Getting so sick of the construction in our office! :(

Our soon-to-be kindergartner!

 

Thanks for the great photo Dennis!

Kaylee's empathy meanwhile Levi's backtalking

I told Kaylee during our normally hectic time of day (getting out the door in the morning) that I was sorry that I am sometimes stressed out. That I wish I wasn't. That I'm glad the weekend is coming because I am less stressed out. She just smiled sweetly and said, "Mom I love you even if you are stressed out. It's okay if you get stressed out." She's just turned into this amazingly supportive nurturing little person. I've noticed in the last 3-6 months that her ability to empathize with others is increasing more and more. Now I am working on keeping my self-deprecating remarks to myself, since I've learned she is very defensive of them (which they are few and far between just so you know but when they do happen...,) she wants me to always know that I am NOT those things. So she is good for my self-image and now I'm going to embark on modeling a positive self-image for myself (and for her, since she's going to emulate me, right?) Should be good for BOTH of us. Thanks Kaylee! It's interesting that as your child grows older more complex social issues arise - I suppose this was just a matter of course and it'll only worsen in complexity of those issues as she goes into school. Eric and I have been focused for her whole life on giving her as much as we can a positive self-esteem. She seems like she's doing great. There's been a couple times lately where things are socially ambiguous (at a party, at a playground) and she's done great with dealing with those when they come up. (Not crying, not getting overly upset and moving on...)

Levi has now learned to stack high (very high) a tower of blocks. He and his sister are sometimes playing well with them and pretending and sometimes battling over sharing them (whose turn is it?). Levi has been back-talking. He's really good at this because he's simultaneously charming and sometimes you don't understand what he's saying because he still talks somewhat babyish. But now less and less of the babytalk is not discernible and I'm discovering he'll smile at me and say, "Boogers on your head!" I've gotten smarter about this and have been calling him out on it. Hopefully this phase will soon pass. Not to worry all I manage to keep a straight face (most of the time), tell him he makes me sad and upon repetition of such offensive phrase - straight into timeout! But boy of boy is this little guy charming! That dimple of his just melts me! Someday he'll make the ladies swoon with that smile of his, and I am not looking forward to that day (or for when Kaylee dates someday). OMG I am so glad it is many years out from now.