The tooth business

Gage lost some bottom teeth last year, but hasn't lost any of the upper teeth yet. They're loose and he really wants to get them out so he wiggles them around. Wendy reports that at times one tooth is parallel to the floor. Eeuw!

He was working on the loose tooth a couple of nights ago and was quite upset because it wasn't coming out. His motivation is the $3 per tooth that his magnanimous tooth fairy leaves. He's a lucky boy to have such a generous tooth fairy...his mom's tooth fairy never left more than 25 cents!

Wendy really didn't want him to keep working on it at bedtime, but he said he wanted the money for it. So she offered him 50 cents if he would leave it alone. He said, "Can I have it now?"

Clever little guy...he sounds like quite a canny businessman!

Sudoku

Wendy told me that Gage had been working in a little activity book and she noticed he was working a sudoku puzzle. This particular one was very elementary...only 4 rows and 4 columns. In other words, a total of 16 squares. She noticed that he was looking in the back of the book and using the provided answers to fill in the squares. She informed him that the object was to figure out where the numbers go without referring to the back of the book. So, she erased what he had filled in and helped him do one of the 16 square puzzles. She hadn't ever worked a sudoku puzzle herself, but she evidently gave him enough guidance that he was able to complete the second 16 square puzzle without assistance.

The next page of the activity book featured a full-blown 81 square sudoku. So she helped him with a couple of the lines and then left him to it while she started getting supper ready. He worked on it awhile and then I guess he ate supper. While Wendy and Kelly were eating he started working on it again and finished it. Wendy checked it and he had done it correctly.

When she was telling me about it last night, she remembered that he had referred to the back of the book when he did the earlier puzzles so she asked him if he had done that while working the large puzzle. He said no, that he had worked it out himself. And you could see in some of the squares that he had put a tiny mark in it. I asked him what the mark was for, but I still didn't quite understand what the purpose was. I guess I'll have to watch him work one to see how he uses the mark.

We've known he has pretty good grasp on numbers. And I'm sure that the difficulty level of that puzzle was low. Nevertheless, I have to say, I'm pretty impressed that a (barely) six year old would grasp the concept and stay focused enough to complete it.

I took over a stack of mild difficulty sudoku puzzles. He was eager to get started on them, but it was past his bedtime, so he had to put them away till tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see how he does with them.

A glimpse of things to come

Gage's teacher has an "Elegant Party" every year. The students dress up and use their company manners. The boys escort the girls into the room. If you look closely, you can see the table is set for elegant dining, with a tablecloth, fancy folded napkins, candles in candlesticks, fresh flowers and stemware.

Don't they look grown up? Mrs. English says that the mannerly behavior carries forward for several days after this party.

Since Cullen's party was later than Gage's, Tracy was able to take these photos. It was so nice of her to think to do that. Many thanks, Tracy!

The dancers are not sure where hands go, but it doesn't seem to be bothering them!

Not much to talk about

Sunday afternoon Gage and Zane practiced their "roping" skills while Kate and Carlee pursued other interests.

I saw Gage's teacher on Saturday. She was very complimentary about Gage, remarking how sweet he is and what a good student he is.

Today the tee ball teams were picked. Cory is the team manager. Among the members on the team are Cullen, Gage, and Andrew Kresta, who all live within shouting distance.

Tomorrow, Wendy and Gage will go to Ash Wednesday mass. Kelly has a CPR class, so it looks like Zane and I will get to spend some time together.

Valentine's Day

When the boys see us coming, they usually run and hide so that either they can jump out at us or so we will have to find them. The seeking is usually not that difficult as Zane provides clues from his hiding place. Gage used to do that, too, but has gotten wiser as he's grown older.

This day Zane was hiding under a pile of stuffed animals. Gage had him all covered up and I really wouldn't have known where he was if he hadn't spoken.

I tried to pose them like E.T. in the closet, looking like one of the stuffed animals, but didn't manage to get the same effect. They are much better at posing than Kate and Carlee. They will usually hold the pose long enough to get a decent photo. Of course, there's usually a lot of horsing around, too.