Dear James,
Happy 3rd Birthday! I am truly enjoying watching you grow into a wonderful young boy. Daily I feel as though you are learning new things and can't wait to show them to the world. I love how you play so wonderfully with your sister and put up with her oft bossiness. You are learning some wonderful things from her. Don't be in a hurry to grow up and do everything that she can do though, it's okay to make your own decisions and follow your own desires. I know you want to read like she can and do math problems like she does, and that will come with time.
I am really looking forward to the special time we will get to spend together with Carolyn in school this fall. I can read to you, we can play cars, do yoga, and you can fully decide what the plans are in the mornings. We can snuggle in bed, head to the park, work on reading/writing/math, whatever is in your heart that day/minute. This is when you'll get to make more of a mark about who you are, to make your own decisions. And I can't wait to see more of your personality emerge. From what I can see now there's a lot of personality waiting to bust out.
You've had a wonderful 3rd year of life. I enjoyed listening to you recite your ABCs tonight, completely unprompted. Watching you ride your bike and spray your water toys was a lot of fun. The smile on your face was priceless. I love watching how excited you get about the small things in life from peanut butter and crackers for lunch to a squirt gun to your preschool workbook. Watching you color with more precision and start to identify letters and such a young age has been great.
I'm excited to see what the 4th year will bring for you. Just remember always that I'm here for snuggles and kisses whenever needed. Thanks for being an amazing, happy little boy.
Love always,
Mom
By eating healthy foods, including eliminating wheat and most grains, enjoying time outside without gadgets, and teaching our children about the world, we hope to raise our children to enjoy life and be free of physical maladies. Follow us on our journey towards general health and a sense of well being.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Time to Enjoy
This past month has been incredibly stressful. Jon will be starting a new job in the fall, which is awesome. But the interview process was stressful. I will not be working FT, and the interview process was beyond stressful. But I suppose all is well that ends well. God has a different plan for me, and I think I know just what that is. With Jon's $14k raise and possibly lower insurance costs, my income will be completely extra. So I will be cutting back on work, down to 8-10hrs/week and instead focus on our family. With a lower overall stress load, life should get easier and more enjoyable. I'm looking forward to having some time to relax while James is at his activities and Carolyn is at school. I'll get to read a lot of books I suppose! I'm also looking forward to getting a chance to work on academics with the kids more, as well as not worry about work things being scheduled so we're stuck at home. James is still a long ways from giving up his nap, so that should give me some time each day to work with Carolyn.
Carolyn is now reading at a 3-4th grade level. She regularly picks up a chapter book and will read through it. Of course, she continues to love being read to and we do a ton of that. She officially has over 600 sight words. I've been pushing spelling a little more lately because I am running out of notecards, haha! She also is enjoying the math computer program that we have, came with the workbook I bought her for Christmas. It's just called Math 1-2, for first to second grade. I can tell that she's memorized most of the addition facts for 1-5, and she can add or subtract pretty much any number if she has the right manipulatives - counting items, her fingers, or a number line. It's amazing to see her brain developing so rapidly. I received a letter from the school that she will indeed be receiving an IPad next year. I'm excited to see how they will use it to keep her challenged. Her K teacher is definitely in for a challenge I think. I'm interested to see what the screening she has at the end of the month will be like. I really should try and get her to the dentist before then and maybe even the eye doctor. Will have to see what our insurance covers. Sign up for summer gymnastics is also next week, so we found out yesterday what level to sign up for. Carolyn was very happy to hear that she gets to stay in the advanced class. We'll only do part of the summer, but that means 2x/week starting in the fall. She seems to be enjoying soccer as well. So in the fall she'll do gymnastics and soccer, then we'll replace soccer with something else during the winter. I might let her try ice skating if it fits into our day.
James is doing great and showing interest in learning his letters. I think he sees how much Carolyn enjoys reading. He wants to play his "games" often, which is looking at the letter and song stuff on Starfall.com. In the fall I will start more of a formal program with him like I did with Carolyn, starting with getting books for a letter each week. Maybe I'll try to pick an animal for each letter to get books about as well, he loves to read the books with facts about animals. He's doing well with numbers and can easily count to 10. So we'll continue to work on getting to 20 and see how he's doing from there. I think he'll really enjoy the one-on-one time with me, even if he'll miss Carolyn. He's already telling people "Carolyn go to kindergarten, I'll be sad". He continues to enjoy his gymnastics, which we'll continue into the fall. I'm planning to drive him out to Lake Zurich for soccer as well, since no where else seems to have an outdoor program during the day. We'll likely just do the fall though and switch to swimming after that. If finances end up being better than I'm currently anticipating, I might consider letting him do gymnastics, swimming, and soccer. With story hour that would still leave us 1 morning with nothing. But for now I'm figuring 2 is probably good. He'll enjoy the museum and other fun places where we get to spend time together when we're not at home or a park. It will be interesting to see his personality really take shape once the focus is entirely on him and Carolyn isn't around to boss him around.
Enjoyment continues tomorrow with another trip to Brookfield. 3 adults and 2 children, I think we'll have it all covered! Supposed to be a gorgeous day.
Carolyn is now reading at a 3-4th grade level. She regularly picks up a chapter book and will read through it. Of course, she continues to love being read to and we do a ton of that. She officially has over 600 sight words. I've been pushing spelling a little more lately because I am running out of notecards, haha! She also is enjoying the math computer program that we have, came with the workbook I bought her for Christmas. It's just called Math 1-2, for first to second grade. I can tell that she's memorized most of the addition facts for 1-5, and she can add or subtract pretty much any number if she has the right manipulatives - counting items, her fingers, or a number line. It's amazing to see her brain developing so rapidly. I received a letter from the school that she will indeed be receiving an IPad next year. I'm excited to see how they will use it to keep her challenged. Her K teacher is definitely in for a challenge I think. I'm interested to see what the screening she has at the end of the month will be like. I really should try and get her to the dentist before then and maybe even the eye doctor. Will have to see what our insurance covers. Sign up for summer gymnastics is also next week, so we found out yesterday what level to sign up for. Carolyn was very happy to hear that she gets to stay in the advanced class. We'll only do part of the summer, but that means 2x/week starting in the fall. She seems to be enjoying soccer as well. So in the fall she'll do gymnastics and soccer, then we'll replace soccer with something else during the winter. I might let her try ice skating if it fits into our day.
James is doing great and showing interest in learning his letters. I think he sees how much Carolyn enjoys reading. He wants to play his "games" often, which is looking at the letter and song stuff on Starfall.com. In the fall I will start more of a formal program with him like I did with Carolyn, starting with getting books for a letter each week. Maybe I'll try to pick an animal for each letter to get books about as well, he loves to read the books with facts about animals. He's doing well with numbers and can easily count to 10. So we'll continue to work on getting to 20 and see how he's doing from there. I think he'll really enjoy the one-on-one time with me, even if he'll miss Carolyn. He's already telling people "Carolyn go to kindergarten, I'll be sad". He continues to enjoy his gymnastics, which we'll continue into the fall. I'm planning to drive him out to Lake Zurich for soccer as well, since no where else seems to have an outdoor program during the day. We'll likely just do the fall though and switch to swimming after that. If finances end up being better than I'm currently anticipating, I might consider letting him do gymnastics, swimming, and soccer. With story hour that would still leave us 1 morning with nothing. But for now I'm figuring 2 is probably good. He'll enjoy the museum and other fun places where we get to spend time together when we're not at home or a park. It will be interesting to see his personality really take shape once the focus is entirely on him and Carolyn isn't around to boss him around.
Enjoyment continues tomorrow with another trip to Brookfield. 3 adults and 2 children, I think we'll have it all covered! Supposed to be a gorgeous day.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Why does God think I'm so strong?
I've always told people, and truly believed, that God would never give me more than I could handle in times of trial. And that He always knows how long we can bear the trials for. And so today, I wish He didn't believe that my family and me are so strong. We've been through some pretty difficult financial times in the last couple years. Along the way we've had blessings at just the right time. I felt like we were really making progress by getting to our "forever home". But as I start to look around, I feel as though we may have made a huge mistake. There's much work to be done on this house, and not much money to do it. I slacked off a bit last month, believing Jon would be paid for track and that check didn't come in. We'll get that money, just not until next month. We had to pull from saving a little to pay the credit card in full. It will be close this month after needing a new tire for me and a new headlight assembly for Jon. Things we literally could not avoid paying for. And of course the usual payments for car registration don't help things this month. We thought the washer was done over the weekend, but thank God it started back up again and seems fine. With the terrible storms last night, though, we have leaks inside the house. We're pretty sure it's related to water entering a vent in one spot. But then I looked up and noticed a water mark on the ceiling. Now, I could be imagining this, but I don't think it was there before. I also think it grew throughout the afternoon, when it wasn't even raining. I've drawn on the ends and will take another look in the morning. But it seems we will need to replace the roof, and we don't have $10k to do that. We will get one more estimate. I really would like to have it done properly, which would also mean new gutters and soffits at the same time. But with no major change in income, I'm not really comfortable committing to lay that much out when we know there are also other repairs (plumbing) on the near horizon.
A decision regarding my full time position has been delayed. Due to the tragedy in Boston, flights were messed up for the VP, and final interviews were then delayed. It looks like I won't hear until some time next week. Jon had an interview today as well. It would be a good raise ($12k), but not as big as other places he's interviewed.
I continue to be torn about whether I want this full time position at this time in life. The money would be great and the mental stimulation was be awesome. I've been feeling somewhat stuck lately and am certainly ready for a new challenge. I think I could perform the job very well, possibly better than they would anticipate since I am very efficient with my time and great with technology. They know me well and should have a solid idea of my abilities since I've been with the company for 5.5 years, and 4.5 years in some type of management role. But, then there's James. He deserves to have me full time until he reaches kindergarten. I love the type of kid Carolyn is turning out to be. Yes, I'd like it if she would stop getting up at night. But she won't be 10 and getting out of bed just to be tucked in again. She's a terrific little girl that excels in everything she tries, and I like to think I had something to do with that. I know James isn't the same kid. But if I'm honest with myself, I think he'd miss something by being put in preschool during the week. I know he won't have Carolyn home to play with in the mornings. But she'll be home before noon. By the time she's picked up the bus, we'll have time to get him to an activity and home, he'll barely miss her. He likes having time to just play around the house too. If I send him to preschool, he'll miss that time. I was just thinking that a great schedule for him next year would be 2 activities, library, a day with me at home, and then a day with Jon's dad or out at some fun activity or another day at home depending on how he's feeling. I was just telling his swim teacher today how I don't think kids this age really learn anything but bad habits from each other. And I do believe that. Am I just convincing myself of this so I'll be less disappointed if I don't get the job? Or do I really feel this way? I'm not sure I'll ever really know. Tough spot to be in right now.
Dear God, you know what we can handle. I feel like I'm at my breaking point. I'm waiting for your blessings to come pouring in our family right now, but I feel like I'm barely above the water.
A decision regarding my full time position has been delayed. Due to the tragedy in Boston, flights were messed up for the VP, and final interviews were then delayed. It looks like I won't hear until some time next week. Jon had an interview today as well. It would be a good raise ($12k), but not as big as other places he's interviewed.
I continue to be torn about whether I want this full time position at this time in life. The money would be great and the mental stimulation was be awesome. I've been feeling somewhat stuck lately and am certainly ready for a new challenge. I think I could perform the job very well, possibly better than they would anticipate since I am very efficient with my time and great with technology. They know me well and should have a solid idea of my abilities since I've been with the company for 5.5 years, and 4.5 years in some type of management role. But, then there's James. He deserves to have me full time until he reaches kindergarten. I love the type of kid Carolyn is turning out to be. Yes, I'd like it if she would stop getting up at night. But she won't be 10 and getting out of bed just to be tucked in again. She's a terrific little girl that excels in everything she tries, and I like to think I had something to do with that. I know James isn't the same kid. But if I'm honest with myself, I think he'd miss something by being put in preschool during the week. I know he won't have Carolyn home to play with in the mornings. But she'll be home before noon. By the time she's picked up the bus, we'll have time to get him to an activity and home, he'll barely miss her. He likes having time to just play around the house too. If I send him to preschool, he'll miss that time. I was just thinking that a great schedule for him next year would be 2 activities, library, a day with me at home, and then a day with Jon's dad or out at some fun activity or another day at home depending on how he's feeling. I was just telling his swim teacher today how I don't think kids this age really learn anything but bad habits from each other. And I do believe that. Am I just convincing myself of this so I'll be less disappointed if I don't get the job? Or do I really feel this way? I'm not sure I'll ever really know. Tough spot to be in right now.
Dear God, you know what we can handle. I feel like I'm at my breaking point. I'm waiting for your blessings to come pouring in our family right now, but I feel like I'm barely above the water.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Turning 5 today!
Dear Carolyn,
Today you turned 5 years old. It's hard for me to imagine that it's really been 5 years. But then it's also hard to remember life before you arrived. It's amazing to watch you grow and learn new things every day. You are developing into a wonderful little girl, and I love that you are quickly picking up on the important things in life.
It's been awesome to watch you learn to read in the last couple months. You already have well over 400 sight words and can spell at least 100 of them. You can do many math problems and love to do science experiments. It's fun to read with/to you about the presidents and different science topics. Your love for learning is contagious and breeds an attitude of love for books within our home. Your energy when you run around the house, splash in the pool, climb at the park, or swing at gymnastics knows no bounds. It has been amazing to see you learn so many athletic skills in such a short amount of time.
You have quickly learned what's most important in life - spending time with those you love. It's a joy to watch you play with your brother and see how close the two of you are. I hope you maintain that relationship as you grow older and have different interests. I appreciate that you tolerate his desire to do everything you do. It's a sign of how much he loves having you as a big sister. You're doing a great job showing him excellent manners. Seeing how excited you were about every present yesterday and your eagerness to give each person a giant hug and say thank you immediately was fantastic. I could tell you really appreciated the time each person put into choosing your gifts. Seeing you spend time with each person who came yesterday was fun too. It's fun to have a lot of people share your life and enjoy playing with you.
You bring a lot of joy and energy into our house, and I thank God every day he brought you to me and Dad. I hope as you go off to school in a couple months that the foundation we've provided you will serve you well. I will continue to enjoy watching you grow and learn new things. And I will continue to be here for you, forever. You'll likely hear many new things once you start school, and I hope you know you can always come home and ask me or Dad questions about what you heard. Keep doing what you're doing, sweetie, because it's really working. When you meet some harder obstacles, know we'll always be here to help you out.
Love always,
Mom
Today you turned 5 years old. It's hard for me to imagine that it's really been 5 years. But then it's also hard to remember life before you arrived. It's amazing to watch you grow and learn new things every day. You are developing into a wonderful little girl, and I love that you are quickly picking up on the important things in life.
It's been awesome to watch you learn to read in the last couple months. You already have well over 400 sight words and can spell at least 100 of them. You can do many math problems and love to do science experiments. It's fun to read with/to you about the presidents and different science topics. Your love for learning is contagious and breeds an attitude of love for books within our home. Your energy when you run around the house, splash in the pool, climb at the park, or swing at gymnastics knows no bounds. It has been amazing to see you learn so many athletic skills in such a short amount of time.
You have quickly learned what's most important in life - spending time with those you love. It's a joy to watch you play with your brother and see how close the two of you are. I hope you maintain that relationship as you grow older and have different interests. I appreciate that you tolerate his desire to do everything you do. It's a sign of how much he loves having you as a big sister. You're doing a great job showing him excellent manners. Seeing how excited you were about every present yesterday and your eagerness to give each person a giant hug and say thank you immediately was fantastic. I could tell you really appreciated the time each person put into choosing your gifts. Seeing you spend time with each person who came yesterday was fun too. It's fun to have a lot of people share your life and enjoy playing with you.
You bring a lot of joy and energy into our house, and I thank God every day he brought you to me and Dad. I hope as you go off to school in a couple months that the foundation we've provided you will serve you well. I will continue to enjoy watching you grow and learn new things. And I will continue to be here for you, forever. You'll likely hear many new things once you start school, and I hope you know you can always come home and ask me or Dad questions about what you heard. Keep doing what you're doing, sweetie, because it's really working. When you meet some harder obstacles, know we'll always be here to help you out.
Love always,
Mom
Sunday, April 7, 2013
So many possibilities
I haven't written in a while, and things have been crazy. Easter was last weekend and we had a nice family celebration with both sides of the family. Jon was back to work last week and had 2 meets. I was surprised with a full time job posting and interview. I locked us out of the house and so we replaced the locks as we had been intending. But today was a calmer day and we had a great afternoon at the park.
In an attempt to calm my mind, and thinking it was a warm day (it was chilly), we headed to the park this afternoon. Both kids enjoyed the swinging, climbing, and sliding. A group of kids were there and they played follow the leader with them for a while. Once those kids left, we played with our kids as the leaders. I followed James and Jon followed Carolyn. They both seemed to really like being in charge, and everyone got some great exercise out of it. I'll definitely be pulling this idea out when there aren't other kids to play with at the park. It's always awesome and amazing to me how well James and Carolyn play together and with other kids. I also commented to Jon today that I love that our kids do not need electronics to keep them occupied. When we got home, the kids and Jon read about James Madison and Monroe while I started dinner. After dinner, the kids went into their playroom and played nicely together. I suspect we'll get some good sleep from them tonight as well.
Jon is of course anxiously awaiting a call from HS where he interviewed over spring break. Other openings have popped up, or are anticipated soon, which gives him hope to escape his current school. He just feels very beaten down and that he's not able to service kids appropriately.
Unexpectedly, about 10 days ago I received an email regarding a full time science manager position with my current company. I submitted my cover letter and resume, hoping to get an interview. I interviewed this last Thursday and now I sit and wait about another 10 days to see if I'm chosen. Of course, I have mixed feelings about the position. It's perfect, everything I would hope for, but not perfect timing. I never envisioned going full time again until James started first grade - so 3 more years. But this is too good of a position to pass up, especially after I found out it pays ~$60k - to work at home! It could even give us the option of Jon taking a year of parental leave while still coaching. We would end up having a higher total income if he even just kept his track position. Plus our expenses would shrink without his commute. In the meantime, we'd hope for another opening. But that all depends on whether he finds another position this year.
There are just many possibilities of where our lives could lead right now. And the good news is that we should have a pretty firm grasp on where we're headed by the end of the month. We have been blessed with some amazing things over the years and pray that God continues to pour out his blessings in the coming weeks. I'm not sure what the plan is for our family, but I anxiously await the results.
Ready for another crazy week with Carolyn turning 5 next Sunday. It's hard to believe so much has happened since she was born. But when I sit with her, it's hard to believe she's truly only 5. I look forward to continuing watching her develop as well.
In an attempt to calm my mind, and thinking it was a warm day (it was chilly), we headed to the park this afternoon. Both kids enjoyed the swinging, climbing, and sliding. A group of kids were there and they played follow the leader with them for a while. Once those kids left, we played with our kids as the leaders. I followed James and Jon followed Carolyn. They both seemed to really like being in charge, and everyone got some great exercise out of it. I'll definitely be pulling this idea out when there aren't other kids to play with at the park. It's always awesome and amazing to me how well James and Carolyn play together and with other kids. I also commented to Jon today that I love that our kids do not need electronics to keep them occupied. When we got home, the kids and Jon read about James Madison and Monroe while I started dinner. After dinner, the kids went into their playroom and played nicely together. I suspect we'll get some good sleep from them tonight as well.
Jon is of course anxiously awaiting a call from HS where he interviewed over spring break. Other openings have popped up, or are anticipated soon, which gives him hope to escape his current school. He just feels very beaten down and that he's not able to service kids appropriately.
Unexpectedly, about 10 days ago I received an email regarding a full time science manager position with my current company. I submitted my cover letter and resume, hoping to get an interview. I interviewed this last Thursday and now I sit and wait about another 10 days to see if I'm chosen. Of course, I have mixed feelings about the position. It's perfect, everything I would hope for, but not perfect timing. I never envisioned going full time again until James started first grade - so 3 more years. But this is too good of a position to pass up, especially after I found out it pays ~$60k - to work at home! It could even give us the option of Jon taking a year of parental leave while still coaching. We would end up having a higher total income if he even just kept his track position. Plus our expenses would shrink without his commute. In the meantime, we'd hope for another opening. But that all depends on whether he finds another position this year.
There are just many possibilities of where our lives could lead right now. And the good news is that we should have a pretty firm grasp on where we're headed by the end of the month. We have been blessed with some amazing things over the years and pray that God continues to pour out his blessings in the coming weeks. I'm not sure what the plan is for our family, but I anxiously await the results.
Ready for another crazy week with Carolyn turning 5 next Sunday. It's hard to believe so much has happened since she was born. But when I sit with her, it's hard to believe she's truly only 5. I look forward to continuing watching her develop as well.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Life's been busy...
It's been a few weeks since I've written. But I've really been trying to focus on the kids and truly enjoying my time with them. Often we all get caught up in what's coming next or telling others about what we're doing. I've been trying to watch my children, play with them, and snuggle with them. We found out this week that Carolyn will be in morning kindergarten. She was disappointed to find out that the other gymnastics days are full, so she will continue with one day a week. But then we started talking and decided it will be just fine. I've spent some time gathering ideas for places to go and science projects to do. We'll keep working on her reading, writing, and math, as well as reading science books as well as about all of the presidents. This is likely her last chance for a while to do what she wants without school getting in the way. So I'm looking forward to enjoying this Spring with her.
Thursday would have been my mom's 65th birthday, so it was a tough day. But I made my first cheesecake with the kids and they made me smile all day. James sang happy birthday to "grandma angel" and we offered her a bite when we enjoyed some together. I miss my mom every day, but I know she's watching us closely and keeping us safe.
James has been struggling with sleep lately and I'm not sure why. Twice this last week he's climbed in bed with us at night and today I had to take him into our bed to get him to nap. When I ask him why he says "because I miss you", so what do you say in response to that? I tried to talk with him a little at nap time, wondering if the kindergarten talk has him worried. I jokingly said something about daycare this week, so maybe that has him worried. Just not sure, so I'll keep snuggling him and after an hour of him in our bed at night we'll shuffle him back to bed. He won't be this little forever, but I also do horribly on interrupted sleep.
Carolyn has been doing great lately. We're almost completely through the Dolch sight words, with I think 3 left on the final list. She has around 100 spelling words mastered, and we keep working on addition/subtraction as well as telling time. She'll likely be at a 2nd-3rd grade level in everything by the time she starts kindergarten. But it's simply because she loves to learn. She's playing very nicely with James and is becoming a much more polite little girl. It's really cool to watch her choose her words very carefully and say things like "Excuse me Mom, but when you have a minute could you..." I look at her when that happens and marvel that she's only 4!
I've been trying to pay more attention to not yelling lately, and I'm going to commit to this a little more going forward. I recently read a blog post about someone commiting to not yelling for a year. I'm not ready to do that. But, I think I can commit to a week, and from there I can extend it further. I know the kids are better when I'm calmer, so I need to keep focusing on this so they can the best possible. Anyone else want to join me in this?
Thursday would have been my mom's 65th birthday, so it was a tough day. But I made my first cheesecake with the kids and they made me smile all day. James sang happy birthday to "grandma angel" and we offered her a bite when we enjoyed some together. I miss my mom every day, but I know she's watching us closely and keeping us safe.
James has been struggling with sleep lately and I'm not sure why. Twice this last week he's climbed in bed with us at night and today I had to take him into our bed to get him to nap. When I ask him why he says "because I miss you", so what do you say in response to that? I tried to talk with him a little at nap time, wondering if the kindergarten talk has him worried. I jokingly said something about daycare this week, so maybe that has him worried. Just not sure, so I'll keep snuggling him and after an hour of him in our bed at night we'll shuffle him back to bed. He won't be this little forever, but I also do horribly on interrupted sleep.
Carolyn has been doing great lately. We're almost completely through the Dolch sight words, with I think 3 left on the final list. She has around 100 spelling words mastered, and we keep working on addition/subtraction as well as telling time. She'll likely be at a 2nd-3rd grade level in everything by the time she starts kindergarten. But it's simply because she loves to learn. She's playing very nicely with James and is becoming a much more polite little girl. It's really cool to watch her choose her words very carefully and say things like "Excuse me Mom, but when you have a minute could you..." I look at her when that happens and marvel that she's only 4!
I've been trying to pay more attention to not yelling lately, and I'm going to commit to this a little more going forward. I recently read a blog post about someone commiting to not yelling for a year. I'm not ready to do that. But, I think I can commit to a week, and from there I can extend it further. I know the kids are better when I'm calmer, so I need to keep focusing on this so they can the best possible. Anyone else want to join me in this?
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Amazing Sibling Interaction
Among other reasons, we chose not to send Carolyn to preschool this year so that she and James would continue to have a large amount of time together. Once they start school they won't have unending hours together very often. We wanted to try and create the best sibling bond possible, without forcing it. What I have witnessed over the last few weeks shows that this was definitely a good decision. We can only hope that this bond persists over time. But at least for now, I can declare that they are just perfect for each other. I won't deny that they fight and I have to remind one to say "I'm sorry" and give a hug to the other. When getting along, though, they shine.
Last week I spent the first few days reminding James that by Friday he would be wearing underwear (at least for that day). Carolyn must have heard me reminding him. On Thursday afternoon she asked him he wanted to use the potty. He said no, but she pushed further. She told him she was create an X chart (I had already hung a sticker chart to no avail). She then proceeded to write x's on the white board easel in the living room and let him know she would circle one each time he went on the potty. To my amazement, he went in his room and took his diaper off. Over the next couple days she helped him pick stickers for his chart and reminded us to dispense the m&m's and chocolate balls when James was successful. He's had 2 accidents since, directly related to being sick on Tuesday night. Amazing sibling bond at work as she stood by and encouraged him.
I haven't worked on much development with Carolyn until this school year. Sure, we've done A LOT of reading to our children. But I never did any work sheets and really not many art projects. Since we moved I've really stepped it up, mostly because she loves it. Most of the time when I print things for Carolyn to work on, I print a copy for James so he can feel included. Well, his writing and cutting skills have developed simply by watching. James can already trace some letters and he's pretty close to cutting in a straight line. So much for boys and slow fine motor skills! He'll definitely always be a king of gross motor, but it's great to see these skills along with color identification and singing the alphabet coming right along. I'm considering the same, very laid back approach as I had with Carolyn for James next year and then working when he's 4 and preparing for K.
The icing on the cake for sibling interactions was at swimming today. Carolyn has been working hard the last couple weeks and overcoming some of her fears. She can now put her face in the water and this is allowing her to work on actually swimming. They spent the play portion of the lesson "diving" for rings on the bottom of the pool. James was apparently watching. During his class, he took the rings off the toy cart, drop them into the pool and then reached down to get them, putting his full face in the water. It was really cool to watch this and even his teacher commented on it. I'm sure she says similar things to the other parents, but each week she comments on how smart James is to make connections. Other weeks he's recreated a game at home with the toys in the pool. It really is awesome to see the rapid fire connections that he makes. With him absorbing so much from Carolyn it makes me wonder if he'll learn to read and write on a more accelerated schedule or not.
Many of the benefits here are for James, but I think Carolyn is benefiting from this relationship as well. She has a built in buddy and someone who generally is willing to listen to her read at any time. She enjoys playing teacher and he usually will go along with whatever he's suggesting. I also think that his development is causing Carolyn to pick up the pace a little to ensure he doesn't catch her. The next few years are going to be a lot of fun to watch these two continue to develop at lightning speed. I wonder what this next week has in store!
Last week I spent the first few days reminding James that by Friday he would be wearing underwear (at least for that day). Carolyn must have heard me reminding him. On Thursday afternoon she asked him he wanted to use the potty. He said no, but she pushed further. She told him she was create an X chart (I had already hung a sticker chart to no avail). She then proceeded to write x's on the white board easel in the living room and let him know she would circle one each time he went on the potty. To my amazement, he went in his room and took his diaper off. Over the next couple days she helped him pick stickers for his chart and reminded us to dispense the m&m's and chocolate balls when James was successful. He's had 2 accidents since, directly related to being sick on Tuesday night. Amazing sibling bond at work as she stood by and encouraged him.
I haven't worked on much development with Carolyn until this school year. Sure, we've done A LOT of reading to our children. But I never did any work sheets and really not many art projects. Since we moved I've really stepped it up, mostly because she loves it. Most of the time when I print things for Carolyn to work on, I print a copy for James so he can feel included. Well, his writing and cutting skills have developed simply by watching. James can already trace some letters and he's pretty close to cutting in a straight line. So much for boys and slow fine motor skills! He'll definitely always be a king of gross motor, but it's great to see these skills along with color identification and singing the alphabet coming right along. I'm considering the same, very laid back approach as I had with Carolyn for James next year and then working when he's 4 and preparing for K.
The icing on the cake for sibling interactions was at swimming today. Carolyn has been working hard the last couple weeks and overcoming some of her fears. She can now put her face in the water and this is allowing her to work on actually swimming. They spent the play portion of the lesson "diving" for rings on the bottom of the pool. James was apparently watching. During his class, he took the rings off the toy cart, drop them into the pool and then reached down to get them, putting his full face in the water. It was really cool to watch this and even his teacher commented on it. I'm sure she says similar things to the other parents, but each week she comments on how smart James is to make connections. Other weeks he's recreated a game at home with the toys in the pool. It really is awesome to see the rapid fire connections that he makes. With him absorbing so much from Carolyn it makes me wonder if he'll learn to read and write on a more accelerated schedule or not.
Many of the benefits here are for James, but I think Carolyn is benefiting from this relationship as well. She has a built in buddy and someone who generally is willing to listen to her read at any time. She enjoys playing teacher and he usually will go along with whatever he's suggesting. I also think that his development is causing Carolyn to pick up the pace a little to ensure he doesn't catch her. The next few years are going to be a lot of fun to watch these two continue to develop at lightning speed. I wonder what this next week has in store!
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