California, that way!

Eliot is remembering his friend Adeline, who moved to Oklahoma a few years ago. He wanted to view the map to see where Oklahoma was. "Why does it have that thing? that pointy thing?" he asked. "I don't know. that's just how it's shaped," I explained
He looked at it for a few seconds. "Oklahoma is saying 'LOOK, Look over there! It's California!"

yes, i suppose it IS a question word.

Eliot: Mommy? Is "howcumum" a question word?
Me: "Howcumum"? I've never even heard of that word. What does it mean?
Eliot: You don't know what "howcumum" means?? *rolls eyes* It's like if you say to somebody.. "How come, uhm... the sky is blue?"

reading

My very most favorite time of day is when Eliot and I snuggle into his bed and read books together. We’ve gone together from picture books to story books to chapter books, with some poetry, non fiction and comic books thrown in. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, we read every night, and have done so since he was born. And I have loved every single minute of it! Well, last night marked the next phase in this wonderful tradition that we have. Eliot read a book to ME. He read Green Eggs and Ham all the way through. Was it memorized, not really read? Some of it, I’m sure. But I prefer to think of it as “sight recognition”. There was also plenty of “sounding out”, so I know that the concept of reading is sinking in. Also, I was very impressed that he got all of the “on’s” and “in’s” etc. correct. That means that he was paying attention to the words, even if he sort of knew what was coming next. Regardless of any of those details, I think this is definitely a great first step! Tonight he’s going to read Hop on Pop to me. I can’t wait!

Interview with Eliot

1. What is something your mom always says to you?

Ok Eliot, time to get in the car.

2. What makes mom happy?

At school I made her a crown that made her happy.

3. What makes mom sad?

When I do stuff bad.

4. What does your mom do to make you laugh?

When I was a baby... Mommy shook my Bear Bear when I was going up the steps.

5. What was your mom like as a child?

She had a dress.

6. How old is your mom?

35 (he's right!)

7. How tall is your mom?
8 feet (after measuring me with "about a foot" apart with his fingers)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

play with me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

go to work when I'm at school.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

'Cause she's going to start a play.

11. What is your mom really good at?
getting my dinner fixed.

12. What is your mom not very good at?

video games

13. What does your mom do for her job?

raise money.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

Kafka.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

I'm proud of her when she's proud of me.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Princess Leia

17. What do you and your mom do together?

snuggle

18. How are you and your mom the same?

well, we're both a person.

19. How are you and your mom different?

my mom's taller than me.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

Cause she does nice stuff for me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

McDonald's.

April Fool's!

Yesterday was April 1st – April Fool’s Day. Eliot really got into it. All the way home he would tell me things (“there’s a dinosaur headed straight toward us!”) followed almost immediately by a very sing-songey “APRIL FOOL’S!” After several of these, I told him that he needed to work on his story a little bit. You know, add a little more meat to it.

So later that evening we were eating dinner. Eliot said, “Hey Daddy, you know what? A real live ALIEN came to my school today!” “Really?” said Daddy. “Yes, and he had one eye and a square belly and two antennas on his head. And he was purple and green, and orange hair and a big, huge mouth. And he went from classroom to classroom eating all of the snacks. I was holding my fork like this! Then all of a sudden the alien snatched it from me. Nobody got to eat their oranges from the Babybirds to the Wildflowers.” After Brian had made sufficient “wow’s” and “no way’s” then Eliot sang out “APRIL FOOL’S!” Now that’s what I call meat!