Significant Developments

Our move to Boise coincided with....or precipitated....or accelerated... significant developments in both of our children.  Cam's developments have been primarily physical developments (with some social/emotional regression...) and Sophie's developments cannot be contained by any labels!

Cameron: He now walks about 50% of the time. His steps are uneven and paused, but he gains more confidence and stability every day.  He throws a ball with force and he can catch a ball almost as "well" as his sister!  He loves to drive a toy car on the ground and push it all over a room.  He eats like a football player.  But, we've had more difficulties with Cameron's crying lately.  He gets frustrated so quickly with meals, with transitions, with bedtimes.  He screams and throws major tantrums if he has a different dinner than the rest of us, if Daddy tries to put him down for a nap instead of Mommy, if he wants to crawl down cement steps but we pull him away... I think his frustration stems from his inability to communicate and his inability to walk quickly.  Needless to say, he has been a bit of a challenge of late.  

That said, he is still adventurous, mostly-jolly, silly, animated, and cuddly.  And he is just as enamored with his sister as ever.  Life in Boise has been amazing for Cameron because he loves to be outside, feeling the wind across his face, seeing dogs and birds and trees, and playing with eating dirt and water!

Sophie: Words cannot do justice to how this girl has developed.  Perhaps it's because she is officially 3.5 years old.  But, I think it's our move to Boise and the lifestyle that comes with it.  I'm actually overwhelmed with how to describe who Sophie is now.  So, some anecdotes:

A.  Our neighborhood is filled with lots of kids--mainly boys, mainly 5 years and older. That doesn't stop Sophie from putting on her helmet and riding her bike several houses down to see 'the crazy boys.' She has really befriended a  6-year old boy named Cooper.  She will run down to his driveway, talking to Cooper, his dad, and their dog. Cooper, his older cousin, and Sophie played a game of 'kick the can'.  Sophie ran around, squealing with delight like I've never seen her.  She was confident, silly, chatty... and her poor baby brother was so frustrated that he wasn't included.  

B.  On another evening, we had walked down to the neighborhood park.  Cam went to bed and the three of us then sat in the front yard.  We talked to neighbors (adults), and Sophie participated in every conversation.  Then she stood on our sidewalk and waved and yelled to every person who walked, ran, drove, or biked by.  She stopped a couple to tell them that their dog looked like a goat.  She told another boy that she used to live in Bellevue.  Then, Cooper came by and they did high fives and told jokes.  

C.  Sophie is adjusting well to her new preschool.  It is really different than her old school, but as the "new girl", she has shown confidence, poise, and strength.  Because the structure of the school is different than what she is used to and because she is the youngest student, there is more open time for students to interact and explore.  It sounds like a couple of the boys have been teasing Sophie a little bit---the Momma bear in me wants to take action, but I'm so happy that Sophie comes home from school and talks to me about everything--good, bad, and ugly--that happens at school.  Here is one incident that she narrated: "In circle time, this boy kept kicking me with his foot.  I asked him three times to stop but he didn't. So, I just stood up and I walked to another part of the circle by friends who wouldn't kick me."  Doug and I praised her for making a good choice and taking control of the situation.  She then responded, "I think that (boy) is probably telling his mommy what he did and probably he learned his lesson."  

D.  Sophie's facial expressions, hand gestures, sentence construction, conversations, and EVERYTHING ABOUT HER seem so old.  Tonight she told me "I think I'm done for the day."  Her imaginary games and pretend scenarios are so amazing.  She wants to know how everything is spelled, and she asks really perceptive questions about stories we read.  Nothing gets by this girl. She is 3 going on 13.  I know that I'm not being as descriptive as necessary to portray the dramatic changes in Sophie over the past month (The English teacher inside me is screaming at me to 'show vs. tell' in this blog post.). It's simply difficult to capture everything amazing about this girl.  She is growing up into the most amazing person, and she teaches me life lessons on a daily basis (especially when I'm feeling insecure about making new friends here...I just look at her...she's doing great!!).

In other news: We have made some friends (YAHOO!!!).  We explored the Boise Greenbelt last weekend which was beautiful.  Our noses and cheeks all got kissed by the weekend's sun. We also went on a morning walk through the creek/forest area behind our house.  As we were exploring, we heard a loud crash and turned around to see a bird falling with a major THUD right by us.  We aren't sure if the bird fell or was pushed out by these other squawking birds, but we came up with some great white lies to calm our animal and nature-loving preschooler... Also, the Boise aquarium leaves much to be desired, but Zoo Boise is amazing!

the view from our backyard of the farm