tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68955742436719136252024-03-12T19:25:55.201-07:00Tender spring shootsR Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-9969545156739766142014-06-16T16:31:00.001-07:002014-06-16T16:31:45.433-07:00Coping with small disastersWe've had a lot of tough moments this past week (nothing very serious in the long run), but I think, in the end, I remember when we coped well, and not so much what we coped with.<br />
<br />
James cut his finger on a piece of glass from a broken picture frame today, and had another trouble as well, and once I had him all calmed down and cleaned up (though he was still a little weepy--he had been worried he was dying, and he hates band-aids these days), I told Isabel what had happened and asked her if she could think of anything she could do to make him feel better. I peek in, and there they are--Isabel reading him Toy Story 3 under the Curious George duvet, and James happily commenting on the story.<br />
<br />
Last week our car went kaplooie when I was out with all 3 kids in a parking garage far from home. Would you believe those kids happily took turns riding on the one balance bike we had in the back, and playing hide-and-go-seek for 2 hours until their dad could come pick them up? I'd seen that episode of Caillou where the car breaks down and marveled at the calm way he reacted to such aggravation. I'd secretly thought it was completely unbelievable, but wondered, too, whether I could ever be capable of such greatness. :) I don't know if I am, but clearly, the kids are.<br />
<br />
They've gotten into lots of trouble, too--there's been a push, a tantrum (in public!), and general unprovoked mess-making today--see if you can guess which is which!--but for some reason probably related to the survival of the species, I don't remember these parts with the clarity I do the parts that made me so happy.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-68659802487039860382013-11-04T12:52:00.001-08:002013-11-04T12:52:46.002-08:00Isabel says, matter-of-factly, that Mama doesn't like drawing.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I really appreciate how clearheaded Isabel is most of the
time, and the other day she really made me stop and think. She was talking to
her dad about drawing, and complimenting his. Marco said how good my drawing
was, and Isabel agreed that I was good at drawing, but added that I didn’t like
it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What to say. How sad that she should think I
don’t like drawing, but what evidence does she have to the contrary? She looks
at how I spend my free time, and doesn’t see me drawing. What has always been hard
for me is how little interest I have in the things I do well. I don’t know if
it’s a cause and effect thing, or which way it goes if it is. It’s certainly a
sad state of affairs. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is the answer is to try harder to like
and invest time in the things I do well, or to just accept that what I like is
learning new things, and acknowledge that as I get better at them, I will lose
interest? The second sounds sadder, doesn’t it? I'm not sure staying true to yourself is always the best idea. The first sounds better.</div>
R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-55470334561787477772013-08-14T12:42:00.000-07:002013-08-14T12:42:06.574-07:00Small epiphany over ice creamI went to Safeway with James and Bjørn for a few groceries and a treat while Isabel was at a play date, and James asked for ice cream.<br />
<br />
I found some single-serve cups and we made our way to a table outside. James was waxing almost poetic over how yummy his vanilla ice cream was, and Bjørn was enjoying the ice cream he shared with me.<br />
<br />
There was a small pause, and James said "Thank you, Mommy. Ice cream." I said "You're welcome, James."<br />
<br />
He smiled so big, and said "Best friends, right?"<br />
<br />
I couldn't move for a second. What an incredible thing.<br />
<br />
"You and me? Best friends?"<br />
<br />
"Yes."<br />
<br />
"Yes, James. You and me are the best friends ever."<br />
<br />
" Yes."<br />
<br />
This was a couple days after a birthday party he went to, and I wondered whether somebody had introduced this phrase to him there. Still, to me it was just an overwhelming feeling of joy that he would think of us as best friends. It's such a wonderful thing when you like, and not just love, your children.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-70952806330127027022013-07-25T14:06:00.001-07:002013-07-25T14:06:17.426-07:00A beautiful music roomWe've had lots of nice moments today. Here are a couple. <br />
<br />
James picked up Bjørn and put him on his lap, and said "I love you", and then Bjørn gave James a hug and then sat there for a while, quietly playing and babbling.<br />
<br />
Isabel came in a few minutes ago, excited to tell me about the beautiful music room she'd made, and wow, it WAS beautiful. Instruments hanging from the top bunk, others spread artfully around the room in stations. She played a little piece she'd memorized from a book on the piano (I gave Isabel a 15-minute lesson <i>once</i>, and she still knows how to read the notes and explain all about it), and it took me a few minutes to realize that the incessant fluting of James had actually turned into a song that I could <i>recognize</i>. He's actually learning to play the recorder!<br />
<br />
Of course this last was all happening while Bjørn is asleep, but being a third baby, he stays asleep rather nicely. :)R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-41325139895428985422013-07-04T08:37:00.000-07:002013-07-04T08:37:11.977-07:00Who are we independent from again?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U4cS3neQ4Jo/UdWWaXRmmbI/AAAAAAAAAgE/jhV9yp-CPb8/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U4cS3neQ4Jo/UdWWaXRmmbI/AAAAAAAAAgE/jhV9yp-CPb8/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
As a parent, I've often heard that it's wisest to be careful to give only as much information as a child is really asking for when talking about potentially complicated topics, like sex, for example. The trouble is, apparently I'm not very good about judging which topics are potentially complicated, or maybe it's just that Isabel reaches a critical mass of knowledge rather early in the game, but lately I've been finding the simplest conversations going off the rails way earlier than I would have expected. A little while ago, it was the possible instability of banks.<br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Now, it's Independence Day. So I come in to hear Isabel heatedly and emphatically declaring,</span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">"Bjørn is NOT independent."</span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Marco: "Yes, it's you and mommy's, and James' and Bjørn's independence today."</span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">And I'm thinking, uh-oh, <i>of course</i> I've been spending the last couple days emphasizing the things the kids are independent in. Isabel tends toward unnecessary dependence in things she's already mastered completely, and though a little of this is fine and even endearing, a lot can be wearing. And, well, I <i>did</i> say that Bjørn was not very independent, because he needed help to do lots of things (being a baby and everything).</span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Me: "Isabel, Daddy's talking about our country. It's our country's independence day today. It used to be a part of a different country, and now it's its own country."</span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isabel says, brightly, "That's right. It used to be the United States of India, and now it's the United States of America."</span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">(pause--me thinking, What?<i>....oh.</i>)</span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Me: "The United States did used to belong to the Native Americans, and then it belonged to England, and then we got our independence from England."</span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Great. Clear as mud. History majors forgive me, but that's how I explained it. She seems satisfied with it. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">And here I thought this was a nice uncomplicated holiday, even taking into account my husband's situation. After reading about Native Americans who celebrate it, and those who don't, I've thought about something I haven't before on the 4th of July. Thanks, Isabel. Even for the extra dose of guilt. :) </span>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-46003751351003322682012-08-18T10:23:00.001-07:002012-08-18T10:23:24.194-07:00The night before kindergarten
<br />
<i>This is a post I wasn't sure I should publish at the time--one year ago. I was worried about sounding insensitive to other parents, but as I read it now, it doesn't seem to read that way. I hope I'm not wrong about that! Everyone's allowed to be worried on the night before kindergarten, lest there be any doubt. :)</i><br />
<br />
I've been rummaging around tonight, printing out a couple of forms that need
to go in with James tomorrow, making sure he's got clothes, and putting a
couple juice boxes in the freezer. Mostly I've been trying not to do what my
whole body wants to do, which is <i>worry</i>.<br />
<br />
Most parents do this, don't they? They're so excited about their kids' first
day at kindergarten, but they are scared, too. To me it's amazing that I can be
having the same kind of experience as so many other parents, and to realize
that our levels of worry are probably about the same. The fact that James has
Down syndrome, and that the list of things that could go wrong at kindergarten
is almost literally endless, doesn't seem to change matters much. What
surprises me even more tonight than that parents can be so worried about things
that seem pretty minor to me, is that I can only be a little bit worried about
James. We've had a few babysitters tell us, after babysitting James the first
time, that they were worried or scared before they came. They'd think:
"Will I be able to figure out at all what he wants? I don't know any sign
language, and he can't talk! I really don't know anything about Down syndrome.
What if something happens?" Afterwards they'd say, "I don't know why
I was so worried."<br />
<br />
The thing is, it's easy to underestimate a kid who doesn't talk. One wonderful
thing about our daughter Isabel is she's grown up without this prejudice--she
knows that what a person understands can sometimes have no relation at all to
what he can say. She talks to James completely naturally, and always expects
him to answer somehow, and she can play with him for hours. It's really fun for
me to see her try to do the same with other kids who don't talk, and even, with
rather more success than I would have bargained for, with the neighbor's cat.
(She suggests rather elaborate pretend play schemes to the cat, tries to teach
him how to use the toilet, asks him if he wants some water and waits for an
answer, and politely insists on finding out his favorite color, pausing for
long minutes while she waits for a response. She's also trying, without any
visible success (yet), to teach it ASL. We've had a discussion about paws, but
I'm not sure it's sunk in.)<br />
<br />
We used to get so many people telling us, "We’re not equipped to have
James in our class". It made me mad at the time, but now it's just a bit
funny. Equipped? Almost all you need to know, I've concluded, is how to be
patient. It makes me smile to see my old scriptures, from when I turned eight.
I haven't used them since college. The end pages are covered with scripture
references on pretty much one subject only--"patience". <br />
There are times, for a mother of a child with special needs, when being a
good neighborhood mom means concentrating very hard on being very quiet.
Because, when other parents worry aloud about their five year old not reading
yet, or acting a little young for his age, or making friends, it's hard not to
think: <i>you have no idea. </i>Because what you want to say, so badly, when
having this thought, is "<i>Please</i> don't worry about this. I just
can't believe this is what you're worrying about." I watched "Marley
& Me" the other week, and stopped in my tracks when I heard a line
something like, "When you're having a crazy day, and even the laundry
isn't done..."<br />
<br />
Really? That's a crazy day for you? And the funny thing was, so much of that
movie was so real-sounding--I had to wonder, is that what makes a crazy day for
most people? Did that sound real to other people? I hope not. I hope when I say
I've had a rough day, that you're not picturing a neglected washer/dryer combo.<br />
R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-12725222733555778682012-07-14T21:51:00.002-07:002012-07-14T21:51:38.606-07:00Futility, thy name is Mama.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Why do I do this?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Re-attach the Little People plastic silo to the barn every night.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think I’m going to remember which stack of clothes in the
drawer belongs to which size. What I should do, is just have a “too small”
drawer, sort it every time it gets full, and box the clothes by size. The
trouble is that last step—I sort it, think, “I’m sure a box will come along
before I need to put this stack away.” It doesn’t. Back in the drawer! Re-sort!
Re-sort is SO different from resort. Though, it is oddly soothing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Save EOBs for more than a year. Am I going to be nostalgic
for how much Blue Shield covered for the audiologist? Am I going to be tested
on this?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think that someday, “Cookie” magazine will send me more
alphabet stickers, and I can finish labeling the binders that look like “I__B_L”
and “J_M__”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Balance my toothbrush on top of stacked men’s razors in the
medical cabinet. It will always fall down into the sink when I open the cabinet
the next morning. In my defense, the toothbrush cup also often mysteriously
falls down, but onto the floor.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Give the "Band-Aid lecture" about how Band-Aids are for when there's blood (a little simplified, I know), and then worry that the constant stream of hurts are actually intentional attempts to draw blood in order to acquire the coveted Band-Aids. Just give them the Band-Aids already. Accept that they are small child body art, and that they must be placed in the exact, invisible location of the deadly injury caused by stepping on a single unpopped popcorn kernel. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think, at the grocery store, that there is enough milk at
home and that I don’t have to get another gallon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Similarly, think: “We have eggs, don’t we?” The answer is
always, “Yes, we have ONE egg. In a closed egg carton that looks optimistically
full.” Also, by the time you get home, someone will have added it to pancake
mix that doesn’t require eggs. He will also replace the empty egg carton,
closed, in the fridge. You will discover this halfway through making chocolate
chip cookies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thank goodness I’ve
stopped:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stacking the Ikea children's plates in rainbow order</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ditto with the Ikea children's cups</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Keeping the HIPAA forms. You can tell a veteran hospital mom
because she takes it, says “thanks”, and then gives it back with some
deprecatory remark about shelves full of medical binders. Because you do have
to take it, but you can also give it back. :) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span></div>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-1144709208874878252012-05-07T14:49:00.001-07:002012-05-07T14:49:15.371-07:00Older sister goes back to baby daysI've spent the last couple days making a baby book for Isabel on <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/special-offers" target="_blank">Shutterfly</a>, where there is, appropriately, a Mother's Day sale going on. Since Isabel's baby brother was born, she's liked hearing the stories of her birth and babyhood, and instead of asking for stories about ponies or ducks from an improvising Mama or Daddy at bedtime, wants to hear about when she was a baby, especially about the part where she was in the hospital for a while, and Mama stayed with <i>her</i>.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Kq57m05XW8/T6hCLqP66II/AAAAAAAAAek/Ay7gn5jzadA/s1600/8250-133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Kq57m05XW8/T6hCLqP66II/AAAAAAAAAek/Ay7gn5jzadA/s400/8250-133.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isabel on the day she was born</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Baby Bjørn had to stay for a while, and I stayed with him, as I did with both of my other kids (they've all needed more care in intensive or intermediate care nurseries after birth). I was glad I was able to stay this time, too, but it was hard for the kids. So Isabel, especially, likes to hear about how she wore an eye shade and lay under the lights to help her with jaundice, and how James and Daddy would come to visit.<br />
<br />
It isn't just the stories--she likes to alternate being a baby, drinking milk out of a bottle, with being a mama, who always breastfeeds (the disconnect doesn't seem to bother her!). She cries more in general and makes "Curious George" sounds more instead of talking, but she's also very helpful--fetching the "C pillow" (Boppy nursing pillow) at opportune moments without being asked, and getting a wipe wet in the sink. Even the dolls are getting a lot more milk than usual, and more walks in their pram around the house, even if they do get toted around by the hair quite a bit.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-imFG3rPM2AQ/T6hCz1omMhI/AAAAAAAAAes/Ijz0Dh3A93Q/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-imFG3rPM2AQ/T6hCz1omMhI/AAAAAAAAAes/Ijz0Dh3A93Q/s400/011.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isabel now!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
She's been very nice to Bjørn--kissing him and gently stroking his forehead, insisting on his right to more milk even if he just finished eating 2 minutes before (she's usually right!), and also wisely refraining from doing anything when she can't cope (she closes the door to where he sleeps if he starts crying, and sits on the couch with her hands over her ears). We've spent time together just we two while Bjørn is napping-- reading books, painting, and playing with toys. I think, though, she still needs a bit more help with the adjustment. Any good ideas for helping older siblings?<br />
<br />
(Right now James doesn't seem to be having very much trouble, and he's incredibly soft and gentle and interested in Bjørn, but I remember he didn't have any trouble with Isabel either, not until she started sitting up.)R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-58801583665209202342012-05-02T15:48:00.000-07:002012-05-02T15:48:46.059-07:00Baby Bjørn<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Bjørn Diego Matta, born April 25th. He was 9 lbs 15 oz!<br />
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Bjørn had a little infection, so we didn't get home until Sunday. He's a very sweet, calm, and alert little baby. <br />
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We're so happy to be home, all together again!</div>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-67172779821798118462012-05-01T17:22:00.000-07:002012-05-01T17:22:06.544-07:00How not to handle a snake<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SsfjwI171VI/T6B8V0-TwyI/AAAAAAAAAKw/aK4UptjNPPs/s1600/037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SsfjwI171VI/T6B8V0-TwyI/AAAAAAAAAKw/aK4UptjNPPs/s320/037.JPG" width="236" /></a>Isabel and the nature documentary are a match made in heaven. Occasionally something will make her run out of the room, and not always the most predictable thing--"spiny flowers with eyes!", anyone? It's all I heard as she ran out--but she is pretty unfazed by the standard scary animals.<br />
<br />
Today we saw some of Jeff Corwin's <a href="http://movies.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70127935&trkid=3325854" target="_blank">show</a> on Arizona, which was mostly about SNAKES! As we were watching, I noticed Isabel was playing with her spaghetti more than usual (a felicitous choice of lunch), and heard her muttering about the "queen snake" and how you had to handle him "just right" and how he'd "squeeze his prey like <i>this</i>". (Pretty sure she was thinking about the king snake, but am not sure whether she misheard or was making a statement by changing it to a queen. It was still a "he". You decide.)<br />
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As Jeff moved on to the next animal, Isabel demonstrated the next step of snake handling.<br />
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The world may not be ready.<br />
<br />R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-10039638892323745362012-04-05T21:39:00.000-07:002012-04-05T21:39:47.438-07:00Early morning self-sufficiency(This post got lost in the drafts folder, and since we've had so many interesting episodes of cleaning up lately, it's fun to see one of James' early attempts. :))<br />
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This morning, Marco had to leave very early to go to the temple, so James was left to his own devices while Isabel and I slept. I woke to the sound of a low rustle, and padding steps, and to the lid to the garbage in the kitchen opening again and again. I came out, and saw James putting something small in the garbage, closing the lid again, and heading to the living room. On the floor was a new box of Cheerios, the cardboard around the top torn apart, with several small pieces of cardboard on the floor. James came in and got another piece of cardboard, and put it in the kitchen garbage can.<br />
First of all, I'm glad he knew where to find breakfast, and that he tried to open the box even though it must have been difficult. And I LOVE that he was diligently cleaning up after himself! I helped him open the bag inside the box, and he poured his own Cheerios. He's on his third bowl now. :)R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-86880556423355240662012-04-05T21:33:00.002-07:002012-04-05T21:33:52.663-07:00A story before bedtime<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I’ve learned you can download past episodes of <a href="http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/about/podcast/">Lake Wobegon
monologues</a> from A Prairie Home Companion. It’s the next best thing to
having someone read you a bedtime story. I love to listen to one just before I
go to bed to read my own book. Now if I had just thought to make myself a cup
of tea before I sat down and put on my earphones…</div>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-5241933435198783012012-02-13T20:39:00.000-08:002012-02-13T20:39:38.659-08:00James' Valentine gift to his classJames is in a typical kindergarten class, and loves it. He tries hard to do what his classmates do. Sometimes he can, and sometimes he can't. Last week we got a kindergarten bulletin about valentines for Valentine's Day. James' teacher wanted the kids to make handmade valentines, and to make sure the kids themselves wrote the names.<br />
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Now, James has some pretty significant fine motor troubles. He's only very recently learned to open his scissors, though he's been able to close them for a while. One of his goals on his IEP (individual education plan) is to cut within an inch of the line when cutting out shapes by next December. Until kindergarten, where the coolness of and emphasis on writing first came together for James, he wouldn't hold any writing implement more than about a minute at a time, and that was only as long as I was singing "The Wheels on the Bus".<br />
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James cut out 22 hearts, within about 1/4" of the line. For each and every one he cut out, he carefully and deliberately opened the heart, sometimes with considerable difficulty. Then he celebrated, jumping up and down and showing us the heart, sometimes shouting "ta da!" He wrote the name of every single one of his classmates. He can write nine of the letters himself with no help, recognizably, and for the others he needs hand-over-hand help. He knows all his classmates' names, and can identify each one on a written list. He kept me very strictly to the list, and made sure we went in order. For one particular friend, he got so excited he skipped to him, and then went right back to the couple he'd jumped. Tonight, while I was grocery shopping, his dad helped him write his own name on most of the hearts with more help before he was too beat to go on. Tomorrow he'll pop stickers on early and take them to school.<br />
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I have never seen James work so hard on something that is so, so hard for him to do. For James' classmates--he loves you!<br />
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Picture coming. :)R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-25179904360217948402011-08-15T16:12:00.000-07:002011-08-15T16:12:03.573-07:00Sidewalk chalk in a plastic tub is good enough for me. However...Isabel and James have discovered the marvel that is sidewalk chalk. (I saw an article about how to make sidewalk chalk (can't find the original, but <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/268868/how-to-make-sidewalk-chalk">here's one</a>) and am afraid I reacted the same way I did when I heard about <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/333974/homemade-marshmallows">how to make marshmallows</a>, that is, "Um, ready-made is good enough for me.")<br />
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James wears his blue chalk down to the nub making patches of intense short strokes, and huge, whole arm circles. Isabel scribbles and makes different sized circles and asks me write the names of everyone in the family as well as their alternate names (she's been fascinated that Mama and Daddy are also called Rachel and Marco). Then she wants a story. So, I draw a story about two rabbits who have a nice cozy dome-shaped house with a vegetable garden who like to go on boat trips down the river to the ocean, where they put up their sail and visit an island where the bunnies unpack their picnic lunch and then come back. The next episode involved bunnies in space. I kind of like sidewalk chalk too. I am a <i>little</i> tempted to make <a href="http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/super-sidewalk-paint-673728/">sidewalk paint</a>, because the chalk makes my fingers feel so dry and shriveled, and because the paint looks pretty wonderful. And I have all the ingredients. Okay. I'm sold.<br />
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R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-42031090616063018912011-08-15T10:40:00.000-07:002011-08-15T10:40:41.674-07:00Knock-knock joke paybackWe've got a homemade puppet theatre set up in the living room. We're getting a lot of knock-knock jokes. (Mostly courtesy of the special feature on one of Signing Time's downloads, starring Lucy and Zack. The DVD is <a href="http://www.signingtime.com/series-two-volume-13-who-has-the-frog">here</a>.<br />
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Isabel's making up a lot of her own jokes, and laughing hysterically at them, and even James tells them. He does the rhythm and the tone just right, just--no words! I'll have to try to capture this on tape. :) <br />
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In case Mom and Dad are keeping track of the Curse of the Parent--"may your kids do to you what you did to me", I'm definitely getting payback for all my knock-knock jokes of yesteryear. (In case you didn't have the lucky experience of listening to these marvels of preschool humor, the punchline was always, inevitably, "a bottle-nose dolphin!") R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-64857528131764819852011-08-06T02:08:00.000-07:002011-08-06T02:08:09.814-07:00Yet more evidence that my mind begins to fail every night at about 9pmI have a lesson from the trenches. Don't start sewing a child's dress at 8:30pm. Because, by 10:30 you're thinking, "I could finish the armholes tonight before I go to bed, just another half hour...", and then at 1:40 in the morning you're still looking up "finish armholes whipstitch" because WOW did that go badly. Maybe sewing better be an "Isabel woke me at five am yelling about a bunny before she drifted off again and now I can't get back to sleep thing" rather than a "kids and Marco are all in bed. I know, I'll start a late night project that involves lots of manual dexterity and a high frustration tolerance!" thing.<br />
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I'm not a night owl, can you tell? Or maybe I'm a night owl that tends to smack into trees.<br />
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Any advice is welcomed on whipstitching armholes without bias tape for a dress for a three year old . I can handle a couple of inches and then I get a creeping feeling that my head has completely compressed my neck and is fusing directly with my collarbone. Also that I need a chocolate croissant and a large glass of milk.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-66546787774839924512011-04-21T14:10:00.000-07:002011-04-21T14:10:56.411-07:00James Matta, chicken behaviorist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uzNCh0BpXuE/TbCZvynr4_I/AAAAAAAAAG8/_dWPWUtXdlk/s1600/Rachel+as+Jane+Goodall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uzNCh0BpXuE/TbCZvynr4_I/AAAAAAAAAG8/_dWPWUtXdlk/s320/Rachel+as+Jane+Goodall.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>I read Gretchen Rubin's <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6398634-the-happiness-project">The Happiness Project</a> a while ago, and she mentioned the idea that what we liked to do when we were nine or ten years old is probably a good indicator of what we truly like to do. This made me laugh, as all I could remember at first was how interested I was in primatology. This is me, as Jane Goodall, in our class wax museum. That's Sarah Henderson behind me, as Cleopatra. You don't mind, do you Sar? :) This may explain why I pause every time I see an opening at the nearby Gorilla Foundation.<br />
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So, James has always been extraordinarily interested in animals. His signing, for example, didn't take off until we started teaching him the signs for all the different animals. (Who cares about, "more", "eat", or "drink"?) It was fun to see him today at Hidden Villa. He just squatted next to the chicken coop, and watched. And watched. We watched those chickens for about twenty minutes, almost without moving. Thinking I had finally convinced him to move on to the pigs (the same piglets we saw, I believe, on an earlier visit), I led the way with Isabel only to see James immediately drop behind to squat, yet again, next to the chickens looking for bugs to eat over by the manure pile. So gently he observed them, signing and quietly approaching, fingers outstretched but never touching, cocking his head and looking. Next time we'll have to harvest a miner's lettuce leaf or two to give them--Isabel was so anxious to give them one like all the school groups were doing. I especially love that the kids look so ecstatic and enthralled throughout, but when you ask them whether they like the farm they say "no". Somehow they always interpret that question to mean whether they would like to get out of the car and revisit it immediately.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-61900022726859471862011-04-14T17:28:00.000-07:002011-04-14T17:28:41.106-07:00James, Isabel, and the inevitable number six<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyP9XVb397pUHhdv0zhdi0pScngQgC_ERw7ILqGuT1h3NIO18b70nkDIanyuIEBnClOUXatZf9kjlLoxyb5iw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>James has learned to move the mouse where he wants it to go, and to keep it still while he clicks the left button. I'm looking forward to showing more of what he's learned later. We get kind of mesmerized watching him. For now, though, here's James on the number six page of the "x" section on <a href="http://www.starfall.org/">http://www.starfall.org/</a>. For those of you who know anything about James' sister Isabel (author of such luminous phrases as "cute little baby six" and giver of birthday presents containing a small school bus, a large bus, and, you guessed it, a foam number six "Happy birthday, Mama!"), you'll have guessed that she's the impetus for repeating this particular page multiple times. If you listen closely you can hear James making some distinctions in the vowels here. Unfortunately, by the time I took the video, we had entered the Great Number Confusion, so you won't see him sign "six". Isabel, for a few days, was convinced that six, seven, eight, and nine went the opposite way from the way they really do in ASL, and James is now imitating her instead of us, as you can see in the middle of the video, where you can see him practice 9, 8, 7, 6 instead of 6, 7, 8, 9 while he waits for the page to load.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-724966164803363552011-02-09T11:35:00.000-08:002011-02-09T11:35:17.682-08:00Scrabble tray concertGoing into James' room to transfer the laundry from the washer to the dryer, I heard James humming tunefully with a Scrabble tray in his mouth, moving his fingers as if the tray were a recorder. I got a turn and played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and then gave it back to James, and requested "Old MacDonald Had a Farm". By this time Isabel had come in, and James hummed and vocalized to the song, and at the end you could hear the "E-I-E-I-O"! Isabel played "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and we took turns after that. A couple of the cutest were "Gonna take a walk outside today", that Isabel played (from Milo and Otis), and James' "I Am a Pizza". He sang all the verses, you could tell, and at the end he very sadly and dramatically hummed the last part--"I was a pizza, now I'm a MESS!"<br />
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Isabel has identified with Otis. Now instead of quoting the lines word for word, she replaces "Otis" with "Isabel". I've also found out what the kids think I mean when I say "Take a bow!" Can you figure it out? Isabel ran from the room, shrieking "Yay!" and James stood still, emphatically nodding and saying "YES". Luckily for me, he signed what he thought I'd said, and then I knew where Isabel had run to.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-58563131179551857522011-02-01T19:59:00.000-08:002011-02-01T19:59:38.369-08:00Isabel minces garlic at eight in the morningIt was a bit too quiet this morning while I was checking my email. This is why:<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TUjVxIjaSiI/AAAAAAAAAG0/0NmyPXtE3oc/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TUjVxIjaSiI/AAAAAAAAAG0/0NmyPXtE3oc/s320/013.JPG" width="320" /></a> <br />
I guess I must be mincing a lot of garlic lately. And no, before you ask, I don't do it with scissors. Though maybe I should consider it.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-39278195121780036362010-11-25T06:27:00.000-08:002010-11-25T06:27:36.158-08:00Thankful for happy moments like thisJames and Isabel dance. (James likes country and salsa, and Isabel likes opera and folk.)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzYyqDtxFQ1CC63tFm3A7wdEaCHCw30A5mTZRXwo2WfOtm6_dbFyoP1Q0wBYziXVlge6vEGz4vmeAMsPW8Bmg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-21922985518184003792010-10-29T15:40:00.000-07:002010-10-29T15:40:00.695-07:00Spider glove!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMtMYeN6llI/AAAAAAAAAGo/ffpISbH30s0/s1600/055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMtMYeN6llI/AAAAAAAAAGo/ffpISbH30s0/s320/055.JPG" width="320" /></a>Isabel seems to be on a spider-compound kick. Some of you may already be familiar with her "spider-frog". Now, there's the "spider-glove"! Pictured here on long-suffering Rody, dressed by Zizi.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMtM4TWKQFI/AAAAAAAAAGs/QGTYoBPI_Ws/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMtM4TWKQFI/AAAAAAAAAGs/QGTYoBPI_Ws/s320/053.JPG" width="236" /></a></div>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-15905530672194404142010-10-28T08:11:00.000-07:002010-10-28T08:11:25.870-07:00Talking!<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">ai æm ə i a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Repeated after me, syllable by syllable, and please forgive the transcription, as I'm not a professional. :)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can you guess James' current favorite song? :) If not, click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/I-Am-A-Pizza/dp/B000QMQHKE">here</a>.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-42593271230795213992010-10-13T16:24:00.000-07:002010-10-24T05:55:43.399-07:00October at Hidden Villa(Pictures added!)<br />
We came back with our pants covered with (I think) cow manure. There's a big pile in the chicken section that the chickens run away from kids on. Unluckily for the chickens, my kids are not intimidated by small hills of manure. After a bit, they realized that James was (mostly) harmless, and seemed to prefer his quiet advances and general plopping down in the middle of them to the squeals of some visiting schoolkids who were getting a great tour. I hope the chicken taking a dirt bath can recover--it looked as if all the feathers on its back had been plucked. Do chickens persecute each other? As the kids ran past the cows and sheep, we got the usual "Are they twins?" question, and heard some teenage boys talking about how they wanted babies and how they wanted to be "daddies", which isn't something I hear every day.<br />
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We also got to see two piglets. The sow didn't like me coming over to look, but seemed, as most animals seem to be, more tolerant of the kids. Is the red lamp a heat lamp? And why is there a fence between them and their mother? It looks like they can go to her, but she can't go to them. James didn't want to go home after peeking in at the goats, and had to be relegated to my shoulders to get him back to the car. Isabel insisted on holding hands, and as James isn't very interested in holding on at the best of times (he has absolute trust that I won't let him fall off), it was a somewhat precarious journey. We were very grateful that we'd saved our water for the end! (Also very grateful that those stinging weeds near the rams had been cut back.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMQfccFDqzI/AAAAAAAAAGc/5CMw7vm8gm8/s1600/097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMQfccFDqzI/AAAAAAAAAGc/5CMw7vm8gm8/s320/097.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMQgHtaUqvI/AAAAAAAAAGg/JOdBZT_RYqw/s1600/098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMQgHtaUqvI/AAAAAAAAAGg/JOdBZT_RYqw/s320/098.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMQggM2Rl9I/AAAAAAAAAGk/Lvat52Zrf34/s1600/104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c-thixpEcWg/TMQggM2Rl9I/AAAAAAAAAGk/Lvat52Zrf34/s320/104.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6895574243671913625.post-56152797835174788122010-10-12T10:53:00.000-07:002010-10-12T10:53:49.423-07:00Great five minute video about how people with Down syndrome are more alike than differentI loved watching this movie from the NDSC (National Down Syndrome Congress) this morning--I was especially interested in the young woman teaching sign language! Here's the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg2ZBPw2LyE&playnext=1&videos=9di9X_Spkdc&feature=mfu_in_order">link</a>.This second <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM6M38HdapQ&feature=related)">link</a> has Spanish subtitles.<br />
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James is very gently putting two babies to bed at the moment, patting them softly and tucking them in, and vocalizing. Isabel is placing chess pieces in their case, quietly counting them. Last night she was fascinated by the numbers after one hundred. I hadn't realized before how interesting a concept that was. You could just see the gears clicking over.R Mattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11503143009792300743noreply@blogger.com0