Reading gives you super powers

One of Aaron's favorite Juniper stories: a couple of years ago, after reading a Dr. Seuss book about all the amazing, wonderful, silly things one could be, Aaron asked Juniper what she wanted to be when she grew up. Juniper thought about it for a moment and replied, "When I grow up, I'm going to be able to read all the words."

Hazel's favorite

Hazel: Tigers are my favorite.
Sally: Tigers are your favorite animal?
Hazel: Grasshoppers are my favorite animal.
Sally: Oh, I didn't know that. What about grasshoppers makes them your favorite animal?
H: They make me laugh.
S: What about grasshoppers makes you laugh?
H: Because they can give me corn.
S: Oh really! How can a grasshopper give you corn?
H: With her feet.

Independence

We let Juniper make her own decisions about how to spend her allowance. For some reason, she was determined to spend all of her money today. I pointed out that she just had a birthday and that she still has books she has not yet read, Legos she has not yet assembled, and science experiments she has not yet conducted. I pointed out that she might get more enjoyment out of her allowance by waiting to spend it when she hasn't just gotten a bunch of exciting birthday gifts. Nope. We were going to the Fernbank Museum, and she was determined to bring her allowance. All $6.00 of it. That's a lot of money for her.

Whenever we go to Fernbank, Juniper is fascinated by the photo booth. We never pay the $5.00 for photos. Never. Once, when she was two, Jason took her and Violet into the photo booth. I believe that is the only time in her life that she has done the Fernbank photo booth. The instant she saw the photo booth today, her face reflected the quick firing of synapses putting together the facts and coming up with a very desirable outcome. "I have my allowance, so I can do that today."

I pointed out the relative value of photos and Legos. I reminded her about the bonanza of birthday gifts at home. I stalled, hoping that by the time we were done looking at the new exhibit she would have forgotten about the photo booth. I stalled again once we were done with the new exhibit, this time with muffins for snack. When Juniper finished her snack and the other kids were still eating, she took her wallet and walked over to the photo booth.

It's amazing how often I underestimate my children. I remained seated and watched Juniper, assuming that she would not be able to figure out the process. I hoped that she would come back and ask for help, and I braced myself for the complete meltdown if the $5.00 was wasted on failed photos. After a few minutes, she came back with photos, pride, and happiness. I was completely wrong about the relative value of photos to Legos and the wisdom of spending large sums of money the week after one's birthday. I can't think of another $5.00 purchase that would have given Juniper that much satisfaction.

She spent her remaining dollar on a token. I was dismissive of that idea too. Then Juniper came home and gave her other museum token (from a trip to DC last summer) to Hazel, so that Hazel would be able to put a token in her penny collection book. Apparently, I know nothing about how children should spend their allowance.

The sheet of photos came with three identical strips. I paid Juniper $1.75 for one of the strips. They look like independence to me and are as beautiful as any of Aaron's best photos.

Hands too full

Birthday adventures

Juniper had an active and fun-filled birthday. After more than a week of being home sick, she was finally able to go back to school. She was delighted to be able to celebrate her birthday with the other Larks. Her good friend Thomas was the snack distributor for the day, so he had the important job of passing out the birthday banana muffins.



Big wish, birthday girl!

 

 After school, we took Thomas and Juniper to Legoland. When we told them the surprise plan at the very last minute, I think they may have been the two happiest kids in all of metro-Atlanta. They both had fun with blocks and building, but their tastes in adventure were somewhat different. Juniper loved this ride, which Thomas wouldn't go on. And Thomas loved the 4-D movie that Juniper refused to watch ("too scary!").


 
 The mall escalators, however, were a unanimous hit!

Our family has an arbitrarily but firmly established rule that you aren't allowed to eat batter or dough with raw egg until you're five. Juniper has been hearing this for about the past three and a half years. Ever since she started helping in the kitchen, Juniper has been looking forward to five as a major milestone birthday.

The obvious choices were either brownie batter or chocolate chip cookie dough. Since Juniper is not a chocoholic, she opted for the cookie dough. This five-year-old treat lived up to the years of anticipation. (She also enjoyed the cookies themselves.)



We ended the day with dinner at Juniper's favorite restaurant, the Superhero Pizza Restaurant. (Not its actual name, but an accurate reflection of the decor.) Juniper enjoyed the superheroes, enjoyed the pizza, and enjoyed the opportunity to get lost in one of her birthday gifts.

Juniper is 5!

Happy Birthday, June Bug!

We had a full day with lots of fun and adventure. Be on the lookout for a blog post to come soon.

Hooray for Trucks

This past weekend was the City of Decatur's ever-popular "Touch-a-Truck Day." The city brings out fire trucks, construction trucks, trash trucks, police cars, and other exciting city vehicles for kids to touch, climb on, and sit in.

 

 Juniper and Violet were much more independent (and bigger!) than they were at the last Touch-a-Truck they attended together.

Transportation- and tractor-loving Hazel was in heaven. It was exciting enough for her just to see this excavator bucket, exactly like the pictures in her Excavators book. Getting to stand in the bucket and touch the teeth was downright amazing.

Our girls usually don't get to sit in the fire truck because the line is too long. This year, Juniper had the good fortune to be standing near the truck at the exact moment they opened the door and started letting kids in.



Hazel didn't get to ride in the fire truck, but she was perfectly delighted to ride in the much less desirable cargo truck.

The girls spent a long time hanging out in the back of this truck. We were a little afraid that Hazel might not ever willingly agree to come out, but she was finally lured away by the promise of going to see another truck.

Friends at Play

Every so often, I just have to stop for a moment of amazement and gratitude about the symmetry between our family and the Delaneys. We were already lucky that Juniper and Violet are so close in age; the fact that Hazel and Henry are even closer is fantastic.

Chalice Lighter

At many Unitarian Universalist congregations, including UUCA, we begin worship services by lighting a flame inside a chalice. At UUCA, children and youth light the chalice and lead the congregation in reciting our chalice lighting words. Juniper has seen other kids lighting the chalice and has observed that one day, when she's a big kid, she's going to light the chalice.

By at least one measure, Juniper is now a big kid. She lit the chalice for the first time today. I cannot be modest or humble or circumspect. She was awesome. She was cheerful, excited, and focused. When it came time to ask the congregation to "please say the chalice lighting words with me," she spoke clearly and projected with a big voice that everyone in the sanctuary could hear. I was proud of her and grateful to be part of a congregation that gives even young children the opportunity to be responsible for an important part of the service.

It's been a good month for our family at UUCA. Last week, I was inspired to write a little about Juniper's connection to UUCA. It makes for a much longer blog post than we usually have, but click on "read more" below if you're interested.


Juniper was excited about the heart stole and proclaimed herself "Peace Girl." Most days, she is some sort of superhero. Peace Girl seems like a pretty good fit for UUCA.



Juniper wanted me to come down with her, but she did the actual chalice lighting almost all by herself. She needed a little reminder to put out the candle once she was done, and she was so pleased about having successfully lit the chalice that she almost forgot about the chalice lighting words.

In case you're curious, there are two chalice lighters listed because there are two services. Our family attends the little-kid friendly early service.

In the dugout canoe

 

On a recent trip to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Hazel and Luke successfully carried out a mission to put every single foam building brick into the dugout canoe. I can remember trips to Fernbank before they could even walk, when one of their favorite activities was to be placed in this canoe so that they could hold on to the sides and pull themselves up into a standing position. In those days, the canoe fun usually ended with a head bonk. They're much more coordinated now.