The last few days have been great!! I love this summery early fall weather it is so cool at night, perfect for pajamas and cool crisp sheets, but warm enough during the day that my two little hot house babes are not freezing, since noone seems to believe me when I suggest we not wear tank tops and tiny little shorts every where!! Seriously though the last few days have been great, I feel we have really hit a good rhythm of school work, sleep schedules, and energy management. Gabe has been sleeping better, going down easily, napping well, and not wailing upon waking, but playing quietly by himself, even better he is sleeping until 6:30 or 7, and has only woken once in the last few days in the middle of the night, YEAH!! Both girls are doing well, they have really gotten into the hang of their chores, and perform them without too much prompting. They really like getting an allowance, and tickets toward Disney dollars. The house is really tidy too, it is nice, since we have so many therapists in and out all the time!!
Julianna is too funny, this afternoon she got into trouble for standing on the side of the swings armrest, she knows this is a no-no, Gabe would kill himself trying to do this!! J had to come upstairs and sit in her bed for a while as a punishment, nasty of daddy, since she can see and hear them playing outside!! When her time in bed was over she got out, and I thought she would head back down stairs, but a few minutes later I found her coloring in her room. When I asked she admitted she was making a mad picture for daddy, it was of her swinging on the side of the swing, and of daddy with a big angry "no!" face on, and she told me that she was still upset for getting yelled at, and she wanted daddy to know how upset she was, so she made a picture!! Amazing, really, I had nothing to do with it, she came out with this, and it really made her feel better to draw her upsets, and then give it away!! I am so proud, my baby has moved beyond hitting and screaming(sometimes!!)
Amelia is getting all excited since her birthday is coming soon, she keeps telling me she gets a cake, and we will sing to her, and she cannot wait!! It is fun to see her get so worked up, she is really looking forward to this, although it could just be because daddy has told her the different dates we have to pass before we can go to Disney, that may be part of it;) She is excited to turn 5 though, then she will be a big girl, just like Julianna, I hat to tell her that will change in a few months, but she i s getting to be a big girl, she now weighs 40lbs, but is slim thru the hips and waist, just a bit taller than J, and with much bigger feet. I forget often that though she is almost 5, she is truly closer to 4 in many ways, so I have to try to keep in mind the memory and attention of a 4 year old, tricky since at other times she is more 5-6 year old, challenging but interesting all the time!! She and I still have our rough areas, but we are working on them, and she is learning at a good steady pace in her school work. I forget sometimes that she does not understand certain words or phrases, part of our problem is that she is so very verbal and understands so much we are not sure where her understanding leaves off and incomprehension begins!! Add to that the listening skills of a 4 year old and you have a recipe for frustration at times!!
Gabe is learning well, he is doing great with his sorting, color recognition, object recognition and verbalizing his wants, but he still struggles with the "what, who" questions, parroting back the question instead of providing the answer. Sometimes I can almost see him cycling through all of the possible languages and answers to find the right one. Funnily enough he has suddenly in the last week started coming out with Amharic words, ones he rarely used even in ET, and suddenly he blurts them out correctly for lots of things, it is strange how the mind works!! His personality seems to have leveled out again, and he is back to being mister funny man, he now refers to himself as Gabe, and will tell you what to do, he is a bossy little guy!! At bed time tonight he tapped his pillow and said "sleep", I replied that it was time to sleep, and he more forcefully patted the pillow and said firmly "sleep!". As in I was supposed to lie my head down on the pillow and sleep too, next to him, it is his fave method of going to sleep, to have me breathing down his neck, my hand resting on his back, pressing him into the mattress, he is such a strange little guy!! I am just glad that I understand what he wants and needs better now, for all of them, I think I finally have a handle on what makes them tick, happy sad, scared, and what they need before they ask. I feel like I really get them, and get them confused too, I often call the girls by the others name, and when I kiss them good night I have to feel their hair to know which I am kissing, their skin feels and smells the same to me now. To me this is a deep attachment feeling, that I have a hard time telling one from the other, that their smell and touch and hugs comfort me and tell me I am home, and I am loved by them and them by me!
Enough sentiment for one night, it is late and I am tired, love to all, Jamie