January updates

James loves classic rock, or as he calls it “drums and guitars”.  My favorite time of day is driving James to daycare when we rock out to some music.  Alma prefers classical.  And if an opera is on the radio (especially if it isn’t in English), she will interpret the entire thing as a Disney movie.

BBC CBeebies Radio is a favorite in the house.  Favorite downloads include Raa Raa the Lion, Big and Small and especially Sarah and Doug. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/cr)

James fighting name would be: James “Big Hug” Chisholm.  He is constantly asking for big hugs, which means being picked up.

Alma’s list of bedtime demands now includes a slice of bread.  The process goes: dinner as a family, dancing to music, PJs, brushing teeth, reading books (both with James and then in her room by herself), fan on, lights out, prayers, songs, Mom or Dad coming downstairs, Alma coming down 5 minutes later claiming her is hungry, giving her plain bread and water to eat in her room by herself, then when we check on her room about 45 minutes later, the lights are off and she is sleeping in bed.  Silly but we aren’t going to argue with it. 

Alma is shy at school, telling the teachers “I don’t know” when she is feeling too shy to answer a question.  She is friends with a boisterous little girl named Mya. 

James, who is not quite as shy, only whispers to me in front of others.  The cutest is when he whispers goodbye to me when I leave him at daycare.  He always has a big smile because I think he realizes how silly it is.

The kids have lots of silly made-up words between the two of them.  They enjoy going back and forth repeating each other’s silly words and giggling. 

Alma has some chores of taking care of James, which makes life a lot easier for us.  She takes off his shoes and unzips his jacket when we come into the house.  She also clips his buckles for his booster seat at the table.

James loves Thomas the Train – mostly the books, but he also occasionally watches Songs from the Station (a Thomas sing along show we stream through Netflix).  It is amazing how quickly he learned all of the train’s names and could identify them.  I still cannot tell them apart beyond their colors but he seems to know based on their faces.  When asked, the other day he pointed out that Edward and Thomas (both blue trains) have different noses.  Fascinating.