Words

"Uh-oh"

 

"Mama" or "Momom" or once it was "Mommy"

 

"Dada" or "Dadadadadadadadad"

 

and finally, "dawgdaw" for dog.

 

The 18 month well child check questionnaire asks if your child says at least 4 words.

And the answer is yes.

 

 

That's my Evan.

Sports

I'm not at all coordinated. Sports are something I am not good at and I have no qualms about admitting it. I never played a sport as a kid. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps my parents didn't know about kids' sports or maybe we didn't have the money, but since my little siblings both played soccer at one point in their youths, I'm leaning toward the idea that my parents recognized my lack of coordination and didn't want to waste the time or money trying to teach me to not trip over my own feet. (I did try playing soccer in high school and spent almost every game sitting on the bench.)

Brian played baseball and did martial arts from elementary school on. He's no pro athlete but he does have some coordination and grace in movement.

When a flyer for baseball appeared in Joshua's art folder at school, he said he wanted to play so I signed him up. Throughout the season he had fun batting but he had little care for the rules of the game. He would rather turn it into some kind of adventure game involving some kind of monster bad guy. Overall, I think he had fun and he definitely learned a few things about throwing and hitting. There were some kids who were really good and showed zeal for the game and pure athleticism. One thing I noticed about Joshua's fielding was that he'd always let the more aggressive kids get the ball even when it was closer to him.

We talked about what he wanted to do after baseball and settled on swimming. Joshua was really excited about the idea.

Yesterday was his first swim lesson. When it was explained to him that he would be in the water with his teachers (and not me), there was a bit of a meltdown about being alone. When his teacher came for him, I walked him to the pool where there was another mini-meltdown about getting in. After explaining that he only had to get in a step at a time, he was fine. I stood in the pool area and watched for a few minutes. When he looked like he was having fun and no longer caring about my presence, I made my way back to the "galley" where the parents can watch the class from the comfort of pool chairs.

Joshua really got into it. He even had fun when the teachers poured water over his head. He was smiling the entire time and so was I. The class consisted of three children and two teachers. It lasted half an hour. When it was over and I picked him in the shower area, he told me all about it and said he wants to do it every day.

my view from the galley

The lesson consisted of games and "hunts" for toys in the pool. It was a get-comfortable-in-the-pool kind of lesson. It was just up Joshua's alley. I don't know how it'll go when/if he gets to the point of learning strokes, but I'm hoping that, without the pressure of other, more aggressive kids, he'll enjoy it and perhaps want to pursue it. (If I could re-do my youth, I would have liked to have swimming lessons.) I'm thinking that, at this point anyway, he's more of an individual sports kind of kid.

Dropping on the Charts

The boys went to the doctor today. I overlooked the 15 month appointment Evan was supposed to have. And Joshua had to have an MMR shot and a TB test for public school. Plus I wanted to talk to the doctor about Joshua's eating habits.

So, Evan weighed in at 22 lbs, or the 9th percentile. He is 30.5 inches tall, or the 12th percentile. His head is still big, in the 70th percentile. At  his year appointment he was in the 36th percentile for length and the 25th for weight. Other than needing to bulk him up, he's doing well.

Joshua weighed in at 39 lbs. Again. He has weighed 39 lbs for a year. Which is better than I thought since I thought he had actually lost weight.

We have to do an overhaul of the way we eat. No more catering to Joshua's pickiness. I know it's my job to provide healthy food and his job to eat it, but sticking with that is difficult when he has refused to eat all day and giving him a hot dog would at least mean there was something in his stomach.

This plan will cause some initial difficulties. Hopefully though, it'll get us out of the trap we're in; hopefully it'll pay off in the long term benefits.

An Exceedingly Difficult Week

Hello readers. Inspired by my sister, who is blogging at www.diegosirius.blogspot.com, I will try to post here more often. Because the task of blogging about the past few months seems daunting, I'm just going to start here (again) and see what happens. Besides, if you know me or we're friends on facebook, you're pretty much up to date anyway.

 So this week has been really difficult. I am normally extremely patient with my kids. (I'm not bragging but even strangers have commented to me how patient I am when dealing with my children. ) This week I have had no patience; I have found myself yelling at my kids and I hate yelling. I have known too much yelling in my life - as a child and young adult I was both a yeller and a yellee (is that a word?)- and I have strived to not be that as a parent. I don't know what it is about this week that has caused me to lose my cool. Maybe it's Evan's incessant crying as he cuts three teeth at the same time; maybe it's the four-year-old whininess; maybe it's that Brian has been working 12-14 hour days. It's probably a combination of all those aforementioned things.

 I hosted a baby shower for my sister last Sunday and my advice to her as a mother is to breathe. And really, when patience is worn thin, that's all that one can do in order to make it through. I know that a few days of me yelling at my kids is not going to change the security they have in my love. So, I forgive myself for being human and continue to take it one breath at a time.