James is such a happy kid and brings a lot
of laughter and enthusiasm to our lives.
He is quite the talker and loves to tell silly stories (usually about
things bonking someone on the head) before bursting into a laugh and assuring
you “that’s a silly story.” He
physically cannot- not dance if music is on and always prefers rock-n-roll with
a special love for old school (nearly garage grunge rock) Nirvana and Red Hot
Chili Peppers. He is still very snuggly
and sucks his middle and ring finger of his right hand while the other hand
goes towards his belly button (unless I’m doing the bedtime routine with him
and then it goes in my belly button -- I
know, weird, but sweet too, right?). He
still loves playing with balls (throwing, catching, kicking), reading, puzzles,
and gets excited about trains, construction, going on runs around the
neighborhood, pick up the cat and loving every dog he meets. His is just starting to
get the hang of dressing himself but does not seem to have the strong feelings
about these sorts of things like Alma did at this age.
Alma, while not the first one to laugh
loudly, is a joy to be around and is all about finding the fun and interesting
viewpoints to situations. She is extremely
insightful and creative. Alma loves
family members with abandon and often asks about extended family. She wants to know all about everyone and when
we will see them again. She is also very
in tune with other’s emotions and always on the lookout for ways to be helpful and supportive. With any obstacle I face, her most common
statement to me is, “It’s okay, Mommy” which she will repeat until I have a
smile back on my face. She loves helping James -- picking out his clothes, getting him dressed, getting him a snack. Her somewhat
misguided messages to her brother provide a great peek into her psyche. For example, when he began toilet training,
she suggested to him that he eat all his meals while sitting on the toilet so
that he could get there in time. This
just makes me laugh.
Alma loves school, especially her friends
whom she loves to hug. She does not seem
to prefer large groups and can be a bit of a “watcher” until she is comfortable
with the situation, although not all the time.
She often surprises us by making fast friends at the playground instead
of her default energy of hanging back with us and not responding to other’s interactions. At times, I think that some kids find Alma
difficult to read and try desperately to engage her. When I’ve gone to school events, more than
once I’ve overheard other little girls asking Alma privately, “Are we friends?”
and then acting very excited when they get a very subtle positive response from
Alma. When we go to birthday parties, all the kids
seem happy to see her and cheerily yell “Hi Alma!” which she hides behind my
leg. I have a feeling that when I am not around, she is bolder and can stand on
her own quite well. Or, in areas where she feels comfortable (e.g.
our local park), she moves with ease even when large groups of possibly
intimidating older children are present.
One funny story: One day at the park, Joshua, James and I were sitting
on a pack bench watching Alma swing by herself.
Some tough-looking older boys came right up to her and told her to get
off the swing. She just stared them down
with a hard brow. They walked away
muttering that she was rude. Ha!
Alma still loves the idea of princesses and
her favorite color is now blue (and pink and purple) due to a love of the
Frozen movie. She and James finally had
a chance to watch Frozen last weekend, when I felt that they were finally mature
enough to not be horrified by the tenser scenes from the movie; previously,
James was horror-stricken by even small things like the snowman losing his
nose.
The kids love to play together and seem to need
at least an hour of uninterrupted play time together every day to create a
sense of balance in the house. Although,
given more time, they can play for hours on end. They take a very collaborative approach with
Alma still leading and James occasionally drawing the line with some demand
which, if not incorporated, will cause him to threaten to leave the game. Alma usually consents and then they continue
playing. At times, Alma will simply play
a pretend game with toys while James passively watches.
When James began potty training two weeks
ago, Joshua suggested and implemented a plan for allowing James to listen to
his body, instead of forcing him on the toilet every 10/30 minutes. This method worked so well for James. When he feels he has to go, he just runs to
the bathroom and takes care of everything by himself. It’s amazing and I’m so grateful that Joshua
is so child-centered and trusting of the process. While James has accidents daily, he also has
a lot of success every day. When he has a
success, we celebrate with a candle (and a song of “You pee’d/poop’d in the
potty; You are such a big boy and we’re so proud of you,” to the tune of Happy
Birthday), a sticker for his progress chart (a poster board with a drawing he
and Alma did of a train on tracks to a large picture of James and Alma going to
her school together – the goal of potty training is to get James into her Montessori
school in January when he is three and potty trained), and a little chocolate
chip. James loves the attention and
seems to really want to be successful. It’s be an awesome experience and reinforces
in me some lessons about how children learn in a positive, accommodating
environment.
Other news:
- James and Alma are still in the same programs as they were in all summer so that made the transition back to school easy. They both seem happy in their programs. James will join Alma at her school in January once he is three and toilet trained; I’ll be happy they are in the same place.
- Both kids are taking swim lessons now – James in a parent’s arms and Alma with an instructor, which is fun to watch. They both have huge smiles on their faces the entire class. The plan is that in the winter when he switches schools, James will take a break from swim lessons. Alma will switch back to ballet in the spring and then take swimming again next fall.
- In the Spring 2015 semester, I will be teaching a geography course at the community college where I work: Geography of the US and Canada. Should be fun! I’m still working in the Grants Office at the community college and consulting for the National Resource Centers at the University of Pennsylvania. This month we find out if a bunch of grant programs for both of these schools get funded, which could make for a busy 2015 for me.
- I’ve been reading a lot with my Kindle which I got for Mother’s Day. Since I have a library card from both Philadelphia and Bethlehem, I’m able to check out lots of books with no commitment to make it back to the library to return them by a certain time. I'm in reading heaven with no pressure to finish anything. My evenings and mornings have been spent with lots of biographies, best sellers and young adult lit.
- Joshua should provide his own update. But since that probably won’t happen … the summary is that he is working a lot (what else is new?), giving the rest of his energy to making the rest of us happy (cooking, cleaning, back-flipping if necessary), and working out when he gets a moment. Last weekend he cleaned out the garage, which is where he has his gym equipment. Now he has more room and a cleaner environment, which makes us all happy. The kids and I adore him beyond words.
- We just celebrated 8 years of marriage. We passed the point where we have been married without children as long as we have been married with children.
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