Aiya Highlights
First grade has been an easy transition for Aiya. She is full of excitement every day to attend school and loves her teacher, Ms. Fierro. Aiya stays at the top of the class, often able to move ahead on her worksheets. She's particularly good at math and very competitive with other studetnts and herself. She gets really upset if she (rarely) does not pass her weekly sight words. On her weekly assessments, she always gets 100%--except one day. She missed one math question and cried about it because "I never miss any!" Our sweet little perfectionist is so naturally motivated in school. It's kinda nice! I hope she always loves school, though I worry about how much she pressures herself down the road. Right now, I'm happy about her study habits even as a little first grader.
We are hit and miss in the mornings with getting along. While I am very "checklist! Let's get this done!" it can be very frustrating how distracted Aiya can be, running off to play or tease her brothers instead of completing the task I just gave her. I honestly don't know how she's so focused in school based on her home behavior. =) She and I get really cranky with each other before and right after school, which makes me sad because I don't see her a lot during the day! We have frequent yelling matches with name-calling and timeouts, which eventually result in heartfelt hugs and apologies on both ends. I'm glad we can resolve thing and she's easy to forgive. I just need to work on my frustration level with her, and she needs to calm down her feistiness, too!
Socially, it's been hard for her to have lost her best friend, Brooklyn Haymore, who used to be in ouir neighborhood before moving to AZ. They played almost every day (and admittedly, it's kinda nice for me not to have extra kids over EVERY day, but we miss their sweet family!). She misses having a best friend. She gets along with kids at school but for Aiya to really connect with kids, she needs the regular playtime. Without knowing the other kids or their families, I'm also really hesitant to send her over to play at birthday parties or their houses. I really wish some neighbor kids would move in again. At school, Aiya talks more about the boys than the girls, but not at all in a "crush" kind of way. She still thinks boys and kissing is icky, thank goodness!
Still our biggest teaser, the first hour after school is usually emotionally draining as she bounces off the walls and messes with her brothers. Sometimes though, she really knows how to lead the pack and get all three of them playing well together playing chasing games or building forts. She has very powerful leadership skills if I can get her to reign them in the right direction. =)
Aiya is showing interest in piano and enjoys playing Twinkle Twinkle and Jingle Bells. I'll probably put her in lessons when she turns eight. For now, her one activity a week is tumbling and she LOVES it. We tried a number of dance classes this year to see where her interests lie. Ballet and modern are too boring for her, hip-hop too jarring, and jazz was a maybe... but then she tried tumbling, and despite how sore her body was from bending and rolling around, she thrived off the challenge! So we're sticking with Reflections Dance Center, especially after she rocked her recital last weekend. She gets SO stage-fright (and I mean, like bawling about a fashion show with her cousins in our house over Thanksgiving!). But with tumbling, I think it helped that there was so much running and movement that didn't involve staring at an audience. She loved it and can't wait to continue learning how to do handstands, improve her cartwheels, back bends, and somersaults. So basic but again, I think competing with herself is her drive!
She is beyond excited to meet her little sister. Aiya has such a tender heart for all of her siblings, even those in heaven who she doesn't remember meeting but has a connection with all the same. I absolutely adore when she comes home with family pictures and includes Ty and Eliana in her drawings. She feels so deeply no matter the emotion, and is so attached to family, whether our immediate family or cousins, etc. Nothing makes her happier than being together and doing activities with one another. (She's even learning the art of letting Aaron win card games and feeling happy about that. Pretty cute.) One of my worries with pregnancy involves the fear of loss, which is normal for me, but it's exacerbated by worrying for Aiya. If something happens to this baby girl, especially before Aiya has a chance to meet her, I don't know how I'll survive handling her emotions. It would be so hard to grieve for myself AND for her, understanding the extent of pain she would feel and openly express. I'm sure everything will be fine, but if I'm being honest, it's a definite concern in the back of my mind. I want to protect her from that kind of pain that I can't take or explain away. I do love her tenderness though. She is getting to be such a big girl with a strong personality that will take her far.
Aaron Highlights
Aaron is a pretty pleasant kid to be around these days. Any time he goes to a friend's house or to primary or activity class, I'm told all the time how kind and polite he is. He's good about sharing and resolving conflict with the littler boys at play-dates--where he's the oldest one. I feel sad for him that his best buddy, Jaron Prince, is in kindergarten this year. Aaron really misses him and there aren't many boys his age in the area. So unfortunately, for mom-swapping, most of these necessary playdates involve him with two-three year-olds. He still gets along well with them or plays on his own. He's a very independent kid in that sense, able and willing to entertain himself. It's awesome when he gets into his own little world, picking up random toys or building blocks and creating something that keeps him busy for an hour. Sometimes I feel bad that he's playing on his own, but he actually prefers it. He needs his solitary time, often stating that he wants to play on his own--which hurts Aiya's feelings sometimes, but that's just how he is and I think it's great. He's social when he wants to be and has a best friend in his preschool class named Boston. (I'm thinking I need to get to know the mom and have him over sometime. )
Nothing makes Aaron happier than making crafts. While I try and filter through the mass artwork from all the kids, making deposits into the trash after taking in the sentiment (or even taking a picture of it), Aaron is very protective and proud of his work. He has a wall in his room that he has designated for his projects and loves to display it, not for everyone else to see but for HIM to see and appreciate. I'm trying to be more hands-off when it comes to his creativity. Sometimes I feel like I need to provide all the "right" material to make something specific but this actually frustrates him. The other day, he strongly protested my efforts to help him and said he wanted to create something from his own mind! Taking a step back has been a nice learning experience from me because it's so different from Aiya, who usually likes more direction instead of creating something from scratch. Not A-man though. He has plenty of his own ideas!
He's tried a couple classes at Veteran's Memorial this year. Mighty Mights is like a forty-five minute PE class when he gets to build with foam blocks and play games with hula hoops, etc, before learning a new sport at the end of class. He really enjoyed running around and being silly, though he's not super competitive. He just likes to have fun with sports, so it was good exposure. This past month, he's been attending Messy Hands and it's his favorite. Mine, too, since it involves painting, glue, and other crafts that don't require me to clean up in my own home! His teachers say he is the sweetest kid.
He's my little songbird! He doesn't sing all the time, but he still really enjoys music. He got a little keyboard as a gift from Adam's Place and it plays songs from Beat Bugs (a cartoon on Netflix) that comes from Beatles music. I love hearing him sing along quietly to the songs. When I compliment his voice, he gets a cute, shy smile on his face, like he doesn't want me to know that he likes hearing that. He has a very nice voice!
He's still very much my little intellect, arguing with logic or very matter-of-fact. He's probably my most misunderstood kid--and by that, I mean HE seems to feel misunderstood, like if we interrupt him mid-argument or are too quick to make assumptions about his behavior. He takes it very personally and starts to cry and whine angrily about it. I need to be better about just letting him talk and explain, but sometimes I get so exasperated by his emotions and want to skip ahead of the meltdown. "You're not letting me talk!" or "Stop talking over me!" are phrases we hear from him often, directed at Dan and me or often Aiya. I really try to make an effort to listen to him or stop everyone else from jabbering on so that he can be heard. I don't want him to develop middle-child syndrome!
He's interested in the baby coming but I wouldn't say he's totally attached to the idea like Aiya. He's excited to meet her but doesn't talk about her a lot, except to kiss my tummy once in a while or make comments about me not able to keep up with them. =) My biggest concern for Aaron is making sure he doesn't feel lost in her addition to our family.
Overall, I'm really loving Aaron's maturing temperament!
Logan Highlights
Logan's personality has been transitioning the past month or so! He'll be three in March and becoming a more high energy challenge! He seems to think he's the boss of the house. Being the youngest does not deter him from messing with his older siblings. With Aaron, he is physically aggressive, whether playing or teasing to get an easy rise out of him. We're pretty sure he's going to be our wrestler! He likes to pounce Aaron, laying on top of him and grinning while Aaron vehemently protests for Logan to "get off of me!" Sometimes Aaron will play along and laugh, and other times, he's really fed up with his little brother who will not relent without parental intervention. He's a bit of twerp that way, just smacking Aaron or pulling Aiya's hair for no reason, and the "la la la!" playful expression on his face is both funny and aggravating! He just does not care about getting in trouble for bugging his brother or sister. If I put him in his crib for a time out, he will promptly jump out with a "ha ha! Look at me!" expression.
Fortunately, he does have a balanced side. He will stay in his crib during naptime and in the mornings, even if he's awake before I go in there. That has been such a blessing! I'm pretty sure he's awake by 7 AM but I don't go in to his room until 7:45, which gives me time to get ready or start breakfast--because once he's awake, he can be very demanding if I don't put a show in front of him! He's my little chatter-box, always with a question on his lips or insisting I follow him somewhere or help him get something very specific out of the fridge. He will not accept no for an answer, at least not without throwing a fit about it. If I don't give in, there's a lot of interrupted arm and leg pulling, trying to drag me to do what he wants, or wailing for his "binkie-blankie!" He gets fairly coddled by Aiya, who can't stand to see him sad. This boy definitely knows how to play up his cute side! He likes to "blink-blink-blink" at me while bobbing his head to the side with a binky-filled smile on his face, as he sneaks off to do something I just told him NOT to do. It's hard to be mad at him sometimes with those dangerously adorable eyes of his!
We transitioned Logan from the nursery into Aaron's room after Thanksgiving. It was an easy move! With the extra crib in there, we are keeping him contained until he turns three in March, which will give us a bit of time adjusting to a newborn. We bought him new Blaze bedding and put up some car/firetruck/police car art décor since Aaron's dinosaurs are not totally his thing. Aaron was very good about sharing his room and knows he can't sleep in there for another few months yet. (We know that once Aaron moves in to sleep with Logan, Aiya will also follow! She's still to scared to sleep alone, and it'll be a madhouse at bedtime with the three of them playing together or waking each other up too early. So for now, we are stalling on that combo!) Despite the fact that Logan moved into Aaron's room, Logan insisted on day 1 that it was HIS room. Silly little boss boy! Dan re-worked the horrible closet space with a DIY closet kit from Home Depot. I love it now! And it gave Logan a sense of belonging, too, to see his clothes moved over.
Logan say anything and everything he wants to say now. Sometimes it can still be hard to understand him, especially when he talks with his binky in his mouth. (Yes, that and potty training and transitioning out of his crib into just a toddler bed are all things that are waiting until he turns 3, for our own sanity!) But favorite phrases include:
*Anytime you tell him To DO or NOT to do something, his response is: "I AM... I'm NOT..." One time he totally made me laugh when I saw him with a sucker in hands and told him he wasn't supposed to have candy.
"I not, Mommy."
"Logan... I can see it in your hands."
He promptly stuck the sucker into his mouth and held up his "empty" hands like, "See??" Ha ha He cracks me up.
*"Sorry, Mommy!" If he ever hurts me on accident and I cry out with "ouch!" he's very quick to apologize. Hard not to forgive his cute voice.
* The use of "actually" in his explanations.
* "Aaron did it!'
* "I can't eat it..." he will say, as he holds onto my pack of gum, trying to act like he's not dying to get another piece, or eat the last piece of candy that is reserved for Aaron. =)
He's a fast-moving little boy who wants to be involved in everything. Like I said, if I need to get anything done, I'll have to put on a show because otherwise, he wears me out! Turning three is making me a bit nervous because of his demanding nature, but at the same time, he will sometimes listen to reason and if I can explain something to him, it will often calm down his reaction.
He's been very accommodating with the idea of welcoming Eliana into the nursery. He likes being in charge of her binkies and putting them in the cupboard. He also was eager to put her bottles in the drawer in the same helpful, insistent manner that he enjoys putting away the silverware and kid dishes from the dishwasher. I do love that he enjoys helping, even if it slows me down sometimes. Other times, his efforts really are helpful!
Waiting on Eliana
Eliana's due date is December 26th, so I have one week left! I really thought baby girl would make her appearance already. We had some false labor about ten days ago and it freaked me out! Mentally, I was not prepared and I had no idea how unprepared I felt until it was a possibility. The cramping all morning and regular contractions in the evening for 2.5 hours or so really put me on alert. Dan and I scrambled to pack our bags and finish up last minute tasks. I was shaking with chills for a good thirty or forty minutes, not sure if that was part of the labor process or me just being soo nervous! I had only turned in my sequel to my publisher a few days prior, and had celebrated with a glorious 90 minute massage, followed by turning in my 8 page synopsis of the book. I hadn't had time to enjoy NOT cramming in writing. (I still can't even believe it's done! Such a relief!!) So when these preterm labor symptoms came on suddenly, I just was not ready. So now that it's been a bit of time, I'm ready now. Anxiously! I'm still nervous about the process, despite the fact that this will be my FIFTH time doing this. I'm just worried about the timing and not getting to the hospital with enough time to get situated with the antibiotics for my consistent Strep B, and to get in the meditation zone with music, massages, and breathing... It was such a great experience with Logan, and I want the same for my last one! Trying to just let go and not control everything, as is my tendency. Still, with Christmas approaching, I really would love Eliana to come sooner than later! I don't want to miss Christmas--or particularly have a baby on Christmas Eve or Christmas! But whatever... we didn't go into this naively, so as long as she's healthy, that's all that should matter.
Anyway, now that I've documented my kids, I can relax even more. So many last minute things I'm trying to get done before she gets here! Ah, can't believe our little caboose will be here soon.
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