Nate has an ipod touch. Last fall my mom asked me what I thought of her and my dad getting Nate an ipod for Christmas. At first I thought it was a very expensive, breakable gift for a 5 year old, but Nate loves music so much, and he's constantly asking to borrow our phones to play a game, and I thought it might be good for increasing his fine motor skills. So they bought him one, and this was probably Nate's favorite Christmas gift. Not so much at first because he didn't know what it was, but this is probably the only Christmas gift he's played with every single day ... except when he loses it for weeks at a time.
The ipod has helped Nate move on from his 4 year obsession with trains. Now, he's really into music. He has about 40 songs--some from my and Blake's itunes, and some we have purchased just for him. He also searches itunes for his favorite songs and listens to snippets of them. This has been a little bit tricky because he loves country music, and there are lots of country songs that are not appropriate for 5 year olds. He's learned a few words that he should not say.
But he has learned so much about music and artists, and I think he could be a radio DJ tomorrow! As soon as he hears a song come on the radio, he states the song and artist. One night he and Georgia were playing Ring Around the Rosies in my room, and Nate starts singing "5-1-5-0, somebody call the po-po!" What! Nate, where did you hear that?" "It's a new country son, mama." I texted Nicole and asked if she had ever heard this before, and she was just a shocked as me. Thankfully the next day we heard the song on the radio. He was right! And it's a pretty catchy song!
Nate likes taking his iPod everywhere he goes. So far it's been banned from PT because he doesn't pay attention to anything but his music. His PT was initially pretty charmed when he brought his music and said, "Are you ready to ROCK OUT?" People see Nate walking around with his face in his iPod and say he looks like a little teenager.
Besides listening to music, Nate uses his iPod to practice spelling things. This is not something we anticipated or even encouraged. He just likes to do it. So one thing he's done is set up "Playlists" in his music. Every time he hears a song or sees a music video, he either reads the name of the artist or asks us who is singing it (if he doesn't already know) and then he types their name into a playlist. He's made 64 of these, from Big and Rich to John Mayer to Lady Gaga to Newsboys to The Beatles to Fifty Cent. (There are no songs in these playlists, just the names.) I really just discovered this tonight. I didn't know that's why he was asking us how to spell all these names. I don't even know how to set up a playlist!
Nate also has an email address--natepayne5 at gmail . com, and sometimes Pop emails him and he writes back. But we often forget his password and can't check it.
The other thing I learned about Nate's iPod today is that he writes in the "notes" section throughout the day. Kind of like his journal. Today we went mattress shopping and then drove to Berea to visit Mindy and her babies. Here are Nate's notes--each one is one sentence. They start on the ride to Berea.
We went shopping the other day!
Don't say no there!
Half way there!
Be nice there!
We're here all ready here!
We're playing now!
We're having fun!
We went to 2 places!
It's wild here!
Musics on!
I like this music video!
We're still here!
Only say yes here!
I like it here
Be quiet here cause the baby are asleep here!
It's fun here!
I like them!
I like to come here!
I like everything here!
There talkin a lot here!
There talkin here so don't say to be quiet here!
There still talkin here!
We're almost going!
We're going now
The radios on with country music!
That was in our state!
I like all country music videos
That was a long trip!
I had a good day!
We're almost here!
Were in our nieborhoode!
Were here!
What a fun little glimpse into the mind of a 5 year old. :)
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Stuff my kids say
The reason I started this blog was to keep track of all the cute things the kids say. But I have not been great about recording them lately. Here's an attempt at catching up a little before all these things leave my brain.
When we were visiting my parents last month, Nate and Georgia were wrestling around in the floor with Blake and somehow Nate knocked Georgia's head and she started crying. Then he started crying. About an hour later, they were sitting at the kitchen table coloring, and out of the blue:
Nate: Georgia, when you hit your noggin, I wanted to say I'm sorry, but I was crying too hard.
My mom: Georgia, Nate is saying he's sorry. Now you need to say you forgive him.
Georgia: (with major attitude and a head bob) Well, Nate never says he forgives me when I say I'm sorry!
Georgia does that head shake all the time. She says everything with such attitude. A couple of times lately, when she sees Nate eating something, she'll say, "Holy cow, piggie!" Ha!
One day, Bekah (her babysitter) texted me that she said: Bekah, my Nate was being so sassy with my mama!
She tells the truth!
This was a few months ago. Georgia saw our dog, Maggie, playing too rough with our cat, Allie.
Georgia: Maggie! You be nice to the kitty! (bending down nose to nose) She's my kitty sister!
Nate seems to say the funniest things when he is getting in trouble. Maybe it's just that he gets in trouble so often. :)
One day at school, Nate's aid, Miss Beth, said it was time to go potty. Nate said no. She told him he could not say no to her, and if he did, she would change his bear to a different color. (His bear has been on green all year.) He finally went to the bathroom with her, where she had a little talk with him:
Miss Beth: Nate, I love you to pieces, but you have to listen to me when I tell you to do something.
Nate: Well, Miss Beth, I love you too, but I love all of you, not just pieces!
Miss Beth: (heart melted) You can do whatever you want.
Nate's nanny/cousin Nicole picks him up from school every day and keeps him until we get home, so she often has to put him in time out. When he's in time out, he tries to come up with the meanest things he can say to her ... and thankfully, those things are still pretty lame. :)
Nate: Nicole, you never look pretty!
Nate: Nicoooooole! I was thinking about calling you names!
Nate: Nicole, I hope you get lice!
Nicole: Well, thanks, I hope you do too.
Nate: Nicole, I have loved you for 178 years and now you have broked my heart and I don't love you anymore.
These kids crack me up every single day. Of course I think they're the most brilliant and hilarious little people in the world. :)
When we were visiting my parents last month, Nate and Georgia were wrestling around in the floor with Blake and somehow Nate knocked Georgia's head and she started crying. Then he started crying. About an hour later, they were sitting at the kitchen table coloring, and out of the blue:
Nate: Georgia, when you hit your noggin, I wanted to say I'm sorry, but I was crying too hard.
My mom: Georgia, Nate is saying he's sorry. Now you need to say you forgive him.
Georgia: (with major attitude and a head bob) Well, Nate never says he forgives me when I say I'm sorry!
Georgia does that head shake all the time. She says everything with such attitude. A couple of times lately, when she sees Nate eating something, she'll say, "Holy cow, piggie!" Ha!
One day, Bekah (her babysitter) texted me that she said: Bekah, my Nate was being so sassy with my mama!
She tells the truth!
This was a few months ago. Georgia saw our dog, Maggie, playing too rough with our cat, Allie.
Georgia: Maggie! You be nice to the kitty! (bending down nose to nose) She's my kitty sister!
Nate seems to say the funniest things when he is getting in trouble. Maybe it's just that he gets in trouble so often. :)
One day at school, Nate's aid, Miss Beth, said it was time to go potty. Nate said no. She told him he could not say no to her, and if he did, she would change his bear to a different color. (His bear has been on green all year.) He finally went to the bathroom with her, where she had a little talk with him:
Miss Beth: Nate, I love you to pieces, but you have to listen to me when I tell you to do something.
Nate: Well, Miss Beth, I love you too, but I love all of you, not just pieces!
Miss Beth: (heart melted) You can do whatever you want.
Nate's nanny/cousin Nicole picks him up from school every day and keeps him until we get home, so she often has to put him in time out. When he's in time out, he tries to come up with the meanest things he can say to her ... and thankfully, those things are still pretty lame. :)
Nate: Nicole, you never look pretty!
Nate: Nicoooooole! I was thinking about calling you names!
Nate: Nicole, I hope you get lice!
Nicole: Well, thanks, I hope you do too.
Nate: Nicole, I have loved you for 178 years and now you have broked my heart and I don't love you anymore.
These kids crack me up every single day. Of course I think they're the most brilliant and hilarious little people in the world. :)
Conversations about Spina Bifida
Last weekend my kids were out on the back deck playing so nicely in the sand table while I got some peace and quiet. It started to storm, so I went to get them and saw that they were totally covered in sand. I should have been suspicious of the quiet. Georgia had dumped sand in her hair, and it took forever to wash out. Nate had sand in his shoes and braces, and I was taking them off and dumping the sand out when he said:
Nate: Mama, I'm the only one who wears braces. I just realized that today.
Me: (Smiling a little at him using the word "realized" so seriously and yet a little sad that he had realized he was different) Well, you're the only one in our family who wears braces. But Daddy is the only one in our family who wears glasses. And I'm the only one in the family who has a baby in her belly. And Georgia's the only one who wears tutus. We're all different.
Nate: But I'm the only kid in the world who wears braces.
Me: That's not true. We know lots of kids who wear braces. Our friend Brock wears braces. Our friend Ian wears braces. That little boy, Brendan, you met last night, he wears braces. All those kids at Spina Bifida camp last weekend wear braces.
Nate: Really?
Me: Yes! Do you know why you wear braces? Remember how they make you run faster?
Nate: Well, other kids run fast and they don't wear braces. But not as fast as me!
Me: Really, you wear braces because you have Spina Bifida.
Nate: Oh! So everyone who has Spina Bifida wears braces?
Me: ..... (simple 5 year old answer) Pretty much.
Later...
Me: So do you feel better about wearing braces?
Nate: Yeah. I thought I was the only kid in the world who wears them. But I'm not.
And then he moved on. Up until lately, Nate has been pretty oblivious of all this Spina Bifida stuff. I try to tell him about it, but it doesn't sink in. But since his surgeries, he asks me about it sometimes, and we talk about it in simple terms. Just today I overheard Nate and Georgia talking:
Georgia: Nate, you have Spina Bifida.
Nate: Yeah, I do! We know lots of people with Spina Bifida! ... What do you have?
Georgia: .... I have Spina Bifida too.
Then we went to the park this afternoon, and there was a little girl there named Kylie.
Nate: There's a girl at school named Kylie. And she uses a wheelchair!
Me: Oh, I know Kylie! Did you know she has Spina Bifida?
Nate: Like me! But she doesn't go to your work. (Spina Bifida Association of Kentucky)
Me: Yes, she does, sometimes. :)
So most of the time, it's just how I've hoped the conversations would go. Spina Bifida is just a fact, just a part of our lives, but it's not (usually) talked about with sadness at all. I absolutely refuse to treat Nate with pity. We all have our "thing" and this is his thing. I don't really have a rule book about how these conversations should go, and I know there will be many more in the future, but so far Nate is handling it all very well.
Nate: Mama, I'm the only one who wears braces. I just realized that today.
Me: (Smiling a little at him using the word "realized" so seriously and yet a little sad that he had realized he was different) Well, you're the only one in our family who wears braces. But Daddy is the only one in our family who wears glasses. And I'm the only one in the family who has a baby in her belly. And Georgia's the only one who wears tutus. We're all different.
Nate: But I'm the only kid in the world who wears braces.
Me: That's not true. We know lots of kids who wear braces. Our friend Brock wears braces. Our friend Ian wears braces. That little boy, Brendan, you met last night, he wears braces. All those kids at Spina Bifida camp last weekend wear braces.
Nate: Really?
Me: Yes! Do you know why you wear braces? Remember how they make you run faster?
Nate: Well, other kids run fast and they don't wear braces. But not as fast as me!
Me: Really, you wear braces because you have Spina Bifida.
Nate: Oh! So everyone who has Spina Bifida wears braces?
Me: ..... (simple 5 year old answer) Pretty much.
Later...
Me: So do you feel better about wearing braces?
Nate: Yeah. I thought I was the only kid in the world who wears them. But I'm not.
And then he moved on. Up until lately, Nate has been pretty oblivious of all this Spina Bifida stuff. I try to tell him about it, but it doesn't sink in. But since his surgeries, he asks me about it sometimes, and we talk about it in simple terms. Just today I overheard Nate and Georgia talking:
Georgia: Nate, you have Spina Bifida.
Nate: Yeah, I do! We know lots of people with Spina Bifida! ... What do you have?
Georgia: .... I have Spina Bifida too.
Then we went to the park this afternoon, and there was a little girl there named Kylie.
Nate: There's a girl at school named Kylie. And she uses a wheelchair!
Me: Oh, I know Kylie! Did you know she has Spina Bifida?
Nate: Like me! But she doesn't go to your work. (Spina Bifida Association of Kentucky)
Me: Yes, she does, sometimes. :)
So most of the time, it's just how I've hoped the conversations would go. Spina Bifida is just a fact, just a part of our lives, but it's not (usually) talked about with sadness at all. I absolutely refuse to treat Nate with pity. We all have our "thing" and this is his thing. I don't really have a rule book about how these conversations should go, and I know there will be many more in the future, but so far Nate is handling it all very well.
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