with the exception of tad, who doesn't know what winking is, i am the only person in our family who can only wink with one eye. i never thought this was weird until just recently - i always assumed everyone was like me and had one eye that could wink and one eye that couldn't. but apparently i am just lacking a basic life skill. how embarrassing.
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chet has picked up an 'american accent' since being in school. i think it is funny. i used to get teased in college for pronouncing certain words the 'canadian way', and made special efforts to make myself say words like out, bag, and pasta like an american to avoid the public humiliation. after all this time, i now say those words (and others) the american way naturally. but our boys have always said those things like a canadian. and we have never made any efforts to change that, obviously. but chet now pronounces it 'b-ah-g'. 'ow-t', and 'paw-sta'. he uses the terms 'first grade' (not grade one), 'tennis shoes' (not running shoes), and he is a master at the pledge of allegiance. it has me thinking how quickly kids can learn and mimic, and how darling it would be if we were living in england or austrailia so he was picking up on one of those accents instead!
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tad is talking more these days. his words include:
hi.
bye.
tank. (that is probably his most used word!)
dog.
woof woof.
chet.
holden.
outside.
slide.
i want a snack.
treat.
drink.
straw (as in strawberry)
cheese! (as in smiling for a camera)
shoe.
plane.
uh oh. (usually said after he intentionally does something bad)
no.
outside.
i want out.
up.
what's that?
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there are so many gorgeous old craftsman style homes around here, and i daydream about owning one someday allll the time.
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chet only has a couple more weeks of school left. then it's summer! YAY! but then he will be off to second grade. BOO! and holden will be off to kindergarten. all day. every day. MAJOR BOO!! i am not ready for that. 2 kids off to school all day? how did i get here? i am sure i will be busier then i realize, but i still kinda worry about how i will feel just having 1 kid to hang with all day. i almost always feel like when we had tad we crossed the line into having too many children for my sanity. but, thank goodness we had him so i won't be all alone come august 14th!
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holden is nervous for kindergarten. and i am too! kindergarten in calgary was the year that you eased into school. it was usually a half day program, or a 2 days/week program. here it is FULL time. holden will go from no routine to being at school all day. i am already getting stressed about it. (i know, i know. it's too early to be stressed!). for some reason, thinking about him feeding himself lunch is what makes me the saddest. he is too little for that! i know he will do well with it all. he is a good, smart, fun boy who loves to make new friends, be a helper, and learn new things. he will be blown away by kindergarten! but he will also be tired and emotional, naturally. i just hope it will all to be a happy experience for him, right from the get go.
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speaking of motherhood, i am constantly bouncing between feeling overwhelmed and underwhelmed by motherhood. some days we have literally nothing we neeeed to do, and i struggle with feeling like a useful person. what am i even doing, other then keeping these children alive? i feel sad on those days. wishing i had more responsibility. other days, we have like a hundred places to be and things to get done, and feel like the whole day is an exhausting marathon with children in tow. i am usually late for everything on those days, and at the end of them i feel like i didn't do a very good job at getting it all done. my goal is to be able to find balance and joy... some how!
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i have said this before, but i sure love kid art. kids make the cutest things! and lately, chet has been writing us the most darling notes. i love finding notes he wrote me when i empty his backpack. he also loves when i write him notes and stick them in his lunch.
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matt got switched from his project at the LAFC soccer stadium to a project at UCLA. his drive is longer, but his hours are shorter. which means he has to sit in the lame LA traffic more, but we almost always have him home for dinner now! win some/lose some. he was sad to leave his co-workers at his last project, and i was sad about that too. he had become good friends with some of them and we had had them over for different get togethers and dinners. we haven't really connected with coworkers like that before, so it was fun. this is just the way his work will be with this company - moving from project to project every couple years, or so. hopefully we will be able to make lots of new friends along the way.
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tball is coming to an end. just 2 more weeks. it has been our favorite sport our kids have been involved with. our team is really fun and our boys have improved a lot over the season.
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chet's friends as school call him 'chetty chet chet'. not sure who started it, but they all do. we still call him 'chetty' 90% of the time. we also use the nicknames 'taddy', 'ho-ey', and 'tanky' more then we use their real names. apparently we have a thing for nicknames that end in an 'e' sound.
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tank turns 9 today! and obviously we will have to celebrate - it's tradition. i can't believe we have owned that silly mutt for 9 years. he seriously drives me nuts. if you knew how many times i have called matt just to tell him that i want to give tank away, you would think so much less of me! he escapes from our backyard at least once a day, he never listens, and he is always stealing our kids food. but, honestly, i don't know how we would parent without him! how does anyone parent without a dog?! he is like this amazing little vacuum that sits under our table at every meal and eats up all the crumbs. i would never feed my children if i had to pick up their crumbs every time i did! thanks tank. and happy birthday!
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i love watching tad munch on food, sleep with his bum up, and carefully play with tiny toys.
i love watching holden be a busy little helper, color with his tongue sticking out, and be the big brother when it's just him and tad.
i love listening to chet read, watching him interact with his classmates when he doesn't know i am there, and hearing him tell me about new things he has learned.
i love watching our boys playing together.
i love listening to them on the monitor in the morning when they are being silly and giggly and kind.
i love watching matt be their dad.
i love being his wife, and their mom, and the only girl in the house.
i love my boys.
