Math Cards with Grandma and Pop

Timothy took some math cards with him to Grandma and Pop's house. They put all of the cards on the floor and then Grandma told Timothy to go sit on 96. Timothy did it (to Grandma's utter shock and amazement). Then, he ran off to play with the dog and refused to do anything else with the cards. "He really knew which one was 96!!" Grandma exclaimed.

Of course he does...don't you read the blog?

Ouch - I can hardly walk!

Normal ankle
Swollen ankle after passing out and falling down the stairs at work.

Timothy, though, appears to be handling things fine.

New Bits

Two days ago, we completely ran out of new Bit cards. With everything that's going on, we figured we'd just have to do old Bits and review for awhile...no one has time to make new Bits.

I don't think it was a coincidence that yesterday our friend sent us Bits we had let her borrow back along with A LARGE STACK OF NEW BITS. These are Bits of birds, flags, landscapes...they're beautiful. And they're a God-send. I called them our Bits from Heaven.

So, now we don't have to worry about Bits for the next two weeks. And we even got 3 new books to do!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Now...someone please explain how the dinosaur got in our washing machine...

Loss of Routine

Life has been so chaotic...I feel so sorry for doing this to Timothy, but it's just been absolutely crazy around here!

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We don't know anything yet for certain, but my health has us very worried. I had an abnormal EKG and have been continuing to faint (and, subsequently, have blurred vision and dizziness and confusion).

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I saw a neurologist today and I see a cardiologist later in the week, and I have a huge battery of tests scheduled for the next two weeks.

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I have been told not to drive until we figure all of this out, so that's really hard. We've been going back and forth from home to the city...Timothy's been spending so much time away from home. Grandma and Granny have been graciously watching Timothy, and Pop has been fighting the Metroplex traffic to get me to all of these specialists.

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We haven't had his normal routine, or his toys, or his bed...he's been our little champ, but I know it's hard on a child to lose his structure and routine.

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As a result, Timothy's been having some behavior issues - he'll scream and cry and throw big fits on a whim. Of course, we're trying to use positive discipline to deal with it as best we can, but I know he just misses what we used to have - it's been hard on all of us!!

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In the meantime, we're spending a lot of time together as a family, and Timothy's getting to see his extended family much more. We're learning as much as we can with our crazy lives, currently.

Please, continue to send us good vibes so our family can return to normal!!

Roller Coaster

Gears, Gears, Gears

Timothy has been having SO MUCH fun with his gear set!! It didn't take him long to figure out that the middle gear makes all the other gears spin...and this toy is really neat. It lets him reverse the spin and control the speed and arrange the gears however he wants (they're magnetic). He does like to leave it on for long stretches of time, though, just to watch it keep spinning, so I can see we'll be going through a lot of batteries.

10-Minute Rule

Yesterday, I chatted on the phone with a friend who's been to the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential (I haven't).

First of all, her daughter has been spending 3 hours a week on Spanish for the past several months and now has excellent comprehension in Spanish...so I'm encouraged that 3-7 hours/week of Chinese will be very advantageous to Timothy!!

Also, she told me about the "10-minute rule." In the lectures at the Institutes, they say that if you're telling someone about Doman methods and they still think you're crazy after 10 minutes, just stop talking - you'll never convince them. Either people will immediately realize that it makes sense, or they won't...but there's no sense in trying to convince someone that this works if there's no chance that you ever will (which is why I ignored the past comment).

I'm going to remember the 10-minute rule from now on...no sense trying to talk anyone into believing this works...either you believe it or you don't!

Counting and Numbers

Timothy LOVES counting and numbers!!

Today, we sat by the bookshelf while we played with the new ball roller. Every few minutes, I would take a math card down off the shelf and tell him an equation. He LOVED it - that seemed to work really well.

Timothy is still able to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, and sequences. He can still pick the right number of dots (say, 93) out of a pile. He'll run to our number line and point at the numbers while saying "six...seven...eight." He has yet to just see a bunch of toothpicks on the floor and say 87 or something like that...I'm not sure he ever will, but we'll see.

Check Your Colleges...

I am surprised at the number of responses we've had regarding Mandarin Chinese - at last count, we have 5 people who are interested in the position.

What's surprised me most of all, however, is that these students are wanting to learn English just as much as we want Timothy to learn Spanish. Many of them are in dorm rooms and are friends with other Chinese speakers, so they don't end up practicing their English all that much. The prospect of helping someone as they help us, then, is exciting!!

The moral of the story - check out your local colleges. Don't be afraid to call a professor of music and ask about students who might be interested in giving your toddler lessons. Feel free to call a biology professor and ask how to pronounce the name of a dinosaur for Bit cards (I've done it). Call a french professor and ask for video recommendations. And see if there are any international students who would like to help teach your kid a language. In most cases, people will be very nice and you'll find what you're looking for (and sometimes more). Even smaller community colleges will likely have foreign students and music departments and people who will be willing to help you.

I went to a consignment sale yesterday and bought Timothy some new toys. I was sitting down just now to upload some pictures, but I can't find my camera cord and I'm just too tired or lazy (you pick) to get up and get it.

Timothy's been playing ALL day with his new roller coaster:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2603645
Honestly, he goes up the thing, rides down, pushes the car back up, pushes the car down, walks up and down the track, pushes the car back up...the roller coaster is brining much excitement to our living room. Of course, it can't stay there...we try to keep our living room a sane place for adults, and having a roller coaster is a bit strange. But it's there for right now.

We also bought him this:
http://www.kazootoys.com/124009.html
I wasn't going to buy it because it was $10 (gasp), but I went ahead because I thought it might be a neat toy. Boy - neat is an understatement!! It's a fabulous, fabulous toy. It's teaching Timothy SO much in a practical sort of way. It's teaching about gears and magnets and so many other things...and did I mention it's fun? When he ditched it to go play with his roller coaster some, I had to sit by myself and play with those gears. They're neat.

And, as a finale, we got him the famous race car bed:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1634890
He's been sleeping on the floor, so tonight is actually his first nightin a BED. He's asleep right now, so I guess he's doing fine.

Strangely enough, I didn't get a chance to look through the books, but my FAVORITE find was 13 cassette tapes for $4. I had no idea what they were, but I took a chance and hit the JACKPOT! 7 Scholastic Book on Tapes (of very popular books), a few silly song cassettes, and our new favorite - Sesame Street Meets the Orchestra. It's an AWESOME tape.

For example, Elmo comes on and says "Big Bird, I want to hear some percussion. Can we listen to a piece that emphasizes percussion?" and Big Bird says "Sure, let's listen to Handel's Water Music" or whatever. Timothy immediately recognized Elmo's voice on the cassette tape. Big Bird and Elmo provide a running commentary and introduce the songs by author, title, and even point out certain musical elements.

Hey...it's better than Elmo's World. la la la la la la la la Elmo's World

Edited to add - Honestly, it's not just a silly CD. I found it here http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1578647/a/Elmo+And+The+Orchestra.htm and when you look at the list of songs, they're really excellent classical songs.

Symphony #40
24 Caprices Opus No. 1
Sabre Dance - (from "The Gayneh Ballet")
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Morning Mood - (from "Peer Gynt Suite #1")
Alla Hornpipe - (from "Water Music")
J'aime Percussion
Waltz Opus 64, No. 1 (Minute Waltz)
Piano Concerto No. 21
Thunderstorm - (from "Symphony No. 6")
Flight Of The Bumble Bee
Swan, The - (from "The Carnival Of Animals")
Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies - (from "The Nutcracker Suite")
Can-Can - (from "Orpheus In The Underworld")
Lullaby, Opus 49, No. 4
Symphony No. 94 (Surprise)
Ride Of The Valkyries
Blue Danube, The (Waltz)
Symphony #5

What's Going On

About two weeks ago, I posted that I fainted after vacuuming all day on fun Friday. I went to the ER and got an EKG, CAT Scan, bloodwork, pregnancy test, and X-ray, and everything appeared fine.

Last night, though, it happened again.

I'm worried about what's happening and I'm going to have to start an array of medical tests to find out what's going on. My biggest fear is that it will happen when I'm alone with Timothy and he'll get in to something or hurt himself.

Please keep our family in your prayers...

On a more positive note, though, I've had two applications for a Chinese tutor for Timothy - both were born in China and are native speakers :-) :-)

I can't wait to get to know these people and see who might work well with our family!!

February FUN!

Grandma came out to help mommy...mommy's had a crazy week!! They did Valentine activities. They sorted conversation hearts and made a pattern. Timothy tried to eat one but he spit it out. They also wrote down the names of some of the people who love Timothy - many people love Timothy!!

Timothy's been having FUN the last few days!! Here are a few pictures of the big fun!!

Chinese

I think we're making progress finding a native Chinese speaker to help Timothy learn Mandarin Chinese!!

Today, the assitant director of International Students got me in contact with the President of the Chinese Student Association (which has 70 members). He's going to pass on my contact information. I'm sure out of 70 members, someone will want to learn a little extra money each week for playing with a little boy and speaking Chinese.

Right now, Timothy watches Bao Bei the panda bear speak Chinese and I've learned Chinese words, so I'm sure he knows them too (but he's actually never said any...why would he?). Children learn much faster than adults.

My dad is a little concerned that we're doing Chinese, but here is our reasoning why:

• Children learn languages quickly and easily in their first 4-6 years of life. If you put a child around two languages, he learns two languages. If you put a child around three languages, he learns three.
• Language learning isn't work for a child - he doesn't have to memorize any special formulas or conjugate any verbs...he just learns naturally. So why not let him learn a language while it's natural?
• Spanish was our first second-language choice, and Timothy seems to be doing really really well with it. We do as much sign language as I can naturally incorporate into the day, not being fluent in sign. So, Chinese seems the logical choice.
• Chinese is spoken by nearly 25% of the WORLD population. China is a huge country and the need for bilingual Chinese individuals will continue to grow.
• Chinese has its own ideographic writing system, unique from all of the other languages. While Timothy's quickly taking in Bits, he could be learning written words in Chinese.

I talked with someone a few months ago who asked me if exposing him to 3 languages would be confusing for him.

I present you with the following scenario - singing to your baby. Will singing Itsy Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus and Old McDonald confuse him? It may initially, but he'll quickly learn they're all different songs and he'll learn every one of them.

Of course, learning a language isn't exactly like learning a song, but the general idea is the same - kids learn what they're exposed to.

The US is pretty unique in that most people only speak one language, but in many European countries the average citizen can speak 3 or 4 languages fluently...and doesn't think a second thought of it! That's the NORM there, not the exception.

As long as Timothy's having fun with it, we're going to go for it.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our friends, whether we know you or not!!

Timothy's feeling MUCH better and is his usual self again this morning.

We made Bits of NASCAR drivers and he keeps wanting me to get magnets and put them on the fridge so he can walk by and see them.

He's loving cards again, but right now he REALLY loves books - he'll read 8 or 9 books 3 times each...and wants us to read more!! Of course, he has his special "vaccum book" that talks all about different kinds of vacuums. It's so fun to see him enjoy these books so much!!

It's just a great day when your kid loves to read like Timothy loves to read - I couldn't imagine him any more into the homemade books we have here. Honestly, Timothy's love for books right now is more than I could ever imagine!!

We were planning to do more with our Valentine's unit, but all we did was write down names of people who love us and count conversation hearts. We read a few books about Valentine's day and we did love-related words. We talked about holiday foods and ate chocoalte covered strawberries. We sang a Valentine song.

Next, we're moving on to Presidents. We've already done every president as a Bit of intelligence card, but we're going to review and learn some facts about the Presidents.

Then, we're planning to move on to a BEAR unit, and then St. Patricks day!!

What fun!!

WEATHER Unit

We had so much fun learning about the weather!!

Refusal of Cards

Timothy has the crap that's going around and is feeling generally unwell.

I know Doman says not to do cards on a bad day, but Timothy LOVES his cards so much that we do them every morning regardless.

This morning, I sat him down to look at the cards and he REFUSED to look at them. Wanted nothing to do with them...and I was SHOCKED!! I have NEVER seen him not want to do his cards in the morning before!!

I'm sure once he gets rid of this snotty nose that he'll return to his normal card-lovin' self...I hope so anyway!!

Weather Words

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting lately...we've been busy here!!

Last Friday, the vacuum day, I fainted at the end of the day, which resulted in a trip to the hospital (everything appears fine). I had a busy week teaching and then I presented at a conference at the end of the week last week. I watched Timothy's cousin last night, and now I'm working on grading papers that I want to pass back on Tuesday.

But I promise I'll find time to post something more soon!!

Vacuum Hell

Help!!

Vacuums are destroying my life.

Honestly, the vacuum thing started as soon as Timothy got up this morning. He will not be lured to play with toys. He will not eat. He only wants to spend time with the vacuums.

I've tried to pull him away and shut the door. He threw himself into a fit, screaming and crying, and went back to open the doors.

If you drive down my street and see the scattered remains of all of our vacuums, that's why.

This child spends AT MINIMUM 75% of his waking hours messing with these vacuums.

I'm going to lose my mind.

Drill and Kill?

We recently rewatched the Nightline special on the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential (you can see it online here http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3207632). These kids are having a fantastic time learning, they're speaking languages, they're smiling, they're enjoying themselves, and then an old professor comes on and says that flashcards aren't fun and they ruin the kid's motivation to learn.

If you think that, you haven't seen how absolutely fun it is to learn!!

After watching the professor say those things, I had to show you how we certainly don't "drill and kill" in this house. This is Timothy looking at his cards tonight. He LOVES the military planes I made for him!! (If you're wondering about the Bits that he's seeing, they're military planes, weather equip., weather words, and NFL official signals).

Sure, there are days when he's fussy or teething, but Timothy really does love to learn and he really IS learning (I'm too lazy to make all the cards if I didn't know it was working).

Drill and Kill? Not in this house!

Fine Motor Fun

Timothy LOVES to put coins in a bank. We talk about what kind of coins they are, who's on them, where they were minted...he also likes to take off the clothespins and put them back on!

Fun Friday (the Vacuum Edition)

Today I asked Timothy if he wanted to go to the children's museum.

"Grandma?" he asked. Both of his grandmas went with him to the Children's Museum last week. When I informed him that grandma wouldn't be there, he asked "Can I vacuum?" I told him no. Then, I got to thinking about it - I really didn't want to drive all the way to the Children's Museum. I ended up letting him vacuum.

We've vacuumed with the Hoover. We vacuumed with the Rainbow. We steam cleaned. He's just been having a BALL with these vacuums...and he's not tired of them yet!! As we speak, the child is still messing with the vacuum cleaner. I think he likes this MORE than the children's museum...and we're vacuuming!!

Today's Fun Friday sure wasn't fun for me, though. My carpets are clean, but my back is aching and I have a headache from the noise all day. Daddy, come home soon!!