This week Ivy got her first black eye... she was twisting around on the potty, lost her balance and fell into the toilet paper holder. Who knew that potty training could cause a black eye! %)
Here's Ivy showing some of her tumbling skills (I guess she's learned from the KidFit program that they have at her school) she was playing on her climbing blocks and decided to go head first into a somersault! I was caught totally off guard! Then she just kept doing it again, and again!
We're still working on the toddler bed transition. Ivy does GREAT at night but naptime is still difficult (which is what I suspected, and is why we put her in the toddler bed at night initially). During "naptime" this week she has learned to clean out ALL the lower drawers in her dresser, transfer the entire contents of her bookshelf to her bed, and finally she moved her stool over, reached a little higher, and cleaned out the "catch-all" drawer including neosporin, earrings, q-tips, etc. This picture is the day after everything was locked up!
Ivy has also said a few sentences this week. The first sentence I heard her say was, "Papa, I got pee in potty." Later Aunt Shirley told me that she said, "I see Jack mow grass." Other than those couple of sentences, she been doing more possessives. "Momma's car. Papa's toy. Ivy's purse." That's great, but I'm wondering if she's getting it in Spanish, too, because the possessives are backwards in that language and I haven't heard her say anything to that effect. Still, it is very clear that she understands her papa in Spanish, so I guess I'll not worry about that now.
As for the rest of us, we are doing well. Alex has really jumped into the whole idea of becoming a runner. This weekend he ran 4 miles in less than an hour. We are both really impressed that he can run and keep his breath so easily. When we met 7 years ago he was a smoker who couldn't run a block without panting. I'm so grateful that God intervened and allowed him to quit overnight. What a miracle!
Another blessing I'm thankful for is my job. This year is my second year out of the classroom, but when school starts back, I remember what the first day jitters are all about, and how truly time consuming it is to prepare a classroom and all its trappings. It makes me wonder why the world is set up so that those who have the least amount of time are those who seemingly have the most to do. It also makes me wonder how anyone can be a classroom teacher and a wife and mother at the same time. I am in awe of my colleagues and their ability to take it all on gracefully and (more than) competently. Apart from less stress at the beginning of the year, I'm grateful for the challenges and opportunities for learning that come with my position. It's not unusual for me to feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew, or to feel totally inept to be facilitating my peers; but at the same time, I feel like I'm learning and growing...becoming a stronger leader, planner, researcher, philosopher, and educator because of the role that I'm in... And that's a really cool thing.
