Why Say It If You Can Spell It?

Sometimes I wonder how our twins see the world. Without words, it's hard to know.

Most of us think that Sawyer sees the world through pictures, that images will probably always mean more to him than words or language. Show him two items, and he will choose by pulling one toward him and pushing the other one away. Ask him about two items, and he will hear you, but he will not necessarily answer. You cannot select a word or push it away. Sometimes the words mean something, like "Mommy's truck" or "school," but more often than not you don't get the response you're looking for. Not yet anyway.

With Xander, I am beginning to think that he sees the world in a little of both. He sees the images, but he also sees the language. More to the point, he usually sees the letters. It amazes me the things he remembers about certain things or places. Put on one of his favorite Word World DVDs, and he will start spelling the words just moments before they appear. He not only knows what is coming, but he remembers exactly how it is spelled.

And this afternoon, we were sitting on the couch enjoying a cold and dreary day under some fleece blankets and singing his favorite song (the ABC song, of course). After quite a few times, he wanted to move on to other things. He started to spell some of his favorite words. Shoe. Chair. Canoe. Truck. Mostly things he has seen and learned on his two favorite shows, Word World and Super Why.

And then a new one appeared.

Thank you. That's not on either of the shows, not spelled out for him to see or to remember. It took me a minute, but I finally remembered where it came from.

The McDonald's play land on Wednesday. Xander took a break from climbing up and down the slides and the cubes to come out and get some attention from the adults. Grandma, Grandpa and I were sitting at a little table, watching the boys as they spent hours wearing themselves out and just playing on that rainy day. And while he was sitting there with us, the trash cans in the corner caught his attention. They had big capital letters on each of the swinging doors. Thank you. He spelled it several times at the end of the day.

So either my little spell boy was just adding a new word to the ones he spells daily, or he was trying to tell me something. Perhaps the walls were closing in on him, too, and a trip to the play land was on his mind.

Maybe some day he'll tell us himself.

Photo Flashback

Twin fight. Two boys, one book. You do the math. Sawyer is clutching on tight from the bottom, and Xander is trying to grab it away from the top. And they still fight over that very same book. (October 3, 2006)

School Days

Since school is out for a few days, I'll share some recent school photos of Xander, courtesy of one of his teachers (the one who's holding him and his best buddy below). Thanks to Mr. K for sharing.



Group photo during fire safety week at school. Xander apparently wanted no part of actually sitting in the fire truck. He was close enough, thanks. His buddy Mr. K is holding both him (red sweatshirt) and his favorite play buddy.



Some hoops during recess. Love to see him playing games if not with, at least near, other little boys in his class. Here he is making a basket (again in the red sweatshirt). I bet he's good on defense, too. He certainly knows how to push his brothers out of his way at home, anyway!



And last but not least, a shot of him participating with the group during class. He's across the classroom at the end of the line (in red, yet again).

Fall Break

For the preschool set, fall break isn't much more than a long weekend.

Connor's private school is closed on Friday this week, and as a Monday-Wednesday-Friday kid, he was officially finished at noon today. The little guys attend the local public schools in the form of Early Start (which also offers speech and occupational therapy as part of their day), and the local schools have fall break tomorrow and Friday (though the twins were also home today for an Early Start teacher work day). They were done yesterday afternoon at 1:35.

The twins are at home with us. Connor, lucky devil, is at the lake with Grandma and Grandpa, and cousins Austin and Kyndal (also on fall break).

Grandma and Grandpa drove up earlier in the day to finish up a little Christmas shopping (yes, hate them now, they are done). We met them for a late lunch after Connor's school day ended, driving across town to the only McDonald's (out of like 25) in town with an indoor playland. It worked well, because we spent hours there letting the kids work off some rainy day energy. The adults (and Connor) might have preferred Chick-fil-a, but the twins are not fans.

After lunch and play, Connor left to help Grandma and Grandpa with a little more shopping while they waited for Austin and Kyndal to finish their school days (middle and elementary school, respectively). By now they're probably all sipping on Pepsi's and having some popcorn. That's the nightly ritual. Although our big boy might already be fast asleep. He's had a busy couple of days.

Now, what to do with the little guys for the next few days. Four whole days with no school. Mommy might just go a little crazy!

Book Club for Boys!

Tonight was our night to host the Book Club for Boys! One of our boys was out sick, and that wasn't fun for him (or his family) or for us, but we forged ahead with just three.

Josh was nice enough to take the twins out for a few hours (they did dinner at Steak & Shake, which was impressive in my book) and then quickly fell asleep in the truck while Daddy went to check on one of his houses under construction.

Our Book Club night involved a Curious George book, some crafts, a little scissors and glue, some cookies and drinks, and lots and lots of stickers! We learned about the seasons, including which months make up which season. We also made calendar pages for the last three months of the year, mostly with stickers. And we ate chocolate chip cookies shaped like leaves and snowmen!



And, of course, we also played. Well, the moms talked, but the boys played.



And played and played. I think we managed to wear all three of them out. Hopefully they'll still be willing to get up for school in the morning!