Charlotte: 3 1/2 years old

Hello Kitty hat on my kitty girl

Poor Baby #3, just doesn't get the attention her brothers got when they turned 3.5!

Here is my girl at 3 1/2:
Sweet and exasperating. Very verbal. Funny, energetic.

Charlotte has strong opinions- especially when it comes to picking her own clothes. She likes to pick out her outfits everyday, and gets prety angry when I choose something for her that is "not-so-beautiful."  All clothing is divided into "beautiful" and "not-so-beautiful" categories.  My work dresses (particularly one which has sailboats on it) are beautiful; my running clothes are not-so-beautiful.  Right now she prefers to wear only dresses, even if they aren't functional for all of the climbing and playing she does.

Charlotte in a beautiful outfit of her choosing

Charlotte is strong and agile.  She started ballet in the fall, at her request, and as the year went on, she seemed less interested. It didn't help that Meema (who took Charlotte to dance on Wednesdays while I went to work) wasn't one to urge her to dance when she didn't want to.  They were practicing for their big recital, and according to Meema, Charlotte almost never participated.  At one point, each girl was told to do a "solo." For the other girls, they did a little twirl or dance step... when the attention turned to Charlotte, she dropped on all fours and started meowing.  Maybe she's not cut out for ballet... Ultimately, 3 weeks before the recital in May, Charlotte dropped out of dance for good. I then immediately signed her up for gymnastics, which she loved and attended each week without fail.

Beautiful dress, strong girl

Now that it is summer, Charlotte is having a great time swimming.  She doesn't know how to actually swim, but she is careful and doesn't push her limits. This doesn't mean we ignore her in the water, but she is ready to learn- and I am hopeful that camp gives her a push in the right direction!

Charlotte is verbal and friendly. She just started beginning all of her sentences by saying, "Well...", which has brought me to the realization that I, too, begin many of my sentences with "Well..." or "So," and which is annoying.  Whenever we go anywhere, she goes right up to people, says hello, and begins to disclose irrelevant personal information. I wonder where that comes from...

She remains attached to her Black-and-White Kitty, and her Gray Kitty (used to be White Kitty, but has since had a color change due to years of love from Charlotte). Other stuffed friends come and go, and she shares with her brothers an interest in Beanie Boos. She has 2 Beanie Boo cats- Sophie Kitty and Becca Kitty- and a Beanie Boo raccoon- Raccoonie.

She had a brief obsession with my airplane pillow and asked to sleep with it at night. Until one night she was up way past bedtime and excitedly told Eric that the pillow was "like a gway wainbow!" This was going too far and Eric took the pillow away from her.  She is a pro at bedtime nonsense- luckily I never mind giving her one extra kiss.

With an airplane pillow

Charlotte still sucks her thumb when she is going to sleep, or when she is tired.  She's a good sleeper, but has given up naps at least 50% of the time.  This summer she'll go without naps while at camp, and we'll see how it goes!

She loves to watch YouTube videos of people playing with toys.  She always starts by watching DCTC (Disney Cars Toys Club) and then gets into who-knows-what on there. It is a great way for me to take a shower, cook, clean, etc., and she remains paralyzed while watching.

Her favorite books are anything that has a cat in it- Bad Kitty; Naughty Kitty; Kittens, Kittens, Kittens!  She and I play a game where we meow at each other and she talks in a baby voice and calls me "Mommy Kitty" and I talk in a baby voice and call her "Baby Kitty."  Her obsession with cats knows no bounds.

at the zoo

Like any 3 year-old, she has become more picky with food. She prefers carbs, like her older brother, but will still eat from all of the major food groups.  Yesterday we finished leftover scrambled eggs, which were cold, and she told me she liked them cold better, and could I please make them cold everyday?  Sometimes she likes fruit, and sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she eats and sometimes she doesn't.  She is definitely getting taller (39" now!) and is healthy and energetic, so I do all I can to keep from fighting with her over food.

3 1/2 years in, and not a day goes by where I don't marvel at my girl.  I still can't believe our good fortune at having her in our lives- it is such a joy to have a smart, strong-willed daughter. I hope her independence and opinionated personality continues on into adulthood. She is beyond my wildest dreams!

Last Day of School

We have reached the end of another successful school year. Charlotte finished her year in Miss Marianne's 3 year-old class on June 2, and the boys finished kindergarten yesterday.

Charlotte's class had only 10 kids in it, and all of them seemed to get along well, and got very close. She was friendly with everyone in her class, and has been invited to many birthday parties and had play dates outside of school. Her teachers were both sweet and kind and took good care of her all year long. Although she always claimed she learned "nuffin" at school, I hear her singing songs I've never taught her, and she knows all her letters and numbers.  She's such a goofball.

With Miss Marianne. She was pretending to be shy

With Miss Jen. Still shy.

 The boys finishing kindergarten felt more momentous to me. It was, overall, a wonderful year. Benjamin is 100% reading, and Asher isn't too far behind. This means that text messages are no longer private, and spelling things to Eric doesn't work. Unfortunately, Eric learned German as a second language and I learned French, so we are out of ways to keep secrets!  Both boys seem to have a grasp of math and problem-solving. Today Eric bought them workbooks so that they could keep up with reading and math over the summer and they sat down to work right away. So far, they have maintained a curiosity and love of learning, which is what makes kindergarten successful to me!

the one half-decent picture I could get

Benjamin with Mrs. Damico. Behind those glasses he is crying.

Both boys made friends and liked their teachers. Benjamin was crying when I picked him up from school- just like me, he hates change and struggles around transitions. This year, the struggle manifested in a minor case of kleptomania (a pencil, an eraser, too many prizes at the dentist's office). He gets very attached to his teacher and routines.

Asher and Ms. Guidetti 

Asher was a model student this year- no disciplinary action was taken at any point. The prior year, his teacher had suggested that I should be a homeroom parent to help his teacher understand Asher better.  It turns out that Asher needs no understanding- he was a joy to have in class and made no trouble at all.

Ms. Guidetti's class, or the portion of class who attended on the last day

This morning, I found this:

Asher had drawn it in a small notepad Ms. Guidetti had given him. So sweet.

Now on to summer- all 3 kids will be going to camp at Camp Magar. I realized that I will be child-free 5 mornings a week- a phenomenon I haven't experienced since before the boys were born. I have grand plans- organize the attic, wash and store my sweaters. We'll see how far I actually get!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend! We really didn't have much planned going into the weekend, and that was just fine. The summer weather has finally arrived, and all of a sudden it is over 80 degrees and humid, but we jumped right into our summer activities- we have been waiting for this!

The pool at the JCC opened on Thursday, so before it was time to pick the kids up, I went and swam laps. It was crazy to me that less than a week prior I had been wearing sweats, and then I was swimming. (I was taking a week off from running because I've been having trouble with my foot, which is still kind of bothering me, but that isn't nearly as fun to talk about.)

Modeling her summer gear

Friday the boys had a half day, so I picked them up and we went to picnic at the playground with a friend from school. Then we went home and I gave them a choice- watch an episode of Pokemon on Netflix, or take a nap and get to go swimming before dinner. They chose nap and swim! We got in a quick swim at the JCC before we went to meet my parents and Jane and Ed at Chanticleer, which is an old house with extensive gardens, and is our favorite summer picnic spot. It is so beautiful there, and the kids just run and play, so the adults can sit and talk. They love exploring the gardens and all the nooks and crannies on the property; there is a big, grassy hill and the kids roll or run down over and over. All three kids were happy and pleasant, and playful together. At the end of the night, I got the picture at the top of the post- completely spontaneous, just the three of them loving each other.

On Saturday, Eric went for a long bike ride, and I took the kids first to the playground and then to the swimming pool. Eric met us at the pool around lunch time. We were out in the sun for hours, and even though I had put sunscreen on everyone, we all got sunburned. Poor Asher has never had a burn before, I think he was surprised at how much it hurt! We had a friend over for dinner, and ice cream for dessert.

Sunday we went down to the beach for a day, just the 5 of us. We don't have a house, and all of our friends who do have houses seemed to have forgotten to invite us, so we picked a beach with easy access and public bathrooms, packed up lunches, and hit the road. 1.5 hours down and we were on the beach in the sun.

On the beach!

The waves weren't too big, and the boys were able to wade in and jump into and over them. Charlotte seemed to have gotten over her intense and hysterical fear of the ocean and let the waves get her feet and ankles. At the end of the day they were happily playing in the sand at the edge of the water, digging holes and making pools and rivers. Eric and I dragged them off the beach because we were tired, but we bribed them with the promise of ice cream. Charlotte was exhausted; she threw a fit in the car because the dress I had picked out for her wasn't "beautiful" enough, then she cried at ice cream because she wanted to eat TWO ice creams. We drove home and all the kids slept, and we got home in time for a quiet dinner just our family.

Today we had planned to pick strawberries, but it was raining when we woke up so we moved our plans indoors to the Franklin Institute. Benjamin has a fear of the planetarium there, so had some anxiety about going. Eric offered to let him stay home, so I went with just Asher and Charlotte.

Our day ended with hysterical laughs and giggles. We had dinner at a friend's house, and on the way home, our other friends were next to us at a stop light. Eric pretended that he was going to drag race our friend (we were in our Honda Odyssey minivan, so sporty) and had the car in neutral while he revved the engine... unfortunately, we were on a hill and slowly rolling back toward the car behind us. I told him to quit it, and that he was acting like an A-S-S. All three kids started spelling it out, asking, "What's A-S-S?" and I was thinking, great, they are going to go to school and spell it out and everyone will know where that came from... but then Benjamin, who has picked up reading, says, "It spells ASS! Ass! What's an ass?!?" and then all three kids were yelling "what's an ass, what's an ass?!?" and Eric and I couldn't stop laughing, which merely encouraged them. Wonderful parents. 

Charlotte requested that Eric take the side off her crib so it could be a toddler bed. She's been able to climb in and out with ease for a long time, but has slept so well in it as a crib that we never took the side off. Today she asked, and Eric complied. As a result, nap time was a disaster (there was no nap) and tonight when I took her upstairs to go to bed, I saw that she had placed her stuffed animals between the rails as if they were nap spectators, and removed her mattress so that it was at an angle to the floor. When we came in the room she hopped on to the mattress and said, "Look! It's a slide! WHEEEE!" and slid down to the floor. I had to leave the room I was laughing so hard, and I left Eric to do the disciplining. 

I know I say it all the time, but all three of my children are at such a fun stage. They are independent, smart, and funny; yet they still need me, love me, and give affection.  We are at the point where we are able to imagine all the adventures we will have soon- vacations, outings, books to read. So far so good with summer, I can't wait to see what the next 3 months will hold!

Running: Broad Street Run + Healthy Kids Running Series

I have been so negligent in my posting here- not even posting the major happenings in our day-to-day lives. How will I remember any of it if I don't write it down?!?

Before the race. All I can say is... I don't look good in hats, or trash bags.

I ran my 4th Broad Street Run on May 1. It was somewhere around 50 degrees and pouring rain. I ran the entire race with a black contractor bag over my running clothes.  I have to say, running in cool rain is much easier than running in hot sun, no question. But finishing the race, standing for 20 minutes waiting for a friend, and then walking another mile back to the subway, then riding the subway, then walking to the car, in wet clothes... not so great. During the run, I felt strong and like I was barely pushing myself. When we reached mile 7, where I usually become exhausted and wonder if I can finish, I was still feeling full of energy. But my friend who I was running with wasn't feeling the same, and so I hung back with her and cheered her on (my sister did it for me 2 years ago so I was repaying my karmic debt).  My overall time was less than impressive, which I can't help but beat myself up over, but I finished those 10 miles. I'm now 40% of the way to "veteran" status, where you are guaranteed entry for the rest of your life.

After the race

In addition to my lackluster running, other family members have started to run! Charlotte and Asher participated in the Healthy Kids Running Series near us. Charlotte ran the 50 yard dash, and Asher ran the 1/4 mile. They are both speedy and coordinated, but Charlotte's performances were uneven- in one race she came in 3rd, in another she cried and made me run with her, in another she was pulling out in front when she tripped and fell on her face. Better luck next year, I think. But Asher did really well, and gained speed with each race. He was one of the faster kids, and next year when he is one of the older kids (it was K/1st grade) he will probably be at the head of the pack. He is competitive and motivated, but also has natural speed and grace (unlike his mommy). 

Asher tearing through to the finish

Sad girl after she tripped and fell

We have yet to really hit our stride with sports- Asher says he is good at sports but doesn't like them; Benjamin is eager to try his skill at almost any sport but is not good at them. Benjamin pays no attention to the action in the game and then says he is "bored" and doesn't want to play. Of course we will keep going with sports and activities- if none of my three loves are high-performing athletes, we will all be ok; we just need to make sure we all live an active lifestyle.

Benjamin: 6 years old

Here is my much-delayed post about Benjamin.  Late but not least!  Benjamin is my real constant; where Charlotte and Asher tend to be reactive and sometimes moody, Benjamin is usually predictable and steady.  He has his moments of non-sensical panic (the planetarium at the Franklin Institute is apparently the most frightening thing he has ever experienced), but I can count on him to be calm and quiet when everything around us is going a little crazy.

Benjamin has completely picked up reading- there are words he doesn't know, but he is able to sound most of them out.  He loves to read and is always picking things up to read whenever he can.  If I am texting on my phone, he's reading over my shoulder.  Even spelling words quickly isn't safe anymore!  I love that he has turned into a reader.  Not only does he love reading by himself, he loves being read to. We have been working our way through "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle."  The books remind me of my own childhood, and I enjoy reading it all over again with a sweet boy by my side.

While Benjamin loves to read... he also loves the ipad and computer games. He will sneak electronics whenever he can to play games, and to download new games from the app store.  I know nothing about video games, so I don't know what he is playing (great parental oversight, I know) but he seems to be addicted.  He also got some secondhand Pokemon cards from a classmate, and he takes great pride in them. Again, something I know nothing about.

Benjamin is my good eater.  He eats everything!  Sometimes he will randomly decide there is something he doesn't like, but usually he goes back to eating it at a later point.  He eats meat, vegetables, fruits, cheese, you name it.  He is still willing to try new and adventurous foods if someone else is eating them, too.  The other day he asked me if I would take him out for sushi- so I hope that we get to do that in the near future!  Even though he eats a wide variety of food, he had a small breakdown over Passover, because he wasn't allowed to eat "any foods that I like!"  Strangely, Asher didn't complain at all, despite being deprived of all of the foods he usually eats.

School seems to be going well for Benjamin.  He always talks about his girl friends, but has a few other friends who he seems to play with frequently.  He comes home with awards from his teacher all the time.  We have only had one major incident this year- one day, when his teacher was out and he had a substitute, the principal poked his head into the classroom and found Benjamin and 2 other friends "exploring" each other on the carpet.  The 3 boys got called into the office to talk to the principal, and the principal told Eric about it when Benjamin got out of school at lunch time.  Benjamin's telling of the story was that the boys had been touch him without his permission, and that they do it all the time, and laugh at him!  I was enraged. I walked across the street to the school and the principal saw me right away.  When I told him what Benjamin had told me, he told me that he had witnessed the event with his own eyes, Benjamin was involved, and had never denied his involvement. The teacher also called me, and told me she hasn't seen anything strange happening in class.  Benjamin is always happy to go to school, so I don't think he is being continually harassed there.  We've heard nothing since, but I have continually reiterated to the kids, "Your private parts are private; no one touches them without your permission; don't touch anyone else on their private parts; if someone touches you in a way you don't like, tell a teacher or a parent right away."  The only part of this episode that made me happy was that the principal told me that Benjamin was the only kid in the office who used anatomically correct terms.  Hurray for Mommy and her sex education!

Our biggest frustration with Benjamin is that he is sometimes out to lunch.  He doesn't hear us when we ask him something, and we repeat ourselves, and he still doesn't hear us.  He will sit at the table with a bowl of food in front of him and forget to eat it. He will go upstairs to get himself dressed, and 10 minutes later I will come up to see what happened and find him naked but for his underwear and his pajamas wrapped around one of his feet.

He has given up naps almost completely, which is pretty normal for someone who is now 6. But I have to say, the days where all 3 kids nap in the afternoon are like a little bit of heaven for me.  At night, Benjamin will sleep about 11 hours, which I think is also normal for a kid his age. He is tired at night, and after several days without a nap he is a little cranky, he seems to get enough rest.

Because Benjamin is the most easy-going of the 3 kids, he tends to get bossed around by his siblings- even Charlotte!  Charlotte will tell him what to do because she parrots everything that Asher says.  But Benjamin will just ignore all of it and keep doing whatever he wants.

Even though Asher is more snuggly than Benjamin, Benjamin still needs and loves his cuddles.  He likes to sit on my lap (or any adult's lap!) at mealtimes, or sit close on the couch, or snuggle up together in bed. He is sweet and loves to give kisses and hugs.

Benjamin hasn't yet shown a great deal of athletic prowess.  The one time I watched him play basketball, he looked more like he was doing the hokey-pokey than playing defense and guarding someone. He declined to do the running series that Asher and Charlotte are doing.  He is happily playing t-ball, though!  Even if he isn't a great athlete, he does have fun.

That's my Benjamin- still a sweet, lovable boy.  Smart, curious, and absorbing everything he learns.  He is a goofball and a lovebug.  My middle child who might get lost in the shuffle some days, but deserves all the love in the world.

6 year old well visit

After-doctor frozen yogurt

We had our 6 year old visit yesterday:

Asher is 45 3/4" tall (54th percentile) and 47.8 lbs (61st percentile)

Benjamin is 44.5" tall (30th percentile) and 44.8 lbs (43rd percentile)

The nurse tested their vision and hearing and said it all looked good- Asher's vision was 20/25 instead of 20/20 but she said that is nothing to be concerned about.  The doctor asked questions about what they like to do, how they like school, what they like to eat... At the end of all the questioning, she said that they looked perfect.  She seemed pleased with their general well-being, lack of behavioral problems, and social adjustment.  She agreed with me that we have been incredibly lucky with everything.  And still, even 6 years after their uneventful birth, I am thankful everyday for the way our lives have progressed.  I am so proud of my big, growing boys.

Asher: 6 years old

Here is Asher at 6 years old:

In the past few months, I have started to feel like Asher has an inner life that I know nothing about.  His needs, thoughts, desires are no longer simple and straight forward. I can't solve everything with a hug and a kiss.  Sometimes, at night, he gets quiet and seems sad- he says he feels sad but can't explain why.  One night he cried hysterically and refused to sleep with his beloved Charles Broccoli, and asked me to give it away so that he could "do something nice."  Every time I assured him he was ok to have Broccoli, he would throw Broccoli out of bed. Oh my goodness.  And this morning, I got to the bottom of the lunch problem- for weeks he has been taking barely any food to school with him, and he keeps saying, "Don't put food in there, I'm not going to eat it." While at home, he eats 3-4 things at lunch time, so this strikes me as odd.  Today, he finally told me that at lunch, he chooses to sit at the "Teacher Table" so that he isn't near anyone with fruit in their lunch, but that sometimes the teachers he sits with eat fruit for a snack, and then he feels so sick that he can't eat his lunch.  I have no idea how long this has been going on, but it broke my heart!

Needless to say, his fruit phobia is still going strong. I have become resigned to his not eating a well-rounded diet, and that is ok. He does enjoy a full range of vegetables, and gets excited at broccoli, string beans, and carrots. After refusing string cheese for a long period of time, he now eats Polly-O as a snack. He likes hummus and beans.  His favorite foods, though, are all carbs- cereal, crackers, bread, bagels, noodles.  And desserts.  We have had many discussions about nutrition and eating "real" food to grow strong and have energy, and at time he is amenable to my recommendations.

We have discovered that Asher has a strength in math and numbers.  He loves doing math and will do the optional extra work his teacher sends home for fun.  He is very quick to pick up and understand what he is looking at.  His reading has not progressed as quickly- he doesn't seem to have the patience to read words that aren't instantly familiar to him, and he will look at a word, use the first letter, and make up the rest of the word (yesterday, the word "cure" became "ca-cha-chee," which 1) isn't a word and 2) doesn't have any of the same sounds in it after the initial c).

At school, Asher seems to be doing well. We never hear anything bad from his teacher (we never hear anything at all from his teacher, but that's another story), and he is happy to leave for school in the morning. The morning after spring break, he was dressed with his coat and shoes on 40 minutes before it was time to leave!  He seems to have made some friends, although there was drama when a few other friends were invited to a birthday party and he wasn't. He does all his work well in class, and is proud to show it to us when he comes home.  He loves to draw and color, and can really engage in an arts & crafts project.

At home, Asher can be a sweet and kind big brother.  He and Charlotte seem to have a special relationship, and he really looks out for her.  But, he can also be a little trouble maker- somehow he has ended up with a $5 bill in his bank, but no one has ever given him one. I can only assume it came from a grown-up's wallet!  He is a charmer and knows how to work the Mommy System- things like he will take our initial, low offer for dessert, but then ask for a 2nd dessert while everyone else is eating- and even though I know I am getting swindled, I let him have it.

Of the 3 kids, Asher is the only one I can rely on to do what I ask.  He will help with laundry and table-setting, but also get himself dressed every morning without complaint, get his shoes and coat on the first time I ask, and is also the only one who cleans up toys!  The other day we sent the boys down to the basement to clean up and I heard Asher say, "I'm the only one cleaning up down here! Benjamin is lying on the floor and moaning that he is too tired to help!"  Asher is always quick to come with us on an errand or help out with a task.

He has a kind heart, and often thinks of ways to help other people. After our visit to DC, where we saw many homeless people, Asher asked if there was a way for us to bring a homeless person home with us, and we could make sure he had food and a warm place to live.  I was struck by his concern- and told him that it would be a little complicated to bring someone home from DC, but that we could certainly find other ways to help out people who might be homeless or hungry.

Asher loves being outside.  He will play in the backyard, play at the playground across the street (especially a game called Gaga, which he loves), ride his bike, ride his scooter, or run.  He is solid and strong.  He has natural athletic grace and seems good at every sport he tries, even if he doesn't like doing them. When he did gymnastics, he could really move his body well on the bars and the rings.  He is a super fast runner- and has a long, smooth stride.  Should he ever decide to pick a sport and stick with it, he will probably excel!

Even though he is 6, he is still my snuggle bear.  He will settle in on my lap and just relax. I still love the feeling of his warm, solid body next to mine, and the sound of his soft breathing.  We have snuggled every day of his life (except when I am away on vacation!), and I realize that my snuggle days are finite. 6 years of snuggling, and 6 years from now, no way he will be doing it anymore. He is growing up into this big boy right in front of my eyes.