The Power of Words

It seems as if all it was doing outside the month of March was rain, rain, rain.  But inside the house, however, we had our own little storm going on... but this one was with words.  And it has been quite interesting to ride this one out.
The best part of this storm is all the vocabulary Sasha is developing every single day!  I forget how transformative this age is!  She is talking a lot and can say many words, but she can understand so much more.  She's kind of a creature of habit, so as soon as we say "coat," she is at the door and saying "shhhz" (shoes) and ready to go.  Or in the morning, shortly after saying "Dada" when she first wakes up, she promptly says "bye bye," knowing that he will eventually leave for work.  I love it when we say "night night" and she makes a bee line in her waddly walk straight for the door to the stairs.

 Sasha is communicating so much, including signing a lot to tell us what she wants.  She is obsessed with balls and will say "ball" over and over whenever she sees one in the neighborhood or in a book.  For a while she thought Easter eggs were balls too, but now she knows that if you shake them, they might have something inside!  She found a couple eggs this Easter, but preferred walking around with a whiffle ball. 

Easter cutie!

Sasha taking her fist steps on the beach!

Some random snow on March 22nd

Morgan has been the rougher part of this storm, communicating in her own 'developmentally appropriate' ways.   Lately she has been"experimenting" with language she hears at school.  Words like "stupid,"  "boooooring," "I'll put you in jail!" are some of the things she has brought home in addition to her art projects.  It took us a while to figure out what was going on because she wouldn't admit that she was hearing them (and probably using them) at school.  She knew they weren't kind words, but she couldn't resist trying them out at home with us.  Fortunately, a little gimmick about putting pennies in a "kind words" jar has turned her around quickly, and now I think we are hearing more please and thank yous than ever before!

But there is also more complicated stuff, like lying and peer pressure that is starting to pop up.  (Already?!?  She's only four!)  I knew the days of complete honesty couldn't last forever, but now she is starting to test what she can get away with (like dumping water in the sand box after I told her not to, or saying she didn't touch Sasha who lays bawling on the floor three inches away.)  Now we have the tricky part of figuring out how to teach all the intangible stuff, like honesty, compassion, hard-work, integrity, etc.

Breakfast during a Spring break sleepover with Avery

Last night Morgan told me a story that kind of broke my heart, and it made me realize how fast she is growing up.  She was complaining about a certain boy at school (who seems to be the ringleader of the naughty stuff, and also the son of one of the teachers).  She didn't like playing with him because he plays mean games, but one of her girl friends plays with him and that makes her feel left out.  She wants to be included, but being included goes against what she thinks is fun.  I honestly didn't have much good advice for her and really wished I knew the right thing to say.  I imagine this kind of situation will arise many times in the years to come, so I suppose I have time to come up with some really good parental advice! (or get advice from other parents!)

On the flip side of school drama is the fact that Morgan's reading and Spanish speaking is really taking off!  It is so amazing to watch her read on her own and see the light bulb go on.  She is so proud of herself and we are so proud of her!  She is also responding really well when I speak Spanish at home now.  She used to complain about our "Spanish days" that I (try to) do twice a week, and now I think when I speak to her in Spanish she actually listens much better!  Not only does she comprehend most things I say, she is starting to speak it back to me.  It's still a little broken and she gets "you/I/me" mixed up (just like a toddler learning to speak), but it's really amazing to see her confidence in it grow and how quickly she is becoming bilingual.

Morgan's first play: "Busytown" with Lowly worm!

A visit to Papa Ron's office!

Morgan still has another year at her Spanish-immersion preschool so I know her Spanish will continue to grow, though we are not sure if she will continue Spanish in elementary school.  We have time to figure out where she will go for kindergarten, and there are some days I wonder if she is ready for kindergarten now.  But in thinking of all the social and emotional drama that school brings, I think she will be just fine heading into kindergarten with another year of life under her belt.