Matthew loves Bay Blades. Yestreday on thier boys' day off Marc bought him one. When he was allowed to open it tonight it was a battle with Samuel to see who I would help first. Matthew with his BayBlade of Samuel with his Lord of the Rings Lego.
I thought the BayBlade would be fast so I helped Matthew first. Not so though. I couldnt' figure it out. i tried, looked at the directions, tried again, and again but no avail. So i said it was Samuel's turn and that we'd figure out the BayBlade after dinner. Imagine my surprise when Matthew assembled the BayBlade by himself! Perfectly done. "Mami, come loko at how fast it can go"
Samuel on the other hand did need a little assitance in building the complex parts of his new lego set, like the recoiling string that uses a few gears.
And Renee sat patiently while I helped her boys.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Cursive Letters
Marc always has Remembrance Day off and since we moved back, he has taken Samuel off school that day and together they go watch the Remembrance Day ceremony at Queen's Park (the Provincial Legislature). Samuel has always enjoyed his special day with Daddy going to see the soldiers.
This year, Remembrance Day fell on Sunday, and with Matthew being sick no one went to the ceremony. Marc still had the day off and told Samuel they'd take the day off together. Samuel, being the sweet heart that he is, wanted in invite Matthew too. The question became what about Renee. What would she say about being excluded.
Her statement was simple. The boys were going to stay home and she was going to go to school and work with her cursive letters. She said it to me and to Marc a coupe times.
And, here are pictures from the school:
This year, Remembrance Day fell on Sunday, and with Matthew being sick no one went to the ceremony. Marc still had the day off and told Samuel they'd take the day off together. Samuel, being the sweet heart that he is, wanted in invite Matthew too. The question became what about Renee. What would she say about being excluded.
Her statement was simple. The boys were going to stay home and she was going to go to school and work with her cursive letters. She said it to me and to Marc a coupe times.
And, here are pictures from the school:
(did i mention she's 4??)
The boys bought Spider Man and Hawkeye books, came to have lunch with me, went to buy legos and and a chaotic grocery trip with Marc that resulted in being disallowed to use the new legos for a day. Samuel explained it something like this "Matthew was doing smack your bum bum on my bum, and that forced me to give him a pay back again and again with hitting him ,and Daddy warned us lots of times, but Matthew kept doing the smack your bum bum and i had to keep doing the pay back. And now i can't use my legos and it's not fair"
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Weekend pictures
We spent the weekend at home. If you asked Matthew why he'd spare you no details "I have diarreah poop, and I throwed up, and my tummy hurts and my bum hurts".
The costumes came in handy. And lots of lego time.
Samuel made up some amazing games with levels and themes, and encouraging "don't worry if you can't make it, you'll be ok". There was one where he used a skipping rope tied to the handles of his dresser drawers and this together with parts of his MarbleRun game, made up the levels. Renee's and my "guys" were bracelets, and he an Matthew had figurines.
Renee and I did go out to see a friend from when we were teenagers, she's now a jewelry maker and she's making me a ring with the kids birthstones, my 40th birthday present. Thought it fitting that Renee would come given that one day it will be hers. She had a great time trying on multiple rings. She wanted to know if a particular diamond band came in a smaller size.
We ended the weekend as we do every weekend by going out for dinner with my parents, sister, nephew, grandmother. Renee insisted on wearing the dress that her great grandmother brought her in Mexico.
My mom got the 4 kids sugar skulls in Mexico, impossible to get a picture of the 4 of them, especially with my nephew hiding under the table.
And did I mention that Samuel and Renee ate a whole chicken? Ok Matthew ate a little of it. Marc wasn't there (which means I cut the chicken up myself, an accomplishment that is possibly equivalent to how much the kids ate).
Can you see the sugar skulls?
The costumes came in handy. And lots of lego time.
Samuel made up some amazing games with levels and themes, and encouraging "don't worry if you can't make it, you'll be ok". There was one where he used a skipping rope tied to the handles of his dresser drawers and this together with parts of his MarbleRun game, made up the levels. Renee's and my "guys" were bracelets, and he an Matthew had figurines.
Renee and I did go out to see a friend from when we were teenagers, she's now a jewelry maker and she's making me a ring with the kids birthstones, my 40th birthday present. Thought it fitting that Renee would come given that one day it will be hers. She had a great time trying on multiple rings. She wanted to know if a particular diamond band came in a smaller size.
We ended the weekend as we do every weekend by going out for dinner with my parents, sister, nephew, grandmother. Renee insisted on wearing the dress that her great grandmother brought her in Mexico.
My mom got the 4 kids sugar skulls in Mexico, impossible to get a picture of the 4 of them, especially with my nephew hiding under the table.
And did I mention that Samuel and Renee ate a whole chicken? Ok Matthew ate a little of it. Marc wasn't there (which means I cut the chicken up myself, an accomplishment that is possibly equivalent to how much the kids ate).
Renee wearing the dress from her great-grandmother, rain boots are her footwear of choice these days.
Captain America and "Bell"
Preparing for the battle with the bad guys who are everywhere "Seriously, for real life, Darth Vader is in that building"
Spider Man, also preparing for battle
Regi and Renee watching jewerly making
Can you see the sugar skulls?
Saturday, November 10, 2012
647-XXX-XXXX
At lunch, I was starting to loose my patience. It was at the end of the meal and the whining, yelling, "buy me", "get me", "I want" was too much. So instead of risking a tantrum of my own, I excused myself from the table went up to our room and locked the door. I needed 5 minutes of peace.
About 30 seconds after I came upstairs, I heard 3 little voices outside the door and the sound of a phone being off the hook. And then the little voices, mostly the older one, saying my cell phone number and pressing telephone buttons. 6 4 7 etc. And then my cell rang. Samuel - "Hi Mami. Can you open the door?"
Me - "I'm taking a break right now"
Samuel - "Ok Mami. Did I call your right number on your phone?"
Me - "Yes"
Samuel - "When are you coming out"
Me - "In a few minutes"
Samuel - "Are you coming now"
Me - "Soon"
Matthew in the background saying my number wrong by one number
Samuel - "Is your number 647-XXX-HXXX"
Me - "No, you called the right number 647-XXX-XXXX"
Samuel - "See Matthew, it's X not Y"
Renee - "Mami, are you opening the door"
Me - "I need a break"
Samuel - "how do you hang up"
Me - "the red button"
And one day I'll complain that they never call :)
About 30 seconds after I came upstairs, I heard 3 little voices outside the door and the sound of a phone being off the hook. And then the little voices, mostly the older one, saying my cell phone number and pressing telephone buttons. 6 4 7 etc. And then my cell rang. Samuel - "Hi Mami. Can you open the door?"
Me - "I'm taking a break right now"
Samuel - "Ok Mami. Did I call your right number on your phone?"
Me - "Yes"
Samuel - "When are you coming out"
Me - "In a few minutes"
Samuel - "Are you coming now"
Me - "Soon"
Matthew in the background saying my number wrong by one number
Samuel - "Is your number 647-XXX-HXXX"
Me - "No, you called the right number 647-XXX-XXXX"
Samuel - "See Matthew, it's X not Y"
Renee - "Mami, are you opening the door"
Me - "I need a break"
Samuel - "how do you hang up"
Me - "the red button"
And one day I'll complain that they never call :)
Reflections on Generations of Montessori
I've often blogged about how blessed I am, its a recurring theme. I haven't related it to school and education, and this week really highlighted how blessed we are in that regard.
I'm blessed that my parents made the choices they made for my education, that Olga introduced my parents to Montessori, that they took the leap of faith to send me to her school, that they sent me to great schools for my whole educational career. It has served me well - one of the biggest compliments I've gotten was when someone at work told me "you are a life-long learner, and you take us along with you on your learning journey". It captures who I am and hope to always be, and its roots are in my education.
I am blessed that Marc and I have been able to provide our kids with a Montessori education, and a Jewish Montessori one at that. We are blessed that we have jobs and family support that allow us to send the kids to a private school. Seeing Matthew and Renee in their classrooms and Samuel in his Mesibah Siddur ceremony this week really brought it home.
Samuel learns at his own pace, all kids do, but his is more pronounced, he struggled with writing last year, letters were inverted, his focus wasn't there. His teachers guided but didn't expect him to conform, he got extra help and while it helped he just wasn't ready yet. And then September came and he was ready and his writing is beautiful, in cursive, in Hebrew. His OT from last year couldn't believe the change. he's always been that way - he didn't walk until 14 months and then he got it right away, he couldn't stand up in skating and then he skated across the arena, he didn't get swimming and one day he swam across the pool. Its like a switch turns on, he gets the skill and beams confidence and pride. I have wondered what it would be like for him to have to learn at the pace of a traditional school, and then I count my blessings that his foundation has been one where he's been able to develop and learn on his own schedule.
Matthew is a physical boy, boys are but him more so. I loved that he was doing his "100 Board" (a wood board with 10 rows and 10 columns and little wood squares with the numbers 1-100, the kids place the little squares in the correct order), he could move around, he could sit on the floor, shift from one side to the other, take the number squares from one side on the floor mat to the other. He can get up and move to get his work. I could see how he'd move and keep his focus. He needs reinforcement from his friends, we all do, and I love that when he finished a piece of work he could go get a friend to show them his work, even a friend or sibling in another class. He beamed. I'm not sure how he'd do in a class where he had to sit at a desk, and I count my blessings that his foundation in one where he can thrive socially, academically and physically.
Renee is prolific in her work. She's been wanting to write for a year, and so she learned. She writes most letters in cursive and she can put words together if someone helps her sound out the letters. She has a strong personality, it was great to watch her work and I loved watching her with the other kids. One boy asked her for help with the 4 long chain (a math material that forms the basis for multiplication, squaring and cubing), and she did, collaboratively. I wonder how restless she would get having to learn in a structured way, and with a personality as strong as hers, I wonder what her social interactions would be like in an environment without free-flowing collaboration and a peace corner for kids to talk out and resolve their own issues. So again, I count my blessings that she is in an environment where she is learning what she needs to learn, socially and academically.
Add to this the foundation of Jewish culture, history, religion, heritage, and Hebrew taught by Israeli teachers.
There's a prayer that stars with "L'dor va dor", usually translated as from generation to generation but really means to generation and generation in Hebrew. The prayer speaks to each generation's responsibility to pass on from those before to those that follow. A befitting way to end this post.
"L'dor va dor" and "shabbat shalom" (from generation to generation and a peaceful Sabbath).
I'm blessed that my parents made the choices they made for my education, that Olga introduced my parents to Montessori, that they took the leap of faith to send me to her school, that they sent me to great schools for my whole educational career. It has served me well - one of the biggest compliments I've gotten was when someone at work told me "you are a life-long learner, and you take us along with you on your learning journey". It captures who I am and hope to always be, and its roots are in my education.
I am blessed that Marc and I have been able to provide our kids with a Montessori education, and a Jewish Montessori one at that. We are blessed that we have jobs and family support that allow us to send the kids to a private school. Seeing Matthew and Renee in their classrooms and Samuel in his Mesibah Siddur ceremony this week really brought it home.
Samuel learns at his own pace, all kids do, but his is more pronounced, he struggled with writing last year, letters were inverted, his focus wasn't there. His teachers guided but didn't expect him to conform, he got extra help and while it helped he just wasn't ready yet. And then September came and he was ready and his writing is beautiful, in cursive, in Hebrew. His OT from last year couldn't believe the change. he's always been that way - he didn't walk until 14 months and then he got it right away, he couldn't stand up in skating and then he skated across the arena, he didn't get swimming and one day he swam across the pool. Its like a switch turns on, he gets the skill and beams confidence and pride. I have wondered what it would be like for him to have to learn at the pace of a traditional school, and then I count my blessings that his foundation has been one where he's been able to develop and learn on his own schedule.
Matthew is a physical boy, boys are but him more so. I loved that he was doing his "100 Board" (a wood board with 10 rows and 10 columns and little wood squares with the numbers 1-100, the kids place the little squares in the correct order), he could move around, he could sit on the floor, shift from one side to the other, take the number squares from one side on the floor mat to the other. He can get up and move to get his work. I could see how he'd move and keep his focus. He needs reinforcement from his friends, we all do, and I love that when he finished a piece of work he could go get a friend to show them his work, even a friend or sibling in another class. He beamed. I'm not sure how he'd do in a class where he had to sit at a desk, and I count my blessings that his foundation in one where he can thrive socially, academically and physically.
Renee is prolific in her work. She's been wanting to write for a year, and so she learned. She writes most letters in cursive and she can put words together if someone helps her sound out the letters. She has a strong personality, it was great to watch her work and I loved watching her with the other kids. One boy asked her for help with the 4 long chain (a math material that forms the basis for multiplication, squaring and cubing), and she did, collaboratively. I wonder how restless she would get having to learn in a structured way, and with a personality as strong as hers, I wonder what her social interactions would be like in an environment without free-flowing collaboration and a peace corner for kids to talk out and resolve their own issues. So again, I count my blessings that she is in an environment where she is learning what she needs to learn, socially and academically.
Add to this the foundation of Jewish culture, history, religion, heritage, and Hebrew taught by Israeli teachers.
There's a prayer that stars with "L'dor va dor", usually translated as from generation to generation but really means to generation and generation in Hebrew. The prayer speaks to each generation's responsibility to pass on from those before to those that follow. A befitting way to end this post.
"L'dor va dor" and "shabbat shalom" (from generation to generation and a peaceful Sabbath).
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Our herritage
The school had a Mesibat Sidur ceremony today - a celebration of kids getting their first siddurim (prayer books). It was beautiful, i was so proud of Samuel, of the school, of the heritage that has been bestowed to me and that I am passing on to the kids, it was inevitable that i cried.
Each kid embroidered their own siddur cover and wrote their own prayer or wish for their family. Here is Samuel's.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Halloween, the Reprise
The best time to buy Halloween costumes is the week after Halloween and that's exactly what we did. We now have a Captain America, Spiderman and Tinkerbell to keep company with Ironman, Superman and Cinderella. (at a more affordable 50-70% off).
The boys made their shields. These pictures are from this morning, before school.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Guess what we're doing today?
Friday, November 2, 2012
Tales from the car
In the car today:
Renee - "when I grow up, I don't want to be an astronaut"
Me - "why do you say that"
Renee - "because they have to be full of needles"
Me - "who told you that"
Renee - "my belly told me"
<<< Fast forward 10 minutes later >>>
Renee, wailing - "my gummy, my gummy fell, Mami get my gummy NOWWW"
Me - "I'm driving, I can't stop. Where's your candy?"
Renee - "on the floor WA WA WA WA"
Me - "I'm driving and its dirty"
Renee - " WA WA WA"
Etc etc
So, using my mom's old tried and true method, I pulled over and said that I'd start driving when the car was quiet. I took a few deep breaths and turned around to ask her to take deep breaths. It worked ok, she calmed down.
Then Samuel unbuckled his seat belt, went over to Renee, stroked her cheeks and said "don't worry little sister, big brother will be with you, I'll take care of you, and we'll go home and watch TV, we'll be ok, stop crying so we can get home and brig brother will take care of you". She accepted his comfort through her sniffles.
And with a relatively quiet car (save for the spilled water bottles and the normal banter), we drove home to eat mazah ball soup and pizza.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Renee - "when I grow up, I don't want to be an astronaut"
Me - "why do you say that"
Renee - "because they have to be full of needles"
Me - "who told you that"
Renee - "my belly told me"
<<< Fast forward 10 minutes later >>>
Renee, wailing - "my gummy, my gummy fell, Mami get my gummy NOWWW"
Me - "I'm driving, I can't stop. Where's your candy?"
Renee - "on the floor WA WA WA WA"
Me - "I'm driving and its dirty"
Renee - " WA WA WA"
Etc etc
So, using my mom's old tried and true method, I pulled over and said that I'd start driving when the car was quiet. I took a few deep breaths and turned around to ask her to take deep breaths. It worked ok, she calmed down.
Then Samuel unbuckled his seat belt, went over to Renee, stroked her cheeks and said "don't worry little sister, big brother will be with you, I'll take care of you, and we'll go home and watch TV, we'll be ok, stop crying so we can get home and brig brother will take care of you". She accepted his comfort through her sniffles.
And with a relatively quiet car (save for the spilled water bottles and the normal banter), we drove home to eat mazah ball soup and pizza.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Halloween
The rain didn't stop us from having a great time.
Matthew turning a regular yogurt into crush yogurt. (before dinner and trick-or-treating)
Ironman, Superman and Cinderella
Inspecting, and eating, their loot
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Sound of my voice
Story brought to you by Marc, from the car ride home today:
Eduardo: "I want 107 (a radio station)"
Renee: " i dont' like music"
Eduardo: "yes you do"
Renee: " i dont' like music"
Eduardo: "yes you do"
Renee: " i dont' like music"
Eduardo: "yes you do, you like singing"
Renee: "I like singing because i like to hear my own voice"
Eduardo: "I want 107 (a radio station)"
Renee: " i dont' like music"
Eduardo: "yes you do"
Renee: " i dont' like music"
Eduardo: "yes you do"
Renee: " i dont' like music"
Eduardo: "yes you do, you like singing"
Renee: "I like singing because i like to hear my own voice"
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
While we were out . . .
Marc and I went out to a friend's birthday party, and my cousin came to babysit. Not only did they have a great time, she brought homemade pumpkin cupcakes.
Look at those pearly whites:
Look at those pearly whites:
Self-portrait x4:
Being their Haloween costumes:
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Matthew's lego
Matthew bought himself a duplo lego set for his birthday. It surprised us that he wanted a duplo set vs a lgeo set, but he insisted. He hasn't stopped playing with it. He makes both buildings and "bonk" (sic) beds for his 2 Lightening McQueens and Louis.
I told him he was a lego rock star and he started playing air guitar with a lego piece.
I told him he was a lego rock star and he started playing air guitar with a lego piece.
BBB #7
We packed the van and headed to DC for BOB (Big Birthday Bash) #7, the seventh group birthday celebration on the babies who brought us moms together at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington.
Overall, the trip was a success. Samuel had his second ever sleep over with a friend (the first one was the night Matthew and Renee were born), and for the first time ever (or first time in front of us) took an interest in board and card games. A few conversations from the drive down:
At night:
Samuel - "Yesterday was Sukkot"
Me - "Yes it was, lasts 1 week"
Samuel - "I saw three starts so I completed the thing" (in reference to seeing stars through the roof of a Sukkah)
At the hotel, around midnight:
Me - "Marc, I'm going to get something to E-A-T"
Renee - "Mami, why are you going to get some food?"
The next day:
Samuel, looking at the trees "its so beautiful, that's why I like my birthday. What was my birthday last year? Oh yeah TaeKwonDo. And who was J?" (Reference to a friend from summer camp 2011 who invited Samuel to his TaeKwonDo birthday and vice versa)
Me - "Your friend from camp. Do you remember B from camp this year"
Samuel - "yeah"
Matthew - "do you remember O (boy at school)"
Samuel -" yeah"
Matthew - "do you remember me"
Further down the road:
Samuel - "Look cows"
Renee, holding a book with a picture of cows to the window - "Let me show them to this and each other"
The arrival and stay at the hotel were exciting as can be for the kids. "This is the best bathroom ever", "I love the kitchen", etc. Samuel asked me "Mami, which hotel do you like better, this one or the one from last time". Gaging the level of excitement, I said "this one". His face grew long and sad.
I asked "what about you, which one do you like better". He said "both exactly the same, because I don't want the people at the other hotel to be sad".
The drive back wasn't too bad about 12 hours door to door with a couple stops. The kids kept themselves entertained without the use of any electronic devices, except the GPS which they took turns holding. Matthew added a few random favorite locations (like llllpppgggtttrrrhjjjkkssss near Washington Circle) and Renee re-routed us to Puerto Rico. Good thing we have a sense of direction. We did have to utter the "do you want to go to another trip" threat more than a few times, but all things considered they did well.
The visit to DC was great. Seeing Samuel connect with his old friends was sweet, especially as they would have no memory of when we lived there. We also saw him assert himself with a group of older girls who he had never met. Matthew acclimatized to every social situation effortlessly. Renee clung to my legs until she found her own footing and then never looked back.
Eamon, Samuel, Matthew, with Renee in the background looking in the mirror
Tending the fire at J, M, and V's Canadian Thanksgiving. Renee said "going to that house with the chocolate and the fire was so fun"
Matthew and Renee, deep in conversation with umbrellas under the hotel roofed entrance
Renne "teaching" Marya how to write, draw, etc.
The first board game I've seen Samuel play
5 kids (superheros) at play
Samuel was enthralled with a juggler at the pumpkin land we went to with Zoe, Mia, Sophie. Huge smile in his face. Matthew is getting his face painted.
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