The Little Sponge

Will is 3 1/2 and he is busy learning all kinds of things this spring. Don't they all seem like little sponges at this age? He is so busy absorbing all kinds of new things.

First up, when I went to Seattle, Will got to go to his first symphony concert. The Houston Symphony holds special children's concerts throughout the year, with a short, age-appropriate program and even an instrument petting zoo! How cool is that? Gene, Nana, and Pop took Will and apparently he loved it. Well, why wouldn't he? The kid is obsessed with music!
Will also started swim lessons this month. This photo pretty much sums up our first two lessons. Will sat in the corner of the pool and refused to touch the teacher.
He really didn't do anything for two lessons, but now I find a sitter for Henry (thanks, Mom, Dad and Liz for helping babysit) and I get in with him. He's much improved after just two lessons, mostly because now he actually participates! I'm pretty sure he'll never been an Olympic swimmer, but that's okay. I think music is more his thing anyway!

At home, we've been working on our Hooked on Phonics workbooks. He loves them and it's something special we do when Henry is napping. Lots of my friends are working on reading and pre-reading skills with their 3- and 4- year olds. There are so many different programs out there, but so far I'm pleased with our Hooked on Phonics set. We do a page in the workbook, which usually includes something like making an F out of straws, play games on the computer, read books, and sometimes watch a little video. We started with the first book of the preschool set, so it's pretty much all review for Will, but he's enjoying it!
Last Saturday was Will's fifth and final nature class of the season, and guess what? He finally loved it! This class was all about amphibians, and Will managed to do every single activity! Saturday was another rainy day, so Will got to wear a poncho. I think that's one of his favorite parts of class!

Gene told me that he loved seeing the frogs!
Their art project shows the life cycle of a frog, from eggs to tadpole to tadpole with legs to frog. And the best part is that he can tell me all about it!

The teacher in me was excited to reinforce all his learning about frogs, so this week we have been listening to the Barenaked Ladies song "Polliwog in a Bog," which is all about a tadpole's transformation into a frog. The boys crawl around on the floor as polliwogs and then start jumping when they turn into frogs. It's pretty cute. We've also been reading A Frog in a Bog by Karma Wilson, which is a fantastic and funny story about a frog that overeats. And finally, Will has been obsessed with an episode of Dinosaur Train called "Campout!" And guess what it's about? Yep, early frogs! Whew, all this learning is hard work! Will celebrated his last Tadpole Troopers class with this enormous sundae. I think he deserved it, don't you?