Animals

So I'm not really sure if Eli's latest accomplishment is impressive or not. Since I can't be in his classroom at school (bc he does NOT do well with me in there), I have no idea what the other children his age are capable of. That being said, I find this to be pretty impressive. Eli can correctly identify 57 animals from his books that we read.

Now I'm not being generous here and giving him ones that he's pointed at once or twice. These are the ones that he points to every single time when we ask him where it is. For example: we'll say "Eli where's the elephant?" and he'll point to it on a page where there are at least 5 or 6 other animals. Again, maybe this is normal for his age. But all the same, I'm proud of my little boy and his obsession for learning about animals.

For those of you who can't believe that any normal kid can name 57 animals, that there just aren't that many commonly known animals, allow me to list them for you...... cat, dog, cow, sheep, goat, horse, pig, piglet, chicken, chick, rooster, donkey, camel (he makes a hilarious spitting noise for this one), panda, koala, kangaroo, bear, seal, polar bear, dolphin (also funny sound effect), bird, butterfly, grasshopper, bee, ladybug, rabbit, mouse, guinea pig, goose, duck, turkey, giraffe, hippo, lion, elephant, zebra, cheetah, leopard (I'm sure he'd be able to distinguish between the two in side-to-side pics, but he knows both their names and recognizes them on the pages when asked to point to them), gorilla, monkey, rhino, crocodile, flamingo, owl, fox, penguin, tiger, snake, frog, seahorse, turtle, eagle, fish, mokey, and ????? I can't find the last couple (they're in other books that I don't have currently sitting next to me).

But I'm still proud of my little smartypants boy :) It's definitely proof that taking the time to read books with your child- no matter what age- is good for them!

Belated Weekend Post

We had a great Labor Day weekend. Nothing too big and exciting, just some time with family and friends. We got some stuff done around the house; had some family time with the Andersons; and went to Deanna Rose with my good friend, Ali. She came up and visited on Sunday and we spent the holiday together - feeding goats (Eli loves those little guys!:) and enjoying the rest of the farmstead and all it has to offer. Here are just a couple pics from the outing.


We're finding that it's impossible to get a good picture of all 3 :P



Eli laughing after feeding a goat. He found this to be absolutely hilarious- after chasing the goats around the pen for about 5 minutes bc they were all distracted by other people feeding them.





Auntie Ali showing Eli the ponies! Too bad he's not old enough to go for a ride...




Sidenote: I should really start finding more places to take Eli around the KC area. He LOVES Deanna Rose, Monkey Bizness and the zoo, but I know there are tons of other options if we would just explore a little more...