Comparently,

A few Zach tidbits...

There are times when I have to look away and take a deep breath in order to not crack up at something Zach says. I had this experience the other day when Zach came to tell me that the audio book he was listening to wasn't working. With this incredibly serious face, he said: "Mom, comparently, this cd doesn't work." We got distracted by something, so he had to repeat it, again with a really serious, strong emphasis on the word "comparently." I couldn't bear to tell him he probably meant "apparently."

As I've mentioned before, we're quite proud of Zach's reading ability. So it was a good moment when the teacher's aide at Zach's school told me that when the teacher is about to read a book, she shows it to the kids and asks them what they think it's about. But first she has to say "not you Zach;" he has to wait until the other kids get a chance to guess before he reads the title! :)

Zach's math skills are also coming along. This fascinates me, since I do whatever I can to avoid numbers and math (it's a cliche and I wish it wasn't true). But Scott and I were both quite impressed, and frankly surprised, when he used some logic for addition that we didn't know he was capable of. He was doing the activities on a restaurant placemat, and had to add 5 + 6. He quickly came up with 11, and said he knew that because 6 is one bigger than 5, and 5 + 5 is 10.

As impressive as we thought that was, about 2 minutes later he claimed that 1+3 was 3. He does that a lot - handles big questions easily, then seems to forget that 1+1=2, something we know he knows! I suspect it's all about attention span.

I took the boys to a children's play last week, one called Pinkalicious. It's a book that we have read and Zach really likes, so I was pretty excited that a local children's theater was putting it on. Well, excited and nervous - I really had no idea how Charlie would do. So I packed a bag full of snacks (against the rules, but you gotta do what you gotta do!), books, and quiet toys. I was thrilled when 10 minutes into the show, Zach turned to me and said "Mom, this is really great!" And I didn't need anything to entertain Charlie - he was bouncing on my lap, swaying and clapping to the music, looking around in astonishment every time the audience applauded. Yes, it helped that it was a 55 minute show, but I was ridiculously happy with the experience!

Zach has been playing alot with some of the neighbor kids, 4 in particular. They are all older than him; 2 sisters and 2 brothers. It has been... interesting to watch how this has impacted him. He has learned all sorts of new words, phrases, and even tones of voice. As perhaps is always the case, the things he is picking up on and adopting aren't necessarily the best parts of these very nice neighbor kids... sigh. I just keep hoping much of this is a stage: the poop/butt humor (including one of the new words he learned - butthole), the shockingly snarky tone, the back-talk. Whew. And I hope the weather gets better; we have one restless kid when he can't go outside and play kickball with his friends!

The picture (only one, haven't taken many lately) is of a phenomenon that makes me laugh - how much Zach loves any toy that belongs to Charlie. In that picture he's playing with the tub toys that Charlie got in the mail for his birthday. I guess it's proof he can race anything!