Progress & Smart Kids VERY LONG and Rambly
So, I'm sleeping worse at night but slowly feeling better during the day. I have to be careful though because I keep wanting to overdo which I think is what's making the nights so bad. Last night I *might* have gotten an hour of sleep if you include all of the bits and pieces of passing out and add them together..maybe. I overdid last night after Matthew left because I was feeling a lot better. I'm in way danger of doing that today too which is one of the reasons I'm writing this right now is to force myself to sit down. I've just been forced to sit all week and the only thing I've been ABLE to do is computer stuff. My poor house I just want to fix everything..but I know that will just mean I'm down longer...still... I am so grateful to be seeing that there is another side, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel etc. Also so grateful for family and friends who have been so supportive. I've also had bronchitis enough to know that the cough isn't going away completely anytime soon and that it's a long road, but still hey, the light is there so yay and what a blessing!!!!
Anyway, the boys are doing really well today considering. I have been able to play with them more which they love. I mean I've been doing a TON of reading with them this week (it's really all I could do besides setting up things for Bruce to do with them, their popcorn rock is coming right along btw). Plus Uncle Matt was here yesterday and he WORE THEM OUT. It was fantastic! He was so good with them! Uncle Ross & Aunt Nora are coming tonight and bringing enchiladas so that will be a hit.
Tomorrow I want to get the tree up which is why I'm trying to do what I can here and there to clean because I can't put a tree up in a massively dirty house. The middle floor at least has to be clean..actually if it is then things won't be too bad the basement still looks pretty decent (er at least I THINK it does I haven't been down there this week so fingers crossed) and their rooms look fine from what I saw last night. It's just this floor that we've been stuck on all week that's gotten so bad!
The good thing about the reading has been I'm really starting to see a lot of growth in both of the boys. Today Super Why was on and it was an episode Connor had never seen. They got to a part about flowers and he wasn't looking at the screen (because he was looking at the iTouch) and on the screen they asked "which flower starts with the letter R?" And he came right out with "roses" Now, I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd been reading the screen, he does that a lot..sight reading(aka word memorization) seems to be coming to him very naturally. HOWEVER, listening to a question, processing the question, and coming up with the right answer out of his own head is something he struggles with at times. It made me wonder if he does better with questions if his hands are otherwise distracted. I tried a couple of other questions and while this hypothesis needs much further observation, initial results show promise!
Ian is so much fun and so much work at the same time. He is in that very" I'm trying to communicate and you only get me 85% of the time what is wrong with you I'm so mad I'm going to hit/pinch/scratch etc until you understand what I want/need/feel is the most important thing in my life/for the moment don't you see I need it right now mommy mommy MOMMY!" phase. HOWEVER, he is learning so fast! And I'm learning the stuff that I didn't even realize Connor wasn't doing. Namely, imaginative play. In fact it's kinda sad now when Ian tries to do imaginative play with Connor Ian has to take the lead. Ian plays with boxes & pretends they are cars, trains, stores, the Tardis (his favorite), other spaceships, etc. Connor plays with a box and says "look at my cool box!" During the summer Ian convinced Connor our outside toy box was the Tardis (after a TON of time) and when Ian then wanted the same box to be a car Connor melted down, "NOOO it's the TARDIS". Ian also plays with stuffed animals well and draws really well (Connor has grip issues). And while sometimes Ian is a bit aggressive, he actually does well with the other kids and follows directions.Also on a more intangible thing he understands and can predict what's next easily by following cues (like on shows, people's voices, etc) and is pretty easy going unless it's something in the aforementioned "I NEED/WANT IT NOW MOMMY MOMMY" category he's pretty good about things changing up on him. It makes me wonder why I never saw the red flags with Connor and makes me feel so incredibly GUILTY. Oh well. Anyway, Ian lately has been really into dogs. He found this little plastic dog and and old, empty (and washed out don't worry) medicine cup. He had me fill it so he could "water his dog". He kept the dog and cup with him forever talking with the dog, playing with the dog, watering the dog, having the dog take a bath etc. Was adorable! He also LOVES helping in the kitchen, actually with a little planning both boys do. I'm looking forward to baking cookies with them this Christmas season. I think they are going to love it a lot!
Also, I realized that I uploaded this video about a month ago and never linked it. It's really short but kinda fun video of the kids feeding the ducks. Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend!
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