The Lindenbergs

Yup, Anna clocked Pierce in the head with Josie's leash. Split his temple and got it bleeding. A little direct pressure got the bleeding stopped but the crying went on for some time. It mostly tapered off when we applied the Scooby Doo bandaid.

Of course, Anna's actions were unitentional. Both the kids were playing with each other and the leash. She just started swinging it around, and the rest is history. She still got a hefty time out though. Afterwards she gave Pierce a very heartfelt apology and hug. He was very gracious about the whole thing.

This may be Pierce's first scar, I didn't think a dog leash could do such damage.

-Eric (Dad)

Pierce and Anna had another gymnastics lesson last night. There has been some improvement over last week. Again, Anna cried when she couldn't have the Cinderella stamp at the end of the class. I think the intensity of the outburst was of shorter duration than the last time.

-Eric (Dad)

When I look over my last few postings it seems like most of them revolve around Pierce. I guess this one will too.

We have an Amelia Badelia library book that I think Nora and I have read to Pierce a couple of times. I'd put the book's reading level at somewhere between 2nd and 4th grade. At bedtime last night Pierce grabbed the book and said he'd read it to me. He then read it at the same speed (and level of confidence) that I read it to him. He didn't miss a word. If he started to "jump ahead" of a sentence because he thought he knew what it would say he'd go back and correct himself, unprompted.

I am so proud! The question I'm asking myself is: Does he really read this well, or does he have the type of memory that retains what's been read to him ? -maybe its a combination of both. The interesting thing is that this book is far more difficult to read than the ones he brings home from school.

Nora and I are going to run a "science experiment" tonight. We have a library trip planned for tonight, so we'll get a new Amelia Badelia book and see if he can read it to us as well as this one, without us having read it to him first. I can't wait to see what happens...

-Eric (Dad)

Sunday night was our neighborhood homes association sponsored Night at Bump City. Bump City is a local gymnastics facility. Attendance was organized around age, so Nora took Anna at 6:00 pm, with me and Pierce going over for 7:15 pm.

Both kids had a ball. Of course, Nora spent most of the evening chasing Anna around the gym. She bounced on the trampolines, jumped in the foam pit, climbed up stacked cushions and generally exhausted herself.

I wasn't allowed on the floor with Pierce, I had to stay in the observation area. Pierce and the rest of the kids had free reign of the place. Pierce liked the maze the most, but shot basketball, swung on the rope swing, climbed obstacles and was a huge user of the slide. It was fun to watch and the hour and a half went by very quickly.

Both kids, and parents slept very well that night

-Eric (Dad)

As usual, another very nice weekend. Friday evening we got together with our friends the Deavers for dinner and a play date. All of the kids are now old enough where they need little (direct) supervision from us, so we adults actually get to visit for awhile. Who would have thought the day would ever come…

I spent Saturday working on a carpentry project. Using scrap wood from another project, I’m making a DVD rack. I have no written plans and am building this thing based on a mental picture. As you can imagine, it looks just like a project with no written plans. I thought I had completed it Monday night and brought it into the house for Nora to see. It doesn’t look bad, but the weight of a full shelf of DVDs causes the supporting dowels to bow and all the DVDs to fall off. Looks like I have a bit more work to do.

Sunday we all went to the Bristol for a very nice Valentine’s Day brunch. The food was fantastic and Pierce and Anna wolfed down waffles and sausage like nobody’s business. Afterwards we went to go see the new Curious George movie. It was a big hit. Its really targeted towards kids Pierce and Anna’s age, so they were thoroughly absorbed. The movie’s very sincere and heartfelt. Nora and I enjoyed it too.

Pierce made me a Valentine’s Day drawing. I think it’s his best drawing yet. It features all the characters from Charlie and the Chocolate factory: there’s a boy up to his neck in chocolate, a blue girl swollen to the dimensions of a blueberry, a boy who’s been shrunk to “TV-size”, and another girl being pushed down the trash chute with her unhappy father looking on. It’s proudly hanging from my office wall.

Nora and I took a tour of the local elementary school with the school’s principal yesterday. We’ve been evaluating Pierce’s kindergarten options for the last few weeks. He can either stay in his current school for another year (our preference, but expensive), go to a Catholic school (which we toured a week ago) or go to a public elementary school, Walnut Grove. For you history buffs, Walnut Grove is the school Laura Ingle taught in Little House on the Prairie. And yes, the original one-room schoolhouse is actually on the grounds of this elementary school.

We’ve ultimately decided to leave Pierce in his Montessori School; given the wonderful strides he’s made in math and reading we don’t want to slow his momentum. Pierce is reading at (I think) about a 2nd grade level, and Nora and I don’t want to put him in an environment where he’s not continuing to build on his current success. That being said, we were very impressed with Walnut Grove. When Pierce is ready for 1st grade we think the elementary school will be a good fit.

Anna’s potty training continues to progress. We think she’s about 98% of the way there and she frequently wakes in the morning still dry. She probably has an “accident” a couple of times a week. I’m betting that when we go to Corolla, NC for this year’s vacation we’ll be leaving the pull-ups at home.

-Eric (Dad)

Pierce and Anna have started gymnastics classes. They go weekly on Thursdays for about an hour (they’re in separate classes). I wasn’t able to attend their first class but was able to watch them last night. Of course, Nora and I shot tons of pictures and video. Pierce and Anna are both terrible, of course, but they seem to enjoy it and with every they show improvement.

At the end of the lesson each kid gets a “stamp” of their choosing. Anna had ink stamps on both feet and both hands, Pierce opted for just one. Interestingly, when we went to get Anna to go home she was in tears. The gym has a Cinderella stamp that she decided she wanted –not to be stamped, but to take the thing home. When it became clear she couldn’t HAVE it, she asked if she could BORROW it. When we got home she talked about taking it (read that as steal –she doesn’t know the word). I think she cried about this for over an hour and started to get upset all over again about it this morning.

The punch line, Anna already has a nicer Cinderella stamp at home.

-Eric (Dad)

Anna is a big fan of the band Queen. Her favorite song is "We are the Champions". Of course, she's re-written the lyrics. They are now:

We are the Champ-i-poops,
We are the Champ-i-poops,
We are the Champ-i-poops,
of the

-Eric (Dad)

# posted by Eric : 12:19 PM  0 Comments

Pierce is a prolific artist. We hit a point last year when he was bringing home a poster-size painting or drawing from school everyday. The artwork was hung on the walls, one on top of the other, or stacked on a counter. Last night I took digital pictures of the renderings, then we trashed the originals (it saves a lot of space). Its amazing how much his drawings have improved over the last year. I'll try and post a sampling to the blog. My favorite picture is one he did last month. Its an elaborate drawing of a car, with all of us in it, with the title "I Love Cars" written boldly across the top.

-Eric (Dad)