Newton's Law

Levi discovered Newton's Law for himself tonight.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

So if Levi hits the bathwater lightly with one hand it makes a little splash. If he hits it with both hands and both feet as hard as he can, it makes lots of big splashes!!!



When he is on the floor, not in the bathtub, Levi has learned to balance on 2 knees and ONE hand, freeing the other to get into mischief!

A New Sound

Levi learned a new sound from Nana!

It is really cute except for the fact he was up half the night playing with this new sound. I think he was also up much of the night thinking about how this crawling thing works. He is on the verge of crawling. He gets up on his knees and rocks back and forth. Then he gets down on his belly and belly-surfs backwards all the way across the room.
We'll be in trouble when he does truly become mobile!

Old tricks and New tricks

A person couldn't ask for a more pleasant way to wake up on a Saturday morning. At 8am I hear my son begin to babble to himself. I lay there and listen for a while.

After a few minutes he tries out his favorite trick, babble at the top of his lungs.

"GAAAAAAAAAH! YAAAAAAAHHH!"

Then he tries out his new trick that he just started last night, and my new personal favorite.

[whispered in the sweetest tone you've ever heard] "aaaaahhh. gooooo. yaaaaah."

He babbles some more before he begins to whimper. (It is 8:30 now.) I walk to his crib and peer in. The biggest grin you ever saw grows on his face. My heart melts again for the millionth time. I take him out to the living room where he laughs and giggles in his bouncer. I make my hot cocoa, munch on fresh berries and watch Levi's smiley face bounce up and down, up and down.

Let the day begin! I'm ready for this day to continue!

Bathtubs and Squished Flowers

Last night I was giving Levi a bath. I put him in a baby bath tub in big bathtub. He has enjoyed splashing around in his tub, exploring the toys I put in there for him. But last night he decided to expand his exploration to the walls of the tub.

First he touched the far side of the tub. Scratched it to feel the texture. 

You could see him thinking: Huh? Smooth. Very interesting.

Then he reached over to the opposite side of the tub. Scratched it to feel the texture.

Expression: Utter Shock and awe! Mouth forms a perfect ohhh shape.

See him thinking: WOW! They look the same AND feel the same!!!

Hear him giggling with joy and excitement at his new discovery.

I don't know why that discovery was so exciting, but it made me happy to see.

How wonderful it must be to: 

1) make discoveries for themselves, rather than have to study about it in a book or be told about it

2) discover new things every single day, and rejoice in it

3) uninhibited by what people think about you. ( how you react, how simple the discovery)

It makes me think of my students. So many of them, by the time they are in middle school, are beat down. Some of them are so beat down that they have given up on themselves. They no longer seek new discoveries, because they believe they will only fail in the attempt. They have been mocked by their peers so they become afraid to go "out on a limb" to discover new things.  It is safer to hide behind certain undesirable behaviors.

On the bright side, sometimes their other teachers and I am able to reach a student. We can encourage them and help them build self confidence.  Too often we do not see this come to fruition. We just plant seeds, that later bloom fully or, sadly, get squashed again. But it is the hope that I can help a student bloom that keeps me going back to work every day. 

I recently heard about a student that I didn't have a big hand in helping but did a little. We helped her bloom again. She moved away. She is continuing to bloom despite circumstances working against her. I am so very proud of her. And that is why I teach middle school...to help the squished flowers.

Now will someone help me figure out how I got from the bathtub to squished flowers?