readathon wrap-up

519 pages.

that's the end result of ian's second readathon. he reached his goal, and i'm so thrilled for him. he accomplished his goal by reading at a leisurely pace and making sure to balance reading time with play-outside-time and veg-in-front-of-the-tv-time. he also branched out and read different material, like non-fiction, chapter books, and good ol' i spy books.

and, thanks to our very generous friends and family (and if my math is right), he raised close to $700! (it may be closer to $800 if our friend B's company will match his donation. isn't that fantastic?) i'm just so overwhelmed with the support ian received from everyone ... i hope they know we'll be counting on them next year too. ;)

thank you so much!

[edited 05.03.07 :: ian is the top earner in the whole school -- of the $4600 or so raised in this fundraiser ian's contribution was $800! he earned his class a pizza party, his teacher a $50 spending spree at the book fair, and himself a gift certificate to borders. yay ian!]

["reprinted" from our reading blog :: 365books.blogspot.com]

i'd do anything for crafting ...

even iron.

measure twice, cut once ...

i'm getting better at not screwing up the cutting part, but the "oh, it'll only take me a few hours to make that" time allotment part is not something i'm good at.

i decided to make these things for our friends' daughter's first birthday. neither item is very big so i gave myself about three hours to make both of them. in the end i think it took me at least six hours to sew the baggy and doggy. but they came out pretty cute, i think. you can't tell from the pictures but the inside of the bag is lined with a floral print cotton.

the patterns are from the handmade zakka series. doggy pattern :: handmade zakka tobikiri kawaii wo tsukurou and the baggy pattern :: handmade zakka nonbiri kibun de tsukuritaimono.

i hope baby L likes them. :)

goofy grin

ian lost his fourth tooth, right in the front. it was already loose when he missed a flyball (which he threw himself) that smacked him in the mouth and knocked out the tooth!

he looks ridiculous and goofy and endearing. it reminded me of when i lost my front tooth eating a chicken leg; i swallowed the tooth and never saw it again. (i've never confirmed this story with my mother. it's possible that i made it all up.)

sadly, the tooth fairy (i.e., mom) forgot to bring ian some cash that night (oopsy!). hopefully she (i.e., i) won't forget tonight.

read ian, read!

ian's school's pta has a readathon during spring break each year to raise funds for school supplies. this is my favorite fundraiser (besides the book fair i organize) because it encourages reading.

last year ian was the top reader in his class and the top earner in kindergarten (thanks to our many friends and family who sponsored him). this year we're not really aiming to "win" but to read everyday during spring break. ian is challenging himself to read lots of chapter books and read at least 500 pages.

so, until the 16th i'll be chronicling his daily progress at our reading blog :: 365books.blogspot.com. if you'd like to sponsor ian or you have any suggestions for books to read, please leave a comment here. thank you!

17 months.

maya @ 17 months :: april 4, 2007

• her vocabulary is definitely growing. towards the beginning of the month she started saying "tankoo" (thank you) to me when i handed her things. other new words: "shees" (shoes), "dish" (this), "ce-eal" (cereal), "m-k" (milk) and then she moos, "o [something something mumble mumble]" (outside), "cacker" (cracker), "ball," "go go." the sad thing is that she hasn't really said anything in japanese yet ... although i think she said something akin to "hana" (nose) and "alé" (that).
• it cracks us up when she mimics us, like when she repeated rupert's "unbelievable!" as "un-be-abo!" during a basketball game.
• she liked watching "march madness" with ian and rupert. she claps and says "go go!" when the crowds cheer.
• she is definitely more physical and confident than ian was at the same age. she's fearless on the big kid slides at the park, and while she figures out her limits she does always try to climb on park equipment and furniture at least once.
• she's a tricky little thing. for example, when i limited her crayon use to her high chair she started throwing the crayons on the floor and then asked to be put down so she could go pick them up and walk away. she's using my laziness against me, knowing full well that i don't always pick things up off the floor right away!
• new toys: little people figures (especially the princess carriage), slinky
• it makes me cringe but she likes to pull off the flaps on her books. sometimes she is so gentle with books and other times i can hear rrrrrrips from across the room. thankfully, she hasn't ripped too many actual pages out of books. her other favorite tearing activity is pulling out the subscription postcards from magazines.
• like a lot of babies she likes chapstick. one day i let her play with my mini maglight flashlight. she kept pulling at the top so i tried to teach her that you had to turn the top to turn the flashlight on. but she just kept pulling on it and then she started rubbing the flashlight on her lips ... like chapstick.
• i had to take her to my doctor's appointment with me and she was not happy when she saw where we were. it took a bit to convince her it wasn't shot time for her!
• drinking from a regular kid cup; most of the time she doesn't spill too much.
• wraps herself around your leg
• dora the explorer is becoming a favorite, even though we don't watch the show. we have rupert to thank for that; he bought some dora yogurt and started singing the theme song so now maya likes to say, "d-d-doa" and point her out (because she's everywhere!).
• i'm thrilled that she liked watching "tonari no totoro" (my neighbor totoro) in japanese.
• she is on litter patrol when she goes for walks. i have started carrying around garbage bags because i end up having to hold all of the garbage until we find a trash can.
• escaping from her rear-facing carseat is her new goal on our drives.
• nods her head "yes" but won't say it. "no," on the other hand, is like her favorite word.
• apparently she waves "bye bye" to the shishi (pee) when rupert flushes the toilet. i haven't seen this because she usually doesn't come with me when i go to the bathroom.
• maya and ian were taking a bath and rupert noticed she was in her unchi (poopy) position. he swiftly picked her up and tried to get her over the toilet but was a split-second too late and she ended up pooping mid-air onto the toilet seat and floor. glad i missed that!
• she plays outside a lot, especially if ian is in the yard. sometimes i'll leave the two of them outside while i wash dishes and she's completely content to explore on her own.
• i would almost consider her quick walking to be running, but maybe not quite.
• her balance is getting better so that she's almost able to get up little steps without holding on to anything. she's also starting to go up stairs on her feet instead of on her knees, but she still has to put her hands on the step above. at the bookstore the other day i turned around and found her climbing up the stairs of the "employees only" metal rolling ladder.
• likes to push her bellybutton and say "bin-bong." at first she said it while pointing at her crotch so we had to reteach her a more appropriate place to push.
• knows facial parts in japanese.
• she drools and sort of spits on purpose when she's frustrated or happy.
• is good at, and loves to, pull out the subscription postcards from magazines ... even at the bookstore.