First words

My baby is no longer a baby. She finally started talking. All of a sudden yesterday, Aug 16 2010, she started speaking - sheesh-ear=sit here, foo-duh=food, hotte=hot. But the best part (so far) happened today. Like all good moms, I dutifully ate the (homemade) french fries that she fed me. And when I ate the bite she said: "Good". My eyes got so wide, and hubby and I stared an incredulous look. She had just fed me and said good. Exactly the way we do to her. This was too funny. We laughed hysterically for a full minute. This is one cute memory.

Scary feelings

My son went missing, for 15 minutes today, with my neighbors kid, and it has affected me tremendously. The fear that I felt during those minutes is no less than the sadness thats crept on me since. Everyone with kids has, at some point experienced that sinking feeling when the cannot find their kid. This could be in a mall, in a fair or anywhere. This was a step further, I think, where they were too far to answer our calls. On finding him, and after shouting at him, I'm badly shaken. How much more can I blame a 4 year old, but my frustration is not relenting. And to add to it, I read about the 4 year old kid who got crushed by a drunken driver. Just sad. Its a sad day today.

Preschool learning

I bought the expensive "Learn to read" Pre K set for my son but have barely used it (since he also goes to preschool). I see that he learns the phonics from there (which I find hard to teach), but I want to make his base stronger. So I started on the yellow book from the set and made him color (A and B so far). The book had good ideas like - color letter B with colors that start with B (blue, black, brown) and we tried to identify things that started with B in the room.

That set me on my next idea - taking a newspaper and identifying all letter A's (in the big print, that is). Once he did that, we read each of those words. This helped him identify words that used the letters but didnt start with A.

And lastly, I made him cut shapes from a crate and barrel catalog. It develops his cutting skills, and its a good way to recycle. He's been so happy, and doesnt know he's learning...

The food fights

A lot of things define me. Perhaps the most significant one is being a mom. I have two kids - a boy of 4 and a girl of 1. I love them, a lot, but some days are a struggle. And some days, I don't want to be a mom - I want to be just a girl. Today was one of those.

My son is -5% in the weight chart. Which means, he's not on the chart. Some of it is genetic (from his dad), but a lot is his lack of interest in food (read: fussy eater). There's got to be a solution to that. I'm in a perpetual quest to find it. I served my son the dinner he didn't have last night for breakfast today. Is that a bad idea? I don't know. I just want him to eat a well-balanced meal, not all carbs. At one point, to get his meal done with, I started feeding him. Now, he wants to be fed all the time. He's 4, and perfectly capable - but his excuse is - its taking too long (so he doesn't even try). Sigh, I try to explain to him nothing happens without trying, but its not hit home. And my struggles continue. What a frustrating start to a day!