So last week Chicken Little had his first sleepover with his friend Lisa who pretty much lives across the street from us. She is a little bit older than he is but she had never slept over at someone else’s house before and was just as excited as he was.

We normally make pizza for dinner on Sundays but we planned it for Saturday since every kid loves pizza. She came walking across the street with a large duffel bag and grocery bag full of her stuffed animals, pajamas and pillow. She was thrilled to hear about pizza for dinner and even more excited to learn that they would each have their own sleeping bag and small tent to sleep in.

When it came time to make the pizza she was amazed beyond belief that not only were we going to make it but that the kids got to help. She and Chicken Little took turns up on the stool spreading the sauce, carefully placing the slices of fresh mozzarella (from River Valley Cheese, a blend of cow and yak’s milk this time of year but soon to include water buffalo milk at the onset of spring), kalamata olives from Napa and sweet Italian sausage from Skagit River Farm. She kept clapping her hands squealing “I can’t believe how exciting this is!” Chicken Little might have done some eyerolling since this is old hat to him but he kept his cool.

They were complete partners in crime most of the night, carrying on excited conversations about how they both planned to be scientists when they grew up. “Hey Lisa if you’re a dinosaur scientist and I’m a dinosaur scientist then we’ll be working TOGETHER! Won’t that be fun?!!!”

After dinner they got to watch a movie with buttered popcorn in individual movie-style red and white striped bags. And then all too soon for them it was bedtime. They chose to sleep in tents in the living room but Chicken Little decided his sleeping pad was too uncomfortable and he wanted to sleep in his own bed so I moved Lisa’s tent in there and tucked him in. They each had a nightlight.

About 10 minutes later I heard them arguing and Chicken Little came stomping into the kitchen, hands on hips telling me grumpily that Lisa wouldn’t turn her light off and he couldn’t sleep. We tried an old eye mask I found, we tried covering his eyes and facing the other way but he was pretty bent on getting that light extinguished. Finally I realized she was alseep so I snuck into her tent, moved the nightlight to the other side of her and away from Chicken Little and covered her nightlight a little with a stuffed animal to take the edge off.

Finally, around 10 p.m. – a full 2 hours after bedtime – he managed to get to sleep.

All in all they had a great time together.

Chicken Little had this brainstorm yesterday – he wants to have a sleepover. His first choice was Dylan across the street who was unable to come over this weekend. So he invited Lisa, across the street and a few houses down.

He’s been talking about it non-stop, planning what they will play with and watch, where they will sleep, even the dinner menu. It’s very sweet to see him so excited about something.

Tonight after his shower he spent a long time in his room. When I went in to check on him I was amazed to see it completely picked up. And not just all put on top of the dresser, thrown inside the closet or swept under the bean bag this time but really put away and organized. I was speechless so he quipped “I wanted it to look nice for Lisa.”

It was so hard not to giggle, especially since he was standing there in his superman robe with his hair all slicked back like a young Hugh Heffner. My little man. I just hope things turn out at least sort of the way he wants them to since he doesn’t deal so well with disappointment.

In the past he and Lisa have been kindred spirits, watching Godzilla together and running around the house screaming that they just saw a ghost. Lisa has changed this year though. She is a year older than Chicken Little who has an August birthday so I chose not to start him in school yet. That means this is her second year in elementary school and Chicken Little is still in preschool. When she was over the other day she spent most of the time reading our library books much to Chicken Little’s chagrin.

I guess I need to begin this process of hoping for the best, knowing he will be disappointed that things don’t work out just as he envisioned, and helping him move on. Preschool is just about over – it’s time for the real parenting to start.

Chicken Little has been amazing lately. The first sleep behaviorist we hired when he was about 10 months old told us he would probably mellow out around 5 and she was right. The tantrums are becoming fewer and farther between, which makes them easier to manage, ignore and forgive.

He has made HUGE progress with his letters this year. He knows them all and their sounds and is starting to piece them together into words. That knowledge is pleasing him in the same way that he was pleased with himself immensely when he started to walk and could take things into his own control. It feels like we have entered new territory with him.

Toddler, on the other hand, has converted from mild-mannered Mr. Flexible into a full-on crazy monkey. His recall is worse then the neighbor’s blind, deaf dog’s. He is adamantly stubborn, willfully disobedient and does it all with the sweetest smile on his face. This week has seen a lot of hitting and refusing to apologize on his part. It’s a phase – right? Or so you always hope when it’s negative behavior. That sweet smile though, that is here to stay. I just know it.

There is nothing better than washable markers! And nothing worse then discovering that markers you thought were washable are not…

In primitive cultures masks represented cultural ideals, summoning the magic that only something so pure could conjur. The day after my cupcake class Chicken Little asked if he could use the cardboard circle for an art project. I agreed of course, eager to recycle rather than throw away. He disappeared into the recesses of his closet and emerged with the huge art bin, some paints and yarn about 10 minutes later.

While I went about some mom-ish chores he set to work with a fever unparalleled. About 30 minutes later he proudly showed me his creation – and then proceeded to put on some sort of mystical ceremony wearing his mask.

I’m not sure if he was trying to make it sunny or drive away swarming pests but it surely was entertaining. And my heart was bursting at his ingenuity, creativity and independence. I think he did a bang up job, whatever it is supposed to be.

This year I had the choice to start Chicken Little in kindergarten or let him start when he turned 6. For me it was no choice. He’s very slow to warm up to things, somewhat fearful and a total perfectionist. So this year we are spending lots of time working on letters, improving social skills, and enjoying the last year of our semi-fluid schedule that lets us make short field trips before preschool starts at 12:40.

He’s been hesitant to work on those letters. Until now he’s refused to sit down and work on anything, listening deafly to all my implorement. Awhile back I pushed it. Before I went to bed every night I would get out a little book focusing on one letter of the alphabet and surround it with any household objects and toys I could find that started with that letter. When he woke up I would read him the book and talk about the letters. We had a letter of the day in cling foam in the bathtub every night. Nothing stuck.

I created a superhero game. I made him a little belt with a large pocket on the front. I cut out letters of the alphabet. I would put 3 letters in at a time. We would run through the house pretending catastrophic events were occurring and WE NEEDED A SUPERHERO to save the world. A superhero with superhuman powers and cool tools. I would throw a red scarf on the floor and shout “FIRE!!! Quick throw the letter W on the fire to put it out!” Even though we had just gone through the 3 letters and I showed him which one was a W he would draw a blank. But he loved the excitement of the game.

I decided he just wasn’t ready and would try him a few months later. But he was never ready. So this year I put my foot down. We had a battle of the wills and for the first time in his life I came out victorious. Every day he’s been working on 3 letters, tracing them, drawing them freehand, sounding out the letter noises and coming up with words that start with the letters.

Once he completes a letter he gets to use an old digital camera to take a photo of something that starts with the letter which I then print out for him. But the real fun is that he then gets to put it in a book that I made when he was a baby. You could do this with any scrapbook or even make one by stapling pages together and using paper glue to attach the photos. The cool thing about using an album though is that when he finishes the alphabet we can start over again at A and he can find another A object to change the photo to.

Finally he’s making some good progress on his letters and starting to sound out simple words with a lot of coaching. Yay! Mom: 1 Chicken Little:567