Tonight at dinner we were discussing our days, nothing big. Lorelei finished earlier so she’s hanging out beside the table. At a lull in the conversation she turned to me and screamed I HATE CROCODILES!!!!!! We’ve all felt that way at some point in our lives.
The actual big stuff since my last update is Moriarty starting school, and Papa Kent passing away. Moriarty started the first week of January. We found him kid-sized KN95s in different colors, including pink! He had left his Paw Patrol backpack in Idaho so he has to use our cast-offs for a couple weeks but was a trouper. He has the same teacher as the first couple days when he started. He’s made 4 friends, all K and 1st grade girls, and wants them to come to his birthday celebration next weekend. He’s so happy! 1st grade has very little homework but he does have to do a reading log, and prepare sentences for sharing to his class about rotating topics.
Covid exposures have been extremely high since Omicron emerged. The reason we didn’t put him in public school last year was the first Covid emergence. Then I enrolled him and Delta hit and we pulled him out quickly. Then I enroll him and Omicron hits and I give up! I GIVE UP. If I can’t let him go to school at this risk level, what if something worse comes along in 6 months and he misses more and more school. I feel like there’s no good solution, so we’re rolling with it. We get daily updates about positive tests by classroom. When the email arrives my heart stops until I open it. Will it be us? Is it our turn? Can we handle this? So far it’s not us. That’s what matters. We’ve started testing him on Sunday evenings to help make sure he’s not asymptomatic and putting both Lorelei and his classmates at additional risk.
We took 2 trips to Idaho to visit Pam and Kent. They also came here. We got to play a lot of cards! The kids played with the neighbor girl that Moriarty has become good friends with. We ate a lot of food. We gave a lot of hugs. It was hard to get the kids to/from Idaho, twice, but it was worth it. I’m so glad we took the time and spent the energy.
Lorelei’s language improves every week. It’s really impossible to describe how much fun she’s becoming. Now, she’s struggling to nap so she’s not actually “fun” much in the evenings these days, but she’s so charming! While most of what she says is articulate, she has picked up a few odd constructions. She kept asking me for “a milk of glass”, and of course I knew what she meant, but it was so cute I kept saying it. Oh well. I know, my mother would never approve. She was very big on talking to children like they’re adults with less experience, never using baby talk or the wrong construction. But, it’s SO cute! One morning I saw her express to Moriarty how big she was getting. “You can see me now Moriarty. I’m bigger now. I’m bigger and bigger and bigger!” and using her arms to show how huge she was getting. Another time at breakfast I encouraged her to eat over bowl instead of getting a bib. I said “you got this”. She replied, “I want my bib. I don’t got this".
Moriarty’s reading and writing have improved a lot. I think he’s being challenged more. And he’s so happy! He’s using words he hears us say, much to my delight. I heard him say to Pip “you just put it back on the shelf precariously?” He’s still obsessed with calendars. We started marking days on a calendar when he was Lorelei’s age. He still loves to mark up his calendar. We had some drainage work done and he asked when they’d be done. I said next Thursday. He looked at his calendar and exclaimed, “There is no next week!” He’s finally learned to ride a bike. He was great on the balance bike 3 years ago but he was intimidated by riding without training wheels. Pip and I just refused to put them on his bike, and I guess he accepted that, and just tried. He could ride within 30 min. His tantrums have also dropped even lower since starting school. We expected that, but it’s validating. He’s 100% taken on the roll of “boss” for Lorelei. We taught her the phrase “you’re not the boss of me” and she tells him often. I’m getting firmer with expectations around his behavior. It’s great that he’s making his lunches and is responsible for his school work. But I expect more! I’ve set the completely rigid boundary that if he fights about bed time, throws tantrums, etc, that there will be no Lego Store that week. There is no more grey area. No more piecemeal consequences. He’s old enough to keep it together about bedtime and treats, with our help and support of course. I’m hopeful. I’m really hopeful.
Pictures are in a new place, password still “mal”