Monday, May 14, 2012
My Dani
Dani's personality is outsized only by her adorable grin. She is gutsy, fearless, happy and confident. She can be sweet and she can be sassy. She knows exactly what she wants. Yesterday, she refused to wear her cute pink sun hat but demanded to wear Jack's baseball cap---backwards only. She's quick to anger but also quick to joy. She will most certainly be the kid who gives me the gray hair but I also know that the qualities she has that will sometimes drive me crazy as she grows up are the same qualities I am so happy that she has. She's determined, strong willed, stubborn, and fiercely independent. She's perfect.
Jeopardy and stuff
We always watch Jeopardy together as a nightly ritual right before the kids go to bed and Paul and I yell out answers when we know them. For the first time today (05/13), Jack joined in. He waited until the question was finished, then went up to the TV and yelled out the first things that came to mind, "Fire Truck!" "Cranberries!" "Ice Cream!!" "Mommy!"
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Today (5/14) we gave Jack a gummy cherry as a treat. He shoved the whole thing into his mouth and then started running.
Me: Jack, it's not a good idea to run with candy in your mouth.
Jack: Do you think I can walk with it??
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Today (5/14) we gave Jack a gummy cherry as a treat. He shoved the whole thing into his mouth and then started running.
Me: Jack, it's not a good idea to run with candy in your mouth.
Jack: Do you think I can walk with it??
Monday, April 30, 2012
Fearless
We took Jack and Dani to Monkey Joe's this past weekend. It was amazing to see that Jack has now decided that climbing and sliding is fun and that he isn't afraid anymore. It is SOOOO nice to finally see. He is independent enough that he will go up by himself and play so it is nice to not have to be with him constantly. Besides, we have to focus on Dani.
The girl is crazy. From the second we walked in she was all smiles, running and jumping and laughing. She loved the bounce houses but when I brought her up on the slide, we had visions of her as an adult jumping out of airplanes. I took her down the slide on my lap and when we got to the bottom, she just laughed. This was no wimpy slide. It went quick and was steep. And she loved every second. It didn't take long for her to want to do it on her own and she would flip to her tummy and go down backwards, laughing and flopping all over the place all by herself. She fell a couple of times and didn't even cry. She's ridiculously tough and as Paul watched her run around, he commented, "I'm pretty sure she's not gonna like dolls." I'd say that's pretty accurate.
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Dani’s words 05/04
Ball, kitty, nice kitty, hi, bye, baby, mommy, daddy, balloon, sock, shoe, door, nose, mouth, eye, poo-poo (poo-pooooo), pee-pee, cheese, no, down/done, more, tree, cracker, eat, oval, circle, pizza, farmer, goat, pig, cow, duck, door, water, train, bottle, zebra, toe, car, numbers 2 and 5 (and identifies), identifies and says letters B, C, D, F, J, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, V, W, Z, cookie, flower, apple.
The girl is crazy. From the second we walked in she was all smiles, running and jumping and laughing. She loved the bounce houses but when I brought her up on the slide, we had visions of her as an adult jumping out of airplanes. I took her down the slide on my lap and when we got to the bottom, she just laughed. This was no wimpy slide. It went quick and was steep. And she loved every second. It didn't take long for her to want to do it on her own and she would flip to her tummy and go down backwards, laughing and flopping all over the place all by herself. She fell a couple of times and didn't even cry. She's ridiculously tough and as Paul watched her run around, he commented, "I'm pretty sure she's not gonna like dolls." I'd say that's pretty accurate.
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Dani’s words 05/04
Ball, kitty, nice kitty, hi, bye, baby, mommy, daddy, balloon, sock, shoe, door, nose, mouth, eye, poo-poo (poo-pooooo), pee-pee, cheese, no, down/done, more, tree, cracker, eat, oval, circle, pizza, farmer, goat, pig, cow, duck, door, water, train, bottle, zebra, toe, car, numbers 2 and 5 (and identifies), identifies and says letters B, C, D, F, J, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, V, W, Z, cookie, flower, apple.
More Jack stuff
Long after I put Jack to bed, I heard him rattling around upstairs. I went to investigate:
Me: What’s the matter.
J: Well, I hurt myself a little bit.
Me: Is that because you were goofing around?
Jack: Yes. Yes it is.
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I used to hope Jack would go poo-poo on the potty. Now he can't get enough of it, even trying to go when he really doesn't have to. It's a huge waste of time but I don't want to get mad at his efforts. On one particular trip to the potty, I started to tire of waiting. He told me: Caca’s gonna be here in just a minute.
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The other day at dinner. . .
Jack: I wanna treat.
Me: You can have a pear. The pear’s a treat.
Jack: No. The pear is NOT a treat. A treat has Pixies on it.
(after about a minute)
Jack (excitedly): Do you think we have Oreos?
Me: What’s the matter.
J: Well, I hurt myself a little bit.
Me: Is that because you were goofing around?
Jack: Yes. Yes it is.
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I used to hope Jack would go poo-poo on the potty. Now he can't get enough of it, even trying to go when he really doesn't have to. It's a huge waste of time but I don't want to get mad at his efforts. On one particular trip to the potty, I started to tire of waiting. He told me: Caca’s gonna be here in just a minute.
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The other day at dinner. . .
Jack: I wanna treat.
Me: You can have a pear. The pear’s a treat.
Jack: No. The pear is NOT a treat. A treat has Pixies on it.
(after about a minute)
Jack (excitedly): Do you think we have Oreos?
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Preschool woes
We put Jack in preschool a year ahead of schedule. We knew that he knew enough academically but we wanted to really help him from a social standpoint. He always enjoyed being with adults and being the center of attention, but would clam up when around large groups of kids. We thought that by forcing him into these situations, he would really mature socially. Though he cried the first few days, he seemed pretty happy. In playdates he was warming up more quickly and when I accompanied Jack to the school's holiday party in December, I was excited to see this little boy barge into the room, happily greeting people. When I spoke with his teacher, she mentioned that he had really been improving and called it "heartwarming." When I asked her if Jack talked her ear off, she smiled and nodded her head knowingly.
Last week, I had to take a day off of school to complete some testing for grad school. It was a Thursday and I was excited to be able to take Jack to school myself. We arrived and he showed me where to hang his backpack. His teacher then approached me to tell me about a few concerns regarding Jack. Apparently she has some concerns about Jack's social and verbal development. She claimed that he was acting like he couldn't do tasks and was acting confused. In addition, instead of conversing with the other kids, he would just repeat what they said back.
I left pretty concerned. Not that I really thought something was wrong with him.--at home we can't get him to shut up. The kid kicks me out of the bathroom to wash his hands in private yet acts like he's never done it before at school. But I was concerned that he wasn't having a good time. I thought about it all weekend and called his teacher the following Monday to discuss some of my theories. She was quick to interrupt and get a little defensive. When I made reference to him being more passive, she told me he was very happy and comfortable. I was a bit confused from all of the mixed messages. According to the teacher, he is doing great academically. Yet how would she know this if he didn't talk. He was happy and comfortable, yet wouldn't talk to anyone. His teacher told me she would send home a list of the benchmarks and indicate the ones Jack needed work on.
Imagine my surprise when her concerns included him not knowing 5-50 words or being able to express himself or being able to follow simple directions. This is the same kid who, when I asked him if he was my boy, said, "Actually, I am." Something just doesn't make sense. So now I'm half defensive and half bewildered but with no real way to help him improve. I thought of every possible scenario: he's bored (how could he be bored, he doesn't know anything), he's not getting enough one on one attention, something happened with one of the kids, etc. I was convinced we should switch schools. I vacilated between thinking my instincts were correct and thinking I could practically hear my rotor blades cutting through the wind.
In the end, we have decided to switch schools. I am not saying that anything is wrong with the school he is in but, clearly, it just isn't working for him. He has never once come home excitedly talking about something that went on at school. And this is the kid who gets excited about everything and remembers everything! He still tells us how fun the harbor by my parents' house is. Hopefully we'll find something that is a better fit. At the very least, however, we will see if this behavior continues at a new school . In the meantime, I hope that his excellent memory forgets the fact that he was in the room when I debated w/ Paul as to whether this uncharacteristic behavior is the product of a crazy teacher or an environment issue. Let's just hope Jack doesn't pick tomorrow to reveal his verbal talents by telling everyone that, "Miss Nancy is smoking the crack pipe."
The first day she told me that he w
Last week, I had to take a day off of school to complete some testing for grad school. It was a Thursday and I was excited to be able to take Jack to school myself. We arrived and he showed me where to hang his backpack. His teacher then approached me to tell me about a few concerns regarding Jack. Apparently she has some concerns about Jack's social and verbal development. She claimed that he was acting like he couldn't do tasks and was acting confused. In addition, instead of conversing with the other kids, he would just repeat what they said back.
I left pretty concerned. Not that I really thought something was wrong with him.--at home we can't get him to shut up. The kid kicks me out of the bathroom to wash his hands in private yet acts like he's never done it before at school. But I was concerned that he wasn't having a good time. I thought about it all weekend and called his teacher the following Monday to discuss some of my theories. She was quick to interrupt and get a little defensive. When I made reference to him being more passive, she told me he was very happy and comfortable. I was a bit confused from all of the mixed messages. According to the teacher, he is doing great academically. Yet how would she know this if he didn't talk. He was happy and comfortable, yet wouldn't talk to anyone. His teacher told me she would send home a list of the benchmarks and indicate the ones Jack needed work on.
Imagine my surprise when her concerns included him not knowing 5-50 words or being able to express himself or being able to follow simple directions. This is the same kid who, when I asked him if he was my boy, said, "Actually, I am." Something just doesn't make sense. So now I'm half defensive and half bewildered but with no real way to help him improve. I thought of every possible scenario: he's bored (how could he be bored, he doesn't know anything), he's not getting enough one on one attention, something happened with one of the kids, etc. I was convinced we should switch schools. I vacilated between thinking my instincts were correct and thinking I could practically hear my rotor blades cutting through the wind.
In the end, we have decided to switch schools. I am not saying that anything is wrong with the school he is in but, clearly, it just isn't working for him. He has never once come home excitedly talking about something that went on at school. And this is the kid who gets excited about everything and remembers everything! He still tells us how fun the harbor by my parents' house is. Hopefully we'll find something that is a better fit. At the very least, however, we will see if this behavior continues at a new school . In the meantime, I hope that his excellent memory forgets the fact that he was in the room when I debated w/ Paul as to whether this uncharacteristic behavior is the product of a crazy teacher or an environment issue. Let's just hope Jack doesn't pick tomorrow to reveal his verbal talents by telling everyone that, "Miss Nancy is smoking the crack pipe."
The first day she told me that he w
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Shoes
With this uncharacteristically warm weather, I realized that the kids need some shoes that won't make their feet sweat off. I took the kids to Kohls today and picked up a pair of sandals for Jack and gym shoes with open slits for both of them. I absolutely fell in love with Dani's. They are blue and sporty but with traces of pink that add just a touch of "girly"--so perfectly Dani. When we got home, I had to share them with Daddy. I put them on her and she looked adorable. When I put her down, she stared at her shoes with her arms out to the side and started to whine. It then became clear that she was afraid of them--afraid to walk and afraid to look at them because they weren't the typical white shoes she was used to. Eventually she took a few steps but didn't seem fully comfortable. Let's just hope she gets over it. It would do a lot of damage to her rough and tumble image if she was afraid of her own shoes.
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