Here is an update on the kids. Because of lack of time, it is just an information dump--not much editing, etc. I just wanted to get these memories down before I forgot. Sorry if it's not so reader friendly.
Aliyah is 7 ½. She is still as social as ever. She has four
friends on our street that she loves to play with as much as possible.
Although she often complains about going to school, I really think that she
enjoys it. She has learned a lot—she is really learning a lot of math and
improving her reading as well. She still LOVES reading—and I love that. She
always stays up late in her bed with her flashlight reading books. Also,
anytime we are driving anywhere, even just to the grocery store, she always
brings a book or two to read in the car. Right now she has been reading a lot
of Ninjago and Star Wars books. Recently she has learned to do laundry and is
now in charge of the towels every week. She likes doing chores that include
more mature activities like starting the dishwasher, working the washer and
dryer, and vacuuming, using a spray bottle to clean things, etc. She loves
playing games. She and I play games a lot—we like Phase 10, Monopoly Deal, Uno,
Quirkel, and other ones. She loves helping out with Russell and is constantly
carrying him around and “assisting” him. Sometimes a bit too much! Still lots
of energy and constantly needs to be engaged in something…still a very loud
voice—talking way too loud and lots of yelling and screaming (often out of joy,
but still its loud!) She and Spencer are developing an intense sibling rivalry.
They are always racing, comparing, teasing, and fighting. And its hard since
she is older, she usually can “win” most things, so then Spencer gets mad, then
she retaliates and it’s a downward spiral. Hopefully this is just a phase and
we can work through it. When they are not fighting, they are best friends. They
setup their playworlds together, they have a big fort that that love to play
together in , they love sleeping together in the fort, or even squeezing
together in Aliyah’s twin bed.
Spencer is 4 ½. I am discovering his personality more and
more as he leaves toddlerhood behind. He is a naturally positive and cheerful
little guy. He gets so excited about little things and has the most animated
happy face and expressions. He loves helping and sharing and is very sensitive
to other people’s feelings—unless he is feeling mad, he hates seeing other
people sad. He always tries to cheer me up when I am sad, by doing sweet things
for me, trying to be funny, or even just telling me that he doesn’t want me to
be sad and that I need to be happy. He has a great imagination and can get
involved for pretty long amounts of time in imaginary play, whether with his
figurines or just with toys or household things. He is a very snuggly boy and
we can often find him just wrapped up in a blanket on the floor just relaxing.
Although his behavior got out of control after the move, I feel like he is back
to feeling normal. He loves preschool and is always so excited to tell us about
his teachers and friends. He always talks about his “best pals” from church and
school. He loves being funny and being silly in front of other people. He is
learning a lot at school and can write his name and knows all his letters. He
also loves looking at books—and is also into Ninjago and Star Wars book (yes,
it is a fight about who’s books are who’s at home). Spencer still has a temper
and can get mad pretty quickly. When he’s mad—he’s MAD.
We have been working with him on his temper and it is so nice to see when he
keeps himself under control—He will be so proud of himself and make sure we
know that “I used my words” and didn’t get mad. He really is a sweet little
guy. Right now, he and Aliyah’s favorite TV show is Phineas and Ferb. They are
constantly quoting the show together, singing the songs (we borrowed the music
CD from one of the movies from the library and we listen to it everyday), and
acting out some of the funny things they do. It is so cute to see them so excited
about something together. They would be into Phineas and Ferb books, but our
library doesn’t have any. Spencer’s speech is improving, but he still has a way
to go. He does still have some cute things he says…like “poomer” – which means
shooter/rocket launcher/slingshot/etc. basically anything that “pooms”.
Russell is 19 months and in in that 1 1/2 year old destructive stage. He loves to
dump things out, empty out cabinets and drawers, throw all his food on the
floor and things like that. Last week I accidentally left the pantry unlocked
and I found him eating (and dumping) powdered sugar. This week, his favorite
thing is to smear his food in his hair. I have found crayon marks on the table,
floor, doors, and some windows—when apparently he has found a stray crayon. And
speaking of crayons, lately he has loved trying to stick crayons and pencils in
his ears. He is starting to realize that he wants specific things and tries to
get his way. He can say “milk” “stuck”, “Sock”, “duck”, “mama”, “dada”, “show”
“na-na” (banana), “door”, “more”, “yes” and of course “no”. (However he just
recently learned “no”, I was surprised because that is often one of the first
words.) There is still a lot of “eh-eh-eh” with pointing. And he shakes his
head “no”, when he is meaning yes. One cute thing he does is when he is excited
about something happening, he does that 1990’s move of pumping his little arms
and saying “Yesssssssssssssss”—its adorable. He recently started being able to
climb out of the pack’n’play. He loves playing cars and we can often find him
zooming cars along the floor/furniture/walls, etc. complete with vrooming
sounds. He is starting to like playing with Spencer’s superhero figurines. He
loves talking his clothes off, and I have found him undressed in the morning or
after naps. He loves just running around in his diaper…and he is really close
to figuring out how to get that off! He also likes dancing, and will dance
around whenever he hears music. He has recently started folding his arms for
prayers. He likes looking at books, but has a very short attention span when
listening to a book—he can only listen to about 5 words and then he is ready to
turn the page. He is very sweet and if he sees someone crying he will come and
give them a hug. His snow gloves have a monkey face on them and every time he
gets them on he kisses the monkey. He absolutely loves shoes and boots! He is
constantly going into the closet and putting on someones rain or snow boots. And
he will wear them for a while. I find shoes and boots all over the house. At
the same time, he refuses to leave shoes and sock on while in the car,
stroller, or any other place that he is sitting and can reach his feet. He is
still a good sleeper—10-12 hours at night and about a 2 hour nap.
