OLD post (July 29th) -- posted late

I wrote this post in July, and as I recall I went to post it and a glitch occurred and the whole darn thing erased. So I started fresh, but wrote it in Word and saved it dutifully... then never posted it. Here it is, blast from the past, major news and updates from July 29th. Maybe around June I'll get around to posting from this Fall.

Finn:

• Major news stories: Finn is starting kindergarten this fall, and he is also going to have an evaluation for sensorimotor issues. His preschool teacher recommended this, and we’re willing to give it a try (the evaluation) to at least see if there is something we can give him help with. If he does have some sensorimotor issues, they may be related to his giving up and feeling like he can’t accomplish things, and (acc. to his teacher) his unwillingness at times to join in with the other kids in class even though he is interested in what they are doing. Over the summer, Finn took swimming lessons, and really enjoyed when we went to “armor games” (aka SCAdian events) at the Ukranian Homestead, where he got to go swimming and play on the Story Tree.
  Earlier this year (late spring/early summer), Finn surprised me with his reading/writing skills when I hadn’t know he was developing them so strongly. He can read words to you by sounding them out, and he can write words phonetically, e.g., he wrote “TOO SAF” (translation: to Seth) on a birthday present for his friend with no help whatsoever! So exciting!!!

• Current obsessions: Still Mario. He would prefer to be constantly playing Mario, watching Daddy play Mario, or watching Mario on the computer. I feel like he needs to be restrained a bit on this to make sure it doesn’t reach an unhealthy level of sedentary time. H. doesn’t necessarily agree and/or doesn’t always follow through on the restraint, which is a bit of a frustration to me. He also still likes to pretend he’s a kitten at times, but this isn’t as common as it used to be.

• Unfortunates: A few things. The Mario thing is sort of unfortunate, I think. Also, Finn has such a hard time controlling his emotions and knowing what to do with them when he has them. He hits a lot, lately, and it’s become a difficult point between him and I. We had a very rough day where he was hitting and was incapable or unwilling to acknowledge the reason why hitting is not okay (even though I had just told him maybe 15 minute ago). I’m not sure if he’s pretending or what when he says “I don’t remember” but it’s really infuriating to me. He has such a strong memory for other things—it just makes him sound stupid, and on the whole I know he’s not. I can’t wait for him to get past this (I have to assume it’s a phase, or it will really depress me). Also, when he gets really upset, he reverts and acts like a baby with this grating whine/cry that just make H. and I want to rip our ears out. Five years old is a very up and down time for all of us—there are times when the growth is clear and the level of understanding is there, but there are times when he drops down practically into infant mode, and I personally just want to scream (and not infrequently that’s what I do, unfortunately.)

• Good things: As I said, Finn is showing signs of growing up at times, which is so wonderful. It’s the kind of thing you can’t really explain, and the examples are subtle and I tend to forget them. Just little things he says or times when he keeps control over himself when I know he wouldn’t have a year ago. Even though he acts aggressively when he’s frustrated, I know that inside he’s a very nice person. He is very good to his sister—very considerate over all. He’s looking forward to sharing a room and bunk-beds with her, which somewhat surprised me.
  He likes school and doing things that require thinking, like puzzle books, which is wonderful for me to see. He is looking forward to school, which again was a little bit surprising to me. I think he’s rather smart when it comes to numbers and patterns, personally, and he’s been coming quite a long way in terms of reading readiness, as I mentioned above.
  I have to say, I think he is also very attached to me, for which I am grateful. I’m not always the best Mom (see above re: screaming), and it is sometimes surprising to me (this is the “surprised” blog entry, apparently) that he comes back and seems just as attached as before when we have a rough time in which hitting, screaming, scolding, pouting, etc. occur between us. He’s very loving, and I’m so glad of that.

• Common sayings: “You’re kidding me, right?” and “Oh man” are older-kid phrases which have now found their way into his regular vocabulary. Those are the kinds of things that make you look down at your kid and say to yourself “when the heck did that happen?” (meaning growing up).

Kate:

• Major news stories: I didn't write anything here in July, and I can't immediately think of anything major.

• Current obsessions: Soggy, Lamby, and Paci (the three things she drags everywhere, if you let her); keeping up with Finn; singing (she sings in the tub… how wonderful!); doing everything herself (my mom used to warn me about this—“mother please, I’d rather do it myself!—and I truly didn’t believe her after having Finn, because it didn’t happen that way… well, now I believe).
  Unfortunates: Katie loves the water and she loves baths, but she HATES getting water dumped on her head, and therefore she hates having her hair washed. I remember this with Finn, so I know it will pass, but for right now, it’s a bit frustrating. She’s also gotten a stronger temper lately, esp. with regard to bedtime. The screeching has reached a new peak when we turn off the light, leave the room, and go downstairs. On the plus side, it barely lasts 5 minutes. It may be difficult to transition her to the bunk-beds, though. She’s also much whinier lately, and at the same time, trying to assert her independence just about all of the time. These things don’t bother me too much, though. They feel like a phase, to me—but they bother H. a lot more (esp. when hitting is combined with them, which I can certainly understand).

• Good things: Her singing is hands down one of my top “good things” these days. My absolute favorite is when she sings “15 animals” from the CD Philadelphia Chickens. I just love how she slurs along with the phrase, getting the sounds basically right but not completely intelligible, and then suddenly she hit a line with complete clarity: “… and my piglet known as, BOB OF COURSE!” Her talking is also still wonderful. I never get tired of it. I haven’t met a single person yet who has. Her curls are also something that I find just to die for! Not that this is quite the same as aspects of her behavior that are “good things”, but I couldn’t not mention them, because I could run my hands through those little curls at the base of her neck just FOREVER.

• Common sayings: It’s just too hard to remember everything with this little chatterbox. Some phrases that she likely got from her brother, but which I think of more as her right now, include: “Moo-oommeeee” (the three-syllable version of “mommy”; if you’re a parent, you know exactly the sound of this one; and if you aren’t, I can’t describe it in text), “Cheese and crackers, man” (from Penguins of Madagascar).

Catching up

Wow, it's been such a long time. Good intentions fallen by the wayside and all that, and 6+ months of no posting. In children's years, that's forever.

Finn:

• Major news stories: Our little boy is a half-year through pre-school and we're already looking into our Kindergarten options. Pre-school has really gone very well. While he has his days of sulking about it, he seems to like it, enjoys his new friends, is willing to try things (like writing his name, I mean, not eating new things). While we still have to have our conference with the teacher, as far as I can tell, he's progressing fine and will be ready for Kindergarten next Fall. By the way, in case I haven't said it before, I think Finn has a real knack for numbers. It's just my own intuition, but he really seems to grasp them well. He clearly gets what they mean (i.e., not just rotely saying them), but he also seems (to me) to really get the general concepts of addition and subtraction. He's also been great at pattern recognition since he was pretty little (thank you I-Spy Computer Game). Just my little plug for Finn being a smarty-pants, even though I think he's a late bloomer in some ways (much like I was).

• Current obsessions: Still Mario, and also anything Lego on the Wii. He's very into kittens; he likes to pretend he is one. This seems to be his way of "regressing"--essentially being more baby-like, while not actually pretending to be a baby (which we sort of discourage). He also wants to play dungeon, octopus tag, or hide-and-seek in the dark whenever anyone is willing to play with him (esp. me). I've been really busy at work lately, and I think he's missing me a lot (more than everyone else).

• Unfortunates: Apart from the normally brother-sister spatting, Finn doesn't seem to have any major problem with Kate. The biggest unfortunate here is that he tends to carry on himself whenever he accidentally hurts Kate (as if he is the bigger victim of the situation). He does this when he accidentally hurts Daddy too. It seems to be about a fear of getting in trouble (best I can tell) and it really annoys Daddy a lot. He's also still got the capacity to be very broody, fusses about most kinds of food (although see below re: peas), and he says "No" and is sassy a lot more than he used to be. Sometimes he "meows" sassily (believe it or not). That REALLY ticks Daddy off.

• Good things: He's been to the dentist again, which went great, and I only mention it because of a funny story. One night he had a bad dream that woke him up in the middle of the night (and he consequently woke me up). He couldn't tell me about the dream right then, but he said it was about the dentist. Uh-oh, I thought, I hope this isn't the start of a fear of going to the dentist. The next day it comes out... he had a dream where he had to win a game or he WOULDN'T be ALLOWED to go to the dentist, and that was the scary/bad part. HYSTERICAL! My son, the dentist-LOVER, apparently! While he still doesn't eat most things, he now eats frozen peas. We started having "pea races" between him and me, and that worked, although he still doesn't really like them. Now his favorite thing is to have a pea race with me while I'm still at work and they're eating their dinner early. Perfect opportunity for him to win uncontested!

• Common sayings: Still says "constructions" a lot. I feel like such a shmuck--he's got lots of new sayings that I pick up from time to time that are so cute/funny, and I can't think of any of them. I'll have to post more quickly next time he says one. As I said above, he "meows" a lot.
  

Kate:

• Major news stories: Too many to count. She's walking (has been since before the end of the summer), climbing, and talking, talking, talking!!! She is just such a smart cookie, I can't even describe it. She says so many amazing things that you wouldn't expect. Like yesterday, I offered to put her bib on her backwards, like a cape, and she said "Yeah!" nodding her head exuberantly as she often does. The she says "Now I'm super." That's right, I said, you're Super-Kate. I love the way she says "Yeah!" when she really wants or agrees with something because it's so full--she's so committed when she says it. She very clearly and appropriately speaks in full sentences, and if I can't do it anywhere else, at least I can brag my heart away here, because it's my blog! I just can't get over her!

• Current obsessions: Talking all the time, taking bubble baths, trying to do the stairs standing up and holding the railing (NOT our favorite trend), "reading" books, playing hide-and-go seek (esp. with the whole family), "marching" on Mommy & Daddy's bed, pointing out the kitties wherever they go, and VEHEMENTLY opposing anything to do with bed time.

• Unfortunates: See above re: bed time. She's so hard to put down, and is a light sleeper once she is down. She doesn't systematically wake up in the middle of the night anymore, but we go through weeks when she pops up (like this week). She's still pretty stubborn, and she likes to cross her arms and go "Hmmph!" when she's upset (which I have to say is so completely cute, but we never give in to it). She can be very polite, but is definitely in the "me", "mine", "gimme" stage. When she asks for something impolitely, if you say to her "How are we supposed to ask?" she says "gimme gimme gimme" in the absolute cutest voice ever with a twinkle in her eye. I can't help but laugh. But I don't give her whatever it is... I know that would really come back to haunt me later.

• Good things: She can still be shy at first, but she's much more quickly acclimated to other people now, and she talks with just about anyone, which is so gratifying from the Mommy perpective. She knows certain people's names and brings them up in general conversation (e.g., Seth and Sharon; Tommy and Seth; Meg and Mel), which is really nice to see. She clearly wants and needs both me and Daddy, which is nice. It would be so easy to feel left out, given that I work so much, if she were to task for Daddy anytime there was a boo-boo or something, but she really asks for both of us at different times (and always asks for the other one, if the one she is with is saying no about something or threatening to take her to bed).

• Common sayings: This is a hard one, because she says so much now. She still says "Sim" instead of "Finn" most of the time. She loves to ask for donuts (as does Finn). She calls chocolate milk "chocolate milk" (which is only odd because the rest of my family very consistently calls it "co-co-moo". She copies Finn in saying "Moommeeey" with the cutest little lilt to it when she's feeling silly.

The words and phrases are one of the best parts of being a parent for me, and I'm really going to try and put more of them down more quickly. Oh, I have one that I don't think I ever posted, even though it started late last Fall at some point. This is based on the knock-knock joke I invented:

Mommy: Knock-knock

Finn: Who's there?

Mommy: Finn

Finn: Finn who?

Mommy: Finn-ish your dinner, Finn! (we were eating dinner at the time)

Kate's version:

Katie: Knock-knock

Mommy: Who's there?

Katie: Finn

Mommy: Finn who?

Katie: EAT YOUR DINNER, MOMMY! (said very demandingly!)

That's one of my long-standing favorites, so I had to make sure to write it down.

These pics are from right around V's day:

Update - we have lift-off!

Kate is walking. It started last Friday, the day before we went to Lewisburg for a 4th of July party. She was just doing that hovering thing and occasionally taking one step, followed by a swift descent (i.e., plop, on her bottom). Suddenly she just decided to go for it, and next thing we knew she was doing 10-15 steps through the living room. She's not terribly stable yet, but she has the basics down pat. She still drops down to crawl when she needs some speed, though.

Recent things

Finn:

• Major news story: Finally, potty training is here. We have officially been in underwear for about 2 weeks, with only 2 accidents. He seems (knock on wood) to have it down pat!

• Current obsessions: Mario, swinging on his new swingset, riding in the bottom part of Kate's stroller whenever we go for a family walk, Mario, reading a Mo Willem's Pigeon book we got from the library, and did I mention Mario.

• Unfortunates: Occasionally says "I don't want a baby" (referring to Kate), melt-down city whenever we turn off Mario (note: Mommy is NOT happy about how much Mario watching is going on), fusses about any food we put in front of him (including things he likes, like PB&J sandwiches, and don't even ask about fruits or veggies). Also a few bad words have snuck into his vocabulary (see above re: Mario time).

• Good things: Had our first trip to the dentist (mine too, at least in a number of years) and it went smoothly. No cavities for either of us. Finn let the dentist brush his teeth with no fussing (and sat through my longer part of the visit).

• Common sayings: Maybe (as in, maybe we could go to Krisna's house later, or maybe we could play Mario more after lunch... it's the way he says it--it's hard to describe).

Kate:

• Major news story: Almost walking! Crawls everywhere, does stairs like a breeze (although she can't really be trusted on them by herself), and stands and "hovers", maybe taking 1 step, but note quite ready to step out fully.

• Current obsessions: Talking, going in the bathroom and standing by the tub, going up stairs, "reading" books, saying hi (except when prompted to).

• Unfortunates: High high high in the stubbornness and will power--she knows what she wants to do and she's damned if she's going to let you stop her without expressing her displeasure. Places she likes to go that are a nuisance: up the stairs (because she can't be trusted to do it on her own), in the bathroom, into the bedroom to open up the poopy diaper pail. Still very difficult to put to bed, and has a habit of waking up around 1am.

• Good things: Starting to get past the issue with other people holding her, although she stills cries for me when I don't pick her up or take her from someone else. She's so chatty; that's my favorite thing. She picks up new words so easily!

• Common sayings (this is for Grandma, who said I hadn't posted enough of Kate's words): Hat, duck, kitty, book, Mommy, Daddy, milk, goosey-goose, hi, bye-bye, more, sorry, no. This week she's working on Grandma and Grandpa, since they are visiting.

All about our birthday boy!

We now officially have a 4-year-old. Yikes! Perhaps this is good, though. Supposedly there are the terrible 2's, but my husband thinks that the real "terrible" age is 3; it's just that nobody says so because it's actually SO terrible that you repress it. The year of "3" was harder for us with Finn than the year of "2" but we'll have to wait to see how it goes with Kate before we generalize. But anyway...

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY FINN!

Things about Finn:

He's still not greatly interested in potty training, even though he knows that he can't go to school until it happens. He uses the potty, but it seems fairly random when he'll choose to do that versus going in his pull-up. For myself, I think he's ready to be transitioned over full force, but because I'm not at home full time, it's not completely up to me.

He speaks very politely a lot of the time, which makes me really happy and proud, but he has a short fuse for frustration and he still hits when very frustrated. I have a hard time figuring out how to help him along with that, being as I have a horrible temper myself. He also can't always tell when something is a game and when it's gone beyond a game. When he plays with other kids who want to play games that involve throwing balls at each other, or pushing objects toward each other (swords, boxing-esque gloves, etc.), he can easily go too far with it. I never know exactly what to do about that either. If he hits another child because the other child instigated a very physical game, I always feel bad but I also feel like it's a shared responsibility there. But it's hard to communicate that to a young child (i.e., Finn OR the other children involved). I just tell him to apologize and not to hit and hope for the best in the long run.

He's getting sneakier. Just today, hubby relayed to me via phone that Finn snuck into the kitchen and ate the tops off of several of the birthday cupcakes we baked. He then put the rest of the cupcakes into the trash. Now that's definitely strategically impish behavior.

Our current favorite misused word: constructions--like "Let's read the constructions to the game."

He was an extremely gratifying birthday boy in terms of getting presents. He didn't do the grabby gimme approach (which would be normal for this age, and not necessarily indicative of greediness in long-term, but it's still nice that he didn't). Instead, he responded with supreme (and honest) excitement at every single gift that was open, using the phrase "WOW, it's my very own... [fill in the blank]." He did this equally for everything from the large Thomas the Tank Engine tent (below) to the small potty-related book (above). He was a total sweetheart, and it was a really nice birthday!

And so it goes...

They just keep growing and learning new things. It's so hard to keep up.

Kate:

• Crawling, full-blown--much more than Finn ever did. Pulls up to standing. Not too steady on her feet for actual walking purposes. Really wants to try the stairs but doesn't know what to do once she's standing in front of them--can't figure out to put her knee up on the first step.

• Lots of babbling: Says "sh" for fish (and she says it for any new fish you give her, so I'd say that counts as a word). Says "No" all the time--she's got a will of her own, and doesn't like to be told no. I think she's saying no back to us, not just repeating what we said. Definitely says "row row row" now when you sing "Row row row your boat." She often has what sound like full conversations but without any actual words.

• She can do "slap me five" and loves the song "Head shoulders knees and toes", to which she tries to do the movements in a very gross-motor way. Overall she loves being sung to.

Finn:

• The pacifier is gone. He still wishes he had it sometimes, but it ended up deteriorating and we had to get rid of it, and we didn't buy any more for him. Kate still has hers--for the most part that doesn't seem to be a bone of contention for Finn.

• Potty training is moving along, slowly but surely. We can't really count on him staying dry in underwear, but he will stop things he's doing and ask to use the potty sometimes. That's really enough for us for now.

• His ideas are becoming more complex. For a week or so now, he's been obsessed with going to see his cousin Dante. I don't know what led to this obsession, but he asks everyday if we can go see Dante. This morning, when I left for work, he told me I need to walk to work so that I don't take the car, because they need it to go see Dante. Hubby told me later that he decided the plan would be to walk to Dante's (I guess because I did take the car). Yes, by all means let's walk the 300+ miles from our house to theirs. :)

• He still sulks a lot. I never expected this much sulking from a little kid. I expected temper tantrums, but not the moody blues! Bedtimes have become particularly hard with lots of sulking about having to go up. Last night, interestingly, he let me read two stories from a kid's chapter book and then when I asked him which story he wanted next he told me, "None. I'm tired now." Go figure!

The little things

Kate: Fast approaching her first birthday (in 3 1/2 weeks)

• The other day when I came home from work, she waved at me without any prompting, and when I waved back, she flashed me a huge smile! Those moments are the real "keepers"!

• She did peekaboo herself this morning, with a towel. After I held it over her face a couple of times and took it away saying "Peekaboo," she took the towel with both hands, held it up over her face, and then brought it down with a smile!

• So close to crawling! She sits on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but doesn't know what to do next.

• My husband swears she says "row row row" when she hears the rest of us singing Row Row Row Your Boat. I only partially heard it, but I think she said it too! She also imitates me when I say "No no no no no no" (like when I see her reaching for a cup of yogurt I'm holding--it actually sounds more like nuh-nuh-nuh; it's not a sharp "No!").

Recent incident to remember: When the whole family went to Pittsburgh for a Psych conference, we had a beautiful trip out. We drove to Central PA, stopped in Lewisburg and stayed the night with friends, and then drove the rest of the way the next day. Both kids slept well that night and did great in the car! Then, 1:30 in the morning our first night in the hotel, Kate starts throwing up and doesn't stop until 5am. We were totally psyched out by our kids, too, because as they went to bed, Finn was the one who was coughing in the way that sounds like it might become throwing up. Hubby and I were both sitting there in the mostly dark room with our fingers crossed thinking "Don't get sick, Finn... don't get sick." Ha ha on us! Luckily, Finn slept through the entire ordeal! Kate didn't get sick the rest of the trip... but we were braced for it the whole time, so it wasn't particularly a great trip.

Finn: Coming up on 4 years old in a bit

• We signed him up for preschool next fall, and he knows that he has to be at least somewhat potty trained, so if you ask him about the potty, he says "When I use the potty, I can go to school." Still not using it too much, though.

• He makes up conversations between characters--e.g., he has two pirate guys and he has an imaginary conversation between them. I love catching little bits of that from the other room.

• He still uses his pacifier ("paci") a fair bit, but it seems less compulsive to me lately. He'll ask for it, but he doesn't feel lost without it. I even got him to go to bed without it once. His daddy doesn't seem ready to have him do that regularly, though.

• While still capable of being horribly broody, I feel like there's been a turn for the better lately. After we got back from our Pittsburgh trip (during which he was pretty temperamental), he seemed to turn a corner and has been much more pleasant and polite. There's still some of the normal 3-year-old striving for independence, but it's as if he's found a place to stand where the sun is shining on him, whereas before he was in a constant cloud. I'm not crazy enough to think that it will never go back to that grumpy place again, but I have to write it down when it's like this, so when it is miserable, I can think about the sun coming out again someday!

• Still no fruit besides juice, and next to no vegetables, but lately he's begun requesting shredded cheese. I know he gets enough dairy without it but I'm just so excited to have him voluntarily work something back into his repertoire that had been eliminated for a while.

• He loves to play baseball with me when I get home from work. He uses a variety of things for bats (a paper towel tube, a Gerber's puffs cylinder, a pretend cell phone, whatever!). He's actually pretty good at it. We're thinking of giving up on gymnastics (which he sulks at and doesn't want to participate in, for no reason that we can determine) and going back to one of our earliest principles re: Finn--anything goes as long as a ball is involved!