Plein air paintings, studio art and lessons
the kittens opened their eyes while we were away on break. this is the runt, which we can both feel and hear (he is the loudest screamer). His eyes actually had begun opening the day we packed our bags to go, and he was also the first to stand and walk.
I root for the underdog. Undercat?
Ford is one of those firstborn children who considers all the possible outcomes before attempting something new. He isn’t the type of child who just, say, FORDS the stream, full tilt. So when this little front tooth started wiggling, he was in no rush to yank it out like he sees his friends do at recess. Instead, he let it hang there until it was dang ready.
Of course, Ford has no problem at all plowing to center stage, and this new gaping gaptooth smile here is his latest prop.
But oh! All the wrangling he did to divert food from this tooth for weeks, carefully brushing the poor dead thing until it bore no resistance to the toothbrush. It was getting kind of gross, in the end, dangling there by a thread.
Wait. It’s still kind of gross, really.
“It just came out when I was running! I didn’t do a thing!”
YEAH! SO ready was this tooth that when it finally fell out, there was no blood,
just a little gummy middle finger.
Ford is in that whirlwind of development right now where literacy unfolds and reading kicks in. He is devouring books. On any given night you might find him lying on his back on the sofa, nose in a spy book, quiet as a mouse. I have been longing for this day. Suddenly, the whirlwind rests, content and cerebral.
He started his own pictoblog last week! a place where he can post his doodles and an outlet for his creative writing practice. This enables him to quickly express himself by dictating a story to me. I’m encouraging him to write his explanations at the bottom, too, so he can actually practice his penmanship. At this point, it’s faster to dictate, and the momentum isn’t lost– these small baby steps are very important.
If When you visit his blog, you’ll have to register as a user in order to leave a comment. Though it’s an initial hassle, from that point onward you’ll only have to login in order to comment and his site won’t get flooded with spam. Please leave him an encouraging comment and tell him what you think of his project. Feedback is a tremendously powerful thing at this age and I’d love to see a commitment from him strengthen over time as he realizes that an online sketchbook can become a place not only for self-expression but a springboard for storytelling and discussion and making new friends.
Thanks!
*steph