Laughing-Schooled by a 4 year old

Joaquin likes to fake laugh.  When he was a baby, fake laughing put him into hysterics and now he is carrying his own mantle.  Before I had this exchange, I would have characterized this fake laugh as an obnoxious, high pitched sound that we were trying to discourage.  So he fake laughs and I told him not to and he asked me, "what's a fake laugh?" and I answered something like it is a laugh that you have to force and then he asks, "well then, what's a real laugh?" and I answer something like it's a a laugh that comes naturally and he says, "...but I like to laugh."  Just call us the parents who like to squash rainbows and dreams and all things that are childhood happiness, right?  I told him that he was right and I was wrong...and that he should laugh as much and however he wants.

Rhiannon is 20 months and our journey to kindergarten

Rhiannon is 20 months today and I skipped 19...sometime between 18-20, Rhiannon got all 8 of her back teeth at the same time.  Poor thing.  They are late and they didn't come in molars than incisors, they were all popping through a once and ended up coming in right side, then left.  At 20 months, they have all popped through although not all the way and she is a much happier baby.

In many way, Rhiannon seems much more like a baby at this age than Joaquin did.  She is not talking as much and is much more of a cuddler.  She's also still in the baby room at school and has no interest in using the potty.  On the other hand, she is a bit of a daredevil and plays independently frequently, which makes her seem older in some ways.  But I do forget she is almost 2...not sure how much of that is falling into the 'this is my baby' category and how much is actually her.  And what a girl!  She likes to play with dolls and stuffed animals and recently took a baby doll at school and started cradling and rocking it-where did she learn that?

We got our first acceptance letter for Joaquin for kindergarten.  With the way things are in Los Angeles, we literally won the lotto.  This brings about some relief although not as much as you would hope.  We still have to see where else we get in or do not get in and weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each.  This first one, for instance is a German dual language (+for the language, -for it being German), with an IB curriculum (big +), but would require us to be tied to the westside of Los Angeles (probably) for the next 9 years (-).  I've got a spreadsheet!  We're monitoring housing prices!  What will we do for middle school!  It's so complicated...

Rhiannon is 18 months today!

And the first thing I think about writing is her love of Elmo.  It is deep and intense and pretty comical.  Just about any conversation you have with her will end with her inquiring or demanding Elmo in some way.  In fact, although she won't say Joaquin, Lola, or Nate, she's got Elmo, Abby, and Ernie down!  Other words for her include animal noises like moo, baa, sss, snorting (for pig), oof (for a dog), meow; bubbles, no, hey, bye-bye, mama, daddy, Bailey, choo-choo, nose, pee pee, pooh pooh, and Pooh as in Winnie.  She identifies all her body parts and likes to pretend to go to the bathroom.  She also likes to play with stuffed animals, which is also new for us (maybe a girl thing?).  She gets up on their toddler bed, surrounds herself with all of them, and then starts playing and talking to them all. 

My mom observed that although Rhiannon doesn't have as much language as Joaquin had at this age, in many ways she seems more mature than Joaquin did.  Maybe it's because she's such a mover?  It's hard to put a finger on what's different here, but I agree.  She definitely completely understands and there is something about her character that makes you think...she is processing in a less naive way?  It's this thread that runs through the determined way she says no, her opinions on her clothes, and her fearlessness in exploring on her own.  Whereas Joaquin's language always gave him the air of 2 going on 40, Rhiannon's determination gives her the air of 1 going on 18.

Our little love gets stopped in the street so people can comment on how beautiful her eyes are...happy year and a half, love...

Christmas and the new year

Joaquin's Christmas list-this is the first formal list we have written and also our first letter to Santa Claus:

Trampoline
Robot
Toy gun
Digger
Toy airplane that flies
Box of super heroes
Blue bicycle (he has a red one, but red is not his favorite color)
Pogo stick
Periscope

Joaquin's Christmas list for Rhiannon:

Elmo

We also did our first visit to Santa at a Victorian Christmas celebration at the Banning house.  Santa is in a sleigh and you could climb up with him and take a picture.  We didn't get that far, but Joaquin did manage to ask for his robot while standing below on the ground.

I had a week and a half off between Christmas and the new year and although Gideon had to work on the eves and New Year's day, it was the most family together time we've had in a long time.  We also had some scheduling problems with Gideon's family celebrations, which caused us to have a smaller group in our home instead.  That had its advantages and disadvantages as Joaquin is finally enjoying being around bigger groups and hanging out with his family, so sad that we missed that, but it also required alot less 'schedule' and travel and that was nice.

This year, we went to the Mission Inn with its 9M lights, saw ice sculptures in Long Beach, and headed up to Frazier Park for an overnight in the snow.  The snow was largely a big hit with Joaquin and Gideon making a snowman, all of us throwing snowballs, Rhiannon trying to eat her first batch and staying in a cozy cabin for the night.  It was also a reminder of how picky Joaquin has gotten with his clothing and day 2 of his activities were totally shot as he could not find anything acceptably warm and soft for the day.  Joaquin has only grown about an inch in the past year while his feet continue to grow, which means growth spurt coming up for me, and I dread the clothing and shoe conversations that will likely come with it. 

2012 was a great, if not hectic, year for us.  My new job offers us growth opportunity that we could have never accomplished in our previous situation.  It definitely felt like a new era with our transition into a 4 person family, a rebalancing of parental roles and responsibilities, new professional opportunities, and beginning our search for what Joaquin's grade school years will look like.  2013 promises more change and is such an unknown right now depending on our housing and school...major disruption or a continued ease into our 'new' pattern? 

Rhiannon 16 to 17 months

This was a big month for Rhiannon.  Her new words were ipad and teetay (Tagalog for penis).  Ipad is always followed by a request for Elmo while teetay is just something she thinks is hilarious.  I guess penis humor works no matter what the gender.  She has also started to speak in simple sentences and has reached 'full' understanding where we can ask her to do things like bring me your shoes, etc.  She can point to all body parts, has mastered stairs both up and down, and can climb up on just about anything at this point.  Nods yes, but says no and the way she says it is super cute and indicative of her personality...while she uses it alot-both to say no and as a way to make jokes because we laugh at her cuteness in saying it-she says it in the sweetest, most girlish way, lifting her chin, raising her eyebrows and in a sweet, higher pitched voice, "no."

Rhiannon loves Elmo

Rhiannon loves Elmo...it is her favorite word.  She points to the TV, our phones, the ipad...anything..."Elmo!"  The other night, she was tossing and turning and distressingly cried, "Elmo!"  She also loves Barney, so we are knee deep in all the traditionally loved child things that Joaquin avoided.  She has also picked up "cheese!" for pictures and flashes a crinkled nose, super enthusiastic grin.  She can point to most of her body parts and likes to dance.

Joaquin...my 4 going on 40 little boy...has started to call us mom and dad instead of mommy and daddy.  After about a week and a half of the pattern, I asked him why he was calling me mom instead of mommy.  His response was, "Well, you're my mom."  Can't argue with that, I guess.  We are in the midst of finding a kindergarten for him, which is a maddening, Hunger Games like process in Los Angeles.  There are tons and no choices all at the same time...public, private, charter, magnet, intra and inter district, and dual language are all on our list and each have a different admissions policy and procedure.  Which means visiting each and every one of them and then keeping your fingers crossed after.

Rhiannon at 13 months; Joaquin's creativity

At 13 months, Rhiannon likes to mimic and likes shoes.  She will bring us her shoes regardless of if we are getting dressed and likes to wear them around everywhere.  With Joaquin only liking to wear shirts and now Rhiannon with shoes, the joke is we need a 3rd that likes to wear pants so that we have one fully dressed child.  She also likes to mimic...blowing your nose, brushing your hair, carrying a purse.  And the other day she brought me a book with 'night night' as the final page so she could show me she could also say night night.


Joaquin is developing his creative side, making up songs and playing voices with his toys.  He has also told us that art is his favorite part of school, which is shocking since he has never had an interest in crafts.  He also identified a best friend at school (Lily and then, although not as strong, JT) and then we had tears when Lily started kinder at another school.  JT is still there, but he is still sad about Lily.  Sometimes he tells us that he doesn't have any friends left at school and we can't talk about Lily without tears.  It is a sad position to be in as a parent...and makes parallel play more and more of a wistful memory.