In Praise of the Bwun

Posted: August 27, 2009 | Author: Mika | Filed under: Dangerous Book for Boys | 3 Comments

(Surely you’ve been warned by the title.)

Yesterday was the Bwun’s 6 month checkup. I have to say, he did amazingly well. Let me tell you all about him.

Weight: 15.87 lbs, 19.87 percentile
Length: 26.5 in, 52.19 percentile
Head circumference: 16.5 in, 8.18 percentile

Alright, so maybe those numbers aren’t really convincing. He does seem a bit on the small side. Maybe developmental milestones would be better. (Here I go way overboard on the mom thing – the doctor said the Bwun has met a lot of the milestones for 9 months and, if he were examining the Bwun without knowing his birthdate {and ignoring how small he is} he’d guess the Bwun is about 8 months old. Way to be ahead of the curve!)

Best Bwun ever? I vote yes.

Four to Seven Months

Movement milestones

Rolls both ways (front to back, back to front) – check
Sits with, and then without, support of his hands – we’re working on it.
Supports his whole weight on his legs – done and done, months ago
Reaches with one hand – check, to grab my face. With his claws.
Transfers object from hand to hand – check. We’ve been playing games while he sits in his new highchair (which I love!!).
Uses raking grasp (not pincer) – check. For some reason he especially likes to do this when he eats.

Visual milestones

Develops full color vision – not really sure how I would test that.
Distance vision matures – sure?
Ability to track objects improves – check. He can now track me when I leave the room, and start crying a few seconds later when he understands that I’m gone.

Language milestones

Responds to own name – check. Except that we call him “baby” most of the time…I really ought to call him the Bwun, right?
Begins to respond to “no” – actually, I don’t think I say “no” to him very much. It didn’t occur to me that he’d begin to understand it this early.
Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice – ok, not so much. That I can tell.
Responds to sound by making sounds – I’ll post a video soon. He’s hilarious.
Uses voice to express joy and displeasure – check check.
Babbles chains of consonants – chk chk chk chk chk.

Cognitive milestones

Finds partially hidden object – haven’t tried that. I’ll let you know tomorrow.
Explores with hands and mouth – expertly.
Struggles to get objects that are out of reach – check, and went one further to crawl in order to get the objects that are out of reach.

Social and emotional milestones

Enjoys social play – check. Most of all when I just want a little break from playing with him.
Interested in mirror images – check, and we have plenty of mirrors for him to look in. He used to get angry when he saw us in the mirror. Maybe he thought I was holding a different baby?
Responds to other people’s expressions of emotion and appears joyful often – check. He is the best.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Posted: August 26, 2009 | Author: Mika | Filed under: Book of Sand | 5 Comments

by Trenton Lee Stewart
{ 2008 | Little, Brown Young Readers | 512 pgs }

It’s true, I’m doing a few things wrong here. First, I should be reviewing Tallgrass right now, since I read it before The Mysterious Benedict Society. Second, I really should not have read this book all in one sitting…which meant staying up until I-dunno-how-late-since-I-made-sure-not-to-look-at-the-clock. Third, it would probably be better for me to be thinking about lunch instead of debating having another cookie. (Or two. Or three.)

The Mysterious Benedict Society seems, to me, to draw on the success of A Series of Unfortunate Events. (I’m having really severe déja vu here. I know I’ve said this before. Seriously, can you help me out? Did I tell you about this book already?) It’s about rather brilliant orphans who have to solve a mystery, or a series of mysteries. One key difference is that TMBS (do you mind? It’s a pain to type the whole title) isn’t nearly as depressing. It’s actually quite cheery in comparison.

The orphans are Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance, although the narration centers more specifically on Reynie, as he is the leader of the group (and the most empathetic character). The book starts with an extremely difficult written test, given to several large groups of children. Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance are the only four who pass – or are selected by Mr. Benedict – and then complete additional unorthodox testing. Mr. Benedict needs to assemble a team of children to combat the threat of…well, it’s rather mysterious. And hard to explain without giving away too much plot.

What do I have to say about it, then? Well, like I told you, I stayed up half the night (maybe more, maybe less) reading it. The characters are each amusing and poignant in their own way; the writing is unobtrusively excellent; the story is fascinating. There were a few twists and turns, but mainly Stewart has done a great job of letting the reader discover new things when the children do. I never felt like I knew extra pieces of the mystery that the orphans hadn’t yet found. It was a fun journey.

Apparently there is a second book, and a third due for release this year. I’ll definitely be picking those up. (Special thanks to Katie for lending me TMBS, and not harassing me for always forgetting to return it!)

Tweet: In the mood for a humorous, exciting, and dare I say mysterious novel? Pick up The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart!

P.S. I can’t believe I forgot to mention this: the illustrations – the cover, the title headings, and so on – are done by the incredible Carson Ellis, and while you never can judge a book by its cover (so they say), that’s really half the reason I wanted to read it in the first place. They add so much to the book.