Reporting from the Nest

Just a quick kiddo update.

Chloe- Chloe is loving being home alone. She is still as sneaky and full of mischief as ever. Just the other day she was roaming around with a cookie. I sent her back to the table. She kept coming back to my room, where I was flat ironing my hair. I kept sending her back to the table. After a few rejections, she came in with Alex's ball cap on her head, giggling at herself. I called her silly, and tried to grab the hat, just to be playful. I don't mind her wearing the hat. She resisted and held the hat, and tried to get away. I wondered why she would care, so I tried even harder to get the hat off. When I did, do you know what I found? The cookie. On her head, hiding under a ball cap. Chloe always has a funny surprise to keep me laughing. She is also sassier than ever, and now says "already" at the end of everything. Like this, "Mommy, get me some juice already" or, "read me a book already". I have to try really hard not to laugh, and encourage her, but I do find her awfully amusing.

Alex- Alex is tired and a little crankier than usual since he started school, but he is still sweet. Alex has an innocence about him that is so unusual. He isn't plagued by the insecurities that the rest of us suffer from. He will come home and cheerfully announce that no one played with him that day, or that no one sat with him on the bus. My heart breaks, but Alex doesn't mind. He is forgiving, and kind to others, and happy to just be on his own on the days when no one else is interested. But as a mother, I am happy to see the neighbor boy coming to invite him over to play on a regular basis. He is also still pretty excited about me. He usually behaves quite well at school, but one day he came home with a note. He had to turn his green light to yellow, and then to red. The teacher was notifying me of the issues that led to that point. When I addressed it with Alex, he was proud of himself. He even lamented the fact that it was a half day, because if you misbehave again after the red light, you have to call home. He said, "Mommy, if I would have had time to get in trouble one more time, I could have called you". I guess I'd better tell the teacher that threatening to call me is not going to work as a punishment for Alex.

Alyssa- Alyssa is still a smarty, and falls right into the school routine without a hitch each year. I don't like some of the attitude she brings home. We have to detox every weekend, get our real Alyssa back, and then send her to the wolves again each Monday. But Alyssa is a wonderful friend. Just recently she was invited to a party for a girl she has not played with before. The whole class was invited. Everyone declined the invite. Ouch, right? Alyssa decided that she wanted to go and let this girl know she had a friend. I was so proud of that decision. It is so easy to fall in with the crowd and let others decide who is worth hanging out with, but Alyssa treats people equally. I admire that strength. Alyssa is also doing well in piano, if I can brag for a second. She passed off her first lesson book in 2 1/2 months, and she got her music for the Christmas recital a week and a half ago. She can already get through the whole song. It is choppy, and imperfect, but I am very proud and I love to listen to her play. I will post her song now, and then again after the recital so that you can see how she progresses.




Birdies- During that crazy Primary Activity week, I forgot to tell you all, that I found our birds. After leaving the nest, I spotted them on our back deck. They lived there for about a week. They were always together, pecking around on the deck for seeds, or practicing flying, but usually just sitting. Each time they would fly to a new spot on the deck railing, the little guy would go first and then watch and wait for his baby sis. I loved watching them. They always left at night, and came back in the morning. After about a week, they were getting stronger and flying better, and more often. A few days later, they were gone for good. We were all so happy to see them again, and to watch them take their next steps towards adulthood.

And that is the report from mama bird, on all her sweet little chicks.