Imagine This . . .

I’ve told some of our “readers” this story before, but so many of them have asked if I wrote it down that I felt like I should write a post about it. For a couple of years now, Eva has had some imaginary friends whom she calls collectively “the kids.” They have names, but they are always changing. The current favorite is Dana, but for a long time the main “kids” were Raika and Didi. One thing that is important to know about the “kids” is that they are usually bothering Eva in some way – wanting to eat her dinner, taking her toys away from her, wanting to do what she is doing at the same time she is, etc. So, I spend a lot of time running interference, negotiating solutions, and putting the “kids” (never Eva) in time out!

Well, one day not so long ago, I was really tired of hearing what the kids had done to aggravate Eva. I told her I was done mediating, and then she mentioned once more what they were doing to bug her. So, I said, “Oh Eva, just pretend they aren’t here.” Yep, I told her to pretend her imaginary friends are not here! As Eva will often say, “silly Mama.”

Mimi and PawPaw visit

Eva had a fabulous time with her Mimi and PawPaw last weekend. She and
PawPaw especially enjoyed playing the Tumbling Tower set (similar to
Jenga). While I was getting dressed one morning I could hear squeals of
delight as they were seeing how high they could build the tower while
removing pieces in the lower part. We played a lot of games and enjoyed
some nice time outside, as well.

Another highlight for everyone was having Mimi and PawPaw visit Eva's class on Monday and read to the kids. They doled out plenty of hugs and really enjoyed knowing what Eva's school is like and who her friends are.

One more Halloween photo

Check out Eva with President-Elect Obama (actually our dear neighbor,
Irish)!!!!!

Halloween

Eva-Kitty had a blast on Halloween. I picked her up early from ECP, her
aftercare program, and she finished up the haunted gingerbread house
pictured above. I think she did a great job, and I can't wait to work
on a Christmas gingerbread house in a month or so. Then, shortly before
dark, we set out with our dear friend "Uncle" Andrew, who has gone
trick-or-treating with us most years. Eva loved every minute of the
hour or so we were out, and then was asleep in my arms within minutes
after arriving home. She's shown a fair amount of restraint in terms of
the candy. Out of sight, out of mind works to some degree with her.

Eva's first report card

A couple of weeks ago, Eva received her first report card. Having had a conference with her teacher shortly before and just through my own observations, I knew she was doing fine in school. It was neat, though, to receive the official report card and to read the comments the teacher wrote, particularly, “Eva is a spunky and caring friend.” When I told Eva about it, she said, “what’s 'smunky' Mom”? I attempted to explain what spunky meant, but I like to think of s’munky as “some monkey,” which is almost as apt as spunky!

For quite a while now, Eva has been “writing” copiously, although most of what she writes is just a string of letters that make no sense. Mrs. Flynn suggested that I work with Eva to have her try to sound out and write actual words. Between that and working on her sight words, she is right on that reading cusp, and it is so exciting!