A Long Pre-Halloween Day

Friday was a day of Halloween celebrations.

First we went to Elizabeth and Miranda's school where all the kids were allowed to dress up. There were some princesses and superheros, but also some homemade creative costumes like a volcano and a jelly fish. One mom went as a palentologist with the kid as a baby dinosaur. Very cute. They did a little photo op thing and then had a parade and then trick or treated at the doors around the deck. It was all very sweet and the girls had phone even though they were a bit overwhelmed.

















Then we went to Parker's school. After much standing around, there was a parade and a party in the classroom. It's always fun to see Parker interact with his school mates. Several of them seem to be really enamored of him, holding his hand and trying to sit next to him at all costs. Parker seems clueless to all of it.

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Eli writes.

Today Elizabeth decided she could write letters. Until today (about 3 minutes ago), she had just said, "I CAN'T WRITE!!!! YOU DO IT!" and fought hard whenever I encouraged her to trace letters or practice writing.

But then today she wanted to write 'Rachel'. So Michael spelled it out for her and she wrote the letters perfectly, but not in order.

Then a minute later, she asked how to spell Liam and Miles and wrote them perfectly, in order, on a straight line.

Like her brother...she just doesn't do anything until she can do it perfectly.

TPS: Teaching Math

Parker: "Elizabeth, do you want to know what 16 x 32 is?"

Elizabeth: "Yes!"

They sit down on the floor.

Parker: "You see, you first multuple 6 and 2 and then carry the one. Then two times 1, plus 1 is 3 and you put that here. Now you take 3 times 6 and carry the one again. Then you add 3 plus 1 to get 4 and you put it here. Now you add them up."

Elizabeth: "Oh."

Parker: "You get 512! You see that?"

Elizabeth: "Yes."

Parker: "This is the kind of math Oliver does."

Elizabeth: "Ohhhhhhhh."

2nd Gym Class

Yesterday was the second gymnastics class and the first one with the coach that will be Elizabeth's coach in the competitive track that starts in a couple weeks. She immediately yet discretely asked upon seeing them, "which one is going to development?" I told her it would be obvious in a minute but pointed to Elizabeth. It was very interesting to watch the coach watching Elizabeth and taking extra time to help her with form and technique that she wasn't doing with the other kids. Walking across the beam, she made Elizabeth pause and point her toes (which she does as a toe curl). Doing Blast off's (or the precurser to handstands) she held her up and made her tuck her head under. On the highbar, she had her do three pull ups (which she could do) and then bring her legs up to her hands in a pike. She kept a close eye on her most of the time.

Every so often, she would turn to the other coach who was helping her and make a face like, "You see that?" and the other coach would smile and nod. This happened a few times and each time, i was amused. I told Michael who was there watching too that everyone always thinks their kids are the smartest, fastest, strongest, cutest, so it was nice to have some of her skills validated by someone who is objective and knowledgeable.

They did these little circuits where they would practice one thing for a bit and then move to something else. One was a somersault into the foam pit. She did it once and then saw the girl next to her do a flip into the pit. She was impressed and tried to do it. After one try, she pretty much got it and was quite happy saying to the coach "Did you see that?"

The other little girl that flipped will also be going to development and I talked to her mom after class. She just turned 5 so I felt better than she seemed a bit more advanced.

Miranda, by the way, held her own the entire class and if she was just a tad bit (more) fearless, she would be right up there with Elizabeth. In fact, on some things, she was even better than Elizabeth.

Parker Sucks

Parker sucks on his fingers ALL THE TIME. He also puts anything and everything in his mouth. If I had to guess, I would say that he has something in his mouth 85% of the time. His mouth gets chapped, he smacks his lips and it makes it worse. We've tried talking to him about it, punishing him for it, rewarding him when not doing it, and even making him wear gloves. Nothing works.

Any suggestions? My only next thought is that icky stuff you put on to get them to stop sucking their thumbs.

Parker has also discovered that he can say "No" (or rather simply ignore us) or "Why" to requests from us. This has never (except for a 6 month period when he was about 2) occurred to him. Some of his requests are reasonable ("Why do I need to put jammies on at 7pm if my bedtime is 7:30?") and I wish I had more patience to explain "adult" things to him ("because you take too long to get dressed at 7:30 and I thought I would try this approach by having you get dressed before we play games and read books") but sometimes I just don't have the energy and just want him to do it.

My guess is that he is learning this from the girls, but I suppose it could just be normal part of growing up.

Exponents

Here's Parker working out 2^30. Once he finished this, I showed him how to use a scientific calculator for this, which blew his mind.

Comforting Parker

Parker has been having some meltdowns after school lately. He goes at full speed ahead during school and even after when they play on the playground with friends (something that I think is equally if not more important than actual school) and even does fine once at home. But then, something happens (he gets hurt, gets frustrated, etc) and he loses it. It's obvious he is super tired during these episodes so we usually go lie down in his bed together and he just cries.

This happened tonight after dinner. We went to his room and he cried and cried. He kept crying and the normal songs and "you're ok" whispers didn't comfort him. He just kept sobbing.

Finally, I thought, "What comforts Parker best?" So I said to him, "Let's count backwards from 100." I did the counting, but when I messed up (on purpose) he corrected me and stopped crying. When we got to 1, he started crying again. I asked him why he was so sad and he said, "Because I have to figure out what 3 to the 20th is and I don't what to lie here any longer!"

So we got up and he figured it out. He said when he gets to 3 to the 30th, he'll move on the 4's. Oh joy.

More Halloween costume choices

Despite the fact that the girls have no idea what a super hero is, they are pretty much in love with these ridiculous costumes I got them today.

And I'm sorry, but Parker, is pretty much the cutest Pirate I've ever seen.

Silent Night, Holy Night

Last night, Ebba, god bless her, took the kids for a sleepover. All six of them had been talking about it for a while, so we finally scheduled it and luckily it was close to our 10 year anniversary. Parker decided he didn't want to go, and said the reason was because he was gonna get up too early and be alone. That prompted Francis (husband) and Lincoln (7 year old) to say they would both get up early with him. So he went.

Ebba send us a note at 9:30 that said this:

"Everyone did great tonight. The girls were busy and happy playing, and Lincoln and Parker were doing their own thing for a while with lots of crazy laughter. Your girls ate lots of pasta with meat sauce and Parker had his plain pasta. Got the girls down by 7:30 though thanks to Allison (who we just put back in bed again at 9:12) they were up for a bit, including one stint where Francis went in to find everyone except Miranda, who was asleep, jumping on Elizabeth's mattress. It was just after 8 when I think she finally was asleep. Parker (on a pad in Linc's room) was out like a light while Lincoln listened to a book on tape."

We went out to Kirala, our favorite sushi place and didn't even mind too much that a toddler was seated next to us. Then we went home to enjoy the peace and quiet of a kid-less house. We watched home renovation shows and old episodes of News Radio, which is one of the funniest sitcoms ever, and then went to sleep early. I slept in until after 7, but Michael was awake at 5 and did some work. We then enjoyed a lovely breakfast out, something we never do anymore, a quick stop at the office supply store for toner and then picked up the kids. Ebba and Francis were still alive and her house, albeit it covered with toys, was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Thank you Ebba and Francis for giving us something wonderful that we haven't had since Parker was born. Peace and quiet in our own house.

Fieldtrip

I was a parent chaperon at the 2nd fieldtrip of the year for Parker's class. I decided not to ride on the bus for a variety of reasons, but I let Parker so he could experience that craziness.

We went to Ardenwood Farm and there was no plan for the day at all. I just took my three kids around to the different old time farm exhibits. You know, doing laundry, making corn into feed, blacksmith shop, etc. He seemed pretty damn bored until he discovered the corn fields and haystack. Then he picked corn like there was no tomorrow.

The kids seem to have a good time even though or in spite of there being was no educational component and no tie into the kindergarten curriculum.

Obligatory Pumpkin Carving Photos

Yahtzee!

Parker is teaching Miranda to play Yahtzee this morning.

Nuff said.

Thanks, Mom

Got a nice letter from my mom today with some tips on ways to deal with Elizabeth these days. They all made sense, but I have no idea how I'll actually do them as they require huge quantities of patience, something I significantly lack. I'm really struggling with her these days and feel pretty clueless about it.

And speaking of Elizabeth, they had their first "real" gymnastics class today. The gym was crazy chaotic and it will stress me out with the noise and commotion each week, but both girls were quite happy with it exclaiming when it was over, "it was too short!" which is strange since it was an hour which seems long for 4 year olds.

Elizabeth couldn't stop staring at all the older girls flipping and twisting around. There were some girls going around the high bar and I told her she could do that when she was 6. She said, "Maybe 5."

10 years today

Michael and I got married 10 years ago today. He got me tickets to West Side Story. I haven't gotten him anything. Yet.

Best or Worst?

This post will show that I am either one of the best moms around or one of the worst. It could really go either way depending on who you are, what you think and what the future holds.

As you all know, the girls are quite physical. Always have been. From turning over at 8 weeks to holding their heads up super early to jumping on two legs before their peers and climbing out of their cribs at 17 months to pumping on swings and riding bikes, they have always been a bit ahead of the curve in this department.

You may also know that Elizabeth has never really had a passion for anything like her siblings. Parker's is obvious although it does change slightly; it is always number or engineering related. Miranda loves animals and small figurines. She just HAS TO HAVE THEM and spends huge quantities of time playing in her room with her little people and baby animals. Elizabeth is always hard to shop for. As I have blogged before, she usually only likes what her sister or brother have rather than something she likes on her own.

But today, I think we found her passion. I had been thinking for a while that I needed to get the girls in a real gymnastics class. And when they started preschool and every single parent and teacher gasped when they saw what Elizabeth could do on the bars, I figured it was time. I called around and found a place in Emeryville. I asked if their 4 year old classes were just songs and tumbling explaining about my girls and their skills and they said no and suggested we have them evaluated to see what class would be best for them.

We went in today and the gym was as I remember from watching Amy at her practices. It was a huge place with equipment everywhere. The girls happily walked away with the director and did what she asked of them. It appeared as though she was checking their flexibility, strength and knowledge of basic terms like cartwheel and handstand. There was no shyness, no pouting, no problems. Just two girls showing this stranger what they could do. At one point, she had them climb this wall ladder, turn facing out and then raise their legs up to their nose. They were 10 feet off the ground and Elizabeth was in a perfect pike. Elizabeth was beaming. It was crazy.

Even from where I was sitting without hearing what they were saying, I knew the results immediately. When she walked back up to me, she said, "I see what you are saying now," and went on to confirm Elizabeth was ready for the competitive track and Miranda was close, but not there. She said Elizabeth was weak in basics (since she had not been taught them yet) but so strong in every other area, she was in. So I signed them up for a class starting this week that would prep Elizabeth for what she doesn't know and allow Miranda to do it too. Then, in a month, Elizabeth would move to the competitive track and Miranda would move to a ballet/gymnastic combo class (which is what she had been wanting to take for a long time now.) Both classes were at the same time so it all worked out great.

I let them all (Parker came home from school early today as he fell over a bench on recess and was a little shaken from it) play at the open gym. They went in foam pits, jumped on giant trampolines, swung on high rings and generally had the time of their life.

Elizabeth was in heaven. She ran from piece of equipment to piece of equipment smiling the entire time. She kept exclaiming how much fun she was having and how she loved this place. The others were happy, but not like her. She started jumping on the trampolines and even the guys there practicing their twists and layouts and flips were asking me, "How old is she? We never see them jump THAT high." She would stare at these guys and then try to imitate their movements to some degree. She didn't want to leave and even when she got tired, she would just take a break and then start up again. When we did leave, she asked when we could go back. Thursday, I said. Thursday.

So as I said, I'm either the best mom ever for finally helping Elizabeth find the thing she loves or the worst ever for pushing a 4 year old unnecessarily and for potentially making her twin feel less than equal.

Time (and blog readers) will tell.

Miranda writes

Miranda wrote her full name today for the first time. She's done various letters and was perfecting the M, but today on the back of some art from school she wrote her whole name. The mom working that art table told me how proud she was of herself.

Finally...something she does BEFORE Elizabeth.

Rhyming

This week at Parker's school, the teacher is making books for the kids with rhyming words. So she'll draw a picture of a bat and write bat and then have the kids write a word that rhymes with bat. Each kid gets his or her own book.

For Parker, he has to make a book for her. He did the whole thing on his own. (Would you say that Ball and Doll rhyme? Parker and I had a discussion about that one tonight.)

She's trying...

Porch Cuteness: A series

And speaking of Halloween

I took the girls to hang out with some schoolmates after school today at the cemetery and local lame pumpkin patch. Miranda gets along well with everyone and seems to enjoy hanging with her pals. Elizabeth goes hot and cold, running and playing with them and then getting upset about nothing and pouting for long periods of time. It's a nice group of moms too.