December-February 2010

A couple months have passed since the last post...



Outside Grandma and Grandad's house the snow was too deep for Tom to be able to get around at all, and even the adults had some trouble.



Fortunately Adrian made a sled from some of wood stored in the garage for the purpose.



We've been to the UK for one of our twice-yearly sojourns, and enjoyed two of the myriad snowstorms they've had this winter. Tom and Martha found the snow novel but challenging. They were more consistently enthusiastic about the sweets, projects, and jigsaws provided by Grandma and the cuddles of Grandad. As usual, it was good to see various Martin and Hopwood family members as well as a few of Adrian's old friends.





Back in Berkeley, we're back in our routine of working and daycaring. The kids, particularly Tom, are thriving with Maria, Mariela, and the kids at their family daycare. Martha is fast friends with another little girl and reports on their doings every day. Maria, the main carer, reports that Tom is very curious (as if we hadn't seen that here). Tom has hundreds of words, among them "reach", "uppydown" (for up and down), and "ocho" (for computer). He has begun to sing the traditional "Twinkle Uppa Abc Baa Baa" medley, and he loves to 'dance.'
We currently run the bedtime routines in tandem, one of us reading to M while the other reads to T. Usually M discusses her day with us and requests a back scratch before sleep; to T. we sing several songs before he collapses. After fifteen minutes or so, during which she may be reading to herself in bed, M will come out seeking 'a cuddle and a kiss and a hug.'



Cheers!



In Briones Park on Valentine's Day





Both children are quite affectionate, and frequently so towards each other, though I was not surprised after observing/mediating them to read in NurtureShock [Overrated IMHO - ed.] that most siblings spend at least ten minutes an hour squabbling and/or fighting. I've begun, speaking of fighting, to wrestle with T. He loves to be flipped over and is much more relaxed about physical peril (mild) than his big sister. Of course I'm led to wonder if I've created this discrepancy through disparate modes of play. Should I start tackling M too?
Speaking of gender neutrality, for Christmas M received a red scooter (see below) and T a set of girl baby doll twins, which he quite likes and yet generously shares with Martha (who still thinks that sharing is when she plays with T's toys, as in, "I'm going to share Tom's babies").





We continue to be fortunate in all of the family and friends with whom we share our children. In addition to Godmother Carole (pictured below) we have had visits from Grammy and Walter and anticipate Great Uncle Nev and Auntie Mand as well as Grandma and Grandad in the coming months. We see cousins Noah and Yannik regularly, and our Kaiser baby group meets once a month.

Tom entertains himself in the high-chair.