My poor little blog, you have been neglected in favor of 20-second Facebook status updates. I was looking last night through some of my old posts and reveling in the witticisms and remembering funny things that happened and thinking how nice it was that I wrote down all those things that I would otherwise have forgotten and then HAH! I don't write them down now!!
So here is a super fast update, only because I am killing time cooling down after a run and everyone is asleep.
Abigail: school is going really well for her. She still struggles a little with behavior at school, on occasion, but this is something that I figure we are going to be dealing with forever, because that's what you do as a parent; you take a cute little blob and you teach it to use a fork and a toilet and say please and sit on a chair during meals and share with others and all those other things that are not natural in any way, shape or form; in any case, she has greatly improved both at school and at home. A new girl from Japan, who doesn't speak any English, started in her class a couple of weeks ago, and her teacher told me that she purposely placed her next to Abigail, because she knew that a) Abigail is super friendly and always very concerned about everyone else doing what they're supposed to be doing (which is a nice way of saying what could be said in a not-so-nice way), so she knew Abigail would be more than willing to help this girl out and b) Abigail is a total chatterbox so she thought that would help the new girl to learn English more quickly. Oh, Abigail. But she has loved it.
She is such a little character--tonight at dinner she and I were lingering at the table chatting about something, and Neil (who was starting on dishes) reminded her to finish her food because everyone else was done, and she said, very huffily, "Dad! I'm having a CONVERSATION with Mom right now!" and I thought, oh, we are six going on sixteen. But fortunately she will still do just about anything as long as it equates to quality time with Neil and me. I hope that lasts. She has a crush on a boy in her class (although I think it's fading somewhat, because she told me very sadly that she doesn't think he wants to marry her), and for awhile there she was spending quite a bit of time writing poems and word scrambles (?) about him.
Juliet: some days she is super sweet and some days she is super crazy. Mostly a mix of the two, as is the proper balance for any four-year-old. Today she told me proudly that she can make a Nutella sandwich all by herself. And she had. It was probably the most deliciously Nutella-laden sandwich I have ever seen.
One of my favorite things about Juliet right now is how quick she is to admit that she has done something wrong. She will immediately say, "Mommy, I made a mistake," and then proceed to tell me the details. I love this. It is so much easier to deal with the problem calmly and fairly when admission of guilt precedes my knowledge of the error, you know? (There's a life lesson for me right there.)
Another thing about Juliet right now: she listens to
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets every day during quiet time. Occasionally I can convince her to listen to something else, but it's a rare happening, which means that her vocabulary and speech patterns are becoming very Rowling-tinged, like when she told me that Isaac had "sunk his teeth into [her] flesh," or when she told Isaac sternly that something was "no laughing matter," or when she commented, after I said that I needed to go nurse Luke, that "Ron nurses his big toe when it gets hurt," (cue hysterical laughter before I could calm down to explain the semantics of that one).
Isaac: boy oh boy, another fun little character! He totally has this little personality now with all these likes (bananas, his orange dinosaur shirt, Mommy's lap, baby Luke, jumping off anything and everything, peanut butter, sitting on the table) and dislikes (
any shirt that is not the dinosaur shirt, Luke eating Isaac's things, someone typing on the computer instead of holding him [easy solution: turn off the power strip!]). He is still such a doll and loves snuggling and reading books forever and ever and ever. And he is SO INTO JUMPING. So into jumping. Is it slightly elevated? Then it must be climbed and used as a jumping-off platform. At least seven times today he has moved all of the couch pillows to a new location, built them into a GIANT stack, and jumped off the top. I am just grateful they are soft and squashy. I had to stop the game when he was jumping off the fireplace backwards.
Isaac also has a real soft spot for Luke--he is forever trying to comfort Luke with his [Isaac's] cherished blanket. This morning in the wee hours Neil went in to give Luke his pacifier and he found Isaac at the foot of Luke's crib, having thrown his blanket in over Luke (eek!) and informing Neil in a small tired voice, "Baby Luke crying."
Which brings us to....
Luke, who is still not sleeping as much/soundly/long as I wish he would, but is a total charmer nonetheless. He is starting to get pretty mobile and scoots around everywhere through some weird combination of rolling, sliding backwards, and squinching his body around like a worm. It's really funny to watch, but he's getting pretty fast at it. And he makes the most DARLING noises when he is happy and well-fed, and the kids just love making those funny noises back at him, which he also loves. He is so fat and cute and darling and I just love him so much. Best part of the day today: Neil took his hat off today for prayer and Luke took one look at Neil's awesome hat hair and just screwed up his face and let out the most awful yell of terror. Oh, it was great.
And Neil and I are still doing the same old same old...working too much in our myriad roles, not sleeping enough, and enjoying the moment. It's a good life.
This is what is known around our house as "Isaac's Army of Lovies." He has seven of them--four dollies, and a giraffe, bear, and fox, plus his I pillow and his blue blankie (the lacing cards were paying a visit today but are not on permanent assignment). As Isaac told me today, "Seben babies. Good daddymommy." The Army of Lovies goes everywhere around the house with Isaac all.day.long.
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