Hi
all-
The kids were super excited about Grandma Shay's
visit and stayed up late to get her from the airport. And we did lots of fun stuff while she was
here. First up- Baltimore Aquarium. Rinat didn't want to go to aquarium but when
we went he lost his mind he loved it so much.
Then there was the Dino museum for a quick
jaunt.
And then we went to the zoo with just Bek
and Grandma Shay and it was super fun. And
it is always interesting when we don’t have overbearing-at-times Rinat to lead
the way and we get to find out what Bek likes.
He loves completely different things that Rin did when he was that age. Instead of liking the reptile house, he loves
the primates. Instead of loving the
small mammals, he loves the big cats. It
kinda cool because then we get to see different things too.
And then it was time for Grandma Shay to
leave. Mom left on the first snow day of
the year and I can't believe we got her off on time. Our neighborhood
gets sort of socked in when it snows. But
the kids had a blast sledding down the street. We were supposed to only
get maybe an inch but it ended up being about 5. Crazy! It’s not often in these days of weather
predictions that we get to be surprised by a snowfall. But this amount was a definite- and exciting-
surprise.
It’s been pretty cold here for a while
now. On the way to Mer's for brunch one
day as we drove down Clara Barton Pkwy, I saw people out and about but it
didn’t register with me for a minute that it was not actually people just
jogging on the towpath next to the canal but people ON the canal playing
hockey. So awesome. When I pointed out what they were doing, Rinat
said “I LOVE WINTER!!!” with so much enthusiasm. Everything is just so exciting for him.
Aibek is doing such a great job with his
speech. But I am thinking maybe all that crying at the baby house was ear
infections bc now he seems to be not just talking better but hearing better and
working harder. He is starting to show interest in writing and reading. He's
finally drawing things I can recognize. And he finally WANTS to learn. He has
always done things in his own time so I try not to put too much pressure on him
and just let Bek be the wonderful Bek that he is but I also want him to feel
successful. I want him to not think of himself as dumb- because he's not at
all. He's quite smart. Whatever he can't do easily he can find a work-around or
distraction and that has worked for him so far in his life. But things are
going to get a lot harder next year when he starts kinder and I am nervous for
him. I know he will be successful in life but I don't want him to spend the
next 13 or so years miserable. Only time will tell I guess. But I think him
wanting to work hard and learning to practice until you get better is a
valuable lesson for him to learn. Everything takes work after all. Everything in
life has a learning curve. And I hope this little sweet pea of ours is stubborn
enough to stick with it and enjoy the fight.
One of the things I have been pushing him
on is writing thank you notes. He
definitely has something to say and I love being able to help him say it. It’s a team effort.
Rinat's obsession has gone from fishing to
football now that the weather is too cold for fishing. But he still wants
his fishing birthday party. So by darn,
he’ll get it. And for Bek’s BDay party we
made a reservation at the Zoo which is so exciting. It will be in Amazonia- our favorite. But in the meantime, he celebrated at his preschool.
I grew up loving the Annie movie but not
actually really getting what it was about. And now there’s a new one
coming out. So we watched the old one together because I thought they might
have questions- or even more likely- other kids might say things to them about
it and I wanted to make sure they were able to respond appropriately. And
I just wanted to watch it (the songs! The
dancing!). They watched it and loved it
and we talked afterwards about how that orphanage was nothing at all like the
baby house and Miss Hannigan is nothing at all like their nannies who adored
them. Bek has been obsessed with "It's a Hard Knock Life" and
anything I ask him to do like pick up toys in the basement or help with laundry
or wipe up his pee off the toilet seat and he immediately bursts into song.
It's sort of insulting and hilarious at the same time. Because, seriously, there is very little
about their life that is hard knock. But
I try to give them just a taste of it every once in a while on principle. I’m so mean.
Love to all, -m
