The Weekly Review: Week Eight

Blog Post I Thoroughly Enjoyed:

I very much enjoyed Julia's most recent post. First, she often has pictures of her absolutely adorable children and this post is no exception. Second, she tells a very entertaining story about a marital debate. My favorite quote from the story, regarding her husband, is "putting the passive in our passion and the aggressive in our aggregate since 1996."

Apraxia Article of the Week:

A while back I wrote a post about Apraxia and Infant Bonding. I was talking about how I felt like the fact that both of my babies have oral apraxia might have had an effect on my ability to bond with them when they were little. I had never really seen any article mention such a thing, but I had lived it. And it made sense to me logically. This week I stumbled upon an apraxia article that begins by talking about this very thing. (The title of the article doesn't immediately scream "pertinent to this topic", but give it a chance.)

Sibling Moments of the Week:

• Michael pushing his sister on the swing.
• Michael asking Ava, "Do you want to go play in my room?" and Ava responding, "O-tay!". Watching them run off up the stairs together.
• Watching the two of them on either end of a string playing tug-of-war.
• Trying to decide if the two of them encouraging each other into an ever increasing fury of splashing in the bathtub was a good thing or a bad thing.

Quote of the Week from Michael:

"Mama, I need just one more hug!" from the doorway of his classroom as I drop him off at school.

Ava's Contrariness of the Week:

Finally, we got a barrette in Ava's hair. We snuck it in when she wasn't paying attention and for two adorable hours she had a pink bow in her hair. When she finally noticed it, she was hysterical until I managed to pull it out. I put it in my pocket. Five minutes later she insisted I give her bow back. She didn't want to wear it, mind you. She just wanted to hold it.

Incomplete Project of the Week:

Sorting through over 100 dvds we no longer want collecting dust and figuring out which of three different online vendors offers the most money for each dvd. This involved typing in the 12 digit UPC number for each dvd into each website. Next step is to print out the quotes, sort the physical dvds, box them, and ship them off.

Amazing Library Experience

I've mentioned this before in passing, but it is worth saying again. Our county library system is amazing. First, their entire catalog is online. I can browse by author or keyword or even call number. I choose up to 25 books from anywhere in the county to place on hold and they are delivered to my local library. I get an email when they have arrived. I browse the call number "board books" for Ava and the call number "JE Readers" for Michael. I've also placed children's cds and dvds on hold.

It gets even better though. They have a hold shelf. I don't even have to go to the counter. I simply walk over to the hold shelf, find the books I've requested all waiting for me together in one spot and walk over to check out.

The county recently upgraded their technology to some sort of wireless system. All the librarians have to do to check you out is place a small pile of books on a pad and the entire pile is scanned at once. I thought that was pretty amazing but then they installed self checkout kiosks. I am in and out of the library in five minutes. I walk in, putting my returned books in their slot, and then walk over to the reserve shelf near the door and grab my new set of books. Then I self checkout and leave. I'm trying to remember to request new books every Sunday night and pick up the new set every Thursday on the way to pick the kids up from preschool.

Absolutely amazing. Have any of you had good experiences with your local libraries?

Social Dynamics

I try hard to find playmates for my children. Michael has a weekly playdate with a boy up the street who is only 6 weeks older than he is. We've been getting together regularly for at least a year and a half. They are a wonderful family and it has been pretty amazing to watch their relationship develop from two babies playing side by side to two boys who run off to play independently. Ava is just starting to get together regularly with a little girl in our neighborhood who is only 4 months older than she is. So far, they mostly just play in the same space, but that is fairly typical for a couple of two year olds playing together.

I have a friend too. We've known each other since before marriage and children. Now she has a little girl,Cara, who turned four just a few weeks after Ava turned two. She is 8 months older than Michael and almost exactly two years older than Ava. We try to get together on a weekly basis too. It's great that the kids get along, but mostly, we just want to get together ourselves.

Usually, Cara and Michael play together. That was especially the case before Ava started talking. Or all three children would play independently. When they came over yesterday though, a whole new dynamic appeared. The two girls went off together. Cara was actively engaging Ava and trying to make her laugh. They were tickling and wrestling and just being silly. They climbed on the playset together. In fact, every time one wandered off, the other would follow. The girls played together for extended periods of time while Michael ended up a bit neglected.

I was torn. It was amazing to watch the girls playing together even with the two year age gap. The communication, enjoyment, and togetherness was like something that had been gift wrapped for Ava and it was beautiful. At the exact same time, I hurt for Michael. He was trying to get in on the fun, he really was. But somehow he just ended up sidelined. The girls weren't deliberately leaving him out. They were just interested in different activities.

I suppose that when Ava tags along on Michael's playdates she is the one sidelined, but somehow that doesn't make me as sad because the pair playing together are age matched. It was just fascinating to watch gender and personality determine the playmates more so than age. Social dynamics start so very young.