I've been delinquent regarding my blog for the past year or so, but these past few months it's been worse than usual. I found out that Google+, which I use for adding pictures to my blog, is being shut down at the beginning of April and I've been dithering about trying to decide what to do. I could upload pictures directly through blogger, but I don't like the app interface (not because it's bad, just because I'm adverse to change). Also it's not working for me. I also don't know what will happen to all the photos I've uploaded previously using Google+ and I'm worried about the future of blogger. I've been considering migrating the whole shebang to WordPress instead, but again, the change thing. So for now I've decided to continue blithely along in the way to which I am accustomed and ignore the fact that everything might break in April. Perhaps when I finish the taxes I will return my attention to this wrinkle. Update: I have finished my taxes.
Matthias loves to go play outside. He spends most of his day wearing shoes and a coat in hopes that someone will leave the door unattended. He also knows that he needs a hat and mittens (other hat), though he takes them off almost immediately.
Matthias loves to go play outside. He spends most of his day wearing shoes and a coat in hopes that someone will leave the door unattended. He also knows that he needs a hat and mittens (other hat), though he takes them off almost immediately.
Matthias words: Beat-bo (a toy we have), oh no, see ya, thank you, milk, gecko, drink, dinner (which might just be another word for drink), pants, owlette, spoon, cereal
Matthias needs his sleeves and pant legs to be pulled down. If I push his sleeves up for him to eat a meal, he pulls them back down. If I pull his pant legs up to put on his socks, he squirms around trying to fix them. If I put him in a onesie that comes down on his thighs a little bit, he grabs the edges and valiantly tries to get the leg holes to reach his ankles. Summer should be interesting.
Gretchen's reading is progressing nicely. She's finished a second set of phonics readers and is halfway through the third set. Having mastered short vowels, silent e, and most vowel digraphs, she is now reviewing vowel digraphs whilst encountering consonant blends. In the three days since I wrote the beginning of this paragraph she's finished the third set of readers and is well into the fourth set. Two syllable words are not slowing her down.
Recent culinary adventures: Chicken teryaki bread pillows, hamburger and hot dog sloppy joes. Bryan suggested the first. He wanted runzas with different fillings. I cooked chicken teryaki, broccoli, and carrots, mixed them with French fried onions, and stuffed them in dough squares. They were fine, but more work than regular stir fry and less delicious than regular runzas, so we shan't be having them again. The second was because I wanted to make crockpot sloppy joes but had neither ground beef nor ground pork. The result was surprisingly delicious, but did elicit much ridicule from Bryan when he saw what I had done.
Our microwave stopped working mid-defrost one day. After poking around on the internet a bit, I determined that a faulty door switch was the problem. I ordered a replacement switch, armed myself with a screwdriver and a youtube video, and set about dismantling the microwave. The first switch I attempted to replace was not the problem. Luckily, they're all the same part, so I was able to put that one back in and change out a different one. The good news is that I am now an expert at taking apart our microwave. The better news is that our microwave is working again. The exciting news is that now it is possessed. Whenever we open the door, the turntable spins. I looked up this problem as well, and it is probably also attributable to faulty door switches. It is not dangerous, though, and the microwave is functioning normally otherwise, so we have decided to live with the minor inconvenience.
Olivia can do double digit addition again. I taught her how to do it this summer, but when she went to school she promptly forgot. Now, approximately eight months later, she has reacquired her double digit addition talents. She apparently has no recollection of previous knowledge in this area.
Matthias is now to the point where he repeats most words. The above list is words that he frequently says unprompted. Among words that he steadfastly refuses to repeat are Olivia, Gretchen, Kaitlyn, and please.
We sent out a pregnancy announcement with the belated Christmas letters. Pictures are below. Bryan decided this baby needed a name, and Olivia decided to help him, so... it's Lionel.
Pictures:
Olivia can do double digit addition again. I taught her how to do it this summer, but when she went to school she promptly forgot. Now, approximately eight months later, she has reacquired her double digit addition talents. She apparently has no recollection of previous knowledge in this area.
Matthias is now to the point where he repeats most words. The above list is words that he frequently says unprompted. Among words that he steadfastly refuses to repeat are Olivia, Gretchen, Kaitlyn, and please.
We sent out a pregnancy announcement with the belated Christmas letters. Pictures are below. Bryan decided this baby needed a name, and Olivia decided to help him, so... it's Lionel.
Pictures:
