Introvert

Another of the books I read discussed the difference between extroverts and introverts. Everybody needs to recharge somehow throughout the day. Extroverts do it by talking to others while introverts do it with quiet alone time. I had never looked at it that way. Buddy and I are both introverts. This is what makes traveling with two kids a hassle for me. I don't get any breaks. At home, sometimes I can escape for 5 minutes by myself (like now). When we're traveling that's not possible because there isn't a room between me and Bohdin ever. Whenever Nyla falls asleep in the car and wakes up before getting home I feel ripped off because that is the time I need to take for myself. Nothing in the book really helped with the kids but it did shed some light on me and my needs. I think Bohdin may be an introvert and Nyla an extrovert but I'm not sure yet.

I was talking to Bohdin the other day about people having food preferences. I said I didn't really like the strawberry milk that he likes to drink. I also don't like chocolate milk unless it's hot. Bohdin said he doesn't like hot chocolate because it makes his body too warm. Bohdin frequently asks for cold drinks to cool his stomach. He's the warmest person I know. It's actually getting better. He used to be way too hot and now he's just a bit too hot. I don't know if he'll ever wear a jacket though. I didn't even bother buying him one for this winter. I'm not sure he ever wore one last winter although I certainly felt jackets were justified on occasion.

Bohdin also used to have a hard time dealing with the change from shorts and short sleeve shirts to long things. He didn't like the feel of the transition. He would tug at his shirts to make them longer for instance. We didn't have that problem this season.

Last night I was reading to Bohdin. Our last book was interrupted to Buddy took over. Bohdin told Buddy over and over to "read it the right way". That means you have to follow the words. I don't know why he doesn't trust Buddy's reading.

Play

It's been a long time since I downloaded personal videos and as a result I haven't recorded many since the memory was full. I cleared up a little space yesterday so I can record more soon. Here is Nyla playing in the pillow house Bohdin is building. She would hide under the pillows and then pop up. She has so much fun playing with him.



I know this is a lame post but Buddy is outside with the kids and I don't want to waste my free time on the computer.

Professional Development

Buddy has been going to a lot of conferences lately. I'm not quite sure what he's learning but apparently it's necessary. Lots of jobs include some kind of professional development. One day it occurred to me that I was not doing any professional development for my most important job - being a parent. I checked out tons of books from the library and have been working my way through them. Some I liked better than others. Three of the books that I am enjoying I'm still reading. One that I finished is Siblings Without Rivalry.

Buddy thinks it is impossible to have siblings without rivalry. There are certainly going to be times that Bohdin and Nyla disagree. Lots and lots of times. I thought the book had many good points about making kids work as a team as opposed to competing against each other or comparing them. They book also stressed that small disagreements should be worked out between themselves. Sibling relationships are so powerful and can shape who you are. Reading the book made me think of my childhood with Paul. We had some tremendous fights but we also did great things together.

One of my favorite memories of childhood was when I had a friend over in 5th grade. Paul was in 3rd. I spent time playing with my friend and not Paul. When she left Paul said he felt left out (not those exact words but that was the gist). Together we decided that if we had a friend over they would have to play with the sibling also or they would have to go home. I'm so glad that we worked this out without a parent. That solution, in my opinion, helped define our relationship for many years. In a way, we decided that we were more important to each other than our friends. That's not something a parent could have decided for us. Well they could have made us do it but it would have led to resentment instead of closeness.

I would like to hear comments from more than Paul about your sibling relationships. It's not difficult to make a comment. Try it.

Peace

The end of last week was a crummy time. Everybody was grouchy. This week everything is so quiet and calm. I wish it could be like this always. The kids are playing together nicely and quietly for long periods of time. Long for their ages. I'm not talking 6 hours. I hope I didn't just jinx myself by mentioning the calm.

Yesterday we went with N- to the nature preserve that is a short walk from here. He and N- play best together outside in nature. They had a great time and did a ton of fun things. They're both young so there was some frustration in there as well. Bohdin found a very long stick and they decided they would carry it together. That was great until Bohdin wanted to put the stick down. They threw rocks and sticks in the pond, looked through binoculars at each other, played with Bohdin's cars in the soil. Nyla did several of these things as well. Bohdin's anger came when N- found a large dinosaur bone (rock) and Bohdin wanted one also. There were many small rocks around but only the one big one. Eventually he found 3 smaller dinosaur bones and was happy that he had more. Walking back, they found small branches with lots of leaves and used them as weapons against each other. They had a blast until Bohdin was done but N- wasn't. They later climbed trees. I loved seeing how they worked together to find fun things to do. They leaned against trees together and slid down a hill after each other.

Nyla continues to watch and copy the things we do. The other day she tried to wipe Bohdin's butt. She was mad one day when I wouldn't let her brush Bohdin's teeth while he was sleeping. She sat on my lap when I was getting a cavity filled the other day and was mesmerized with what they were doing. When I saw her watching so intently I realized this was not a good thing. Someday she is going to come after me in my sleep with a sharp utensil.

Playing with the cash register
 

Rocking together
 

In the wagon together
 

While the mommy is away

Nyla was clinging to me in the afternoon so she watched me make the bread. She was particualarly interested in me shaping the dough into dinner rolls. I covered them up and let them rise on the table. Nyla went on to play with styrofoam peanuts. I checked on Bohdin who was watching a video in the other room. He had fallen asleep. It was 5:30 and a terrible time for a nap so I woke him up. When I came back into the kitchen Nyla wasn't sitting on the floor playing quietly anymore. She had climbed up to play with the dough and make a prettier dinner roll. She also opened the herbs I put in the rolls and dumped the entire container. Despite the new shape and interference with the rising process they still turned out fine.

 

Buddy's next two trips have been cancelled. The kids like it when he's around so I'm sure they will be glad. When Buddy came home last night Nyla went over the greet him first as usual but this time she ran over and said "da da da da" while running. It sure was cute.

Bohdin likes parking garages. Whenever possible he wants me to park in one. They built a new Target in Annapolis with a parking garage as the first two floors so I headed out there. I thought it would be a neater store but it really was just a Target above a parking garage. It was nice not to see a huge parking lot outside I guess.

Change and a really long tongue

 
 

Nyla is close to 2 weeks old in the first picture. None of us knew how our lives could change in 14 months. Bohdin bears the brunt of it since she has to have everything he has.

We were reading a book and at the end Bohdin mentioned a frog he saw that had a really long tongue that could catch bugs. This led to us trying to touch our noses with our tongues and then a collaborative story...

Once upon a time there was a boy named Bohdin who had many long tongues. He used these long tongues to complete many tasks. While laying in bed he could stretch his tongue out to the kitchen and grab an apple. A tongue would wrap around a cup and take it to the kitchen. Another tongue would turn on the faucet to fill the cup with water. That's not all that the tongue could do. Bohdin would be able to hold a towel with his long strong tongue and dry his mommy after a bath or shower. His tongue could hold a blow dryer and dry her hair. All of his tongues would be able to do lots of things for him. The end.

Nyla has had a runny nose now for two days and this will be the third night. I hope she improves soon not so much for her sake but ours. It sounds like a chainsaw at night. She and Bohdin sleep through it but it sure bugs Buddy and I. I hope Bohdin doesn't get it but it seems unlikely. They share drinks and food. Nyla insists on eating the things off of Bohdin's plate. She will no longer sit in her high chair. I'll put it away as soon as I come to terms with her no longer being a little baby. I'm still holding out a little hope that I can corral her for at least a few minutes of the day. When I write that I can see how ridiculous my hope is. This is not a child that can be held back. She has more determination than anybody I know.

Brown stuff everywhere

When I talked to Buddy on the phone tonight he said I hadn't done a blog post for several days. After some thought I realized this wasn't true. I did write a post yesterday it just didn't post. We have spotty internet service.

Yesterday Bohdin and I had a dentist appointment. I was surprised to find out that Bohdin was scared. He has been to the dentist before and everything seemed fine. It could just be an age thing. He thinks I left him home all by himself to go to the grocery store one time. That is nowhere near true. Anyway, I talked to Bohdin about the dentist. When we went in he didn't seem too frightened. The dentist was really nice and gentle. I ended up holding Bohdin in my arms while she checked him out. Nyla climbed up behind me into the dentist's chair. My appointment was a bit longer since they did xrays and non gentle cleaning. We had the same lady but my mouth felt assaulted at the end. Bohdin picked out a pink and yellow Dora toothbrush for himself. He spent a lot of time looking through the small prizes but never chose one. The office staff ended up holding Nyla for a while. She was not as cooperative as Bohdin.

Nothing else has been going on here. We've all been hot and grumpy and hungry. Our building was power washed yesterday so we had to have the windows closed. It felt really hot inside today and we were all sweating. It should cool down a bit soon. We might need to go grocery shopping as well.

I had a sweet tooth at the store today so we decided to make cookies. We went to play at N-'s house first and Bohdin was exhausted on the way home and nearly fell asleep. Despite being tired he wanted to make the dough anyway. We made a sugar cookie dough to roll out tomorrow and a chocolate drop cookie with chocolate chips, walnuts, and marshmallows. I put them in the oven after Bohdin had fallen asleep. Nyla was still awake and playing without a diaper on. She ended up pooping right next to me. Of course Nyla had to point out her achievement. It excites her to see her own poop. As I was cleaning it she would point repeatedly to it and say "heh heh heh". It almost sounded like she was laughing at me. As soon as I was done I had to take out the brown chocolate cookies from the oven. It seemed like cruel timing to go from a brown mess on the floor to a brown lumpy cookie.