This year we went down to L.A. to spend Thanksgiving with Grandpa and Safta. We had a turkey, stuffing and the usual accouterments of the holiday. Whilst enjoying our meal, I asked M what he was thankful for. I didn't honestly expect an answer because I hadn't discussed this with him and figured he would have no idea what thankful even meant. We were all surprised when M said, "I am thankful for playing with my friend James." How cute is that!? By the way, M now has two friends at school that he talks about ALL the time...James and Ben. When asked who his friends are, these are the names he states and he now asks to go to school to play with his two buds.
Anyway, back on track. While we were in L.A., Grandpa took us to the pony rides which M enjoys doing every time we are down visiting. I asked B if he wanted to ride a pony this time and, another surprise, he said yes. B was so excited! He said, "I'm a big boy now. I ride a brown pony." (He later told me he rode a blue pony, but at least he knew it was a pony.)
Grandpa and I were expecting B to burst into tears and hysterics once placed on the pony, but he was happy during both rides. He kept pointing things out and not once did he hold onto the darn pommel thing on the pony. Sometimes that kid has no sense of safety. Anyway, it was neat to see him on a pony and so happy. Good times.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
M Comes Out of His Shell
I used to be terribly concerned about M's socially shy and scared behavior. He would grab onto my hand and refuse to play any time we went to a new place. Surprisingly, he now LOVES to go to new places and try out the new toys and equipment. M might take a few minutes to check things out, just as he always has, but now he'll go and play. He screams like a lunatic while chasing friends at the park, and jumps right in to playing in groups with kids he knows. Whew, what a relief!
B's Gymnastics Class
During the past several months, I enrolled B in a mommy and me Gymnastics/tumbling (whatever you want to call it) class. As he is so active and has not been shy, I thought this would be a nice experience for him.
The first class was a surprise and disappointment. He insisted I hold him for the first 30 minutes of class (class was only 45 minutes) and held on with a vice-like grip. He finally let me put him down to test a few things out, but if any other kids came near him, he insisted I pick him again. The second class, B only took about 20 minutes to warm up and seemed to really enjoy climbing ladders and bouncing on the trampoline. By the third class, B was ready to jump into things. Apparently, after observing the lay of the land a few times, he decided all was safe and this wasn't some huge conspiracy to kill him off.
While the other kids used the equipment as the instructor demonstrated, my youngest son determined that it's best usage was via his own methods. Instead of jumping over the squishy rectangular logs, B built them up and then enjoyed pushing them over. Instead of shooting the tennis balls down a tunnel, B threw them as far as he could around the room. Instead of crawling the tunnels, he insisted that I push him around the room in them. I was just so relieved that he was enjoying himself...even if he refused to participate in circle time with the other kids.
It turned out that his favorite part of the class was at the end when the teacher put stamps on their hands and stickers on their shirts...could've saved ourselves a bunch of money by stamping and stickering at home:)
The good thing is that B learned how to jump and he learned how to do somersaults by himself. In a funny side note, B and M both did their own solo somersaults on the same day.
The first class was a surprise and disappointment. He insisted I hold him for the first 30 minutes of class (class was only 45 minutes) and held on with a vice-like grip. He finally let me put him down to test a few things out, but if any other kids came near him, he insisted I pick him again. The second class, B only took about 20 minutes to warm up and seemed to really enjoy climbing ladders and bouncing on the trampoline. By the third class, B was ready to jump into things. Apparently, after observing the lay of the land a few times, he decided all was safe and this wasn't some huge conspiracy to kill him off.
While the other kids used the equipment as the instructor demonstrated, my youngest son determined that it's best usage was via his own methods. Instead of jumping over the squishy rectangular logs, B built them up and then enjoyed pushing them over. Instead of shooting the tennis balls down a tunnel, B threw them as far as he could around the room. Instead of crawling the tunnels, he insisted that I push him around the room in them. I was just so relieved that he was enjoying himself...even if he refused to participate in circle time with the other kids.
It turned out that his favorite part of the class was at the end when the teacher put stamps on their hands and stickers on their shirts...could've saved ourselves a bunch of money by stamping and stickering at home:)
The good thing is that B learned how to jump and he learned how to do somersaults by himself. In a funny side note, B and M both did their own solo somersaults on the same day.
B Turned Two
Sorry about the long delay in writing to the blog. Life just happened.
In October, B turned the big number 2! We ended up celebrating his b-day four different times...lucky guy. We celebrated once with his Jewish playgroup, once with a Halloween/b-day party with his and M's joint playgroup, once with my family and finally with Papa Bear's family. The family parties were supposed to be combined Uncle E came to town unexpectedly the week before B's big b-day bash and so we adjusted accordingly. Let's just say that there was much cake to be had during the latter part of the month.
The boys really enjoyed seeing and spending time with their Auntie R and Uncle E and of course Grandpa and Safta. The boys received a bunch of attention and toys...who wouldn't love that?!
B's stats at two years: 35 inches tall; 30 lbs. 7oz. (just for comparison, M was 36 in. and 31 lbs. 7oz at two years of age.)
In October, B turned the big number 2! We ended up celebrating his b-day four different times...lucky guy. We celebrated once with his Jewish playgroup, once with a Halloween/b-day party with his and M's joint playgroup, once with my family and finally with Papa Bear's family. The family parties were supposed to be combined Uncle E came to town unexpectedly the week before B's big b-day bash and so we adjusted accordingly. Let's just say that there was much cake to be had during the latter part of the month.
The boys really enjoyed seeing and spending time with their Auntie R and Uncle E and of course Grandpa and Safta. The boys received a bunch of attention and toys...who wouldn't love that?!
B's stats at two years: 35 inches tall; 30 lbs. 7oz. (just for comparison, M was 36 in. and 31 lbs. 7oz at two years of age.)