Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Bullies & Laughs
First for the good news, Victoria started laughing on Saturday. It was the sweetest little giggle and we of course could not get her to do it again once we had the video camera. She did laugh several times on Saturday. The very first giggle was inspired by a tickle and peek-a-boo from Mommy! Here is our little darling in her bumbo seat (Thanks, Amy!) helping Mommy make whole wheat waffles (just in case you care about our whole grain intake!) on Saturday morning. This was taken just a few hours before the laughter debut!
On the not so good front: Our son's best friend is a bully. Here is our handsome six year old playing soccer with his team, the Green Dragons. Once again, he is the largest child on either team! And the bully? One of the tiny children on the yellow team. I know, I am a terribly cruel woman to call another child a bully. Believe me, I have given this kid the benefit of the doubt. He is our neighbor and we have known him for over a year. During this soccer game, we observed this bully, whom I shall heretofore refer to as Mr. Naughty Pants, intentionally kicking and pushing children who were no where near the soccer ball. This observation was merely the straw that broke the camel's back for me... I'll explain more...
In addition, our wonderful six year old lost his other front tooth last week! Here is his little snaggletooth face!
How did he lose this tooth, you ask? Well, the aforementioned bully yanked it out of Isaac's mouth with his undoubtedly grubby little hands and then lost it on the playgroud. Isaac had to give the tooth fairy an IOU. So let us make a list of all the things from the past 16 mos. that have led me to conclude that this child is a bully.
1. Last year, shortly after we moved in, Mr. Naughty Pants taught Isaac to give people "the finger", a fact I discovered at a block party, when I looked over to see my sweet 5 year old flipping off the neighbor's six year old little girl.
2. He has cursed at Isaac many times.
3. He simulates pelvic thrusting randomly while they are playing army guys or star wars or whatever they might be playing.
4. He ALWAYS bosses Isaac around and calls him names if Isaac sticks up for himself at all.
5. He told Isaac that his dad was going to shoot Isaac in the head and kill his whole family.
6. He has kicked, punched and slapped Isaac.
7. At recess and in our neighborhood, he tells other children that they are not allowed to play with Isaac.
8. In the boys' bathroom at school , he recently decided to show everyone his family jewels.
9. He was hit Isaac in the head with a metal pipe (allegedly on accident)
I am certain that there are other things I have omitted...
I would like to say that I have tried, and continue to try, very hard to be compassionate to this boy. He has a single mom and one 15 year old sister who is supposed to baby sit him after school but mostly just ignores him. He is often over at our house for an hour or two when she eventually wanders over and says, "is my little brother here?" I know, I know, I should be more compassionate- and I try. I invite him in to play when I really want to say, Stay away! I figure he is better off in our house than wherever else he might be wandering around. I let him stay for dinner and endure his incessant smacking and try very hard to invite him to fun activities at church and to be an all aroud good neighbor. I am sure Isaac does his fair share of misbehaving, but I know that it is not nearly on the same level. I sent Isaac to his birthday pary with a very nice gift and let them play together much more than I would like to... But I am not going to let him turn my son into a juvenile delinquent!
I truly am willing to accept any advice. Although we have not let Isaac play with him for certain periods of time and on certain days, I seriously worry about forbidding him to play with Mr. Naughty Pants. I worry that this will impede Isaac from being able to make good choices and I generally accept the philosophy that it is better for him to learn how to choose not to play with someone now rather than when he is a teenager and the stakes are even higher. In addition, I worryt aht he will just play with him at school andstart getting in trouble there. Part of me wants to say, "You can never play with Mr. Naughty Pants again!"
All suggestions accepted...
On the not so good front: Our son's best friend is a bully. Here is our handsome six year old playing soccer with his team, the Green Dragons. Once again, he is the largest child on either team! And the bully? One of the tiny children on the yellow team. I know, I am a terribly cruel woman to call another child a bully. Believe me, I have given this kid the benefit of the doubt. He is our neighbor and we have known him for over a year. During this soccer game, we observed this bully, whom I shall heretofore refer to as Mr. Naughty Pants, intentionally kicking and pushing children who were no where near the soccer ball. This observation was merely the straw that broke the camel's back for me... I'll explain more...
In addition, our wonderful six year old lost his other front tooth last week! Here is his little snaggletooth face!
How did he lose this tooth, you ask? Well, the aforementioned bully yanked it out of Isaac's mouth with his undoubtedly grubby little hands and then lost it on the playgroud. Isaac had to give the tooth fairy an IOU. So let us make a list of all the things from the past 16 mos. that have led me to conclude that this child is a bully.1. Last year, shortly after we moved in, Mr. Naughty Pants taught Isaac to give people "the finger", a fact I discovered at a block party, when I looked over to see my sweet 5 year old flipping off the neighbor's six year old little girl.
2. He has cursed at Isaac many times.
3. He simulates pelvic thrusting randomly while they are playing army guys or star wars or whatever they might be playing.
4. He ALWAYS bosses Isaac around and calls him names if Isaac sticks up for himself at all.
5. He told Isaac that his dad was going to shoot Isaac in the head and kill his whole family.
6. He has kicked, punched and slapped Isaac.
7. At recess and in our neighborhood, he tells other children that they are not allowed to play with Isaac.
8. In the boys' bathroom at school , he recently decided to show everyone his family jewels.
9. He was hit Isaac in the head with a metal pipe (allegedly on accident)
I am certain that there are other things I have omitted...
I would like to say that I have tried, and continue to try, very hard to be compassionate to this boy. He has a single mom and one 15 year old sister who is supposed to baby sit him after school but mostly just ignores him. He is often over at our house for an hour or two when she eventually wanders over and says, "is my little brother here?" I know, I know, I should be more compassionate- and I try. I invite him in to play when I really want to say, Stay away! I figure he is better off in our house than wherever else he might be wandering around. I let him stay for dinner and endure his incessant smacking and try very hard to invite him to fun activities at church and to be an all aroud good neighbor. I am sure Isaac does his fair share of misbehaving, but I know that it is not nearly on the same level. I sent Isaac to his birthday pary with a very nice gift and let them play together much more than I would like to... But I am not going to let him turn my son into a juvenile delinquent!
I truly am willing to accept any advice. Although we have not let Isaac play with him for certain periods of time and on certain days, I seriously worry about forbidding him to play with Mr. Naughty Pants. I worry that this will impede Isaac from being able to make good choices and I generally accept the philosophy that it is better for him to learn how to choose not to play with someone now rather than when he is a teenager and the stakes are even higher. In addition, I worryt aht he will just play with him at school andstart getting in trouble there. Part of me wants to say, "You can never play with Mr. Naughty Pants again!"
All suggestions accepted...
Monday, September 8, 2008
Victoria's 3 month Pics
Victoria has been 3 mos. for a little bit now, and she gets more delightful every day! I must say, my memory has faded a little of baby times with my older kids. I am remembering each day how sweet and precious these times are. Tori gets bigger and more interactive every day. I am truly humbled by God's amazing power and His willingness to entrust Matt and me with another of His sweet children. We absolutely adore her and are reminded each day of God's love for us through caring for Victoria, as well as Isaac and Daphne. They are truly our greatest joys in this mortal journey. Here are a few of her smiley moments!
Isn't she the cutest bunny you've ever seen? I got out one of the bigger headbands because I couldn't find the little pink one- and here she is, rabbit ears and all:
This isn't the greatest shot, but you can see more clearly that her eyes seem to be turning blue or maybe green. Isaac is a blue eyed boy and Daphne's are hazel. I thought for sure I would get a brown-eyed girl, but they look more blue every day!
Isn't she the cutest bunny you've ever seen? I got out one of the bigger headbands because I couldn't find the little pink one- and here she is, rabbit ears and all:
This isn't the greatest shot, but you can see more clearly that her eyes seem to be turning blue or maybe green. Isaac is a blue eyed boy and Daphne's are hazel. I thought for sure I would get a brown-eyed girl, but they look more blue every day!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
It's a Mystery!
My kids are so cute. I don't even try to be reasonable and objective any more, because they are just too darn cute for words. As with most siblings, we can either get pictures of them completely adoring one another or screaming at eachother. So here is a good one of the former option:
In the previous picture, notice that Daphne has mixed and matched her pajama top with a lovely pink skirt. She hasn't been able to find matching jammies for a while and I will explain why: Well, things have been a little on the crazy-busy-don't -even -sit -down -and -take -a -breath- all -day side since school started and I have been a little behind on cleaning. BUT, I have kept up with laundry, so where could her jammies be? CLUE: Daphne LOVES to dress up, which is super fun because dressing up was my favorite thing to do when I was little. I love to see all her new creations. Yesterday, I went downstairs to their play area and looked through her dress up trunk and found five different pajama pieces, none of which matched. So, she's been coming downstairs in the morning and trading her jammies for dress ups! We solved a mystery. Here she is dressing up this week:
In the previous picture, notice that Daphne has mixed and matched her pajama top with a lovely pink skirt. She hasn't been able to find matching jammies for a while and I will explain why: Well, things have been a little on the crazy-busy-don't -even -sit -down -and -take -a -breath- all -day side since school started and I have been a little behind on cleaning. BUT, I have kept up with laundry, so where could her jammies be? CLUE: Daphne LOVES to dress up, which is super fun because dressing up was my favorite thing to do when I was little. I love to see all her new creations. Yesterday, I went downstairs to their play area and looked through her dress up trunk and found five different pajama pieces, none of which matched. So, she's been coming downstairs in the morning and trading her jammies for dress ups! We solved a mystery. Here she is dressing up this week:
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ahhhhh.... Relaxation
Life can be tough when you are a baby in the Hunter house. There is a lot of eating, an inordinately large amount of growth, lots of sleeping interrupted by very noisy older siblings, and just general uncertainty about the world all around. Here are a few things Victoria does to relax:
THE BOUNCY SEAT: Tori loves to hang out in here for time increments of about 10-15 minutes. She likes the vibrating seat and watching the bubbles and fish attached to the seat. But, she mostly likes to sit in the seat and have long meaningful conversations with her mom. These delightful talks are mostly about how beautiful and smart she is and about how much I love her!
THE BATH: Victoria is a third generation bath lover. Her Nanny is a committed non-shower, 3 hour bath kind of woman. Her Mommy also thoroughly enjoys a nice long bath whenever life and time permit. Victoria can be a cranky ball of fussiness and a bath will ultimately sooth her sweet little spirit. Don't expect to see elation- Tori enters a state of tranquility in the bath tub!
THUMB SUCKER! Much to her father's chagrin, Victoria hearts sucking her thumb. She does not have the complete set of motor skills to consitently get the thumb extended and into her mouth repeatedly, however. She know it is on the end of her hand and she tries really hard to get it extended and into her mouth all at the same time. When she acheives this magnificent state of bliss, she is a happy little peanut! In fact, she spends the great majority of her waking hours trying to recreate this effect. I am trying to get a good picture of her sucking her thumb, but so far, this is the best I can do:
THE BOUNCY SEAT: Tori loves to hang out in here for time increments of about 10-15 minutes. She likes the vibrating seat and watching the bubbles and fish attached to the seat. But, she mostly likes to sit in the seat and have long meaningful conversations with her mom. These delightful talks are mostly about how beautiful and smart she is and about how much I love her!
THE BATH: Victoria is a third generation bath lover. Her Nanny is a committed non-shower, 3 hour bath kind of woman. Her Mommy also thoroughly enjoys a nice long bath whenever life and time permit. Victoria can be a cranky ball of fussiness and a bath will ultimately sooth her sweet little spirit. Don't expect to see elation- Tori enters a state of tranquility in the bath tub!
THUMB SUCKER! Much to her father's chagrin, Victoria hearts sucking her thumb. She does not have the complete set of motor skills to consitently get the thumb extended and into her mouth repeatedly, however. She know it is on the end of her hand and she tries really hard to get it extended and into her mouth all at the same time. When she acheives this magnificent state of bliss, she is a happy little peanut! In fact, she spends the great majority of her waking hours trying to recreate this effect. I am trying to get a good picture of her sucking her thumb, but so far, this is the best I can do:
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