No Tot School Jan 18 - 22

So, this was a week of no Tot School. We had a couple of new winter books we read and a couple (two to be exact) of Itty Bitty Bookworm activities thrown in here and there, but that's about it. Olivia actually just had a great week of lots of free, imaginative play...something she is so great at! Instead of Tot School...

...on Monday daddy was still home for his 4 day holiday so a wonderful friend came over and took some new family pictures of us. Then Isaiah had his 2 month wellness check-up in the afternoon. He now weighs 12 lbs 6 ounces and is 22" long. He is right at average for his weight and still slightly under for his height, but the doctor says he is growing right on target and is thriving! And he is beginning to get very smiley (o: I think I even heard his first giggle Saturday evening.

...on Tuesday morning we had MOPS, which we typically skip Tot School anyways on a MOPS day. Then our social worker came for the final post placement visit for Isaiah's adoption. And then Tuesday evening O tried out a Taekwondo class. She stopped tumbling class because she really didn't like it. She enjoyed the Taekwondo, but we and the instructor agreed to give her another 6 months before trying again. As JP put it, "she gives the sweetest little kicks and blocks you ever did see, but then after her turn, in the sea of kids standing in straight lines is our little sunshine dancing around, bobbing her fluffy black hair up and down singing things like, "mommy, mommy that thing is scaring me" and "I can do it, I can do it." Still not exactly sure what was scaring her, but that night when I asked her if she liked Taekwondo she said, "Yes. I had to protect my hair from that lady." She was referring to the lady teaching O how to raise her arm over her head to block during a sparring lesson. At one point she even said, "Mommy, I want to wear what those kids are wearing. And I want a purple belt." It really was quite sweet, but at not yet 4 years old she's not quite ready.

...on Wednesay, well, honestly, we just didn't feel like it.

...on Thursday we had a little friend over for the morning, and while I had planned a couple of little activities for them just in case they needed a little direction, they were both perfectly content to play independently with O's toys.

...and on Friday morning during our Bible Story time I was sitting on the sofa with O listening to Daily Audio Bible for Kids when my back went into spasms and sent pain searing through me taking my breath away. I was all set to wing our Tot School that morning even though I hadn't planned anything specific, but instead I ended up taking some Advil and icing my back every hour so I could at least hold Isaiah for his bottle and diaper changes and try to get ready for some friends who were coming over for dinner (and thankfully they were actually bringing the dinner). O was super sweet about it. She said, "Here mommy let me massage it for you." Her 3 second tickle on the painless side of my back filled my heart with enough encouragement to keep a smile on my face through the pain. By afternoon my pain had lessened to a low roar...but no Tot School.

Thinking back on the week, reading through some of my favorite blogs, and talking a little with my mom I think I need to change up a few things...again (o: First of all, one of the blog writers as well as my mom have helped me rethink all the pictures. For one thing, I can be much more involved with our time together, which is supposed to be my special time of the day with her anyways. And that gets a little lost when I'm just trying to snap pictures all the time. And one of the blog writers pointed out that we need to remember to show respect to even our little guys. I personally don't like having a camera pointed at me constantly, and I know O doesn't either. So, fewer pictures.

Other changes are following her lead a little bit more. We have actually been doing Tot School for quite some time now...almost 2 years, but when we first started it I hadn't found all these wonderful blogs full of ideas. It was just me and her sitting at the dining room table painting together, doing puzzles together, reading books together, and a lot of me following her lead on what she thought was fun. We had even recreated some of that while in Utah last November picking up Isaiah. I had printed off a few activity packs, and while we were in the hotel room we sat down together and made up stories with them and played together. She loved it, and it kept her entertained for hours!!! So, I still plan on using lots of ideas from all my resources, but gearing them more to her stage right now of imaginative play that involves lots of story telling. I'll keep you posted on how things are going (o: