Tim came home about 10pm from work, and all I wanted to do was sulk. He got pretty mad at me for that. He stayed up til after midnight, cleaning to work out his anger. I woke up to a spotless kitchen and a forgiving husband, and tried not to be mad at him for being mad at me. Vicious cycle!
Checked out the homeschool group, Mid-Peninsula Homeschoolers. It was a LLL leader, Annabelle, who had recommended them to me, and she was there even though I didn't get there til about 5pm. I talked to her a lot, and I like her. We both bemoaned the smaller family sizes out here (she's Catholic and I'm Mormon, so we both believe in large families, and the culture has tainted even those of our faiths to limit their families to 2-3 kids), and talked about our reasons for homeschooling that have nothing to do with the quality of the schools nearby. AND, I heard some horror stories about the supposedly great schools here, from a couple of kids who moved here from the rural midwest. Their mother pulled them out of school here b/c the schools were so awful compared to what they had in Indiana. Maybe it's the early elementary schools here that are so great... I had fun, and my kids had fun playing on the playgrounds. Jack was being possessive of another kid's beach ball, so it was a learning experience for me to step back and let him learn from his mistakes instead of jumping in and telling him what to do. I did my parental duty to make sure he understood that those toys belonged to someone else, then I let him learn from the kid who didn't want her toys commandeered. I think it worked; another kid came with a toy truck that Jack wanted, and he gave that toy truck back to it's owner a lot more easily than he had given up the beach ball. Then he shared his own toy that I fetched for him from our car (a clanky metal treasure chest that just begged to be filled up with the wood chips that filled this playground).
And Lily had fun climbing the steps, then going down the slide, then toddling back to the steps to repeat. It's so much fun watching her realize what she's "supposed" to do on a playground :D
She made her version of the "more" sign a few times today. That has become her catch-all sign, her way of saying back to me whatever I'm asking her. She was done on the potty, and I asked her if she was done, and she signed "more." What's that supposed to mean, yes? Or no, she needs "more" time on the potty? Then every time I offered her food, she signed "more," and that was much more easily understood :D She's also learned how to ask to nurse, and I'm trying to teach her a sign for that, but every time I make the sign for her, she signs "more" back at me. Hey, she's communicating, and that's a good thing! It's fun to watch her realize, "Hey, I know how to ask for this. I'm going to ask for it and see if I get it. Hey, I do! That's awesome!"
Was invited to go to the Junior Museum with a couple of the moms who have just moved into our ward. (We were just the first of many new families in our ward.) It was fun, they both have ittle toddlers like Lily, and we had fun watching our little ones explore and learn and be completely overwhelmed by all the bigger kids running around. And of course, Jack had such fun he never wanted to leave.
He is getting better and better at watching Lily for me. I never leave him to watch her for more than a few minutes, but if I need to run across the room and I don't want to drag Lily with me but I also don't want to leave her unwatched, I tell Jack to hold her hand, or sit down next to her, or keep his eyes on her (that one is the hardest for him) until I get back. Sometimes I'll take a minute to watch him watch her, and he is so good at keeping an eye on her! And he'll report back to me when I get back, "Nobody tried to take Lily!"
Or sometimes, in a store or running some other errand, Lily will want to walk, and I'll want her to be corralled so she doesn't run in the parking lot or something, so I'll tell Jack to hold her hand. It was hilarious the first time, b/c she refused to hold his hand and kept shaking him off, but she's getting used to it now, and he's getting better at holding on to her :D
Before we went to the museum, we went to the library that's right across the parking lot. Jack had fun returning books and movies, then picking out new ones. We found a little section of the library that we'd never noticed before (the "New Readers' Nook"), and didn't go to the computer they have for kids to listen to books on (YAY!). Jack picked out all the Dr. Seuss books in the New Readers' Nook, and a few others as well. All the books in that section have large print, with short words, and not many words on a page; all the Dr. Seuss books in that section are books like "Hop on Pop" that are more plays on rhymes than stories, which Jack found disappointing. He wants a story, not a string of rhymes. But he loves Dr. Seuss, so he's warming up to the new books, and he'll have plenty of time to read them in the next few weeks. I learned from a friend of mine; her toddler pulls down books and puzzles every day and leaves them strewn all over the floor, but my friend doesn't mind picking them up. I was completely baffled as to why she didn't mind, why she didn't put them up higher where the toddler wouldn't make such a mess (toddler Jack used to do the same thing and it drove me nuts!), until Lily started doing the same thing, and I noticed that when the books are strewn all over the floor, Jack will pick them up and ask me to read to him. So, my house is always a mess, but Jack is picking up reading skills at lightning speed!
Tonight's photos are a little old...
This was back in Texas, in January. Lily was just starting to pull books down and delightedly flip through them :D She was about 8 months old.
This one isn't as old, it's just from last month. (I didn't have any pics of Jack and books, b/c I'm the one who reads the most to him, and I'm the one who takes the most pictures!) Tim likes to make games, and this one he and Jack designed together, colored together, then played together to work out the rules. Jack was just in heaven :D He may not know how to read yet, but he knows how to design a new game!
Good night!
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