I know I should not complain about the way my kids learn, but I find that everytime they learn something new, they go far ahead, step back for a while, then they go forward again, and that dance never seems to stop. Of course, they keep moving ahead, inspite of their regular regressions, but I find it unsettling at times, not to know what will work on a certain day for a certain child. Some days, they want to be as challenged as possible, while some other days, they prefer the comfort of tasks they have mastered a long time ago.
Today, Luca went back to work on his Miquon Orange... a book he dropped almost a year ago because it was too uninteresting and he didn't care about manipulatives at the time. I'm more than fine with it, but it was rather unexpected.
I don't enjoy change when I have a cold! :D
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Happy 3rd Birthday princess!
Last weekend, we celebrated princess Amelia's third birthday. I was really nice, but I miss my little fat stinky baby sometimes!
We started on Saturday. We gave her the dress and shoes she chose a little while ago, and went to see the Nutcracker. I was really impressed. Since I moved to Nova Scotia, all the plays/live music I had seen was horrid, so I had given up on the joys of music. Well, Symphony Nova Scotia is much better than I ever expected (it's true my expectations were really low) AND the dancers were pretty good. They were mostly teenagers, but they were very entertaining. Amelia sat nicely and watched the whole thing. She only spoke to ask where some characters/props had gone, and to announce everybody who was the bad guy. :D Her favourite character was the dolly. It's too bad I had a giant sitting in front of me!
On Sunday, we had a cake, and a few people over for the kids to play.... and eat the cake. Mia received her first 2 Barbies, and her and Rosa play a lot with them! :D
Unfortunately, Amelia's birthday was also a day of Milestones. Mia wrote her name. She said her first full sentence in French (Rosa a un nombril). To top it off, Rosa walked. All in the same day.
We started on Saturday. We gave her the dress and shoes she chose a little while ago, and went to see the Nutcracker. I was really impressed. Since I moved to Nova Scotia, all the plays/live music I had seen was horrid, so I had given up on the joys of music. Well, Symphony Nova Scotia is much better than I ever expected (it's true my expectations were really low) AND the dancers were pretty good. They were mostly teenagers, but they were very entertaining. Amelia sat nicely and watched the whole thing. She only spoke to ask where some characters/props had gone, and to announce everybody who was the bad guy. :D Her favourite character was the dolly. It's too bad I had a giant sitting in front of me!
On Sunday, we had a cake, and a few people over for the kids to play.... and eat the cake. Mia received her first 2 Barbies, and her and Rosa play a lot with them! :D
Unfortunately, Amelia's birthday was also a day of Milestones. Mia wrote her name. She said her first full sentence in French (Rosa a un nombril). To top it off, Rosa walked. All in the same day.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Stephen Hawking, my new hero!
No, I didn't develop a sudden interest in physics, and although I am certain his work and life and career are very inspiring to some, it doesn't do a thing to me.
No, it's even better: he might be the one saving me from the evil questions of Mr. Toocurious! He wrote some kids novels, and, of course, they are filled with science facts, on pretty much all the subjects that I can't explain well to my son (think black holes and company). I am not certain how much Luca will be able to read on his own, but I think he is capable to read the story on his own, and the "fact" pages with help.
Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!
No, it's even better: he might be the one saving me from the evil questions of Mr. Toocurious! He wrote some kids novels, and, of course, they are filled with science facts, on pretty much all the subjects that I can't explain well to my son (think black holes and company). I am not certain how much Luca will be able to read on his own, but I think he is capable to read the story on his own, and the "fact" pages with help.
Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!
Sleeping Naked is Green and other books
Recently, I read a few very interesting books. Some I read from one cover to the other, some others I browsed through until I buy my own copy.
Let's start with the one I read from one cover to the other: "Sleeping Naked is Green" by Vanessa Faquharson. Just try to imagine a Toronto girl (trying not to say snob!lol) going on a challenge to do a green change every day for a year... on a leap year, of course! :D Some of these changes are small, some of them I would simply not consider myself. What I like the best about her, is that although we have very little in common (she's a single girl who lives in a large city), she never takes herself too seriously during that challenge, and she even made me laugh out loud on several occasions. She also documented her challenge on her blog, Green as a Thistle. It's definitely worth reading, even for old men on their death bed who refuse to admit that making small changes (or not so small too) might help future generations.... Eh, dad? ;)
I also skimmed through "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright. It is exactly the book I was looking for, religion through a historical, rather than spiritual perspective. Prettyflower, you will like that one, I am certain, even Asaathi might enjoy it! I can'T wait to read it all!
Last, but not the least, "Codebreaker" by Stephen Pincock. It is a book about codes and cyphers throughout history, and it talks about a few that haven't been cracked, such as the Phaistos Disk, the Voynich Manuscript, etc. I'm getting a book about undeciphered ancient languages for Christmas, so that's definitely in the same lines... and I have a feeling a certain geek of mine will be interested in these things in a few years. After all, as a kid, I played by making my own secret writings, even tried to make up my own secret language for fun... but my friends were usually too simple minded to understand even the easiest of the codes, so I never had a chance to really use them. Too bad!
Let's start with the one I read from one cover to the other: "Sleeping Naked is Green" by Vanessa Faquharson. Just try to imagine a Toronto girl (trying not to say snob!lol) going on a challenge to do a green change every day for a year... on a leap year, of course! :D Some of these changes are small, some of them I would simply not consider myself. What I like the best about her, is that although we have very little in common (she's a single girl who lives in a large city), she never takes herself too seriously during that challenge, and she even made me laugh out loud on several occasions. She also documented her challenge on her blog, Green as a Thistle. It's definitely worth reading, even for old men on their death bed who refuse to admit that making small changes (or not so small too) might help future generations.... Eh, dad? ;)
I also skimmed through "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright. It is exactly the book I was looking for, religion through a historical, rather than spiritual perspective. Prettyflower, you will like that one, I am certain, even Asaathi might enjoy it! I can'T wait to read it all!
Last, but not the least, "Codebreaker" by Stephen Pincock. It is a book about codes and cyphers throughout history, and it talks about a few that haven't been cracked, such as the Phaistos Disk, the Voynich Manuscript, etc. I'm getting a book about undeciphered ancient languages for Christmas, so that's definitely in the same lines... and I have a feeling a certain geek of mine will be interested in these things in a few years. After all, as a kid, I played by making my own secret writings, even tried to make up my own secret language for fun... but my friends were usually too simple minded to understand even the easiest of the codes, so I never had a chance to really use them. Too bad!
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Floored
I am floored. It was enough that I was starting to understand Amelia and her nonsensical talk, but today it went further than I ever expected.
In the past few days, I have asked the kids to dictate letters they wanted me to write daddy, and honestly, Amelia's were quite a challenge:
"Dear Daddy, love want to drink love water. I take bath. I have to go pee tonight. I didn't go outside. Found purple stickers. Later, I go nap. Later, I gonna write because I love eating bananas, I love pink! I wan to go downstairs because bedroom I am mad. I like to fly. I like airplanes. Daddy like pink. daddy like blue. Daddy like green. Rose!!!"
or
"Dear Daddy, I did eat Cheerios. I do pop my bum. I did pop for daddy. I made a pop for my pony. I eat banana and milk. I love Luca and Rosa mess. I eat eyes. I colour Luca's mess green."
or
"Dear daddy, I ate Cheerios with Jello. Rosa likes Jello. I drank water and went outside to finish my math. I want to drink more water. I have water over there.
I like to colour ghosts. Ghosts outside! I did finish my ice. I did colour that one."
and last, but not the least:
"Dear Daddy, I killed a monster. The monster want to go bite me. The monster got to house to poke. I killed the monster because he broke my house."
But this morning, while Luca was reading, she grabbed a book about Alexander Graham Bell, opened and tried to read. Of course she can't she struggles enough talking as it is... then she named all the letters she recognized, not that many. She got really mad, and asked me what a word was, so I told her. She had a full blown tantrum, so I started reading to her, and she got even more mad "*I* don'T know the words!". After a few minutes talking, I understood that she wants to know how to read the words. Ouch.
When Luca decided he wanted to read, he already was a great talker, so I never thought much about it, but Amelia? She honestly wants to learn more about reading! I honestly don'T know how that will go, but I'll try to help her learn her letters and recognize a few words, at least, if it can make her happy... I mean, she writes letters on her drawings, trying to be a big girl....
No pressure! *sigh*
In the past few days, I have asked the kids to dictate letters they wanted me to write daddy, and honestly, Amelia's were quite a challenge:
"Dear Daddy, love want to drink love water. I take bath. I have to go pee tonight. I didn't go outside. Found purple stickers. Later, I go nap. Later, I gonna write because I love eating bananas, I love pink! I wan to go downstairs because bedroom I am mad. I like to fly. I like airplanes. Daddy like pink. daddy like blue. Daddy like green. Rose!!!"
or
"Dear Daddy, I did eat Cheerios. I do pop my bum. I did pop for daddy. I made a pop for my pony. I eat banana and milk. I love Luca and Rosa mess. I eat eyes. I colour Luca's mess green."
or
"Dear daddy, I ate Cheerios with Jello. Rosa likes Jello. I drank water and went outside to finish my math. I want to drink more water. I have water over there.
I like to colour ghosts. Ghosts outside! I did finish my ice. I did colour that one."
and last, but not the least:
"Dear Daddy, I killed a monster. The monster want to go bite me. The monster got to house to poke. I killed the monster because he broke my house."
But this morning, while Luca was reading, she grabbed a book about Alexander Graham Bell, opened and tried to read. Of course she can't she struggles enough talking as it is... then she named all the letters she recognized, not that many. She got really mad, and asked me what a word was, so I told her. She had a full blown tantrum, so I started reading to her, and she got even more mad "*I* don'T know the words!". After a few minutes talking, I understood that she wants to know how to read the words. Ouch.
When Luca decided he wanted to read, he already was a great talker, so I never thought much about it, but Amelia? She honestly wants to learn more about reading! I honestly don'T know how that will go, but I'll try to help her learn her letters and recognize a few words, at least, if it can make her happy... I mean, she writes letters on her drawings, trying to be a big girl....
No pressure! *sigh*
Monday, December 07, 2009
Planning a birthday party...
No, I'm not planning for Amelia's party next weekend (I have nothing ready yet!), or Rosa's next month... but Luca's in the spring!
When I made baklavas last night, I asked Luca if he had ideas of what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he had no idea, so I suggested a Percy Jackson themed party. Well, he loved the idea!
Now, for those of you who don'T know, Percy Jackson is a character by Rick Riordan, in a world where greek gods exist, but humans are unaware of them, and they keep having babies with mortals (yeah, they are really good at that!), and those half blood will help fight the Titans who try to rise again, lead by Kronos.
So basically, it is a greek mythology theme. As most people would do nowadays, I googled it and found a few ideas, but if something ever pops in your head, feel free to share!
When I made baklavas last night, I asked Luca if he had ideas of what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he had no idea, so I suggested a Percy Jackson themed party. Well, he loved the idea!
Now, for those of you who don'T know, Percy Jackson is a character by Rick Riordan, in a world where greek gods exist, but humans are unaware of them, and they keep having babies with mortals (yeah, they are really good at that!), and those half blood will help fight the Titans who try to rise again, lead by Kronos.
So basically, it is a greek mythology theme. As most people would do nowadays, I googled it and found a few ideas, but if something ever pops in your head, feel free to share!
Brag
I need to brag, not for the brag itself, but I need to pet myself in the back a little.
Recently, I have been having lots of doubts about my capacity to be a good wife and good homeschool mom. I seem to fail all the time, I even have nightmares where I think my kids are doing fine, but someone points one little issue and I fall apart. That added to my mom trying to convince me to give up breastfeeding and the breastfed baby keeping me up till 2am, it's hard.
Feel free not to read, it's for myself, really.
-My man doesn't show feelings. That's just how he is. But in the past few weeks, he has been nice, and one day he even complimented me in many ways. He really appreciates what I do for Luca and the others. And him. And the food. He does like my food, so I guess that means all is right ;)
-In our homeschool, not much is happening these days, and sometimes, it freaks me out. Bu when uncle piggy called, Luca did impress him, I believe, when he told uncle that sound is caused by molecules that vibrate, and the faster they vibrate, the higher the pitch, the slower they vibrate, the lower the pitch. It was really neat to hear him say that as naturally as if he was telling hima bout his teeth that are loose.
Life will be all right. It's just that I find it hard to trust myself these days. Maybe I need some cannoli? Mmmmmmm cannoli!
Recently, I have been having lots of doubts about my capacity to be a good wife and good homeschool mom. I seem to fail all the time, I even have nightmares where I think my kids are doing fine, but someone points one little issue and I fall apart. That added to my mom trying to convince me to give up breastfeeding and the breastfed baby keeping me up till 2am, it's hard.
Feel free not to read, it's for myself, really.
-My man doesn't show feelings. That's just how he is. But in the past few weeks, he has been nice, and one day he even complimented me in many ways. He really appreciates what I do for Luca and the others. And him. And the food. He does like my food, so I guess that means all is right ;)
-In our homeschool, not much is happening these days, and sometimes, it freaks me out. Bu when uncle piggy called, Luca did impress him, I believe, when he told uncle that sound is caused by molecules that vibrate, and the faster they vibrate, the higher the pitch, the slower they vibrate, the lower the pitch. It was really neat to hear him say that as naturally as if he was telling hima bout his teeth that are loose.
Life will be all right. It's just that I find it hard to trust myself these days. Maybe I need some cannoli? Mmmmmmm cannoli!
Strange kids...
My kids have strange cullinary tastes:
-I have a movie of 3 year old Luca refusing to eat Jell-O and begging for salad.
-At age 4, he had a melt-down in Halifax Shopping Centre's food court because I forced him to eat junk food and he wanted HEEEEAAAAALLLLTTTHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY food! (I got some dirty looks that day! lol)
-I fed him chocolate pudding for breakfastone morning... I thought it was a fun treat, but he whined that he wanted real food, and made a point to tell EVERYONE we met about it.
-If chocolate pudding was too sweet for him, can you imagine his reaction to the baklavas I made with love yesterday? I might as well have served him garbage!
-The other day, Amelia refused to eat her breakfast... until we told her she would go to church only if she ate it all, so she did!
-She also refused to eat her pizza one day, so we had to bribe her with kalamata olives... "Honey, eat a few more bites if you want an other olive".... and she loves to take the pit out of it! Gross!
-Rosa is probably going to be as strange: her new favourite food? Pita with hummus!
-I have a movie of 3 year old Luca refusing to eat Jell-O and begging for salad.
-At age 4, he had a melt-down in Halifax Shopping Centre's food court because I forced him to eat junk food and he wanted HEEEEAAAAALLLLTTTHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY food! (I got some dirty looks that day! lol)
-I fed him chocolate pudding for breakfastone morning... I thought it was a fun treat, but he whined that he wanted real food, and made a point to tell EVERYONE we met about it.
-If chocolate pudding was too sweet for him, can you imagine his reaction to the baklavas I made with love yesterday? I might as well have served him garbage!
-The other day, Amelia refused to eat her breakfast... until we told her she would go to church only if she ate it all, so she did!
-She also refused to eat her pizza one day, so we had to bribe her with kalamata olives... "Honey, eat a few more bites if you want an other olive".... and she loves to take the pit out of it! Gross!
-Rosa is probably going to be as strange: her new favourite food? Pita with hummus!
Sunday, December 06, 2009
One more reason to hate Mirena
ALERT: BIRTH CONTROL TALK. TOO MUCH INFORMATION. STOP HERE IF YOU'RE A MAN.
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...
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Now that it's only us, girls, let me vent about Mirena. First it was the horrid cramps, mood swings, bleeding. After 6 months, it was finally better. Unfortunately, since I am still breastfeeding, it also delayed ovulation, so I had no idea in what way it would be affected by the IUD (or UFO as my husband calls it).
Mirena is supposed to:
1-Make the cervical mucus thicker so the swimmers don't make it
2-Keep the lining of the uterus thin so there is no implantation.
As long as #1 works, I am fine with this. But this is exactly my problem: I still lots of very fertile cervical mucus (ewcm) at ovulation time. It only leaves me with the considerably thinned lining. I know THAT part works thanks to the almost absent periods (that part is nice).
Now, it leaves me in the position that yes, sperm can meet the egg, but implantation is not possible. That's not right to me. Even my husband would agree on that.
It really pains me because I was happy I thought I had finally found something that I could use for a while, then decide on whether going for one more or going for the snip snip. Now, I'm left with nothing but the chastity belt. Honestly, I am very dissapointed.
If there is any other secret ways Mirena is supposed to work, please let me know!
There is no word to describe how down that makes me. I'm not ready for the big V.
...
...
...
Now that it's only us, girls, let me vent about Mirena. First it was the horrid cramps, mood swings, bleeding. After 6 months, it was finally better. Unfortunately, since I am still breastfeeding, it also delayed ovulation, so I had no idea in what way it would be affected by the IUD (or UFO as my husband calls it).
Mirena is supposed to:
1-Make the cervical mucus thicker so the swimmers don't make it
2-Keep the lining of the uterus thin so there is no implantation.
As long as #1 works, I am fine with this. But this is exactly my problem: I still lots of very fertile cervical mucus (ewcm) at ovulation time. It only leaves me with the considerably thinned lining. I know THAT part works thanks to the almost absent periods (that part is nice).
Now, it leaves me in the position that yes, sperm can meet the egg, but implantation is not possible. That's not right to me. Even my husband would agree on that.
It really pains me because I was happy I thought I had finally found something that I could use for a while, then decide on whether going for one more or going for the snip snip. Now, I'm left with nothing but the chastity belt. Honestly, I am very dissapointed.
If there is any other secret ways Mirena is supposed to work, please let me know!
There is no word to describe how down that makes me. I'm not ready for the big V.
Growth spurts... I hate them!
Why do I hate growth spurts so much? Rosa's growth spurts involve eating almost non stop all day, and parts of the night too, sleeping no more than 6 hours in a 24 hour period.
Worst still is all the clothe I end up donating. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy these clothe will be helpful to someone, but it also means I will never have a baby again and I will never have a boy again. It hurts. I'm not 30 yet, and I'm not one of these lucky women who feel like their family is complete.
I have to do it, but it hurts a lot. My baby is now almost one. She's not really a baby anymore.
All that to say... I hate growth spurts!
Worst still is all the clothe I end up donating. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy these clothe will be helpful to someone, but it also means I will never have a baby again and I will never have a boy again. It hurts. I'm not 30 yet, and I'm not one of these lucky women who feel like their family is complete.
I have to do it, but it hurts a lot. My baby is now almost one. She's not really a baby anymore.
All that to say... I hate growth spurts!
Saturday, December 05, 2009
All in a day!
Today was supposed to be my quiet day, but it is not. Don't get me wrong, I AM relaxing, but today was much more eventful than planned.
At the moment, money is a little low, so I decided to cook only using what is in the pantry until my man comes back, so I made muffins for breakfasts, jello for giggles, and we'll have Ms Frizzle's hair tonight.
I did clean the floors, the kitchen and the bathroom, build a fire, vacuum, and all that's left is a mount of laundry and the kitty litter.
Not only that, but I got three phone calls too, all for me (ok, two for me!), no telemarketers either!
First, Prettyflower called, and it was really nice to hear her voice. I am really looking forward to see her again, she is a lot of fun.
Then it was my grandmother who called, and I also got to speak to my dad.
Finally, the strangest call of them all: Uncle Piggy. Now, Uncle Piggy calls Luca frequently to chat, but being told he wants to talk to Luca about a science experiment was definitely different! :D Basically, he told Luca he needs to learn about Dalton's particle theory, Bohr's and Rutherford's atomic model. All that for an experiment he wants to do with him in about 7-9 years. And the experiment he is proposing doesn't fills me with confidence, especially from a guy who set a swimming pool full of water on fire ;)
It is strange that last week I borrowed a book about atoms for Luca, and it touches all the things that uncle Piggy wants him to learn about. Usually, when such coincidences happen, it turns into great learning opportunities. So we'll see what happens with that in the next few weeks!
At the moment, money is a little low, so I decided to cook only using what is in the pantry until my man comes back, so I made muffins for breakfasts, jello for giggles, and we'll have Ms Frizzle's hair tonight.
I did clean the floors, the kitchen and the bathroom, build a fire, vacuum, and all that's left is a mount of laundry and the kitty litter.
Not only that, but I got three phone calls too, all for me (ok, two for me!), no telemarketers either!
First, Prettyflower called, and it was really nice to hear her voice. I am really looking forward to see her again, she is a lot of fun.
Then it was my grandmother who called, and I also got to speak to my dad.
Finally, the strangest call of them all: Uncle Piggy. Now, Uncle Piggy calls Luca frequently to chat, but being told he wants to talk to Luca about a science experiment was definitely different! :D Basically, he told Luca he needs to learn about Dalton's particle theory, Bohr's and Rutherford's atomic model. All that for an experiment he wants to do with him in about 7-9 years. And the experiment he is proposing doesn't fills me with confidence, especially from a guy who set a swimming pool full of water on fire ;)
It is strange that last week I borrowed a book about atoms for Luca, and it touches all the things that uncle Piggy wants him to learn about. Usually, when such coincidences happen, it turns into great learning opportunities. So we'll see what happens with that in the next few weeks!
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Luca and overreacting
Since Prettyflower mentionned that Luca's problems might be related to anxiety, I have tried to read a bit on the subject, and I must admit that she was right. I also had to face my own shortcomings, and had to admit that most of his fears are similar to mine, but I never speak about my fears. Somehow, his and mine are almost identical.
Thankfully, I figured out that as long as he gets a lot of sleep (10 hours a night+ an afternoon rest or nap), his anxiety diminishes to almost nothing. The only other trigger I found is when he has some extra stress in his life, he tends to start worrying again, so I'll attend some program on how to help kids cope with stress, and hopefully that will help. It should. It will.
http://www.psychologyfoundation.org/kidshavestresstoo.php
Thankfully, I figured out that as long as he gets a lot of sleep (10 hours a night+ an afternoon rest or nap), his anxiety diminishes to almost nothing. The only other trigger I found is when he has some extra stress in his life, he tends to start worrying again, so I'll attend some program on how to help kids cope with stress, and hopefully that will help. It should. It will.
http://www.psychologyfoundation.org/kidshavestresstoo.php
I hate music!
Ok,ok, you all know I love music... but it's becoming a problem in this house. My wonderful son believes he has the worst singing voice in the world and wants me to teach him how to sing better. No pressure! I hate math, but I know I can help him with that. I love singing and sing relatively well, but I'm not sure I can teach him THAT! I guess I will try to get him to calm down when he sings so his voice is more steady, do breathing exercises, sing songs like we already do... but I'm terrified! I'm more terrified of ruining my kid's voice than ruining their education, which makes absolutely no sense since the thought of one of my kids deciding to chose music as a career makes me nauseous!
So that gives me a Manuel, Maria and Pauline, if they all decide to sing ;) Sorry, I simply couldn't resist that one!
So that gives me a Manuel, Maria and Pauline, if they all decide to sing ;) Sorry, I simply couldn't resist that one!
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