Growing up fast

It has been a while since I last posted.  Most of the little things that the boys learn now I end up putting straight into a facebook status update and never get around to writing about the bigger picture.

Bevan is 4 now.  He had a party at playcentre and a lego theme for his invitations, cake and games.

He quite likes lego and I’ve been pleased with how he follows the instructions for new sets and can find the correct pieces and place them correctly.  He does also build things from his imagination sometimes too.

He is now an “Eagle” at his preschool, which is the term for the four year olds.  They do some work each day seperately from the younger children.  He had a special Montessori celebration to mark turning four.  I was so pleased to be able to come and watch.  The child holds a globe and walks in a large circle around another child holding a candle – one orbit for every year alive.

He is at his preschool 3 days a week and then he comes with Christopher and I to playcentres on the other 2 days.  He isn’t actually at our regular centre anymore as I’m off at quite a few centres now helping with the supervision.  Both children seem well-adapted to the variety of centres.

We’ve still been having problems with Bevans toiletting although it gets a little better over time.  We’re seeing a pediatrician at the hospital about it.  I just hope he is reliable within the next 10 months before school starts.  We’ve been given a bill of health for his speech and hearing which is a relief.  I will still keep listening out for any developing issues though, as his grommets grew out and so the glue-ear problem could reoccur.  He had a four year old check with the plunket b4 school team and he did well for them (and behaved!) and built the tower, named the colours, did the counting, balanced on one leg… His eye-sight test went fine too.

He’s signed up for nursery rugby next month.  Michael is going to take him.  He is also doing Suzuki violin, but I’m finding it challenging as he gets shy in the lessons and stops participating.  He certainly thinks it is cool though but you can’t tell that in class when he isn’t even watching.

We think that “Our Lady of the Rosary” is the school we will enrol him in.  It is a Catholic full primary school and it is around the corner from Shine  so that will make it an easier location for pick-ups and drop-offs for Bevan and Christopher, not really walking distance though.  It is a nice size – about 250 students and playing fields, access to a hall and a nice library.  We went and had a tour with the principal and I was happy with it. We aren’t sure if any of Bevans friends will be attending though, so that would be a shame.  The ERO report is here.  Of course I’ll wonder if we are making the right decision – there are some other schools closer and other schools with good reputations that he could attend.  Christopher will naturally be following along after 2 years so it has to suit both of them.

His physical skills are coming along.  He can ride a bike with no training wheels now and he has gone up a bike size.  He rode a 12 km fun-ride on a trailer bike behind Michael last week – in the rain – and they came first!  Perhaps he could still use a bit of help with things like swimming, catching/kicking, and dangling.  He hasn’t had formal swimming lessons and was a bit scared for a year or so.  He enjoys the pool now but just mostly splashes around.  His pen grip for writing is pretty good and he can write his name partially – the EVA bit looks good but the B and N aren’t really readable.  He can read some small things, recognise a few words by sight such as the names of the people in his family), he recognises and can name most letters.  He is pretty whizzy on the computer and loves to log on to my laptop and find the videos I’ve saved from my cell-phone – revisiting those experiences again and again is a favourite activity.

Whew – that is probably enough about Bevan for now!  Christopher is a wonderful 2 year old now.

He had a racing car birthday.  Michael drew a lightning mcqueen mural with chalk on the garage door and I decorated with chequered flag bunting and made a car cake and themed hand-sewn goodie bags.  It was a lovely party – the kids belted up and down the racetrack aka the driveway on their bikes/trikes/cars/scooters. 

His speech is coming along beautifully.  He has lots of words and can put together some short sentances.  The contrast is quite marked between how Bevan was at this age( with glue ear) and how Christopher is. 

He is showing some interest in toilet training and with encouragement will sometimes sit on the toilet and do a wee.  He seems to be reasonably in control and aware of his bodily motions.  Hopefully that means he’ll be out of nappies in the not too distant future.

He enjoys playing with Bevan.  His other interests are trains, Maisy mouse, riding his ride-on, swinging, duplo, play kitchen, play shops.  He doesn’t peddle a trike yet – I’ve thought for months that he was on the cusp of learning it.

He is not very keen on being put down for a day nap now.  I can usually only get one from him if he falls asleep in the car and then transfers to his cot.  And at night time he is sometimes climbing out of his cot and turning the light on and then crying.  He is going through quite an aggressive two-year old stage too, where he will push other children around – I’m trying to keep my eyes on it but it can be tricky if I am supervising all the children at playcentre for example.  He’s also impossible these days to take to the supermarket as he will escape the trolley seat and try and run away.

I’m hoping to enroll him to Shine Montessori preschool next year on a full-time basis so that I may start working, but it will depend on job availability I suppose.  He is a bit jealous of Bevan being at Shine and he often asks if he can play there with Bevan.