Right this minute my kids are on their first 3-way call. With their grandpa. Moriarty has scheduled Lego building time with Phil a few times a week, and Lorelei has been crashing more and more because she likes Phil too. Right now they’re each on the zoom call with their own laptop playing some game with giggling and shouting ‘SEE YOU LATER’ over and over. This is my village giving me a break.
Both kids are definitely developing, but in directions of diverging pleasantness. Moriarty competent, Lorelei incompetent (in emotional regulation). Moriarty is reading so much more. He’s writing more. He’s initiating making signs and writing in this little (pink) composition book Pip bought him. It’s incredible. It’s mind bending. He’s already finished ~4/5 of the total 1st grade curriculum in his self-paced online school. Now Debbie is creating supplementary work to reinforce concepts and do more playful hands-on stuff. Right now they’re doing a unit on Native Americans of the PNW. She has worked with a local tribe for years and is teaching Moriarty about the reality of traditional Native American lives. They’re watching videos of traditional dances and people reading traditional stories. He’s making a book and drawing/writing about how they lived and what they ate (pics linked). It’s so fun to watch. He told Debbie this week that he LOVES drawing and art. I knew he liked it, but this was more passion than he’d expressed about anything other than firetrucks and the color pink. I can support that passion!
Lorelei is having more tantrums. Because at 2 her feelings are bigger than her body, like they do. It does come out as hysterical quotes because despite being immature emotionally, she’s quite articulate about her feelings and desires. A charming example this week:
Pip: Lorelei, I'm not giving you anymore, I've already given you half my lunch
Lorelei (screaming): But I just want it all!
She’s completely in the literal phase. We were playing a plastic fishing game and I got that old jingle for Goldfish Crackers in my head. o/ I love the fishes ‘cause they’re so delicious. Gone gold fishing o/ Lorelei replied deadpan, “It's for pretend. Please don't put them in your mouth”. With that literal mind she also has no tact. I often eat a cookie or brownie in the evening after the kids go to bed. I had given her one bite of brownie in the kitchen, then brought my, very reasonably sized, brownie to the couch. She came in and saw me eating it and said, “Is that your brownie? It's bigger. It's this big” and she gestured her arms all the way out. I was fat shamed by my toddler.
Moriarty is hilarious in how own 6-year old ways. At dinner the other night we were telling knock knock jokes and being silly. Pip asked him “what’s black, white, and red all over” and gave the answer that it’s a newspaper. Then it occurred to me he might not know what a newspaper is. So we asked him. And he said, “It's like Reddit, just on paper.” I couldn’t be prouder, and a little embarrassed.
Halloween happened. We did another scavenger hunt, but this year we actually wrote out hints for Moriarty to read and solve. He was so excited he couldn’t focus on reading the words and was just jumping up and down a lot. It was charming. There’s a full survey of candy preference in a linked pic.
We lost a chicken to a coyote. Moriarty and I heard the loud clucking of death through the door (it was still dark outside, yay high latitude). He and I went to investigate and saw the coyote streaking across the lawn, but it was running in the direction we found Ender, not away. Upon more searching we found another chicken, Artemis, trapped in some blackberries. We saved her life in the nick of time. Turns out they’d gotten out of the run overnight and couldn’t get back in. I shored up the run and am being more careful about locking them into the stronger metal coop at night. Ugh. Moriarty had a great attitude about it. He told me he hopes “when Ender’s body turns to dirt, grass grows in the dirt, chickens eat the grass then we eat the chickens…”. This version mutated into hoping the chickens would have babies that we’d adopt. I liked both. He has a great perspective on the circle of life.
And the highlight of highlight of highlights of the month: He got his vaccine!! First shot, the next is in another week. We’re making a list of things he wants to do once it’s safe: the local kid science museum, Japanese steakhouse dinner, sleepover with Miranda, etc. I feel so much better already.
Recent Pics, password “mal”
Random Videos of Awesomeness
Lorelei proud of herself for putting together the bridge in the train set
Lorelei being a whirling dervish