Oh goodness. There's so much to catch up on here. It feels overwhelming and too much to overcome, but I want to keep at it. I want to be able to look back for glimpses into our years, our joys, our struggles, and our children's lives.
Yesterday was one of those days I wanted to document. Two things happened, each with a different boy, that I couldn't wait to tell Jim about at the end of the day. If only telling Jim would automatically put it in writing somewhere, we'd have books full of quotes, quips, and giggles.
Ian has been attending preschool two days a week at at incredible place just down the road from our house. His teachers are warm, thoughtful, creative, and so invested in the lives of the little ones in their care.
When I picked Ian up from school yesterday, Ian immediately started telling me about someone on the playground who hadn't allowed him to do something. Ms. Ashley overheard him telling me and said, "I think we worked it out, right?" He said he told him he didn't like that (something we have been working on!) and the boy stopped! To which Ms. Ashley exclaimed, "HOORAY!!" and threw her arms up in the air with joy that the boys had worked it out. These things are BIG deals in the life of a four year old and I love that he has a teacher who is so exuberant, concerned, and involved to care for each interaction with such a thrilling response.
But the best part happened next...
Then we went inside to check-out and Ms. Wendy said, "Oh Ian! Did you tell your mom what we did today?" Ian immediately started telling me that they worked on construction and with tools. And Ms. Wendy went on to ask him what tools.... a power drill and a hammer. She said Ian really seemed to know what he was doing. They built a class structure out of wood, each student getting a piece of two by four and then drilling screws into it to attach to another classmate's piece of wood. Ms. Wendy said that Ian was the only one who seemed to really understand how to use them. When it was his turn, he said, matter of factly, "I'm going to need two screws." (This just makes me giggle!) He then drilled the piece of wood across two others, which is something no one else had done.
Must be all that time he spends working with Papa in the workshop :)
Jim may have beamed from ear to ear when we told him the story last night.
Yesterday was one of those days I wanted to document. Two things happened, each with a different boy, that I couldn't wait to tell Jim about at the end of the day. If only telling Jim would automatically put it in writing somewhere, we'd have books full of quotes, quips, and giggles.
Ian's Moments: 4 years
Ian has been attending preschool two days a week at at incredible place just down the road from our house. His teachers are warm, thoughtful, creative, and so invested in the lives of the little ones in their care.
When I picked Ian up from school yesterday, Ian immediately started telling me about someone on the playground who hadn't allowed him to do something. Ms. Ashley overheard him telling me and said, "I think we worked it out, right?" He said he told him he didn't like that (something we have been working on!) and the boy stopped! To which Ms. Ashley exclaimed, "HOORAY!!" and threw her arms up in the air with joy that the boys had worked it out. These things are BIG deals in the life of a four year old and I love that he has a teacher who is so exuberant, concerned, and involved to care for each interaction with such a thrilling response.
But the best part happened next...
Then we went inside to check-out and Ms. Wendy said, "Oh Ian! Did you tell your mom what we did today?" Ian immediately started telling me that they worked on construction and with tools. And Ms. Wendy went on to ask him what tools.... a power drill and a hammer. She said Ian really seemed to know what he was doing. They built a class structure out of wood, each student getting a piece of two by four and then drilling screws into it to attach to another classmate's piece of wood. Ms. Wendy said that Ian was the only one who seemed to really understand how to use them. When it was his turn, he said, matter of factly, "I'm going to need two screws." (This just makes me giggle!) He then drilled the piece of wood across two others, which is something no one else had done.
Must be all that time he spends working with Papa in the workshop :)
Jim may have beamed from ear to ear when we told him the story last night.
Owen's Moment: 21 Months
Lately, Owen prefers to read books with songs in them. There's one song book that I sing multiple times, daily. It has MANY songs in it and we sing almost every single one, every single time. Recently, he's started to get into the hand movements and does some of them along with me.
Last night, as we were singing through the songs before bed, he was holding a small stuffed penguin. He did the movements with his own hands, but when we got to "If You're Happy and You Know It", he started looking at the penguin and you could see the wheels spinning in his head. He took the penguins flippers and smacked them together whenever it was time to clap hands, which I enthusiastically encouraged with surprise. When it came time to stomp feet he bounched the penguin on his lap before leaning way forward to stomp the penguin's feet on the floor. And then, the penguin raised his flippers to shout "HOORAY" at the very end. It was just absolutely adorable. Moments I would love to capture on camera, one day.
These boys, they certainly keep us on our toes and bring us to our wits end, but they also elicit the greatest joy, wonder, and astonishment from us. How grateful we are for their lives!
