All About Christian

Ah, Christian ... he's quite the little lad. He's got lots to say, and lots to do. He's a busy, energetic and entertaining kiddo!

Some of the amushing things he says lately are:

• "That's a good idea, Papa!" Christian has that to say when Jonathan answers his question, "What are you doing, Papa?"
• "Bless you, Mommy!" I hear this blessing from down the hall when he's in his room at naptime, and I sneeze in my office.
• "Hey! What's going on here?"
• "Do you want to play a game" (we say yes) "Okay, first ... it's called .... um ...." and he makes up a quick game and gives it a name.
• "What can I doooooo?" We hear this one a lot when he's bored.
• "I can do it!" or "I can help!"
• "I'm going to be a pilot!"
• "I'm so VERY hungry."
• "Let's go to Disneyland TODAY!"
• "Stop kissing me!" or "Stop patting me!"
• "Excuse Meeeeeeeeeeee!" after burping
• "I'm going to fly to ColoraTo" ("t" emphasized)
• "One for youuuuuuuu ... and one for me."
• "Gimme a squeezer!"  (hug)

This week at school, Christian and his classmates were moved to the "older preschool" class. His new teacher, Miss Mandee, has been sharing some little nuggets with me.

• Today the kids were switching activities and Christian said, "Miss Mandee, we do A LOT."
• He tells Miss Mandee all about the various documentaries he watches on TV: Trains, sharks, Disneyland (most preschoolers just watch cartoons, our kiddo watches documentaries - by choice!)
• This week is family week, and we were asked to bring pics of our family. Our pics were put on the wall today and when I walked in to get him, he rushed up to me, hugged me and said, "This is my family. This is my family!" Awwwww!! When we got home, I asked him who his family was and he said, "Grandma Janet!" That one surprised me. He's only met Grandma Janet once (back in early 2008) and its been a while since we've said "Grandma Janet." He's got quite a memory!

One of Christian's favorite activities is reading - still. So much, in fact, that in the classroom he's usually found in the room's "library" rather than playing his friends, or participating in many of the activities. His teacher recognizes this tendancy and makes sure to encourage him to participate in other activities, while making sure to not discourage his love of reading.

As I've mentioned before, and it bears repeating, Christian is actually reading ... he's not just looking at pictures. It's the coolest thing to see him grab a book - a book that has paragraphs - and hear him read outloud. The other day, I heard that the Arizona Dept. of Eductaion has proclaimed that starting this year, if a child can't read by the end of the third grade, he's not allowed to progress to the fourth grade. We'll never have to worry about that predicament with Christian! Perhaps the public school system should invest in a copy of "Your Baby Can Read" for each kindergarten classroom. Seriously! The program works!