Thursday, September 16, 2010

Hallie's bath pictures: 17 months



Well, I'm on the home stretch - dissertation is due in 9 days, and I only have about 15 days of work left before it will be finished. Taking a break right now but can't write much, and the sad honest truth is I haven't been home very much at all the past month, so not much to report for this month's bath post. The stories Erin shares with me via email have kept things going, and I make it home now and again for some hugs from my kids. But a temporary lack of stories won't stop me from sharing some of these very cute bath pictures of Hallie.


And throw in some pics with her brother. I'm not sure what happened to Hallie not liking the water but she loves to play in the bath now, credit Will for showing her some fun games, like swimming on their tummies and blowing bubbles.



I just saw this video for the first time - downloaded pics off the camera just now. It's so sweet.


Visits to Will & Hallie's page as of this posting: 28365

Monday, September 13, 2010

More fun in the world of a 3-year-old

Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of online presence lately, please keep checking in. My dissertation defense is in a month and I'm working all the time to get everything done. Thanks to a wonderful family/friends support group, I think we're going to make it.

We did take some bath pictures of Hallie early this week, but that post will have to wait a little while at least. Erin continues to keep me motivated with funny/sweet stories of our kids via email. Here are three more short stories:

#1
As we've previously mentioned, Will looks out for Hallie - at least
while they're at school - like it's his job. Last week their
classrooms were outside together, and while Will was playing on the
play structure with friends, Hallie got her finger stuck between two
slats of the picnic table. She cried out (mostly in frustration - she
wasn't really hurt), and when Will heard Hallie's cries he ran to her
from across the play area. After hugging Hallie, he walked up to her
teacher and asked/demanded to know, "Why is she crying?!". Miss
Aubrey explained to Will that Hallie had pinched her finger, but Will
didn't believe her - he replied, "I think she's cold. Button her
coat.". While Miss Aubrey buttoned Hallie's coat (Miss Aubrey told me
that Will's "order" was just too cute not to follow) Will followed up
his first instruction with, "But don't button the top one, because
that might make her uncomfortable.".

#2
Will: "Where did that school come from?"
Erin: "Construction workers built the school with cement, bricks, and wood."
Will: "No, I think God built it."

#3
The word "sister" came up on a reading flash card, and "sister" is not
a word Will immediately recognizes. He had trouble sounding it out,
so I tried giving him a hint.
Erin: "Think about Hallie..."
Will: "Huh?"
Erin: "What is Hallie to you?"
Will: "Nice?"

Friday, September 3, 2010

Counting too high

Yesterday I was driving the kids to school and Will was counting outloud in the backseat. I admit I had kind of tuned him out, but then his voice got very enthusiastic as he came to the climax of his count:

Will [excitedly]: "...ninety-eight, ninety-NINE,... ONE! HUN! DRED!"
Dad: "wow! Will you counted all the way to a hundred?!!"
Will: "yep, I do it all the time" [this is true, I learned this morning, as I told Erin this story]
Dad: "wow, that's really great. you are a very good counter."
Will: "hey, maybe sometime we could count to a hundred together!"
Dad: "yeah, we'll do it. Maybe we could even count to one hundred and one!"
Will: "no, that's too high."

Will, protective older brother

[another email-blog entry from Erin]:

Watching out for his little sister...

At school, Will is in the preschool room and Hallie is in the toddler
room. Both groups of kids spend time every day playing outside, often
at the same time. Will's teachers have shared with me that when he
and Hallie are outside together, he does a great job of watching out
for her and helping her on the playground - he really wants her to be
safe and happy.

When I picked the kids up today, one of Hallie's teachers shared this
story with me. The preschoolers and the toddlers were coming in from
playing outside at the same time, which, because of the sheer number
of kids involved, was a little chaotic. In all the hustle and bustle,
Hallie fell down - she wasn't pushed, but just stumbled because lots
of older, bigger kids were moving quickly around her. Hallie started
to cry, and Will, who had been at the front of the group heading
inside, turned around and ran back to her. He picked her up off the
ground, turned to all the kids around her (picture confused toddlers
here), and yelled "Who pushed her?! Guerwens, was it you?! Nicole,
was it you?!" Hallie's teacher stepped in at that point, and
explained to Will that Hallie hadn't been pushed, she'd just fallen
because of the traffic. Will pondered this for a few seconds, and
then, in his sternest voice to Hallie's teacher, said "Well, be more
careful next time." Will gave Hallie a hug and headed back to
preschool.