Eye Exam

AJ needed his eyes checked. I suggested to the doctor that he use letters rather than pictures since he has become quite proficient in identifying them over the last year.

AJ was a willing participant, with the small exception that he took his eye exam "phonetically". Rather than saying the name of the letter that was being shown, he said the sound the letter makes and gave an example of a word that begins with that letter. The doctor said he'd never had it done quite that way before!

Halloween Costume

Since we turned the calendar page to October, AJ has been agonizing over what he wants to be for Halloween. We went to the costume shop yesterday. He scrutinized costume after costume...Pirates, superheroes, doctors, ninjas, rock stars... Finally, something caught his eye and he told me breathlessly, "HERE IT IS!" I was rather surprised by his choice and asked him, what is it? Immediate reply "Pharaoh. Joseph Coat!" So...here he is. The Pharaoh from the musical "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat."

Just like...

I told AJ to go pick out clothes to wear to the Fair and get himself dressed.

After a bit, he came down the hall in his nice khaki shorts and...the camouflage shirt Grandpa had given him.

He struck a pose, hands on hips. "How do I look?"

I told him, "You look just like your Grandpa."

He shot me a grin that about split his face, "Wowwww.....Thanks!"

"Q"

We went for a walk last night and were playing our usual game of, "Give me a word that starts with _______"

AJ was doing great thinking of words that began with random letters.

"Z...Zebra."

"S...Snake."

"A...Apple."

Give me a word that starts with "Q".

"Q...Cute."

Makes more sense than "C", doesn't it?

Smoking

We were over at the neighbor's the other day swimming. Mike and I were sitting at the table talking. AJ came and sat down next to Mike to dry off. As we continue to chat, Mike lit up a cigarette.

AJ watched with interest as Mike inhaled and blew out smoke. Mike kind of chuckled and asked AJ, "Are you going to smoke someday?"

Without missing a beat, AJ replied, "No. I too careful."

Vocabulary

We were getting ready to go for a swim when, out of the blue AJ asked me, "Mom, What's 'warrior' mean?"

I was floored...a complete sentence (rare), a new word and a request for a definition.

Now I just need to figure out whether or not what he was watching on TV with the sitter that day that prompted the new word was appropriate! (Though I highly suspect it must be from Power Rangers.)

AJ Meets the Power Rangers - Video

A Dream Come True!

Art Work

AJ's becoming quite the artist. Here's a picture he brought home from school today that was drawn on the back of one of his worksheets. He explained that it was Peter Pan and the gang.

Note the great detail on "Wendy". No...not the long hair. Lower...

Super Mario

Yesterday was 'fantasy character' day at school. AJ went as Super Mario from his favorite video game.

George Washington

AJ has been spending more time in the regular ed classroom. One of the things he has been participating in is social studies. The regular ed teacher has done well either adapting or finding something similar to what the other kids are doing. She says that he really seems to enjoy being in there and that, when he's finished with his work, he always asks her to "show kids". So, she lets him get up front and tell them what he's done. She says the kids are great and clap and tell him what a great job he did.

They were apparently doing reports about George Washington. She had him work on some Kindergarten/1st grade worksheets about George Washington that had dot-to-dots, matching, fill in the blank, sentence writing, etc. All very appropriate level-wise. When he was finished, she stapled it together and he had his "report". He was really proud of it and wanted to show it off to me and tell me about it when he brought it home. Went something like this:

Front page - Picture of George Washington. His explanation:
"The man."

Next page - Cherry trees. His explanation:
"The man's trees. Knock 'em down."

Next page - Dollar bill and a quarter. His explanation:
"The man's money."

Next page - Picture of Mount Vernon. His explanation:
"The man's hotel."

Apparently, since it was really big, it couldn't have been the man's house!

But, the fact is, he did seem to grasp some of the basics of George Washington.

Musical Instruments

I was recently spring cleaning the kitchen. (Yes...I know it's a bit early, but I'm really ready for spring.) We collect old bottles...several small ones from the windowsill were down within AJ's reach.

I heard an interesting tune coming from my dining room. I see that AJ's got a bottle in each hand, blowing a beat. I told him it sounded pretty good. He pointed to the top of my cupboards where there are probably well over 100 old bottles. "Mommy, please down ALL instruments."

All?

He talked me into climbing up there to get couple more big ones for low tones.

There was a two hour school delay....

I explained to AJ that there was a delay and that he was coming to the office to help me work 'cause Jody (co-worker) and I have a lot to do (we had both set aside the entire day to do file review on 138 files). Keep in mind that AJ absolutely ADORES Jody and her big blue eyes. He always makes a bee-line straight to her office to see if she's there...which works for me 'cause when I need to bring him to the office she watches him for me while I do what I need to do...

Anyway...

I explain to him that Jody and I need him to help pull, stack and carry files. (And he really was a good helper!) He asked me, "AJ work?"

I told him, that he was going to have a job at the office and do some work.

"AJ money?"

WHAT???

I asked if he thought he should get paid money to do the work.

"Yes."

I asked how much.

"Ten dollars."

(The offer was very firm, no room for negotiating.)

I asked him what he was going to do with the money.

"Give Jody."

She was delighted with the arrangement.

I was not.

Dirty Stick

AJ came out of the shower yesterday morning and asked me for a "Dirty Stick".

Maybe I didn't hear him correctly, "A what?"

"Dirty Stick."

I'm clueless and need another hint. "What do you do with a Dirty Stick?"

"Clean the ears. Dirty."

Oh....