Yes, another post about Chanukah. I apologize, but we did have a total of four Chanukah related festivities this year. The last one came Sunday at my Dad’s. He really wanted to have his annual Chanukah party as scheduled, but he was also really tired from radiation treatment related to a prostate cancer recurrence. So […]
Monthly Archive for December, 2008
We witnessed another delightful first today: Simon sang a song. We’ve been singing “Frere Jacques” for months around here, sometimes in French, sometimes in English, and often with on-the-spot, made-up words. We sing about the color red, we sing about Simon’s name, and we sing about lunch. “Frere Jacques” has one of those tunes that […]
First, a disclaimer. Despite the title, this post is not about Chanukah. Christmas is the next holiday I need to catch up on over here, and it’s not about that either. I’ll get to the non-Chanukah han-kah part soon enough. Everything about this is wrong for a small child. The setting, Matt’s allergen-filled, dusy office, […]
Farewell Harold Pinter
Posted in Jessica on Dec 26th, 2008
Man, oh man, has 2008 seen the passing of some extraordinary people. I blogged here about my sadness in seeing both Paul Newman and David Foster Wallace go. Of course, with Paul Newman it was merely the sad realization that I can’t share all of my living favorites with Simon, whereas with David Foster Wallace […]
So I’ve been trying to write about our Chanukah, which was fabulous, for four days now. Thing is, I’ve been so busy getting ready for Chanukah (I was knitting on deadline), then helping with Chanukah, then getting my house in order and cleaning our basement, and then getting ready for Christmas, that each day ended […]
Last year Simon had a great time at my family’s Chanukah parties. Thanks to pretty lights, his cousins, mandel bread, things that spun, and things that were shiny, he had much to entertain him. Which isn’t necessarily to say he understood anything about what was going on. He was one, so it was a bit […]
They really do. I’ve given up counting Simon’s words because each day he pops up with several new ones, words like “owl” and “moon” or “pizza” and “orange”. He doesn’t say these words as though they are grand discoveries the way he said “light” or “bus” the first time. These new utterances are accompanied by […]
We’ve been working on numbers lately, and the results are mixed. Funny, but mixed. Simon knows three numbers: one, two, and eight. We started working with two right before his birthday. “How old will you be, Simon?” we’d ask. “Tea” would come his smiling response. A few weeks ago, he started to understand that one […]
Somewhere along the line, be it from friends or books or mere wishful thinking, I got the idea that I wouldn’t have to think about potty training until Simon was 2 ½, and probably closer to three. This notion gave me great comfort; no one seems to find potty training easy or enjoyable, and diapers […]
“If You’re Happy and You Know It…”
Posted in Jessica, KIP (Preschool), Toddler! on Dec 9th, 2008
“… Then your face will surely show it.” One of the singular joys of preschool is the serendipitous discovery that Simon has learned something I long ago forgot. Within the past two weeks, this has happened twice. Once Matt and sang “If You’re Happy and You Know It” to Simon, in truth to occupy his […]