Anna has recovered fully from her dental procedure. She is quite curious about the silver crowns on a few of her teeth, and seems more receptive to brushing. So we are making progress on that aspect of self-care. Her progress in potty training is slow, but steady. We plan to focus on it over the Christmas break and see how much farther we can get! In other areas, she is growing by leaps and bounds, talking in complete sentences and expressing more complex ideas. She recognizes more than half of the letters of the alphabet and enjoys doing word puzzles. (We have the Melissa and Doug version, and she has become very good at putting them together!) With all the language, self-help and cognitive development, Anna has also begun to press the boundaries in terms of behavior, and has landed herself in time-out a couple of times this weekend. Insofar as that indicates a new level of awareness of rules and consequences for breaking rules, I am all for it! Anna needs to develop in this area also, and testing the limits is an important step in that process.
Anna isn't the only one moving in that direction. Iain will tell you he's 'big two!'--and has the occasional temper tantrum to prove it. Although he does fall apart sometimes from frustration, or being tired or hungry (just before dinner can be a tough time for him), for the most part he is quite distractible, and so the tears can be dried and we move on quickly. Iain is much less stormy than Thomas and much less stubborn than Anna. He plays happily by himself, and loves for us to join him. He will bring me a book and ask me to read it, or come to me and say, 'sit mommy couch', when he wants to sit on my lap to watch a video. This phase of his life, like his babyhood, is a delight.
Thomas, the last one to have his birthday and accompanying check-up, has grown to 41 inches and 39 pounds. That puts him below average in terms of size, but what he lacks in that area, he fully makes up for in imagination and speaking ability. For a few minutes after he first wakes up, he will often be quite quiet. Then, his imagination seems to kick in, and he's off--telling us about all the events, places and people in his make-believe world. Thomas loves to draw, and will create all sorts of things on paper, explaining what he's made in detail. That accompanying narrative makes drawing a less suitable occupation for church than it is for most kids. Thomas has begun attending Mass with Lewis and me, and his first Sunday, when asked what he had learned at church, replied, "I learned you don't talk in church." So he has grasped the basic rule, now is it a matter of following it a bit more. Of course, part of the problem is that Thomas is an incredibly curious kid, and so questions like, "What do the bells mean?" just have to be asked! I enjoy having him with us, and look forward to the time when Anna and Iain will join us as well.
Things are pretty busy: between teaching and writing and spending time with the kids, there isn't a lot of time left. Yesterday was the last of three Saturdays I have been teaching in the Course of Study (part-time seminary education for Methodist pastors who are already serving churches). I love the teaching, but being away from home all days Saturday is tiring for everyone! So I am glad not to have more Saturday teaching until May.
Thanks to a bout of insomnia, I have been getting a bit done in the middle of the night. I could use the sleep, but I will take advantage of the quiet to do things like keep up with the blog and keep up with friends on the internet. I will post a link in the next couple of days to a new photo album, which I mean to create tomorrow or Monday. So don't give up on me! I am working on it!
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