2014

This time I mean it.  I'm bringing blogging back.  At night when I tuck in Avee and Danyo, they beg me to tell them stories of "when they were kids".  So cute.  I realized the only stories I can share are the ones I remember because I blogged about it.  Danyo has so many fewer stories and AJ has none.  So, here I am, blogging again.

I started a new job today.  I can't be sure, but I think it might be the best job on the planet.  That's saying something since I really REALLY loved the last place I worked.  It's totally flexible so I can easily work around any kid things that arise and that is worth it's weight in gold.  But also, just the work itself (mediation) is interesting and rewarding.

When we first moved here Jay said he had a running track of "I think I'm gonna like it here" a la Little Orphan Annie going through his head on repeat.  I mean, most 35 year old men respond to a positive life change like that, right?  Well, that was running through my head all morning as I was getting training and meeting my co-workers.

It was a big day of firsts.  I also dropped AJ off at "preschool" and had to tear myself away from a crying baby.  I have been on the other end of those drop offs and I KNOW those kids are okay and the crying stops very quickly.  But walking away from it, aaaaaauuuuuugh!! Torture.  I sat with her for a few minutes but that girl has got my number.  I tried to peel her away from me and she demands a hug, "Cug! Cuuuuug!"  I canNOT resist that.  But I had to.  "I'm sorry I'm late on my first day of work, my baby needed cuuuugs."

When I picked up AJ her teacher came out and said she had a great day and that she had asked to go to the bathroom and then did.  Excuse me?  I asked if they had a weekend program.  This little girl is working us making us change diapers and then going to school and acting all potty trained.

I worked a job for the last 3 months at a local boarding school.  It's probably the most poorly run "business" I have ever been a part of.  I hated it. Like, loudly, regularly, and passionately hated it.  I have never been more happy to quit a job.  Out of the blue the other day, Danyo approached me and said, "Why do you hate your job so much?"  A dozen inappropriate responses passed through my mind and I maturely filtered.  I answered, "I just really don't like how the place is managed or the people I work with."  Danyo leaned in with his eyebrows raised and a little more wisdom than a 6 year old should have and said, "But the money."  Exactly.  But the money.  That is why I go back no matter how badly I don't want to.

Danyo is this fascinating combination of oblivious and deeply insightful and articulate.  It's hilarious when the oblivious shows up and astounding every.single.time the insightful and articulate come out.  Example of the oblivious:  He is in a Spanish immersion kindergarten.  He came home from school about a month after he got into that class and announced that he'd watched "The Magic School Bus" at school.  I was curious if the show was done in Spanish or English, and so I asked.  He paused for a couple of minutes in deep thought and then said, "What is it I'm speaking right now?"  We all laughed and let him know he was speaking English. "Oh, it was in English then."

Or he'll be in another room and we won't even be aware of his proximity.  I say something like, "It's just about feeling insecure, I can handle it."  And then we hear, "You don't have to feel insecure if you don't want to, Mom."  Those are my favorites, to be reminded he hears EVERYTHING I say.

Bo recently finished performing in a two and a half week production of "A Christmas Story" at the local playhouse. The theater is kind of a big deal in this region and it was pretty cool he got in on it, right after we moved here.  He wanted to be the kid who got his tongue stuck to the pole, that's all he cared about, so that's who he auditioned for, and that's who he was.  He's a pretty good little actor. It was really fun to watch him be a part of something so cool.  Those kids (there were 9 of them, almost all about 10 yrs old) worked HARD.  Bo came home from rehearsals and performances on cloud nine.  J and I loved seeing him so happy and to have found a niche he so completely loved.

Right now he's obsessed with Les Miserables.  It's something else.  He's determined to read the Victor Hugo book because "grown ups will totally think that's cool".  We've tried to talk him out of it (what is wrong with us!?) but he is determined.  Bo is going to be something great, despite us. I love that kid.  He is curious and interesting and sociable and knows how to talk to anyone.  I like that.

Avee is living the good life in 3rd grade.  She is so obviously the teacher's pet, but she doesn't know that.  I love that about her.  She is just doing what she's doing and people can hate or adore, it doesn't change who she is.  I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am to be raising a daughter like that.  We've made some changes in our approaches with her and I swear it has made all the difference in the world.  Her confidence has soared.  Her ability to let things go and her ability to express herself have increased exponentially.  I think she is pretty much perfect.

My little AJ.  What an absolutely perfect "bookend" to our family.  I'm pretty sure she has all of the best traits of the other three kids in her tiny little body.  She is curious and social and bright like Bo was.  She is precocious and sassy and very clearly has a lot more going on in her head than she can articulate, like Avee.  She is sweet and affectionate and knows how to charm people like Danyo.  J and I are enjoying her so much and think pretty much everything she does is cute or funny.  She loves to sing, but only sometimes likes to be sung to.  She will shut you up fast and fiercely if she doesn't want you singing.  Her favorite songs are Twinkle Twinkle, ABC's, and "Barney".  She is hilarious singing them.  She was watching a show the other day and they sang Twinkle Twinkle about twice as fast as we usually do and listening to her scrambling to sing along with them was pretty entertaining.

I already ran out of steam. I'm determined to be back though.