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Jan. 21st, 2006 12:51 pmBrad is leaving in an hour or so to go to Dallas for a job fair thing. He has eight interviews lined up. Sunday is an info and interview prep day and then interviews are all day Monday. So I'm on my own for two and half days and two nights. Why does this always scare me a little? It isn't like I don't do this on my own most of the time. It isn't like I've never been alone with the girls overnight. I went five months without him with kids! I should be able to do two nights. I still feel nervous and a little sad. I can't really figure out why.
It is time for that update on Zoe. Where to start? Of the three girls, she is most fits the phrase "drama queen." Luci gets the tantrums going, but Zoe can weep like her heart is broken. This morning all three girls woke up and came in to pile on top of us in bed. I had mentioned to the girls that daddy was going out of town for a few days, and Zoe asked if daddy was leaving today. When he said yes, she put her head down and in about a minute, the most heartwrenching wails and sobs started shaking her frame. It was so sad! It does very little good to try and convince her that her reaction is overkill. The whole thing is over much more quickly if you just let her cry and cuddle her close until it is over. If you say things like "It's okay. Daddy will be back soon. Its just two days. Sunday and Monday and then he will be back." etc, she just wails louder and responds with things like "It takes a loooooong time! I don't want him to go! I will miss him!" So we don't talk. Just cuddle and let her cry and try to hide our smiles and chuckles. Poor baby. She feels things sooooo deeply.
You know how I said she was four now? Well, what I noticed almost immediately when Mari turned four was the mouth. Suddenly she argued with everything I said. I thought maybe it was just her personality...but now Zoe is doing it too. Actually, she started it several months ago, so apparently she hit the "fours" a little early. And the attitude! It is so hard not to laugh at her when she answers my requests to pick something up or go do something with "Oh, Allll riiiight!" and a flip of her head and roll of her eyes. I know I have to correct her when she does this but most of the time I have to take a break to keep from laughing out loud at the 16 year old that has possessed my sweet baby's body!
One of most amazing things to me about Zoe is still her artistic sense. Mari has always been very interested in getting things "right", in following the rules. As soon as someone said something to her about coloring in the lines (it wasn't me!), it became an obsession for Mari to learn this skill. Now I have always been of the mindset that "coloring in the lines" is highly overrated. Sure, it is a nice skill to have, but I feel very strongly that my children will learn to "color in the lines" soon enough. During the early years, I just want them to express themselves. So I avoided coloring books for a long time. Nice blank sheets of paper were the standard fare. So it really surprised me when this became so important to Mari. It was a good glimpse into her personality, as she has the same attitude about getting it "right" when doing puzzles or building with her blocks or practicing writing...just about everything. Now Zoe.... though she shows some interest in learning to "color in the lines", much prefers the blank paper. She is so much more interested in just playing with the colors, seeing what they look like together, being creative. Color seems to fascinate her. She arranges her markers and crayons in various ways and just gazes at them and says, "look at my rainbow colors!" She builds towers out of legos and brings them to me to "see how the blue looks next to the yellow!" She doesn't explain, just wants me to look, to appreciate. I can see that she already has a sense of complimentary colors, though she loves to experiment. As for her actual drawings, they are already extremely detailed and interesting. She is less interested in depicting reality, and much more interested in capturing something else. The green blob is a dinosour, and the black inside him is him "feeling mad". I really need to get this kid in an art class.
It is time for that update on Zoe. Where to start? Of the three girls, she is most fits the phrase "drama queen." Luci gets the tantrums going, but Zoe can weep like her heart is broken. This morning all three girls woke up and came in to pile on top of us in bed. I had mentioned to the girls that daddy was going out of town for a few days, and Zoe asked if daddy was leaving today. When he said yes, she put her head down and in about a minute, the most heartwrenching wails and sobs started shaking her frame. It was so sad! It does very little good to try and convince her that her reaction is overkill. The whole thing is over much more quickly if you just let her cry and cuddle her close until it is over. If you say things like "It's okay. Daddy will be back soon. Its just two days. Sunday and Monday and then he will be back." etc, she just wails louder and responds with things like "It takes a loooooong time! I don't want him to go! I will miss him!" So we don't talk. Just cuddle and let her cry and try to hide our smiles and chuckles. Poor baby. She feels things sooooo deeply.
You know how I said she was four now? Well, what I noticed almost immediately when Mari turned four was the mouth. Suddenly she argued with everything I said. I thought maybe it was just her personality...but now Zoe is doing it too. Actually, she started it several months ago, so apparently she hit the "fours" a little early. And the attitude! It is so hard not to laugh at her when she answers my requests to pick something up or go do something with "Oh, Allll riiiight!" and a flip of her head and roll of her eyes. I know I have to correct her when she does this but most of the time I have to take a break to keep from laughing out loud at the 16 year old that has possessed my sweet baby's body!
One of most amazing things to me about Zoe is still her artistic sense. Mari has always been very interested in getting things "right", in following the rules. As soon as someone said something to her about coloring in the lines (it wasn't me!), it became an obsession for Mari to learn this skill. Now I have always been of the mindset that "coloring in the lines" is highly overrated. Sure, it is a nice skill to have, but I feel very strongly that my children will learn to "color in the lines" soon enough. During the early years, I just want them to express themselves. So I avoided coloring books for a long time. Nice blank sheets of paper were the standard fare. So it really surprised me when this became so important to Mari. It was a good glimpse into her personality, as she has the same attitude about getting it "right" when doing puzzles or building with her blocks or practicing writing...just about everything. Now Zoe.... though she shows some interest in learning to "color in the lines", much prefers the blank paper. She is so much more interested in just playing with the colors, seeing what they look like together, being creative. Color seems to fascinate her. She arranges her markers and crayons in various ways and just gazes at them and says, "look at my rainbow colors!" She builds towers out of legos and brings them to me to "see how the blue looks next to the yellow!" She doesn't explain, just wants me to look, to appreciate. I can see that she already has a sense of complimentary colors, though she loves to experiment. As for her actual drawings, they are already extremely detailed and interesting. She is less interested in depicting reality, and much more interested in capturing something else. The green blob is a dinosour, and the black inside him is him "feeling mad". I really need to get this kid in an art class.
