Hodge Podge

Ava saw her pediatrician today and was given the green light for Wednesday as long as she doesn't get sick between now and then. I have my fingers crossed and am praying for a Hail Mary.

The appointment went well. I had to take Olivia with me since she didn't have school. I was telling her before the doctor walked in that the appointment was not for her or about her and that she needed to sit and be quiet so he could talk with Ava and give her her physical. So the door opens and the doctor walks in and he looks at Olivia and says, "Hi."

Olivia says with a big grin, "Hi doctor, How are you doing today?"

And he tells her, "Fine. Thank you for asking."

And then he looks at me and says, "Wow mom, you are doing a great job. In my 3 1/2 years here she is the only kid who has ever asked ME how I'm doing. Your kids are very polite."

I must say- they are very polite and have great manners. They both know how to use 'please, thank you, I'm sorry, you're forgiven, may I be excused from the table?, cover their faces when they sneeze or cough,' and all the other niceties I can't think of at the moment. Don't get me wrong though. They know how to fight and squabble just the same and give the remark, 'you're not my friend anymore' at the first instance of not getting their way. It was just nice today to see Olivia be kind and chatty even after I told her this appointment was not about her and she needed to be quiet. She wasn't intrusive during the exam. She was really quiet and good. And she knows the difference between when and what she can say and when to not speak in public. She really is learning every day.

I look at her and sometimes I think about how trying it can be being a SAHM and then she does something like this and I remember why it is so important to be there and teach her the things I want instilled in her. And on days like today I feel like, "Yeah. I did make the right choice for myself and I'm doing a good job at it."

Sometimes I question if I'm teaching them the right stuff. If I'm doing enough or playing enough. I'm sure there's a lot of different techniques I could use to educate my kids but so far things appear to be on track. Olivia can write all of her letters, she began spelling 4 letter words awhile ago and now will come up to me in the kitchen or somewhere and say, "Mommy, how do you spell water?" Then I tell her and I can hear her walk away chanting W-A-T-E-R all over the house. She can read some words by sounding them out too. It's kinda scary because Dave and I have become used to spelling everything out in front of her and soon we won't be able to anymore.

And then there's Ava. She didn't want to listen to books in the same way Olivia would so I figured she would struggle to learn but then she surprised me. She just has a different way of learning and completely different interests. We were walking down the street the other day and she pointed at the stop sign and told me, "Look mommy, it's an octagon." Baffled she knew that I asked her what other shapes she saw. She named them all. Then she saw the letters that are sometimes carved into the sidewalks for the power/water companies and she begins walking and reading the letters out loud. She knows all of her letters.

I've asked her so many times, "What is this letter, Ava?" when we are in the house and she looks up at the ceiling, cocks her head to the side, and puts her chubby little finger to her cheek and tells me something random. I end up thinking, 'oh well she'll learn them at some point she just won't know them all before she starts preschool like Olivia did.' But she does know them- capital and lower case. She just doesn't spew it out in the conventional way. She even knows what sound each letter makes. Ironically, Dave and I believe she is farther ahead of Olivia when Liv began preschool. With the help of Olivia's constant practice Ava has reaped all of the rewards. The proof is that Ava did Olivia's dance routine after only seeing it performed a few times. She picks stuff up so quickly. It's so exciting and so terrifying at the same time. I look at Ava and my baby is gone and she has been replaced by a developing 3 year old.

I am so happy that I spend every day with her and Olivia. I get to see it all. I get to be there for all the 'moments' and that makes me very happy. I know too soon I'll be hearing about them second hand from the backseat of the car on the way home from school. So I'm not trying to brag about my kids. I just think that they rock. And when they read this later they will see why I stayed home with them and how much I enjoy it as well as how very deeply I love them.