Traditions

I am instituting a couple of family traditions. The first is having adventures. I want to have an adventurous life and I want the kids to have one as well. We bought a mini-van and headed out on our first family adventure last weekend -- Hood River. Lots of fun! We visited friends and took the kids sledding (Sonia declined to participate but Jack loved it). The next day we went to several museums -- an antique car and airplane museum in Hood River, then onto OMSI in Portland. We spent a loooong time in the car due to traveling on a holiday weekend but we had fun. We spontaneously stopped in Olympia to eat.. for us, wild times.

Our next big adventure is a 3 week trip to London. It is important to note that adventure does not always mean fun. It's an escape from our every day life. I am not sure taking 2 small children across several time zones to a different country will be fun .. but it will definitely be an adventure.

The other tradition I've started is weekly dinner guests. Every week, we have 1 family, couple, or person over for dinner. I want the kids to know how important it is to have friends and be a good friend, how to be a good host ( I am still figuring this out), and how to cook (also still in process). It's also a bit of an adventure because we never know how the kids will behave with others around.. sometimes they are happy and sometime they are .. not.

The Dentist and other adventures with Sonia

For a while, I didn't have much to say about Sonia. She was just there and I had to focus on Jack. This explains why second and youngest children are the way they are. Sonia seems to become more aggressive daily. If I could have cloned myself, I wonder what she'd be like. She pushes Jack (and other older children) for no apparent reason. Most are nice enough not to retaliate but sometimes, after a while, they can't help it.
It's tough sometimes. Then there is another side of Sonia.. she is miss personality. She is so funny.. so full of ideas. At 2 she is already playing pretend games, loves Star Wars and playing games, and she likes to draw. She makes her needs known and I appreciate that about her.

We recently went to the dentist. She already brushes her teeth and understands what happens at the dentist office. She was cooperative and watched Dora.

Sick again

Ah winter. Time for sickness. Our house has been invaded by the stomach flu. Jack has had it since yesterday. Sonia already had it although the stomach flu for her consists of vomiting once and eating a full meal with no consequences 2 hours later. When Jack seems really sick, it gives me lots of opportunity to practice being present.. it's always been an anxiety trigger for me. I can get some distance from it now although yesterday I wished for ativan. It's tough when he is a limp little guy. He is already so skinny. Luckily it's a sunny beautiful day and we live in a lovely, light filled house. We borrowed several videos and downloaded the audio of 'charlie and the chocolate factory.' We make the best of it. We created a cozy little nook for jack on the family room couch. We sit with him in between cleaning and cooking and taking care of business. It seems like he is on the mend.