OK - so I think I am just going to do one monthly update for the kiddos from now on. I am going to try to do these updates on the 10th - as that day is 4 days after Sam’s monthly birthdate and 4 days before Rosie’s monthly birthdate.
Let’s start with Rosie - she has been such a big girl lately. She even tells me “I’m a big girl” and “big girls love to share” when she is being generous with her toys and sharing with Sam or Rocco. She has been great with helping me cook - I have her do little jobs like help me snap the green beans in half and she calls it “cracking the beans” and thinks it is great fun and I think it makes her really enjoy eating whatever she has helped with.
She loves to be silly and do things on purpose to make us laugh. Sometimes when getting dressed she will put her pants on her head and look at me with a mischevious grin and ask “on my head?” - and when I say “no, silly - pants don’t go on your head” - she will ask “on my arms?” and so on…
She still likes to pretend to drive our cars - and lately she has been getting into the ashtray in my car that is used as a spare change holder. I have been letting her keep some of the pennies and told her she could start saving her money and she could use it to buy something. She said “moneys for me? - I can save it up and buy stuff? I can buy apples and oranges and pomegramets, and more pomegramets, and more pomegramets…” Yes, pomegranates are her new favorite treat. I love the fact that - when given the option to save money to buy something - she chose fruit instead of toys or candy.
Potty learning has been going slowly but surely - she has gotten 5 poo-poo presents in the last few weeks for going on the big potty. She even went on a public toilet at the zoo! The automatic flusher whisked the poo away before we could appropriately ooh and ahh over her accomplishment though. We have 2 little potty chairs and a Dora potty seat that fits on the big toilet so we are prepared in every bathroom should the need arise. She loves her little potty chairs - telling me “Its my own little potty” and ‘It’s a special potty for me”.
She has been a little needy when going to bed lately with the scene going something like this:
“night-night honey, I love you- sleep good”
“mommy? mom? mommy? mommy? mom-mommy? mommy?”
“yes honey, what do you need?”
“I need to lie down”
“ok then, lie down and go to sleep. Night night”
“mommy? mom? mommy? mommy? mom-mommy? mommy?”
“yes honey, what do you need?”
“I need to lie down”
“you are lying down, now go to sleep”
“mommy? mom? mommy? mommy? mom-mommy? mommy?”
… and so on - for about 5 min - then at some point when I can no longer hold back from showing the irritation in my voice and I start to respond- “you ARE lying down - now you have to GO TO SLEEP”
she eventually gives up and goes to sleep - sometimes needing more nursie milk or water -sometimes needing to change from the “little bed” to the “big bed” (or vice versa) - but once she is asleep - she sleeps soundly (usually) until 7am.
A few weeks ago we started our parent-child class at the local Waldorf style school.
I had heard a lot about the Waldorf style curriculum - and I really love their emphasis on nature, arts, music, and foreign language - so I had really high hopes for the class. I am bummed to say that I really didn’t love it like I wanted to. It seems like a great school and Rosie has been having a lot of fun - meeting and playing with kids in a new atmosphere has been great. But there are certain things that really bug me about the school and I don’t think it is quite what we are looking for. One thing in particular is the sing-songy voice of the teachers - they don’t simply say “time to clean up” - they sing a really high pitched “time to tidy up” song that for some reason really rubs me the wrong way. They do this for everything - no talking in normal voices - just high pitched songs and rhymes. I am sure there is a good reason for this - but it just seems a little too - um - weird, pretentious, affected, wimpy - I don’t know how to describe it. Another thing is the philosophy that the kids aren’t “ready” to learn reading, math, or answers to any serious science questions until age 7 (or their baby teeth have fallen out). I read somewhere that if a kid younger that age 7 asks where fog comes from - the answer the teachers give is “the fairies bring the fog”… Um - I will not be teaching my daughter that. I think a healthy imagination is good - but that is taking things TOO far. Doing a search for “waldorf schools” online I came up with a LOT of stories of unhappy parents and former students - so that is kind of a red flag for me too. I know all schools are different and the problems with one local school don’t mean that THIS school will be the same - but still…
We will finish out our classes - but then we might look into another school next - like Montessori - and try that out for a while. I can’t believe I am already having to think about school for Rosie. I like the idea of homeschooling or “un” schooling too - but I just don’t know if I have the energy for that - and to be honest - I kind of like the idea of taking a break from having to constantly watch/teach/entertain her for a few hours a week.
She is still a girly girl and loves to wear dresses, have her toenails painted, and she is constantly asking me to put barrettes in her hair (that she pulls out in about 4 seconds and then asks again to put them back in). She has a great memory and is constantly asking me if I “member” something.
“‘member the zoo? ‘member the zebras mommy? ‘member this song? ‘member at school?”
She has a unique way of looking at things - she saw some flecks of dust floating in the air - highlighted in a beam of sunlight the other day and she walked up and put her arms up and spun around and said “ooh - look mommy - it’s like a snowman”. The other day she made a triangle shape with her fingers and told me “look - its a triangle - it’s like a shape!”.
Sam is an absolute doll. He is a perfect baby. He is smiling and gurgling and cooing all the time now.
18 pounds according to my scale at 3 months old. He almost sounds like he is talking and imitating me lately - when I say “Hiiiiiiiiii” in my high baby voice - he kind of echoes the same sound back to me. He is really good at holding his head up now and really only needs support when I am picking him up from a lying down position.
He is also just now starting to laugh - he makes a really high pitched squeaky inhale sound and smiles really big and brings his hands up in front of his mouth. He has figured out how to suck and chew on his hands - sometimes a thumb - but mostly his index finger knuckle. He has been drooling a lot and I think he is already starting teething.
He is still sleeping great. He will regularly go for 6 hours at night - sometimes even more before waking to nurse. He naps great during the day too - and stays asleep when transferring from the car seat, to my sling or wrap, and even bending over to pick up Rosie, he just snoozes away… I am such a lucky mama (knock on wood)… His alert times are much longer and more fun now too - he gets very focused on things and even seems like he is trying to grab at a toy or my hands or roll and move his body purposely toward me or anything that catches his eye.
Rosie still loves her little brother - and lights up when she sees him and still wants to give him kisses and hold him and hug him and hold his hand. She sometimes will give him her toys and say “I’m sharing with the baby!” She loves to sit next to me when I am nursing him and “help” by holding his head, and she also likes to lie next to him on the activity mat and show him the toys and mirror and all the fun things to play with. I think she is going to love it once they can really play together. I know he is going to adore her - he already lights up and smiles whenever he sees her - which makes Rosie so happy - she says “Look - he’s smiling at me!”
That is probably the greatest thing a mother could see - her kids staring at each other with such joy and love.
And I look at them and just think of how lucky I am…. And how great it is going to be to watch them grow up together…
