I think Mabel Ruth is a fine combo. It doesn't clash to me like some people suggested. It actually doesn't sound that much different then Mabel Rose. For me middle names are just family names. I actually think it works perfectly fine but I actually like both names.I would probably use Ruth since it is your Grandma's name, she is special to you and she passed away when you were pregnant. No one even hears middle names really.

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I would pick Cornell because I love Ithaca NY and because they have a top rated good Grad program in something I was considering. Princeton would be the one I would chose last because I grew up in NJ. I want to be closer to my family but I couldn't do NJ again.

I really like it a lot but I have kids with old fashioned names. ;) I'm surprised so many have a strong dislike towards it.

I wouldn't correct that and when I was teaching my dd I did take the approach to teach her the correct way and the school she goes to now does. That is good for a kid that just turned 5. My dd went through writing stages. Around 5 she started spelling and her spellings were very phonetic and sometimes were missing vowels she could do cvc words but in names with more than one syllable or a word like pancake it would only have the first vowel. She eventually got the vowel thing down pat but would write things very similar to your son. I did teach her some of the rules but I didn't correct something like that. He actually is picking up quite a bit like ck is used for a k sound after a short vowel and the silent e rule. My dd does ask me how things are spelled a lot or if she spelled it correctly and then I tell her. Her school work gets corrected but not stuff like that. My 5.5 year old can't spell a very phonetic pancake mix yet.

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I went to this movie with friends when it was in the theater and I really enjoyed it. I looked up a little on her life afterwards. The movie isn't an exact retelling but I think it did a good job. I think the movie actually made Disney look better and it made it seem like she was happy with the results in the end when she was most definitely not but it did do a good job of getting the main events across. I want to read the books to my kids after seeing this movie.

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/is-it-autism-facial-features-that-show-disorder/ I came accross the above article recently. I am really surprised that they only now have found facial features associated with autism. I guess they must be subtle. I was wondering what others thought of this. This is the first I heard of it and I am not sure what the research looks like.

I used to feel guilty about that but I no longer do. It never really was the norm in history for parents to play imaginative games with their children. I think that children getting that from other children and having some freedom to play games that is entirely their own creation is actually a very positive thing.

Oh wow that is fascinating to me. My son is quirky but I always felt he was not quite quirky enough to fall into the spectrum. I took one of those online surveys and his score fell into that category I suspected. I haven't had any testing yet because well the testing is super expensive and he hasn't really started school yet. I feel like he is quirky with a few spectrum traits but also lots of non spectrum traits. I don't know if he has apraxia but he was a late talker and then had a moderate articulation delay but he is doing much better now.

I know adults who were never diagnosed but I can tell that they are on the spectrum. I think there is more awareness out there especially with the internet and more people being diagnosed. I am guessing there are kids that get misdiagnosed and that there are kids that truly have it with varying severity. I don't think it is a bad thing there are more resources nowadays especially when I see adults who probably would have benefitted from therapies. I have a quirky kid who I don't think is quite on the spectrum but he has some quirks that are similar. I heard the more kids that are diagnosed in your area you are more likely to get evaluations for your own child and that there are definitely pockets where the numbers are higher. It will be hard to tease out if those places are more accurate or have more over diagnosed.

My dd actually comprehends more when she reads something herself then when I read to her. She has no problems at all with decoding. She is a a very good speller and can spell lots and lots of words and remembers after being told just once. She is also a decent writer for her age.

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I much prefer to read something in text then to watch a video or listen to an audio book. I have a hard time focusing on someone else reading and it is much faster for me to read to get information. I have very high comprehension for things I read myself but I do not see images in my head going by like most seem to. I can picture something in my mind and can imagine it but it isn't in real time like movie like people are describing.

I have a bookshelf for just kids books and half a cube organizer is used for books. I also have 2 spice racks that I use to store the books we are currently reading. I organize by categories like picture books and then history and science. I still need more space. I am getting lots of library books now and I need a place for those to go and I need more space for books we own too. We are building loft beds for the kids that will have book shelves but I don't want the kids to think that either their brother or sister can't read it because it is in their room.

2 plus 2 is not 5 is working well here. We are not through it yet but she is progressing through it steadily and finally getting her addition and subtraction facts down. My oldest is also finally getting into SOTW1 and the activity book questions, map work and coloring pages. My middle child always enjoyed it.

I do too. It actually wouldn't even occur to me to let someone in line in front of me. I hate going to the post office and am extremely distracted there. I definitely don't pay attention to the tasks strangers in a post office are doing and how long it will take.

Right now I am just reading my kids lots of books in topics that interest them. Right now my 7 year old daughter likes reading books about the body and my 5 year old son likes engineering type books on like buildings, heavy machinery, cars, trains and planes. I really feel like I want to do a little more with them on the topics like having them answering questions or writing a little bit about the topics because I do not know how much they retain. I am not big on doing elaborate experiments or arts and crafts. I am not sure if I should just do something similar to SOTW activity guide and have a reference book and make up questions and then ask them to narrate in their own words or write out facts they learned or get a simple curriculum. I do better with things laid out for me but I also like the idea of just doing a little with the topics that interest them. I am an afterschooler. Right now even though dd's school has a challenging curriculum overall they haven't done much science at all. If I do anything it will be during weekends or summer break. We read books during the week but I really would like to do lessons.

I am actually looking for similar for my 5 and 7 year old so I will be checking back here for ideas. Right now they aren't doing much science at all at school. I read them books from topics that interest them but I really want lesson plans to tie together different topics but I want something that is very easy to implement.

Do you know how far after ovulation you are or is it based on your lmp?

I don't know that I would if it was legalized but if it came down to drinking or smoking pot and smoking was legal I would rather smoke. I don't care for alcohol at all and have no desire to get drunk or high. I have seen alcohol destroy much more lives then I saw pot destroy. I don't like being at parties or around a lot of people drinking.

My dd reads about an hour a day. She does not read a chapter book in one day she reads them a chapter or 2 or 3 at the most. If it is something like rainbow magic or secret unicorns she will read more then one and if it is a classic book she reads one chapter. She doesn't finish several chapter books in a week. She typically does a little of a chapter book then tears through several picture books of various difficulty in one night. Her school does reading by pages and doesn't test on the books they read.

I hate tailgating because it is so dangerous and makes me incredibly anxious. I think it happens for a variety of reasons including road rage, impatience, cluelessness, self absorption and zoning out. Here it doesn't happen super often unless I am driving around the area of a high school a little after the school lets out. When I visited family in NJ and PA it was happening constantly and I stick to the right lane. Whenever I visit home the way people drive, all the traffic and all the highways drive me crazy. It is really annoying when people are super impatient and do stupid things that will not get them where they are going any faster. ETA: Just noticed this was an older thread that was updated. I am glad they finally changed the speed limit.

My youngest has watched young minds numbers and counting. My son loves popular mechanics and also likes whale and dolphin documentaries so far. I didn't realize they had American Girl videos. My 7 year old dd will probably enjoy those.