Tuesday, February 04, 2003

I have a feeling that I have lost my blogger audience – but no matter! This is my record of kids development, as incomplete and occasional as that might be.

Aidan is really doing a lot of body exploration – by that I mean that he now runs quite well and is constantly doing “tricks” – standing on one leg, various types of hopping, galloping, twisting jumps, rolls, balancing on various furniture items, balancing objects on himself. It is fun to watch him try new things and master them. We were at Acrosports this morning and I was impressed as how accomplished he already is at 3 ¼. He is clearly a bit more coordinated than Thomas at present, but that has almost always been the case. Today they were hopping backwards down the “fasttrack” (long skinny trampoline) and doing open and closed legs (think jumping jacks) concurrently. I also watched him walk along a balance beam backward with a ring balanced on his head and later just climb right up on the uneven parallel bars with hands on top bar and feet on bottom one and shimmy right along to the other side. He has such fun doing it all too and also seems to very much enjoy his companions (there are 5 total in the class). He and Thomas often hold hands when walking between activities – too cute. I think Thomas usually initiates but however it happens I like to see it.

On the downside, Aidan sometimes has an unbelievably hard time leaving Quincy alone. Quincy is quite self directed in his play and is quite happy to explore (or get into mischief) on his own. But there are days that anything Quincy touches Aidan suddenly NEEDS. Even at the playground the other day – Aidan had 4 shovels – but Quincy picked up an itty bitty pink one – and Aidan suddenly desperately needed it to add to his stash. I wouldn’t let him have it so he kept following Quincy around – “has he dropped it yet? Is he done with it yet?” Sad. Then Aidan of course did end up with it and Q nothing. So I spied a rake – just like one A had only blue instead of red. And guess what – desperate NEED for that one too. Comical if not so unbelievably frustrating! On the flip side, sometimes he can be very sweet to Quincy. He will build towers and tell Quincy he can knock them down – and Q waits until told now – a big improvement!

Quincy has obviously good understanding of language now. I can give him an item in the bedroom like a tissue and ask him to go put it in the trash (in the kitchen) and he will. Cool. You can ask him to point out things in books – where is the bear’s eyes – and he points. Mostly correctly… You can ask him to help put things away or back – and he will especially if you do it as well. So nice to have him help put things back and not just pull them all down. I can also ask Quincy where he wants to go and to show me what he wants and he does – I’ll pick him up and then follow the pointing. Very helpful.

He clearly picks up behavior from his brother. Sometimes now he throws himself down on the ground when not getting his way – he even bruised his forehead superbowl Sunday doing that! This morning I was telling him “no” touching the stereo. He wasn’t paying attention so I had to physically remove him. Then he came over and looked at me and threw the calculator he was holding on the ground. So I told him no throwing and picked it up. Then he started to deliberately empty the study trash can while looking at me so that got removed. All very deliberate testing of the waters. Aidan sometimes (esp at dinnertime when I am home alone with the kids) will say his legs don’t work and flop on the ground – “you have to carry me!”. Not much fun for any of us. But Quincy soaks it all in and I think has decided that maybe this behavior is useful in some way. Oh well!

Quincy clearly recognizes what “sputter” refers to (him blowing wet raspberries). When you mention the word off he goes! You should have seen the kids in the car yesterday – I am not sure who started it but they were both “sputtering” away and laughing/giggling away between times. Very cute together. Quincy still faces backwards in his carseat so he and Aidan have good views of each other. I can also ask to see Quincy’s tongue and he’ll stick it out for me – and of course I have to do the same back which elicits the giggles.

Quincy walks quite well now and can sustain pretty decent knocks from – oh say his brother – and still remain standing. He lolls a bit as he goes – clearly still a new walker – and one of the smallest kids around you see walking. But he likes to get down and walk and although I think he prefers to head off on his own, he will go along and hold my hand or even have me on one side and Aidan on the other. I really need to find the harness I never successfully used for Aidan – Quincy is surprisingly quick and I can turn around and turn back to find him missing. Not a lot of fun.

I am sinking further and further behind on household tasks like updating Quicken, filing, medical claims etc. I no longer have any Aidan naptime – Aidan will grant me a few minutes to do some computer work after I put Q down for a nap – while he watches Blues Clues or does a puzzle or a poop (like at present – fortunately a long event! And one he recently decided he needed “privacy” for – thus a closed door). He is getting a bit antsy for me to come play with him so I need to go soon. Quincy no longer obliges with an afternoon nap while Aidan is at school so I’ve lost that time. I do have babysitters but that time flies by! I just finished up this year’s solicitations for our coop auction on March 8 – we are each responsible for raising $1000 from at least 10 items. We exceeded this year’s quota thanks in part to Pete working at The Gap and getting $250 from them in 5 giftcards. Hopefully The Gap will continue to employ Pete – otherwise his company would like to send him to Mutual of Omaha in Omaha! Not a place any of us are anxious to visit! The co-op just asked me if I would be willing to step into a Board position starting tomorrow as Parent Participation Coordinator (I am currently Publicity Assistant). And then come June (normal Board transition) to become Vice President and head up the Building Committee and a master plan for school work. Guess I have been a very proactive person to date and they need more of that – I am supposed to beef up the Board position I am stepping into – the current guy was letting things fall by the wayside and not coordinating well with the various parent and Director (teacher) needs. So thanks for all the hard work – is more work… At least I am enjoying it and I want to know all about how things run and who is who and of course I have a lot of ideas for change etc so will get to try my hand. So we shall see.

Well, Aidan has told me 3 times that he is tired of waiting and wants to play Hess Truck (mom should be happy to hear that – he wants to play at least once a day – I am not sure how well they will hold up at this rate tho!).