Warning: this post is going to be incredibly random and has no overall point or theme connecting the strands.
I have neglected this little blog of ours even more this summer than usual and so feel the need to post an update of some sort, even though I have no idea where to begin. I mean, really, how do you sum up an entire summer in one blog post? Especially if you are someone prone to rambling and verbosity.
So let's start with some of the things that we have pictures of.
We had a great time in Colorado in early July for my cousin Chris' wedding. My parents and both of my brothers were there and it was the first time we had all been in the same place (or literally even on the same continent) since before Nicholas was born. My mom's dad and a bunch of her siblings and some of my other cousins were also there, which was a fun treat. We went hiking, toured some WWII bombers (which were really fascinating inside, but I didn't get pictures because honestly it took 100% of my focus to get my belly through the tight spaces without smashing baby girl or getting stuck), went to a Union Pacific Railroad museum, and spent quality time with family.
(Previous 2 photos taken by Nicholas.)
In late July Joe, Laura, and Josh came to visit for 4 days. Joe is a high school friend of mine and Josh is my godson, so at this point they are halfway between friends and family. I actually commented at the end of the visit that it felt like I remember visits at my aunts and uncles' houses feeling as a kid and the relationship between Nicholas and Josh seemed like that of cousins. And since so far Nicholas doesn't have any actual cousins, Josh can be his pseudo-cousin. We did a bunch of kid-friendly tourist things (and in multiple New England states to cross new states off Joe's bucket list!)--the zoo, Mystic Seaport, and the other adults attempted to catch a Redsox game in the rain--but we also spent time hanging out at home, playing games, and just enjoying the chance to be together. Since this is a Nicholas-blog, I will note that he had some trouble handling the fact that Josh (14 months) didn't follow all the rules of sharing but overall did a good job with the older-kid role and tried to be a good helper. Also, Nicholas loved the chance to be allowed to play some of the grownup games and it was so funny to me that we were seeking out those moments when Josh was sleeping and Nicholas was awake for the games. It quite literally was only a year ago that we were having to wait on games until Nicholas was asleep. And now he is playing games listed as 13+ (without an understanding of the strategy involved, but with a good grasp of the rules).
The following weekend Nicholas and Joe spent the day with Joe's parents at Old Sturbridge Village (a re-creation of a 19th century village). I've posted a few pictures here, but since I was working at the town library, I can't add commentary.
We then picked up Stacy (my college roommate and Nicholas' godmother) at a conference nearby and got a 4-day visit from her! She and Nicholas were roomies and she humored him much more than either Joe or I can tolerate with hours of "sinking ship," a new game Nicholas has concocted that seems from what I can gather to merge his fascination with the Titanic and obsession with pirates. They also read books, went swimming, played tennis, and in general had an awesome time hanging out.
Based on the pictures, it looks like we have had such an exciting summer, full of adventures and lots of people. But really that is just what I have taken pictures of. Most of our summer has been pretty boring and status quo. I have been teaching A LOT this summer and so our days and weeks have looked sadly similar to those during the school year. There has been a bit more swimming, but even that has been no more than once a week. A few snacks of popsicles or ice cream cones on the balcony, but just on occasion. And none of the daytrips to local summer spots that I had dreamed of. We've just been busy.
And I've been tired. Oh, so tired. I thought I was just working too hard. Which, to be fair, I probably have been. And I figured that my body just couldn't handle the work until 2 am, teach at 8:30 routine while pregnant. Which it probably can't. But it turns out that the absolutely bone tired, fighting to push through feeling that has been getting steadily worse and virtually omnipresent the last few weeks is at least in part due to low iron levels. So I'm hoping that as we get my iron levels back up I'll regain some of my energy. And hopefully with that phenomenon I will also have less of a sense of having wasted my summer.
Some of the things we don't have pictures of:
I didn't think it was possible, but Nicholas seems to be getting more excited about the baby. He likes to talk to my belly and feel for her to move. And he does it so sweetly. Sunday morning he leaned close to my belly and sweetly said, "Baby sister, it is your big brother, Nicholas. Can you move for me? Do you hear me?" Unfortunately she did not oblige, which disappointed him. This evening, however, she has moving around a lot and he was totally in awe. I had worried that it would freak him out a bit (because seriously it does look a bit like there is an alien poking through my skin) but even though he commented that it felt like she was trying to get out, he had the look of wonder that you expect from a parent rather than fear or disgust that I expected from a preschooler. He also likes to make up songs to sing her. Melts my heart.
Nicholas is making some progress on reading, but we have spent very little time on it. This is one of my regrets from this summer. How have we not made time for this? But when we try in the evenings he either says he just wants us to read him a chapter book or says he wants to read and then doesn't actually even make good guesses or give it a real try. We figure he is just too tired at that point. But even on a weekend day, he frustrates me with his lack of persistence. This is one trait we really want to work on with him. He will read the words he knows but often if he doesn't know the word right away, he makes up a silly guess and jumps away laughing. He knows how to sound out words and make good guesses and work from there and when he is willing to try he can get most of the words in the first level early readers, or at least get as far as is possible given the screwiness of English grammar, but he often just won't try. And then he wants to give up and says we're done reading. And I don't need to push him on reading in and of itself--he is way ahead of where I expected him to be and I don't care if he gets any further in the next year in terms of just straight reading skills--but I refuse to let him just give up whenever something is a little bit difficult or he has to work at it. He does this with toys and games too and it drives me crazy. I really think that gaining some persistence will be of much more benefit to him than learning to read before kindergarten.
No comments:
Post a Comment