So smart

Remember the days when you thought you were smart? It's been a long time for me.

It was fun having the grandkids to the lake. Since my Upwards strategy is definitely an anytime, bounded, greedy one, I could play Racko with Zach and Upwards with Trisha and Steve at the same time. Racko rules went something like this. You grabbed a card, pronounced the number (sometimes accompanied by "this is my favorite number"), and stated where you were placing it in your rack. The first one to fill the rack won. I commented on how well Zach could pronounce the numbers - even fifty two and thirty six. 14 became "One D four" and 30 became "thirty zero". When I told him how impressed I was, he said, "Yeah, I am smart!"

He is starting to read. Trisha is such a great mom. As words were played in Upwards that he could sound out, Trisha would have him read to us. It won't be long for he'll be reading chapter books.

Zach loves the hide-a-bed in the basement. He must be the only person in the family who likes that bed, so he has no contenders. It is a great bed for climbers and has a convenient view of the TV.

Zach has to eat on the little picnic table, not only because it is just his size, but has the added advantage that no one comments on what he is eating when he is away from the rest of us. A private table definitely has appeal. He loved playing restaurant with the play or imaginary food, but real food held little enticement.

At the beach, Zach so loves kids he starts playing ball with some girls in the next group. He's got a pretty good kick. At the pool, he loved jumping to Grandpa or landing on the rubber mat in the water.

Halle loves the beach. She sprinkles sand over her head until her blond hair is completely covered. She is an eater - the "carnivore" as she is called by her mom. She loves chicken, hot dogs, grapes, cheese, Cheerios,milk, corn. She is starting to talk so much. While she attempts a lot of words- ball, dog, grandma, papa, Zach, thank you, bye, milk - the word she pronounces the plainest is "dirt", which came in handy with all the sand everywhere. While she complained if we asked her to wear a life jacket, she spent most of the morning carrying the orange floaties with her arms placed through the holes. She is definitely a mama's girl, but would tolerate the walk with grandma solely because of all the dogs we saw along the beach.

Halle loves water. At the pool, she would jump from sides as long as anyone consented to catch her. She would bend over and blow bubbles in the water.

Everywhere she goes she finds something which interests her. The stairs at the condo are her favorite as the slats mean she can navigate the stairs upright. She loves cars (making the sounds) and girl toys. She found a six inch red string of beads and thought that was the most wonderful thing - putting it on her head (as it was too short for a necklace) and placing it in her mouth. When we could get it away from her, it ended up in the trash.

Ah, to be so smart - loving life and enjoying anything you find along the way. I could use such wisdom.