Life at the Dingo Den

We haven't written much lately, but things here are going pretty well.
Logan and Delenn both came down with a cold which put them under the
weather a bit. Delenn is also teething which has caused her a lot of
discomfort especially at night. We keep busy as you'll see from the
pictures we've posted below.

Delenn now has several very clearly spoken words including mumum, da or
dada, dog, that, pat and now up. She still continues to add and use
signs as well (last night she signed "lion" for the first time). She
seems to be spending even more energy on her climbing skills. She can
climb up our playground equipment and slide down the slide without any
assistance. She and Logan also climb onto one of the living room chairs
as well. While Logan is not allowed to jump off the arm of the chair,
he's been known to do it. Yesterday at dinner, Mommy had to keep
telling Delenn over and over again not to climb up on the arm of the
chair either (for sure she wanted to leap off just like her brother!)

Logan is doing really well. He has now gone to "Nana Kath's" place
twice (on Tuesdays from 8:30 to 2:30). Nana is a retired primary
school teacher who is just lovely with the kids. We've been telling
everyone she sounds just like "Mrs. Doubtfire." She has a soothing way
of talking and has the kids interact just beautifully. For example,
when a girl came up to Nana quite upset she had her tell her what was
wrong. Then she asked the girl how she could use her words. Then they
both went up to the boy together as the girl asked if she could have a
turn. Nana's garden is set up wonderfully for the kids. She has an
outdoor patio area that has a puppet theater, all kinds of manipulative
toys and a couple of small tables set up. The porch area has a rug with
a basket of books, a doll house and other small baskets of toys like
cars, etc. She has a large sandpit, swing set and another area in the
shade with a plastic slide and climbing equipment. And, when her
neighbor was building a pool, she asked for the extra dirt to build a
hill so the kids could ride their tricycles and little bikes down the
hill. (Or last week they used if for the slip-n-slide!) She believes in
child-led activities... for example this week there was a large branch
that had fallen down. The kids decided that it was a fort, so she got
them a large sheet and the kids played in the fort for a lot of the
morning. (Other times the kids may want to go to the beach, so she'll
set up the chairs and take a bus to the beach. Then she'd bring out a
picnic blanket so they could have a picnic at the beach, etc.) She also
reads to the kids and does one activity with them in the morning. Last
week, for example, they made a picture of a bird in a bird's nest.
There are five or six kids--all of them are 3 or 4 years old. Logan's
really comfortable there. On the day he goes, his friends Portia and
Alana also go (as well as the son of one of Tony's coworkers who we know
fairly well.)

Logan also goes to 3-year-old kindy once a week on Thursday mornings
(9-11:30). They usually have two art stations set up (something to make
and a painting station), plus all sorts of play stations set up... like
a parking lot or airport with vehicles, dolls with clothes, a dress up
area, an office area with real (but pretend) phones, computers, etc. In
the outdoor area they have a large sand pit and often have a water table
set up when it's hot (or have something else like climbing equipment set
up when it's not as hot). There's also a swing set that kids can climb
and play on. Logan seems to enjoy that too. He was clingy the first
week or two, but this past Thursday he ran in, sat down and started
doing a craft.

We've all been reading the "Magic Tree House" books at snack/meal
times. Logan really enjoys them and his listening skills have vastly
improved. They are chapter books, but each chapter is only a few pages
long. Two kids named Jack and Annie enter a magic tree house, open a
book and are transported to a different time. They are on themes that
intrigue Logan. So far we've read five books and Jack and Annie have
gone back to the time of the dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, a medieval
castle/knights, pirates and Ninjas/Samurai warriors. The books are all
tied together (in this next set of 4 books, Jack and Annie are trying to
help their librarian friend Morgan la Fey (from King Arthur's days), who
has disappeared, find four things... Anyway, we're all enjoying them a
lot. We've been also trying to get a library book with pictures of the
time periods, just to help Logan get a better understanding of what the
books are about. For example, we got a book about ancient Japan and
looked at some pictures of the Samurai warrior's clothes. This is in
addition to the other story books we read at odd times during the day
and before bed time.

Logan's also been doing really well looking at and understanding
words/phonics. He goes around saying "MMmmm" "Mmmm" "monkey" or "Ppp"
"Ppp" "pirate." Most of the time he gets it right! He is also doing
really well identifying and starting to sound out a few simple words
like sat and hat. He's constantly looking at the labels of things and
asking what they say.

Delenn is quite the little artist. She loves stickers and can now peal
them off, stick them to paper and "pat pat pat" them down. She also
enjoys scribbling/coloring. And she paints on the "aqua doodle" with
water which is set up outside. Yesterday when we went to the toy library
playgroup, Mommy showed Delenn how to do the sponge painting--dipping it
into the paint and then going "pat pat pat" (which she says too) on the
paper. The first she did with Mommy's help, but a little while later
she came back and did two more on her own. The only help she needed was
gentle guidance from Mommy not to suck on the sponge when the urge
became too great!!

Delenn also loves playing at the little water table we set up. It's got
two small basins about five inches deep and the table is just at the
perfect height for her. She'll happily play there for a half hour or
more! We also have a very small sand box (and I mean SMALL 18 inches by
2 feet)... but Delenn sits in it and loves sifting the sand through her
fingers and trying to shovel sand. It's funny when both Logan and
Delenn are playing there -- especially since Delenn take up 2/3 of the
sand box when she sits in it!

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the pictures we have posted below.