Baseball 2012

The kids are on the same baseball team this year!! So fun! Todd's coaching and today was the first game. My friend took these pics for me. The kids both had a good time. Zachary had a triple, a base hit and scored two runs . Allie had 2 base hits and an RBI. Both played the infield fairly well. Allie is still learning that it's her responsibility to get the ball if it comes near her. She shouted several times (from the field) to me, "Mommy, I love you!" in front of everyone and continuously blew kisses to me throughout the game. I, of course, LOVED it!
It was a fun Saturday. I love that they're on the same team.

Psych Smart

I mistakenly let the kids see a youtube clip from The Wizard of Oz. Someone at school talked about that movie and they were wanting to see it. So I showed them a few clips.

The Wicked Witch was too much for Allie and she had 2 nightmares last night. She was telling Zac about her nightmares and he said, "Allie, whenever I'm having a bad dream, I change my brain and push it to the side so I can think about something else."

My barely 6-year old son is implementing Cognitive Therapy on himself. He's a psychology genius already.

Allie reads!

Allie is an eager little learner and I'm realizing that she probably knows more than I give her credit for. She's always watching Zac & I as he reads and works on his sight words. The other day, we were drawing on the driveway and I wrote the word "cat." I did the same thing with Zachary when he was learning. We used that magnet drawing board. The sidewalk chalk was good enough though. Since she already knows the sound each letter makes, all I did was write a different letter in front of the "at" and she'd say that letter to herself and realize she'd just read the word. I'm excited for her. I think she'll be reading Zac's old Bob books fairly soon. Love her little brain!

Rowdy!

For Zachary's 6th birthday, we decided to get him a puppy. He is a very responsible kid who loves routine and has been asking for a puppy for a long time.
We decided on a miniature schnauzer mainly because they don't really shed. After a couple months of looking, we found the most unique-looking schnauzer I've ever seen and she is super sweet.
Zac named his puppy Rowdy about a month ago. We thought we'd be getting a boy puppy, but when I saw a picture of this puppy's face, I knew she was the one for Zac.
When we got to the house of the family whose dog had the puppies, Rowdy ran straight for Zac and you could tell she knew right away that she was going home with us. It was so sweet! We've had her for 2 days and it's been a great experience so far. She's a very easy-going dog and Zachary has really taken his responsibilities very serious. He gets up first thing in the morning and takes her out and he's learned how to tell she needs to go out. The kids have spent all day yesterday and today playing with her non-stop. Rowdy is worn out by the time they go to bed. She actually sleeps more during the day then I thought and was partially house-trained already. So, all-in-all, we are enjoying this little addition!

We took her on a walk yesterday. And when I say "walk," I'm actually referring to an event where someone carries her most of the way. She has a little stubborn streak and would walk about 10 feet and then stop. It was funny, and the kids actually prefer to carry her around, so it worked out pretty well for them!

This is what she looks like from 7:30pm until we go to bed. It's hilarious!

Both kids are getting used to being around a dog. Allie gets afraid of her when they all start running full speed. It's so funny! Also, both kids pet her a little hesitantly and they're not sure what to do when she starts licking their faces. It's so cute to see them figuring things out. Today, I was trying to show Allie how to play with her. Allie laid down on her back and Rowdy came running over and started messing with her curls. It was SOOO funny because it tickled Allie, and Rowdy was so very curious about those wild curls. Allie also doesn't quite understand the difference between puppy play & dog bite. So Rowdy's little sharp teeth knick her when they play and she gets all traumatized like a dog brutally bit her. (D.R.A.M.A.)
I know everyone's all concerned about Todd. We would've never made this decision if he wasn't totally on board. He's been a great help and seems to enjoy little Rowdy. Yesterday he said, "I like this dog. She doesn't bark and sleeps a lot." Ha!
If I got a quarter for every time I heard Zachary say, "Mommy, I love having a puppy!" I'd be rich already. He LOVES Rowdy and I'm excited for their little friendship.

Whaaat?!

We noticed a few months ago that Allie mixes up the "th" sound and the "f" sound. She was saying, "Mommy, I need a ditherent marker" (instead of "different"), and "Mommy, I hurt my thinger" (instead of "finger")! So crazy! It's a funny thing to catch bc you may not even notice she said it incorrectly unless you were looking at her mouth. We've been working on correcting this (without going overboard), and she's definitely cooperative.

However, last week, at her 4-year old check up, she failed the hearing test. 3 times. The failure happened in the same ear three different times! The doctor is not concerned since her speech is very normal and she doesn't show any signs of being hearing impaired. But we're definitely getting it checked out. I hadn't thought the mispronunciations were in any way related to a hearing impairment, but now it's making me wonder...

Anyway, nothing to worry about. My girl's wicked smart and I'm convinced she could overcome whatever comes her way. Once we visit the Audiologist, I'll know more. In the mean time, I'll savor her little mispronunciations and hope that she comes fussing to me about how she hurt her "thinger" again!