Wednesday, June 25, 2014

My big kids

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged. Time to update on my kids!

Paul is now 4 1/2 years old. In November, he tested in to Airline Park Academy for Advanced Studies where he will begin attending in August in PreK-4. I think he's looking forward to big-boy school..at least I hope he is. He finishes up at Kinder Haus this summer and I'll be sad that he isn't there anymore when I am working. But, his new school is practically right down the street. Maybe I can spy on him at my lunch time. (ha-ha) His speech is improving each day. He understands everything and knows how to say mostly everything, especially if he really thinks about it. But, he's used to mispronouncing some sounds so now he does it mostly out of habit I think. But, if we repeat the word and have him say it slowly, he usually gets it right. His best friend is Conner, who started at Kinder Haus last fall, but he isn't attending anymore, as he'll be in Kindergarten in the fall. We hope to have playdates with him this summer.

Camille just started in the Pre-K class at Kinder Haus, so she and Paul will be in class together for the summer. She has two best friends, Mila and Charley, and talks about them all the time. For that matter, she's always talking about something. Her speech is nearly perfect and she usually never misses a chance to repeat something we've said - which isn't always a good thing! Gotta watch what we say now! Camille is also now sleeping in a big-girl twin bed, complete with princess sheets, as of about 2 weeks ago and as of a few nights ago, she is now diaper or pull-up free at nights! She has slept a few nights with no accident and a couple of nights with accidents, so we aren't 100% yet, but she is doing great! She can even go to the potty and turn on and off the water by herself now!

This past weekend we went to the Inn by the Sea for the annual Spear family beach trip and boy are Paul and Camille little water babies! They LOVED the ocean and the pool. It was great fun and everyone got a great tan but me - ha-ha!

Well, back to my Montessori studies - I will be finished in the beginning of August and will be Montessori Age 3-6 Certified through North American Montessori Center. Not sure where that will bring me next in my career path, but for now I'm happy working 3 days a week still at Kinder Haus.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

5 years ago...

Five years ago today I found out that I was going to be a mother. Today I am sitting at home with my 4 (almost 4 1/2) year old who's got a stomach bug and had to miss school. Camille had the bug a few days ago, and seeing as how they share everything now, that of course means germs.

 It seems almost a lifetime ago that I took that pregnancy test on April Fool's Day 2009. It was no joke, though. The eight following months of pregnancy went by relatively quickly, and here we are 5 years later with not just one, but two amazing healthy children. Though they are 18 months apart in age, it seemed at times, when they were very young, that we had twins. Two in diapers, two needing mashed up/cut up food, two who couldn't talk, two who couldn't quite play together at such young ages, so had to be entertained independently.

Those first two years with both of them were very challenging at times, and I really don't know how we did it on some days. When Paul was two years and three months old, we found a wonderful school, Kinder Haus Montessori, and he began attending two days a week. That gave me a break with "only one" baby to entertain for those days, or rather, only one baby to have to tote around as I did grocery shopping or other errands. Camille, however, did not love to be in a car seat in the grocery cart, so I never did get a lot done. She has been very mobile, ever since she was growing in the womb (some of those kicks were PAINFUL!), so I guess I can't really blame her.

But, the older Paul and Camille got, the more they were able to socialize and really start to play "together." I think, or at least hope, that they are best friends, and will remain that way as they grow older together. As most siblings do, they have their challenging days of working and playing together, but as they are growing and maturing, they are going for longer and longer periods of time without altercations. Camille loves to follow in Paul's footsteps, whether that means playing with blocks, or playing Superheroes - though, she is always the "princess" for those charades. Paul enjoys being a leader and showing and teaching Camille all about the world around them. Camille is no pushover though, she's not one to hold back her opinion.

The one area where Camille is stronger is verbal language. She started talking the same time Paul did, but she was 12 months and he was 2 1/2, so she's had much more of her life to be practicing correct pronunciations of words, and Paul still struggles with it a bit. But, each day, he gets better and better, and each day he uses more words to tell us stories about his day, or about his make-believe scenarios with his superhero action figures.

The speech delay has not in any way hindered his capability to learn and to grow intellectually. In fact, this past November, Paul tested and was accepted in to Airline Park Academy for Advanced Studies with a score of 96 on a nationally ranked entrance exam. He'll start at his new "big-boy" school in Pre-K 4 in the fall, and Camille will move up to the Kinder Haus Pre-K/K 3-6 class in June.

Both of my children amaze me each day with all they have learned and all the growing that they have done in such a short time since that pregnancy test 5 years ago today. I can only imagine what the next 5 years will bring.