So, for an update on the family, Travis is doing well in pre-Kindergarten, still somewhat shy but has developed a friendship with a couple kids in the class, and I think overall its going okay. He's sharp as a tack and reading like crazy (he read "Multi-Purpose" on my contact solution bottle the other day, I'm pretty sure that's above Kindergarten reading level), adding and subtracting easily now (the other day he told me if I had $100 in my bank account and bought something that cost $2, I would have $98 left..... he is SOOOO ready for those stupid story problems in elementary math textbooks) - he's fully grasped the concept of negative numbers, his vocabulary is just insane (last night he told me he heard some noises that "distracted him from sleeping" -- I mean, what 5-yr old says that?). So, I just need to get him a little more comfortable with interacting socially; I plan on getting him together with his little buddy Evan from school, and hopefully that will develop over the next few months or so. His eating is improving, he still struggles but will try new things more frequently now at least. Speech is still developing, vowels are still his primary issue, so jaw and muscle development are the primary focus.
Noah is mid-way through his terrible twos and on his way to being a seven-year-old. (By the way, he will not admit that he is two, he INSISTS that he is five just like his brother. "NO MOM I'M FIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!") He's not quite reading yet but I think will be an early reader like Travis was... he's very in tune with letters and all. Noah is my jokester... he is constantly trying to find ways to make people laugh. He's also perfecting the art of the temper tantrum. Last night, for instance, he was mad because he wanted me to read the book he picked out for bedtime story before I read the book Travis picked out. So he lay square in the middle of the floor, screaming. Now, my parenting philosophy is, as long as you're not hurting things or people, feel free to throw a tantrum and I will happily ignore you. So I did, and read Travis his book, and Noah starts screaming "MOM! You're making too much noise for me to cry!" In other words, I'm only crying because I want you to hear me and feel sorry for me. Talk about giving up your strategy, kid.
Sophie, bless her heart, is desperately trying to be one of the big kids. Her little feelings get so hurt when the boys won't let her take their puzzle pieces, or steals a checker from the checkerboard. She's very dramatic, tears streaming down her face, full open-mouth wail, melts on the floor in a sad little pile when she feels she's been slighted. The boys do a fairly good job of trying to include her, but she still slobbers on stuff a little too much for their liking. She's now big into dancing, she loves music. The sound of anything remotely resembling music (Noah banging on a few keys on the piano, a TV commercial in the background, the dishwasher) causes her to start nodding her head and bouncing up and down in her little dance-y way.
Ben and I have been enjoying the winter; went on our annual ski trip to Crystal Mountain last month which was a blast, a weekend minus the kids (who I love dearly but make quality ski trips a little difficult), excellent ski weather and good friends. I'm battling through the guilt of leaving him for about 10 days while I go on a fabulous trip without him -- one of my best friends and I touring and skiing in Italy. It was his idea that I go, his birthday present was to me was to pay the deposit for the trip, and he insists that I'm not a horrible person for going. You see, we are not the kind of family to vacation separately. In fact, Ben is my favorite person to go vacationing with. So, this is difficult for me. But, I'm moving past that, the trip would have been nearly logistically impossible if we were both going and having to worry about leaving the kids for that long; so now I'm just thankful that Ben is so unselfishly letting me do this and I fully intend to have a super-fabulous trip. I leave in three days. I should probably be packing.
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