flea

I go back to work tomorrow; the kids start school Wednesday.

They have written 3 thank-you notes with little fuss.  Casper's are somewhat routine but still decent, and Dillo writes his name and the name of the gift-giver (which I spell).  Dillo's writing is adorable - his es are backwards - and he has developed in figural drawing, too, with round eyes and smiles and bodies and limbs.  He still prefers drawing rockets to people.

We are almost finished with The Hobbit - read two chapters this noon in the sun on the porch, with the kids swinging in the hammock.  I'd like to finish tonight.  Dillo only partly follows, but likes to pretend he is little Bilbo with his sword Sting.

I didn't get much accomplished, and was stressed out by unstructured days in cold weather with the kids, but it was okay.

Wednesday night while I was at work mr. flea took the kids out to a ribs place. The woman taking the order talked up Dillo, and of course he was shy. mr. flea asked him what he felt like when people said hello to him like that, and Dillo's response was, "I want to get in the car and drive home," and also, "I want to go in the bathroom and peep [i.e. melt] down the drain." Poor little shy guy! mr. flea tried to tell him that people were friendly and a lot of people like children, and it's okay if someone says "hi" to say hi back.

Dillo's been a lot more interested in art the last month or so, as the drawings on the couch, walls, floor, and his wagon as well as actual paper attest. He really likes to draw circles and spirals (and can name spirals) - round and round and round. Also, he has a train made up of the five letters of his name, connected by magnets. Last weekend he arranged it so the front magnet connected to the end magnet and said, "Look, a pentagon!" *Pentagon!*

Still NO potty action yet. We need to get more forceful, and actually ACT on the M&M bribery, not just talk about it.

Tomorrow we are going camping in Alabama to see friends. As of tomorrow, my kids will have set foot in AL, GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, OH, and MA (add PA for Casper, and NJ if you count airport layovers). Southern children! Gotta get these kids to, like, Maine and New York City.