Cohen 6, AJ 4

Hello my little blog corner of the world.

Every day I have thoughts in response to things the boys said or did. Thoughts like, "this is why I need to keep my blog up to date. I want to remember all these things." But dinner is made, the kitchen is cleaned up, the boys are bathed and put to bed. And I pretty much collapse. And the blog collects more dust.

So anyway, Cohen started kindergarten last fall. It was a little adjustment for him. The expectations were more rigid than they were in preschool. Things like raising your hand before you speak, sitting still until told otherwise, walking in single file quietly down the hall. I think he needed lots of reminders those first few weeks. And his teacher, Mrs. Holt, is pretty hard core about her expectations. We still get minors (notes about his behavior) fairly frequently, and it's usually the same stuff... he's trying to make his friends laugh at the wrong times, he blurted something out, he wasn't listening. Yes we would like these notes to discontinue, but he has come a LONG, long way. He's a good kid but sometimes forgets to act that way. As he continues to mature, I'm not worried that these issues will continue fading away.

He has really embraced kindergarten, and I'm so proud of him. He's reading, writing, doing math, telling time, following calendars, planning his schedule. All this stuff he wasn't doing a year ago. Mrs. Holt says he's a great little learner. I'm especially proud of his love of art, music and building stuff. Art: his drawings are extremely detailed and they tell stories that I love to interpret. Mr. McColley, his art teacher says he's so passionate about art, he sometimes tries to extend his time in the art room past the end of class. Music: he's a very sing-songy little guy. He hums along with practically every song on the radio, commercial on TV, or the background music of his video games. He can carry a tune pretty well for his age! Building stuff: he received a Knex rollercoaster for Christmas and assembled the whole thing himself just looking at pictures. It was several hundred pieces, and he did it in the middle of Mom's kitchen floor the night he received it. he's the same way with Legos, forts, anything. He just loves assembling and building stuff, and he's good at it. Mrs. Holt says he excels at writing and reading too. He's proving to be a bright kid in may ways!

He's become much quieter than he was as a preschooler. It takes more effort to get him to share. And sadly (for me), his hugs are less frequent, and he doesn't want to spend every waking moment with me like he used to. But when he's in a chatty mood, conversations with him are so fun! He's turning into a little man, and his thought process is so analytical. He asks questions that are sometimes difficult to answer, like questions about infinity, gravity, God and more. But he's funny too. His comments and observations about life crack me up on a daily basis.

He loves, loves, loves electronics. He received a Nintendo DS for Christmas and he could play it 24/7 if we allowed it.

He and AJ are the best friends in the world. It's awesome! Even 6 months ago, Cohen was a bit of a bully to his little brother, but now they're better friends than I ever thought possible. No one can make Cohen laugh like AJ can. The more Cohen laughs at AJ, the sillier and more giggly AJ becomes. 

AJ turned 4 earlier this month. His teachers at Little Endeavors are Sarah and Mindy, and a bunch of random high school kids. Can you tell I'm not loving his current classroom? He's writing letters of the alphabet and learning the sounds that letters make. He doesn't embrace learning quite as much as Cohen did at this age, but his teachers reassure me that he's right on track for his age. We haven't determined yet if he's a righty or a lefty.

He's still a happy kid, funny as can be. He's always looking for a good time. His bad moods are more frequent than they used to be, but they're easily settled by a little one-on-one time goofing around. He loves his mom a lot :). He'll sprawl on top of me if I'm laying on the couch reading, and he'd prefer to sleep cheek-to-cheek every night if he could. He freely gives hugs and kisses and told me recently that I'm the best mom ever because I do so many awesome things (this was after I warmed up his coat in the dryer before going outside on a very cold day). He definitely knows how to make his way right to the center of my heart! When he was very small I said he's the sweetest person and I've met, and I'm pretty sure that's still true.

He's a people pleaser, especially to Cohen. For example, let's say he has waited a couple hours to for the privilege of playing the Kindle. He plays it for 5 minutes when Cohen asks for a turn. AJ would typically give it up with no resistance, even though I'm certain he wants to keep playing. He typically puts Cohen's needs ahead of his own. I find myself reminding him that he's deserving of things too. I don't want him to grow up being a doormat. 

At his 4-year well child appointment, the doctor told his his body mass index is 93%. The doctor says after age 5, this could be considered obese. To me, he seems to have slimmed down A LOT since being a toddler. I don't see him as obese, but we've been making an effort to cut down on his beloved junk food and put more fruits and veggies on his plate.

His language improves continuously. He says 's' blends kind of funny. Like the word sleep is pronouced hleep. Stupid is Tupid (and we still hear that word a lot). Spot is Bot. Gs are funny too. Green is Jeen.

Both boys are currently playing Little Dunkers basketball through Ankeny's Park and Rec. Neither boy loves it, but AJ is especially surprising. This is the kid who can shoot hoops for hours in the driveway. We thought he'd be a star player.  During his games, he dances around, runs all over the court, pretend shoots with imaginary guns, and leaves the court mid-game to tell us something. We just laugh it off. He's 4.

AJ was potty trained at about 3 1/2, and poop trained a few months later. He wasn't showing a ton of interest and initiative on his own, so we bought him underwear with Marvel comics. Ironman is his favorite. His pride in his new underpants finally pushed him to go potty on the toilet.

They're both changing physically, getting taller and more mature looking. I have a ton of pics I will post soon.

Thanks for sticking with me in this novel!