Yogurt accidente

Translation:
"Well... I was trying to eat yogurt
and it fell on my pants
and that's why
it was a yogurt accidente."

Triple whammy

We all got the flu. Jack started off the festivities with a runny nose and a cough, then took it full throttle with some vomiting and diarrhea. A few days later Hans and I were in the sick boat too, although we stuck to the classic winter flu, with body-racking coughs, sore throats, stuffy noses, and clogged ears. Jack ran a slight temperature for two days, during which he was a subdued boy, huddled on the sofa with at least one of us snuggling him at all times. When his fever subsided he gradually recovered his ability to eat, keep food down, and poop normally, much to our relief. He is now completely recovered and back at preschool this afternoon.

Hans is on the mend and I am too, but my nose and ears are still totally stuffed and I can't taste anything. How very unfortunate since Jack and I made a King Cake for Mardi Gras yesterday -- I was told it was tasty.

Here's a photo of Jack at the preschool Mardi Gras party yesterday.

I can't wait for the cold and flu season to end!

Game, set, Jack

Some days at around 7pm, stretched out on the sofa with a glass of wine in hand, the boy asleep, and the dishwasher humming softly, I wonder... what did I do all day?

Probably the same stuff everyone else with a 3 year old does: laundry, cleaning, cooking, chasing down stray socks and hats, and answering about a million "why" questions. Other than that Jack and I spend most of the day playing games. For Christmas and his birthday he received Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and Cariboo. Hans and I prefer Cariboo because it is the most straightforward and the least competitive. Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders were frustrating at first, but after about 2 months of constant play Jack has totally picked up the rules and plays fairly (I won't play with him otherwise).

Now we've started to mix it up by combining features from the games (all made up by Jack, I swear):
1) Play Cariboo but instead of using the cards, utilize the spinner from Chutes and Ladders. If you spin a number that's not available, spin again and add the two numbers together. If that still doesn't get you a viable number, look for a word with that number of letters. Also use a plastic unicorn to open the gates, instead of the key that comes with Cariboo.
2) Play Candy Land with the Chutes and Ladders spinner. Whatever number you spin, move that number of your choice color (6 orange, 2 red, etc). I love this because I somewhat despise Candy Land and this makes the game go really fast. Can be played forward or backwards in this manner.
3) Play Chutes and Ladders with the intended spinner, only climb up the chutes and down the ladders. Oddly enough, the game seems to work better this way, because there are more chutes than ladders.

Is Jack ready for new games? If you have any ideas please leave a comment.

Math breakthrough

Jack's been sick for the past week with a cough/gooey nose and it's been an exhausting 7 days for all of us. He stayed home from preschool and has been prone to tantrums and demanding in every way.

Today the storm broke. He's much better mentally and physically and then this afternoon -- he learned to add.

We were playing our own hybrid version of Cariboo and Chutes and Ladders and for Jack's turn he needed to add 4 and 3. So he though about it and said, "let's see... 4+1=5, 4+2=6, 4+3=7!!!" A few minutes later he successfully added 8 and 4. Then he added everything the game threw at him with little effort.

This math aptitude did not come from me. I can barely add 3 digit numbers without a calculator!