature golf "in the dark" instead. There is a place in the mall with black lights and reflective balls and holes that we have seen in the past. It is an 18 hole course, and you can play it 3 times for the fee, but we only played it once. There is a bonus "prize hole" at the end, set up like pachinko. DS1 got in the winning hole; the rest of us didn't. He won a free admission, good anytime in the next year. Then we came home, played with the car track that DS1 got as a gift, and had dinner. For dessert we had cake (the one DH and I baked last night, not the left-over store cake from this morning) with candy decorations ("stickers" as DS2 called them) and 5 individual candles. DS1 blew these out himself; he had me blow the big "5" out on the other cake this morning. DH left for barbershop, and we had our normal bedtime routine of TV, pjs, brushing teeth, stories, and singing.

Hair cut

I gave DS1 a hair cut Sunday evening. He will now hold still very well for me. I use scissors instead of the electric clippers, though, because he doesn't like them anymore. The last time I got my hair cut I mentioned that I have cut the boys' hair myself. My stylist gave me a few pointers. I was already doing a decent job, so I guess I had watched in the mirror enough over the years that I had a pretty good idea what to do, just not why. DS1's hair is still blond, but I was quite surprised at how dark the pile of hair was. He's definitely not a "tow head" anymore.