I finally downloaded all of our videos from our Flip. Most of them are one second of Jaxon's thumb (like 60 of these, I kid you not. I had no idea that Jaxon was a videographer).
Here's a cute one of Asher and Mary playing with two straws and one cup. We're so sad their family moved away. They were lots of fun and we pretty much stopped going swimming once the left. :(
But in this clip, Asher and Mary were playing and I thought I would catch them being adorable. (and it gives me a chance to see how easy it is to upload the Flip videos. It's not, this was my 6th try in 2 days, but maybe that's blogger's problem, dunno.)
I don't know if it's the transition to school, but Jaxon had 3 meltdowns, complete with the limp "dead" body and non-responsiveness.
Finn had about a dozen full-on, neck-vein bulging, screaming his guts out, hitting, running, scratching tantrums.
Asher had 3 really bad anxiety-mixed with screaming, sweating, kicking, and crying attacks.
Despite this I managed to have a nice trip to Ikea with my best friend Leslie and a nice date to Charleston's with Mark. (Embarrassingly we only ordered $3.99 worth of food. But those croissants are to DIE for.)
So what I can't figure out is if my kids are the only ones who are totally LOSING it lately or if it's like a bug that other kids are catching.
When I signed up for summer childcare, I thought, "Four hours of childcare a day?My house will be sparkling and I will have everything on my to-do list done!"
Nope.
It appears that I am just an untidy person and that I procrastinate regardless of how much free time I have.
(This is not to say that I didn't get lots of stuff done this summer but I didn't do everything and I certainly didn't keep an immaculate house.)
When it comes to housekeeping, I find my performance shameful. There you have it.
When my children were babies I wrote them little songs to sing to them as I put them to bed.
Tonight I sang these songs to my children as I put them to bed and it made me realize how fast they're growing.
Next week Jaxon will be starting 2nd grade. He's already forgetting some of his favorite things from his time at the Montessori, like the banana pudding work (smash half a banana, add vanilla yogurt and applesauce and mix). We did that today, too. Also, Jaxon got his first library card today and he was thrilled!
Jaxon's behavior has been improving over the last few months. It's mostly because we have a therapist that helps me and Mark work on our parenting and keeps all of us accountable for the outcome. We've become stricter with our discipline and more consistent. We've also become less indulgent. For example, we all took it for granted that Jaxon would have a birthday party. But, Dr. Jones helped me realize that when Jaxon can't be obedient and follow directions, do his chores, he doesn't deserve a birthday party. Putting that on the line really encouraged Jaxon to be obedient and follow the rules.
Asher will be in half-day preschool this year. He's not very excited about taking the bus, but I think he will enjoy the program. He enjoyed the evaluation process, so that's a good sign. Asher qualified for the special needs preschool at our public school. He has language delay and also some social behaviors like withdrawal and anxiety that he'll be working to overcome. He's our shy, timid, scared little guy. So, imagine my surprise when we're at a hemophilia event at a community pool this weekend and Mark tells me that Asher went off the high dive! I was (and still am) shocked. I guess this shows me to not put my child in a box. The sky's the limit, Asher.
Finn is in the middle of an attack of the terrible two's (or maybe it's me that's being attacked). He's very intense, sometimes violent and usually screaming. Perhaps it's the third child syndrome. I tend to believe he has over-active testosterone. He's my first child to have crushes on girls at this age (well Jaxon's just starting to notice girls and he's 8). He's also my most coordinated. For example, he can throw a frisbee and ride a trike like a kid twice his age. He's a dare-devil and told Mark while he was kissing him, "Leave me alone. That's yucky." He's finally mastering the potty, which is a huge breakthrough and about 6 months before his brothers did. But Finn still has his sweet moments, and can be very charming and adorable. It's all or nothing with that kid.
Mark and I are doing well. We returned about a week ago from a trip to Victoria for our 10th anniversary. We went with our friends, Meghan and Brandon and had a great time. Unfortunately, my memory card was stolen as we were about to fly home. So, the 1100+ photos that I took are gone. Our friends took some as well, so we are not without any memories of the trip, but I'm still very disappointed about missing the pictures. I'd be remiss if I did not mention our gratitude for Mark's sister, Katie, for watching our boys so we could get away. It was not an easy job, especially since she's not familiar with the ins and outs of caring for boys with hemophilia (not that there's much to it, but the stress or worrying can be pretty burdensome). She went above and beyond her duty by taking the kids hiking, bowling, to the bounce house, splash pad, and any number of other places. I know they had a great time and keep asking when we're going to go back.
Mark is enjoying his job working for the state. Venture capital and private equity keeps him very busy and always abreast of new innovations and technologies. I'm about to start teaching my second weekly class of Zumba at a local fitness club. I really enjoy it and it's a great workout.
All in all, our family is doing great. We're happy and healthy, and we've enjoyed our summer (especially my 4 hrs a day childcare, hooray!)
I'll try to get some photos of our trip up on the blog, as well as some of our kids.
