4.25
I hate to jinx it, but I think Henry is finally getting past his threenager angst. He's been a pretty great little dude lately.
Henry is still way into Dad. As soon as I pick him up from school he starts asking me relentlessly how long until Karl gets home. They play video games together in the evening and do house projects on the weekend. Baby's arrival was great for henry because it meant Karl stayed home for two weeks and is still taking him to school in the morning. He took dressing like daddy to the next level right before Christmas break, when he wore a power tie to school every day for a week. It was also the first time he made it through a full week of morning drop-offs without a major meltdown. Coincidence? I think not.
School has been a lot better. I worry that he still seems sad and anxious about going, but drop off is usually okay and he seems happy about what happens during the day. He always comes home very excited to tell us about new lessons. The lessons seem to stick, because he is getting very good at his letters and loves practicing simple addition and subtraction. And polishing furniture. Loves polishing furniture. He's also learning useful things from his friends, such as which iPad games are the funnest (Plants v. Zombies). Evangeline has replaced Amelia as his girlfriend. When we asked him who he plays with at school, he told us he likes to play with the boys but the girls make him play with them a lot. Already a charmer.
He's still very protective of Ingrid. Back when it was less snowy and we were hanging out on the playground after school, he was really good about including Ingrid in playing with the bigger kids. One time another kid took Ingrid's baby doll and stroller and Henry shoved the poor child to the ground with a force that surprised even Miss Jackie (who sees a lot of this sort of thing). This is tough for me. I realize I'm supposed to discourage this sort of behavior. But I also love that he's sticking up for his sister and wouldn't mind him instilling fear in every boy in school when she starts dating. So we're working on not defending your sister quite so violently.
We're starting to think Henry is musically-inclined. He can recognize almost any piece of music that he's heard in a movie, even if it's played out of context or in a different style. For instance, at Christmastime he would hear a vocal version of Carol of the Bells on Pandora and immediately name the part of Home Alone where it appears, even though the movie only features the instrumental version. Several months ago, Grandma Carol played something low and ominous on the piano and Henry said, "That sounds like Orc music!" I don't think he's ready for formal piano lessons yet so we're playing lots of music at home and in the car and encouraging him to pay attention to the score when he's watching movies. He likes the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in the car on the way home from school.
He loves to read grownup books with Karl at bedtime. It's interesting to observe how he and Ingrid read so differently. Ingrid likes books she can internalize. She memorizes them and reads them to herself. Henry never looked at books on his own or read to himself. When Henry was 2.5 we were already reading longer stories like Pooh and Paddington; Ingrid has no interest in listening to anything this long. Henry still loves to listen, even if he doesn't fully understand what's going on. Right now he and Karl are working on Ender's Game and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Sometimes he follows well on his own and sometimes he needs an executive summary at the end of a section. They're also working on Shelby Foote's Civil War series because Henry came home from school one day asking about the Civil War. Obviously, a 2,800 page trilogy is the perfect way to introduce your four-year-old to reading history. Good thing Karl has a nice reading voice.
Henry is still way into Dad. As soon as I pick him up from school he starts asking me relentlessly how long until Karl gets home. They play video games together in the evening and do house projects on the weekend. Baby's arrival was great for henry because it meant Karl stayed home for two weeks and is still taking him to school in the morning. He took dressing like daddy to the next level right before Christmas break, when he wore a power tie to school every day for a week. It was also the first time he made it through a full week of morning drop-offs without a major meltdown. Coincidence? I think not.
School has been a lot better. I worry that he still seems sad and anxious about going, but drop off is usually okay and he seems happy about what happens during the day. He always comes home very excited to tell us about new lessons. The lessons seem to stick, because he is getting very good at his letters and loves practicing simple addition and subtraction. And polishing furniture. Loves polishing furniture. He's also learning useful things from his friends, such as which iPad games are the funnest (Plants v. Zombies). Evangeline has replaced Amelia as his girlfriend. When we asked him who he plays with at school, he told us he likes to play with the boys but the girls make him play with them a lot. Already a charmer.
He's still very protective of Ingrid. Back when it was less snowy and we were hanging out on the playground after school, he was really good about including Ingrid in playing with the bigger kids. One time another kid took Ingrid's baby doll and stroller and Henry shoved the poor child to the ground with a force that surprised even Miss Jackie (who sees a lot of this sort of thing). This is tough for me. I realize I'm supposed to discourage this sort of behavior. But I also love that he's sticking up for his sister and wouldn't mind him instilling fear in every boy in school when she starts dating. So we're working on not defending your sister quite so violently.
We're starting to think Henry is musically-inclined. He can recognize almost any piece of music that he's heard in a movie, even if it's played out of context or in a different style. For instance, at Christmastime he would hear a vocal version of Carol of the Bells on Pandora and immediately name the part of Home Alone where it appears, even though the movie only features the instrumental version. Several months ago, Grandma Carol played something low and ominous on the piano and Henry said, "That sounds like Orc music!" I don't think he's ready for formal piano lessons yet so we're playing lots of music at home and in the car and encouraging him to pay attention to the score when he's watching movies. He likes the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in the car on the way home from school.
He loves to read grownup books with Karl at bedtime. It's interesting to observe how he and Ingrid read so differently. Ingrid likes books she can internalize. She memorizes them and reads them to herself. Henry never looked at books on his own or read to himself. When Henry was 2.5 we were already reading longer stories like Pooh and Paddington; Ingrid has no interest in listening to anything this long. Henry still loves to listen, even if he doesn't fully understand what's going on. Right now he and Karl are working on Ender's Game and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Sometimes he follows well on his own and sometimes he needs an executive summary at the end of a section. They're also working on Shelby Foote's Civil War series because Henry came home from school one day asking about the Civil War. Obviously, a 2,800 page trilogy is the perfect way to introduce your four-year-old to reading history. Good thing Karl has a nice reading voice.
Comments
Post a Comment