New Tricks

We have been asking Bubeaner to make a lot of adjustments in a really short time.  He is normally so shy.  We are not sure if all these changes are good for him or just make matters harder.  Bubeaner's refused to participate much in his new swimming and dance/tumbling classes.  However, we know he's learning because he e comes home and repeats everything from the class.  But the moment he's in class he shuts down. 

This week we saw a change. 

He still cried when we dropped him off at the church's nursery when Momma attended the women's group.  But we could hear him singing down the hall when we returned to pick him up.  The ladies at the nursery said he cried a lot less and interacted with them and the other children.  He looked like he had really enjoyed his time there.

And at dance/tumbling class, Bubeaner actually participated in the activities.  He was actually one of the first ones to do some of the activities without a glitch.  In the past we are usually the last ones because Bubeaner either refuses to get up and do them or he gets really upset if we have to stop to let other classmates take a turn.  No crying or fussing this time.  He even helped out coach Michelle when she asked for volunteers to help put the props up.  Bubeaner went by himself without Momma.  He didn't even look back.

He's also talking a lot.  But now we actually understand what he's saying.  He says new words during every conversation without our prompting.  Some words we haven't even practiced with him for a while.  He's just actually having conversations now.  He's saying words in both English and Spanish.  Bubeaner also knows the numbers 1-10 in Spanish.  Two is his favorite and the clearest - maybe because we are practicing since his birthday is coming up - while 6, 7, and 10 all sound pretty similar.  But it's progress.  And he's also been singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  His favorite part, and the most easily understood, is "up above so high."

Bubeaner enjoys admiring himself on the mirrors at dance/tumbling class.  But for the first time, we noticed that when he noticed the animals on his shirt he did not reach out to touch them on the mirror.  He touched them on his shirt.  He's definitely now aware of self.

We love watching as our children discover the world around them.  It's like we are rediscovering it with them.  Bubita has recently been extremely fascinated by her left hand.  She stares at it all the time.  She is also getting so much better at grabbing items within her reach.  Today, we could not stop her from moving a burp cloth so she could gnaw on it.  In so many ways, maybe because we know how fast they grow up, she appears to be growing so much faster than Bubeaner at that time.  With Bubeaner we were eager for the next stage.  Always wanting the next step.  With Bubita we want her to slow down.  We want to savor every little aspect of her current stage.  It just goes by so fast!

Although this weekend is not going by so fast.  We are sick.  OK, so not everyone is sick.  But it appears that Dad, Bubeaner and Bubita have all caught a cold, stomach bug, or something of that sort.  (Momma lucked out... or maybe not.  We are still debating that.)  We have no idea where we caught this bug.  In the past, the bugs came mainly from Dad's work.  But nowadays, it could be from gym class, dance & tumbling class, swimming class, play dates, and even the church nursery.  Sigh.  And, of course, there really is no realistic way to prevent Bubita from catching it.  Thankfully, they do not have a fever.  Our hope is that it's a short-lived virus/bug.

We did discover that Bubeaner takes more after Momma when sick; we used to think he was more like Dad.  Dad, and as we found out Bubita too, "sundown" when they are sick; they feel worse as the day progresses.  This is the more common occurrence.  However, Momma and Bubeaner feel the worse in the morning and tend to feel better as the day progresses.  Bubeaner was playing with his toys as normal by the end of the day.  He was so active we feared he would not settle down to bed.  Thankfully that was not a problem. 

Bubita on the other hand is having a hard time going to sleep like Dad.  They both look like they are a little miserable.  (Actually Dad is the one that looks the worse.)  Bubita has settled down a little now that she's swaddled, fed and being rocked to sleep by Momma.   She has been extremely needy all day.  She's also been cluster feeding.  We are not sure if it is due to a growth spurt or a need for comfort/soothing.  It may be a little of both.  Hopefully, we will all have a better day tomorrow.