~~~**NOVEMBER '05 Mamas SPRING thread! *~~

[Awaken]

Hey everyone, if any of you are out there, here's a new thread for us!

I want to hear how everyone's 4 yr old's are doing! I am finding it tremendously challenging, and wonderful.

Hope you are all enjoying some nice weather and the easier times that come with being able to turn the kids loose outside to dig in the dirt!

[MamaFern]

challenging & wonderful.. yes.

ngaio goes between being a complete monster to being such a sweetie.. its actually getting to the point where she is sweeter more than not which is a relief because the last few years have been HARD.. she hasnt been screaming quite as much and is co-operating more but she is still a wild spirit at heart and i doubt that will ever change.

my other two are great. elwynn is getting so grown up. he goes over to friends houses after school a lot and is pretty self sufficient. he is getting less picky with food which is nice, he ate a bean and rice burrito last
night

rue is 2 now and pretty well the perfect toddler. she is almost night weaned and is putting herslef to sleep now. still preferring diapers to potty for #2 which makes me but what can i do?.. as long as i don't have 2 in diapers ill be happy . this summer is going to be a lot of change for us all with moving & me being more pregnant. come july ngaio & rue will be sharing a room and im hoping by then rue will be in her own bed and using the toilet a LOT more. i think thewy are going to love having a girly girl room and i know elwynn will love having his OWN space.

everything else is pretty much same old same old..
we have a busy social life and im doing some fun volunteering at the local food security network. we have planted out plot at the community garden and im taking on some responsibilities there which os really fun...i want to see it really flourish this year.
im glad spring is here, but its still pretty chilly. im looking forward to lounging on the beach and getting some brown in us all.

[MelW]

I'm liking the "four and a quarter" stage right now Neela is so independent, funny and generally fun to be around. I'm loving all of the literacy and language, some huge improvements in social skills (and the imaginary friends playing a lesser role in new situations), and a great sense of play, imagination and joy in the world.

I am finding dealing with sibling stuff a little more challenging right now. The baby stage was a breeze for Neela, but now that Nora is very mobile and wants to play with her all the time I have to stay on my toes. At times it's wonderful and fun and they play so well together. And then there are the days where there are many screams and bruises, and me working very hard to find the balance of when to step in and when to stand-by.

We have set the girls up with a shared bedroom for sleeping, and a family/playroom for playing. They're in bunk beds, with Neela on top and doing very well up there. Nora naps on the bunk and starts the night there and I usually join her (for some reason Nora is so disrupted sleeping with Matt lately). So we're in a fun new version of a family bed right now, and it's lovely to have Neela wake up and cuddle with us in the mornings We've always been really flexible co-sleepers with what I've called "musical beds" through the nights and months and years, but this latest variation is pretty fun.

I've been insanely busy since I started working this full-time teaching contract at the end of February. It's been a challenging experience to learn how to work from home, how to pace myself and how to set really firm boundaries about family time and work time (and the endless setting up house time). I love the way that work can re-energize me for the time that I have with the kids, but I'm struggling through learning how to deal with the work at home part and still give my family the attention that I want to. I'm hoping that I find a cape packed away in one of these boxes that gives me the power to do more in a day, I guess :P

I'm glad to hear both of your updates about the joys and struggles. I hope some more of our group "find" us again. And I'm looking forward to kristina's baby announcement any day now, too!!!

[Queen of Cups]

Hello, all! Its so good to have a thread again!

Our latest trial has been that Ellie broke her arm! You can read about it and see the pathetic pictures on my blog: http://www.photogrove.com/journal/2010/04/01/1607/ That's the first blog post about it, then there's been a few updates throughout the week.

Ellie's handling it like a real trooper! The final verdict is that casting is going to work, so we're not going to have to do surgery/pins - WHEW! Poor thing broke both bones in her left forearm, but she's learning to use her right hand to write/draw/eat/wipe... Its been a tough week and a half, though.

[HoneyTree]

Hey, mamas!

Mary, bless you for starting this little thread up again.

Jen, yikes! Poor Ellie! I had forgotten she was a lefty; Woody is, too.

Mel, I'm glad to hear that bunk beds is working. That's what we're planning on eventually, too, but right now it's still me and the boys in a king bed (an incredibly helpful gift from my mom) and Joshua in "Woody's" single bed.

Geez, I remember in our DDC, somebody, probably me, asking about finding "alone" time with a partner once you have kids. Ha! Who knew the kid's bed would be the whoopie bed?

Fern, I didn't know you were pregnant!! Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you! Hooray for the community garden. This is the year of the garden for me, too, both at home and with the middle schoolers. I miss them, not teaching, and I love being able to find ways to still connect with them.

Mary, oh yes, the open the doors and let the kids go has started here, too. We have a narrow window between winter and mosquito weather, so I'm taking full advantage.

We're doing pretty darn well. With Woody and I, it feels like we're kind of orbiting around each other, and my job is to keep the balance. I'm getting better at reading his cues and being able to recognize which circumstances he's going to do best in, so I'm liking 4 1/2, too.

Fox, at 15 months, is a force, just this really intense little dude, and while he and Woody get along amazingly well, we're probably done with kids. I think by the time Fox would be ready to not be the baby, I would be feeling that our family is kind of "set." I'm already making some in-my-mind plans for that life, trying to get a little freelance editing business started and saving for travel.