Picking Limes

In addition to blueberry-picking, Connor can now add lime selection to his resumé.

waterfront playground

on a playground along the malecon

Bahia Balandra

On Sunday afternoon we visited this beautiful beach; yesterday morning (Tuesday) we returned. These photos were taken there.

Connor is enjoying himself very much. He is able to play outside as he wishes. There is a playground, and he likes the two dogs that come around. Grandpa has taught him how to feed flies to the ants and a spider. He ate about six bowls of Cheerios with milk this morning. But, he is eager to return home because his dad promised to buy him a small wheelbarrow and shovel like the ones he found by the chickens and sheep on the grounds ...

O Christmas Tree

This is our crazy Christmas tree. I finally managed to move all of the Legos from around it (see below) so that a "neat" picture could be taken. At certain times parts of our living room become overrun by Legos.

On the Bonk Bed

Crazy-haired Connor and Devilish Dad

In the new year we plan to lower the top bunk slightly and add a ladder so that Connor can access the top bunk himself.

Happy Holidays!

On Saturday Connor and I attended our first ever breakfast with Santa (well, that I can remember anyway) at our family YMCA. Because he was an oblivious baby his first christmas, and in Japan for his second, where New Year is the big holiday, not Christmas, last year was the first Christmas Connor actually observed.

While at age three he is a big boy this Christmas, he doesn't totally grasp the concept of Santa. He has no response when people ask him what he wants for Christmas, or if he is waiting for Santa.

But he still gets excited about Santa and Christmas trees and decorations. That's really nice. He gets the spirit of Christmas, not the materialistic bent of it.

I was thinking this morning, three is a great age: kids are talking and interacting. He is a real little person now. I think I mentioned in a previous post, the explosion of play and pretend talk I've noticed lately. Imagination and curiosity are really fired up.

Connor is a really good kid too. His passionate moments rarely boil over into full meltdowns.

He's doing great with his reading and writing - it seems like just the other day (it was two years ago), we were in Japan, making lists of words he could say. Now we could make a similar list of words he can read. He's putting all the pieces together. He's also developed an interest in writing, and he doing quite well. Last night he wrote his dad's name all by himself as an independent project (crayola marker on a dry erase board!). It was very cute.

So, look for a letter soon from Connor! Ha ha.

And the vocabulary: it's hilarious. Today he told me to turn off the over-range fan because it was "annoying" him (a word he learned from me in recent days- "Connor, stop that. It's annoying." He knows the context). And the other day, wailing, "This shirt won't cooperate for me!" when he couldn't get a shirt on.

Christmas Carols

Somehow this is the first time Connor's noticed holiday carols. I was screening collections of carols today in the car. Turns out, like any kid, he finds "Jingle Bells" and "The Little Drummer Boy" quite catchy.

Talking Man

All of a sudden we've noticed a great deal of play/pretend talk- Connor having complex conversations with toys and objects. Right now I hear him talking to his stuffed turtle who is taking a bath in the washing machine.
His vocabulary and understanding are really growing, and we all remain amazed by his memory. "If you want to remember something," my mom told me, "just tell Connor." It's true.
Like any kid his age, he asks lots of questions. We continue to explain and expose him to as many experiences as possible.
After recently completing a research project focused on young children's emergent literacy, I am hyperaware of the advice my aunt, a kindergarten teacher trained in that kind of stuff, gave this summer when I asked her to recommend learning activities for his ability level: "Just read to him."
He's always had lots of books around him, and he loves books, and we read to him often enough, but not on any kind of regular schedule. I am going to make an effort to read to him more often in the coming year.
He recognizes some words and has learned to spell a few: milk and food are two he's learned at school.
I found out yesterday that his writing skills are developing, as well. I haven't taught him, so he's either learned at school, or just picked it up somehow. Yesterday for his name he wrote some backwards "N"s and an upside-down "J" for Joe. He could also write an "E."

Funny Photos

Cooking Connor

Hiding Connor

At our house, we have tigers to brush our teeth:

Connor Rides Again

No sooner had he returned home from the grandparents, than he was back on the bus, bound for Missouri. Did he know that he traveled through Tennessee and Arkansas to get there? I think he did.