Day Twelve - MOVING FORWARD

Frog woke in a better mood today, although he was tired. He was awake past 2:00AM last night - restless and frustrated and having trouble getting back to sleep.

He had a big breakfast - two bowls of cereal, a banana, yogurt, a bag of Cheetos, and some frapaccino. That got him reved up. He gave Diva a high five sign as she left for school - not quite a wave, but closer. When we got home, we did a little singing and movement work then headed outside to play. We checked the garden and watered some plants. Then I let Frog have a little free time while I got some things organized inside. When I came back to check on him, Frog was in his new "thinking" spot.



I've grown accustome to his standing up there - he is really quite good at it. But the step dancing on the ridge pole did put my heart in my throat! He also has trouble getting down from there. Often he just sits patiently for someone to notice. Today he cried out and clapped furiously until I came to the rescue - I think that is his equivalent of yelling "MMMOOOMMMM!"

A little later, Frog had a bit of a meltdown while playing in the dirt. He may have gotten a small sliver from the bark that is mixed in. I called him back inside and let him have a bath. While he was playing in the tub, I sang our Applesauce song. Then I read the story again, adding each song verse in the appropriate place. Frog did a good job listening to the story. Next I read the Duchess Autumn poem. He seemed to enjoy this recitation as well. I tempted fate and tried to add a new story about goose migration. This was met with resistance. He turned on the water, vocalized to drown me out, and finally just let me know "enough talking already!!!!"

At lunchtime I used Rapid Prompting Method to ask him what he wanted for lunch.



He definitely choose noodles, but I don't think I was specific enough. He turned his nose up at my home-made mac-and-cheese. I think he was expecting Pad Thai. He ended up with a lunchable and munched on it throughout the afternoon.

I wanted to go though our cupboards and get the foodstuffs organized. I invited Frog to join me. He was interested for a little while. He especially liked snagging boxes of snacks out of the pantry cupboard, then looking to see if I noticed.



When he got board, he headed off into the playroom. I went to check on him when I noticed it was quiet. I found him hiding in a corner behind a file cabinet, chewing his sister's bubblegum - not just one piece, I was soon to discover, but the entire pack with pieces of chewed gum left all over the house. Never trust a quiet Frog!

Once we had the gum and the cupboards cleaned up, we were ready for our Applesauce project. This is the culmination of the Applesauce book - picking apples, washing apples, chopping apples, cooking apples, smushing apples, adding sugar and making a gingerbread to go with the sauce. Frog had other plans.

We spent the next half hour working on dressing, undressing, potty training, and dressing again. When Frog tried to get back into the bathtub fully clothed and I said - No - that was it for him. Melt down and full temper tantrum ensued. He ended up taking a much needed nap.

We will save the applesauce project along with an apple letter sorting activity for tomorrow.