We took the boys to Country Springs water park and they both loved it - even Cameron, who doesn't like putting his face in the water, went down the water slides and didn't mind getting splashed! In fact, the next day at swim class, he jumped in the water without abandon! Nate is comfortable sticking his whole head in to reach down and grab the dive sticks in the pool. Both boys are extra excited to have one of their babysitters (and my former COM 101 student) Brett helping out with their swim class. They like to "show off" their swim skills for him at the end of class. Hey whatever motivates them to keep learning!
Fun vocabulary words in our house:
- Mad Birds (for Angry Birds)
- Hugantic (something really big - a combo of huge and gigantic)
- Want to see a commercial (aka want to see a replay of something really cool that just happened with our Hot Wheels cars)
CAMERON
Cameron started kindergarten in the fall. The first few weeks were a little rough as being in school all day long is exhausting! And from what he told me, they didn't get rest time most days. But after getting used to the routine, he started coming home excited and peppy rather than tired and cranky. It has been so fun watching him really thrive. He now reads entire books and (more importantly) shows an interest in reading rather than seeing it as a chore. In fact, he watches me as I type emails and other work on the computer and points out the words (and names) he recognizes.
I volunteer in his classroom each week so it has been wonderful getting to know his classmates as well. It's also so sweet how excited Cameron gets to see me in the class. I know that won't last forever, so I will enjoy it while it does! Cameron is well-liked by both the boys and girls. In fact, he has already gotten married on the playground to Ellerey (but don't ask him about it as he gets really embarrassed!), had Paisley's mom call dibs on Cameron for her daughter, was one of two boys invited to a girls' party and has several other girls that give him lots of attention. It is cute to watch and for the most part, all of the kids in his class are kind and respectful to one another. He did come home really sad one day and eventually we got out of him that some older kids were making fun of how small he is. That just broke my heart. Until then, he never seemed self-aware of his size (he is significantly smaller than his classmates). So far it is has been an isolated incident, though at a recent birthday party, one of the parents made a comment that Cameron was the same size as their preschooler (while standing next to me as they didn't realize it was my child they were talking about). I'm glad he didn't overhear it.
Cameron played soccer in the fall through Upwards (a Christian-based sports league that promotes sportsmanship) and really loved it. He was quickly embraced by all of his teammates. In fact, the oldest and tallest teammate, Colin, took Cameron under his wing and made sure he was included and taught him a few things. Cameron proved to be strong on defense as he was not fearful of getting right in the middle of the scrum and because of his size, he could fit into the small spaces and get a foot on the ball easier. We were very blessed that Cameron had a wonderful coach, coach Jeff, who was encouraging while teaching them the basics of soccer. Listening to some of the other coaches styles of communicating, I am so happy we were on the team we were! One really cool part of the league was that the kids get their name announced and then they run through a tunnel before every game. An awesome way to give every kid weekly recognition!
Some of Cameron's favorites include playing Legos, puzzles, playing board games with mom and dad after Nate goes to bed, playing in the snow and reading.
Stats:
Size: 4T
Shoes: size 8 & moved to size 9 by end of the school year
NATHAN
Nathan (as he prefers to call himself, but he responds to Nate) started preschool two days a week. He was very clingy the first several weeks, but now goes right into class without looking back. He hasn't had any potty accidents at school or in child care (he goes to child care right after preschool as I teach on Tuesdays & Thursdays until 2pm). We are working on the night training - he just started showing a desire last week and asked to wear underwear to bed. The first night he only had dribbles. The second-fourth nights were full accidents so I have done lots of laundry in the past week! He did alright on the fifth night and then had another accident on the sixth night. Still a work in progress!
Because Nate and Cameron are relatively close in age, Nate is able to keep up with his brother pretty well when it comes to reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. Nathan can spell and write his name and knows how to write most all of the letters and numbers. He LOVES to count and can count to 100. Cameron came home counting by tens and by the next day, Nate was counting by tens too. He also can do some basic addition and subtraction. It is so awesome watching Cameron teach his brother. He will actually show Nate things and talk about them to him. Nate is also showing an interest and ability in reading. So far, as of March the words he recognizes are:
- Lego
- to
- go
- in
- on
- off
- at
- the
- zoo
- do
- this
- dog
- big
- book
Nate self-entertains really well so it has been a much easier time balancing work and home. It also helps that my teaching load is a little lighter this semester than in the fall! Some of his favorite activities include puzzles, reading, activity books, coloring, and playing "not-winning" games (e.g. games that do not have a defined winner - he won't play games like Candyland where there is a clear winner - instead he will play Boggle Jr by himself and just spell out the words or play I Spy by himself and just look for the items). The one exception is he will play the Shopping Cart game with Lorelai and they keep playing until all of the items are gone instead of playing until someone "wins". Lorelai and Nate have a playdate every Wednesday as Jill and I trade off weeks giving us a few child-free hours every other week. Though I use mine mostly for work or volunteering in Cameron's classroom, I have used it for errands like haircuts, etc.
Stats:
Size: 3T
Shoes: size 9 (he just outgrew his brother's feet size in February)
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