Updates

Ben just said "Ooouuuut" to get out of his highchair, and he sounded like E.T. saying "Oooouuuch."

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He's doing really well so far with the Christmas tree. He's removed some ornaments but has mostly been leaving it alone. I think having the Little People Nativity Set has been a big help there. He's very interested in playing with those. Plus I haven't made it taboo for him to touch the tree or the ornaments, purposely putting not-easily-broken ones on the lower branches and handing a few to him to touch and carry around. The tree has been up for about a week now. So far, so good!

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Rachel's reading comprehension has gone through the roof in the last few months! When she started Kindergarten, the teacher tested her on the Critical Words they'll need to know by the end of first grade. There are 126 of them, and Kindergarteners need to be able to sight-read at least 26 of them by the end of the school year. When they tested Rachel in October, she knew 62! Her teacher re-tested her a few weeks ago, and she knew 92. She's able to pick up children's books like Berenstain Bears and can read almost all of the words without help. She sounded out the word "Individually" from a package of Life Savers that were individually wrapped. She knew "wrapped," too. It's just crazy how quickly she's learning words. I've read with her since she was pretty young and she watches things like Sesame Street and Between the Lions where they talk about words and letters, but it's still just amazing to me how rapidly the comprehension is building.

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Ben is learning to communicate with more words. Besides the words I talked about before, he's saying up, out, "wha da" for what's that?, "get it" (like "I'll get it!"), kitty, book, Bible and juice. There are probably a few more that I'm forgetting, too. And he's modified his fake sneezing so that he'll actually say "Ah-choo!" when he does it. He's a total ham, and he'll laugh quite heartily when someone else fake-sneezes, too.

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Rachel had the opportunity to sing with the children's choir at our church on Christmas Eve and has been practicing the last few weeks. Besides practices during the Sunday school time, she's also listening to a CD they were given and has been looking at the word sheet as well. She already knows one of the songs really well. They're singing 3 along with our adult choir. She's probably going to know her part better than I'll know mine!