Cameron Writes

Cameron has been doing a lot of writing lately.  He asked me to work on writing a juvenille fiction book with him -- I don't want to give anything away, but it involves villains, noodles and a mild-mannered hero.  While that's in progress, Cameron decided on his own to write a book for Matthew.  He hid it and worked on it each night after Matthew went to bed.  When he finished, he couldn't stop smiling and said, "I just can't wait to see Matthew's face when he sees this!"  As soon as Matthew woke up the next morning, Cameron presented him with the book and read it to him.  To my great relief, Matthew was appropriately enthusiastic.  Here are a few pages.

Cameron has also been leaving notes, which are not always as sweet as his book.  He sets an alarm for 7 a.m. each morning, but he didn't wake with his alarm earlier this week.  Thinking I was being nice, I turned it off and let him sleep in until 8 a.m.  When he woke up, he was furious that I had let him oversleep.  Last night, I found this note propped against a sleeping Cameron.  He apparently was pretty tired when he penned it, as it is full of backwards numbers and mispellings.  "WAK Me UP 7:00AM," it reads.  "P.S. NO MAter Wut."  In case I was unconvinced, he added a bribe of 25 cents.  And, in case I was to tired to comprehend a note, he provided an illustration.  I am not certain if the illustration shows how happy he will be or how happy I will be if I comply, and how unhappy he/I will be if I fail, once again, to wake him up!

Artistic License

We spent not just today but the weekend celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and all he represented.  So, here's a picture Cameron colored of MLK Jr.  Bet you didn't know he was such a snappy dresser, huh?  It's 'cause all of those photos of him are in black in white.  If you saw the color photos, you'd see that his favorite suit was aqua and his favorite tie was orange.  Little known fact. 

The purple ear, however, had me befuddled.  Cameron explained, "All the other kids were using the brown crayons, so what choice did I have?"

Also, a book recommendation from me.  I recently read Claudette Colvin, Twice Towards Justice, by Phillip Hoose and it was fascinating.  Claudette Colvin was a teenage girl in Montgomery, AL, who refused to give up her seat on a bus almost a year before Rosa Parks did the same thing.  I wish I could convince everyone, middle school on up, to read this book!

Meeting Ella

We spent our Thanksgiving in Michigan, visiting with our families.  The highlight, for me, was meeting my beautiful niece, Ella.  The boys were quite enthralled with her as well.  "Ohhhhh, she's so pretty!" said Cameron.

"He wants me to hold him," announced Matthew, trying to dislodge Ella from my arms.  "He loves me tons and tons."

The boys had been looking forward to meeting Ella since she was born, and Ella proved to be as charming and delightful as anticipated.  She seemed quite comfortable with her cousins, which I credit to the letters of introduction that we had mailed to her. 

The letter briefly explained that the boys are Ella's cousins and requested that she not poop on them, as they had heard that she had done this to her poor mama and daddy.  Each boy drew a picture for Ella.  Matthew's expressed his interest in scribbling while Cameron's illustrated his interest in human anatomy.

Apparently, these drawings were a big hit with Ella and have even made their way into her baby book.

You like dis mama?

Matthew has recently developed an interest in art, which is to say an interest in scribbling madly on a sheet of paper with a crayon.  Today, he experimented with a new medium -- markers.  He'd make a scrawl on the paper and say, "You see dat mama?"

To which I'd reply, "Oh yes!  I see that Matthew!  I like the color orange, do you?"

"Yeah," he'd answer.  He'd make another orange scribble and say, "Look mama! You like dat?"

After a while, I got engrossed in Cooking Light and began to answer, "Oh yes!  You're working so hard Matthew!"  Without really looking.  (Note:  This is an advanced writing technique called foreshadowing.  The fact that I mention that I wasn't really looking is mentioned specifically because it is significant.  It causes the reader to stop and think "Hmmm, I wonder what Matthew is doing while she's not looking?"  Read on, dear friends, read on.)

Until he said, "You like dis mama?" and I glanced up to see him standing a few feet away from the table. 

Coloring on the wall. 

I jumped up to discover that, at some point, Matthew had decided to scrap the paper and work on coloring his hands, the table, the chairs and the wall.  And the whole time I was saying, "Oh, very nice Matthew!  You sure enjoy coloring, don't you?  Coloring is fun!"

Thank goodness for washable markers -- I set Matthew up with some wet paper towels while I tackled the walls with a Magic Eraser and we were as good as new. 

And I have learned a valuable lesson:  Don't take your eyes off the two-year-old.  The sad part is, I'm pretty sure I've learned that lesson before.  But I am confident that Matthew will keep on teaching me that lesson over and over and over again until I remember.  Or until he turns three.

Teaching Empathy

I think it is so important to teach kids empathy.  You know, to really try to look at a situation from someone else's perspective.  To realize that it isn't all about YOU, that other people have feelings, too.  To consider, "How might my friend feel when I grab away their toy?"  Or maybe, "How would I feel if I was a black widow spider about to be crushed beneath the feet of a jogger?"  It's so nice to see my parenting efforts pay off.

If at first you don't succeed . . .

Recently, I opened Cameron's school bag and found this drawing.  "Cameron, what's this?" I asked.  I was pretty sure it was either the Death Star or some kind of Jedi fight scene or maybe a Lego Power Miners.

"Oh, that's my plan for the sand box," Cameron answered.

For weeks, Cameron has been reporting on the progress of The Great Sand Box Dig.  He and his friends have been foiled by rain, by girls stepping on their tunnels, by youngest groupers dumping sand in precisely constructed ditches.  But they don't let it get them down.  They keep digging.  Because as you can plainly see in the below diagram, it's gonna be really cool.  I'm talking tunnels and trenches and holes that reach the center of the earth kind of cool.

Cameron carefully explained the plan to me and then pointed to the red squiggles at the top of the page.  "See these?  These are two of the classrooms.  Not MY classroom, the other classrooms.  And they're red because they're on fire."

He said this very casually, which I found that much more disturbing.  After some discussion, this element of the plan seems to merely be a flair for the dramatic rather than a cry for help or a need to contact the school psychologist.  I mean, when you spend most of your time drawing Star Wars scenes, you need something to spice up a boring-looking plan.  Additionally, fire gives the tunnel system purpose.  I mean, let's say the classrooms are on fire and you flee to the playground?  Wouldn't you be glad that someone had planned ahead and dug escape tunnels to the center of the earth for you?

A few days later, I opened Cameron's school bag again and found this drawing.  "Cameron, what's this?"

Cameron gave a heavy sigh.  "Well, the sand box plan hasn't been going too good," he said.  "I had to come up with a Plan B."

This time, he's keeping it simple.  Cut-and-dry.  No fire, no drama, just a few simple tunnels and your run of the mill hole to the center of the earth.

Next Up, Jitterbug

When Cameron started preschool last year, any art work he brought home fell squarely into the abstract category. Slowly, over time, squiggles became circles which became faces. Eventually, if he explained what he had drawn, I could sorta kinda see it!

This year, Cameron's art work has skyrocketed to new heights. Most of the time he doesn't even have to tell me for me to be able to distinguish a volcano from a train from a robot. In retrospect, when Cameron brought home this drawing last week, I should have been able to tell what it was. Actually, I thought to myself, "Funny, that looks like three people wearing some type of exotic headdresses under a disco ball. Nahhh." So I said, "Cameron, I like this drawing! Can you explain it to me."

"Sure," he replied. "That's me in the green. The other two guys are my friends. The circle with all the colors is a disco ball and we're all dancing."

And now I am left with a more confounding question. Why?

Water Works

Every day, it seems to take more and more effort to keep Matthew occupied and out of trouble. Yesterday, we painted with watercolors. Cameron was quite serious about his work, carefully choosing his colors and explaining each of his paintings. "This is a robot. And this? This is another kind of robot." Matthew, meanwhile, was figuring out the process -- Wait. Is it dip the brush in the water and THEN the paint or dip in the paint and THEN the water? They were both having fun, though, and I was congratulating myself on coming up with a rainy day activity for a 1 year old and a 5 year old.

I walked out of the room for a moment to grab some paper towels and heard Cameron say, "Yuck Matthew! Mooommmyyy! Look what Matthew's doing!" As an experienced parent, I have learned that this is inevitably indicative of trouble. Sure enough, I found Matthew holding the cup of murky purple paint water. His eyebrows were raised in confusion. Can't quite put my finger on it. Not grape juice. Hmmm. Fruit punch? No . . . He looked up at me seriously and commented, "Yucky." You heard it here first, folks: Paint water is yucky. Don't drink it. Trust me.

Matthew has taken quite an interest in water -- not just paint water -- and will drag a stool or chair over to the sink or the fridge dispenser and create quite a mess if I'm not quick enough. "Funny!" he chortles, although I beg to differ.

In the afternoon, he asked for a glass of water and, via a sophisticated communication system of pointing and frantic screeches, indicated that he wanted a big boy cup, not a baby cup with a lid. I gave it to him and, with immense pride, he took a drink. He toddled out to the play room and placed the cup on a bench, where he would return every few minutes to proudly slurp his water.

Eventually, he decided that this water could be useful for other things like pouring! He took a stacking cup off a shelf and began pouring his water from one cup to the other and back again. Cameron ran to the kitchen, grabbed a dish towel and placed it under the cups. "Matthew," he said gently but firmly. "When you do a water work, you always need to put a towel under it." Montessori in action, folks.

Watch out, Hallmark

Today, Cameron brought home some art work. "It's for Henri," he told me. (If you read this blog religiously -- and come on, I know you do -- you are well aware that Henri is Cameron's teddy bear).

"Wow, it's great, Cameron! I'm sure Henri is going to love it," I replied.

"Yeah. It's called 'Scab Love,' said Cameron, very casually.

"What did you say? It's called what?"

"Scab Love."

"Soooo, why is it called Scab Love?" I was going for the same nonchalant tone of voice Cameron was using, but it came out wayyyy chalant.

(Lily, if you are reading, I couldn't resist. Apologies to my other readers for an inside joke.)

"Well," Cameron said patiently, "of course it is called 'Scab Love' because Henri just had surgery, so he'll have a scab. And because I love him."

Of course.

Sammy the Seal, the Sequel

Yesterday, Cameron proposed that we write a book which would be a sequel to Sammy the Seal. In the original Sammy the Seal, a seal leaves the zoo and goes to the city and to school for the day. In Book Two, Cameron decided that Sammy should go to the park. Cameron dictated the story to me as I wrote it out. Then, Cameron drew the park scenes while I was responsible for adding Sammy's likeness to each page. The end result was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself! As you can see, the reviews have been mostly positive.

"This brings back childhood memories. What a treat to hear of Sammy's adventures again after all these years! The story is delightful, if a bit formulaic, and the illustrations have a beguiling, childlike quality to them. Buy this one today!"

"I'm always on the search for I Can Read Level One books and this one is my hands down favorite! Sammy is witty and clever and brave -- not many seals would try their flipper at monkey bars or the fireman's pole. An inspiring addition to any child's bookshelf!"

"Sammy the Seal was such a cliff hanger! I've spent decades wondering if Sammy could continue to be happy in the confines of the zoo. Was his wanderlust satisfied by just one afternoon in the city? Finally, an answer in Sammy the Seal, the Sequel! I sure hope Book Three doesn't take another 50 years!"

Power Outage

Today Cameron drew a picture, shown below. Can you guess what it is? I couldn't, but when he explained it I was impressed. The top shows people who have their power back. They are in the light, so you can see them. The bottom shows all the people who still don't have power back. They are in the dark and all you can see are their eyes!

101st post

This is my 101st post! I would have noted the 100th post had I realized it . . .

Here is a drawing that Cameron did today. I asked him to explain it to me and was pleasantly surprised by his answer. The leggy pink guy is Cameron. Matthew is the small smiley face. Why is Matthew surrounded by a blue line? Well, this is a drawing of Cameron meeting Matthew for the first time at the hospital nursery! "Remember, Mommy? I had to look at him through a window and kids couldn't go in?" And, no, Cameron is not wearing skis. That is the hallway!

Stick figure

Cameron has never really had much of an interest in coloring or drawing until very recently. What he HAS had an interest in is the human body and how it works. "Quest to Digest" and "Cell Wars" are two of his favorite books. (Yes, it appears that he inherited the science nerd gene from me!) So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised today when he asked me to label his drawing of what appeared to be a stick figure. Instead of the labels I expected (arms, legs), he explained that this was in fact a drawing only of a person's head and neck complete with a nasal septum, epiglottis, trachea and esophagus!