It's rather chilly downstairs in the morning. This particular day I noticed David shivering at breakfast and got him a sweatshirt and his slippers. Then he asked to wear his hat and mittens too, and draped his yellow blanket over his lap.
On January 23 we had the very great joy of seeing David’s show week for the semester-end at The Little Gym. The parents got to sit in the gym instead of the lobby (wow) and we watched as they monkey-jumped and donkey-kicked and bounced and hung and dangled and flipped and did all sorts of wild 3-year-old tricks. David performed marvelously in front of a crowd (last time the mere addition of Nathan in the lobby led to a melt down and refusal to participate). At the end of the show they did an awards ceremony and told each child’s greatest strength or area of most improvement. David’s teacher commended him for the great strides he’d made in listening and participation. When we first enrolled him he’d completely ignore her and just run around the room, doing whatever he pleased. By the end of the semester he would do opening circle and stay at the station they were working on, showing immense improvement. Nathan and I are so proud of him for his progress. This past week at church his Sunbeam teacher also commented that he was so good in Primary, and that he always sat still and was reverent and listened to the teachers. I was a bit surprised, to be honest, since he wouldn’t do any of those things in Nursery, but I was glad once again to hear that he’s making progress. We’ve been working really hard on listening and following directions.
David has also taken up a new past time: playing games. He got some age-appropriate board games for Christmas, and constantly asks to play them. He’s learned about taking turns and persisting until the dice roll what he needs, plus the games reinforce colors, shapes, and following directions. He’s also developed a competitive streak that emerged when Nathan won a game and ate the prize (a piece of chocolate) before David really understood what had happened. David ‘s face was priceless. He looked shocked, horrified, and confused all at once. You could just see the wheels turning in his head: “Daddy ate the chocolate. Why did he get to eat it and not me? How dare he eat MY chocolate?!” Nathan immediately put another piece of chocolate at the end of the game and set up to play again so David could get one, but the gloves were off, dukes were up. David rolled the die once, moved his pawn to the appropriate color, and grabbed the chocolate and ate it before Nathan could take his first turn. It was so funny I had to laugh, but David’s newfound awareness of winning vs. losing led to a very intensely emotional week as he insisted on winning and would do anything to make it so. Happily, things have calmed down considerably (and we don’t put chocolate on the line anymore).
Even though we discontinued speech therapy after only two sessions, David’s language skills have continued to expand by leaps and bounds. Strangers can understand most of what he says now! (Yay! I’ve been waiting for that milestone for a while). One thing I’ve noticed is he’s discovered that I have a name besides “Mommy.” When he’s trying to get my attention, he calls out something that sounds more like “Na-yee” than “Mommy.” It’s been a trick to teach him that yes that’s my name, but not how he should address me.
Daniel has been absolutely delightful these past few weeks. He found his voice and yodels and screeches to his heart’s content. More than once I’ve listened to him vocalize and thought to myself, “You know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the screeching eels!” He also drooled two teeth into fruition the day after his cold got better. What timing! Another thing he’s mastered is what I like to call the “Little Mermaid on the Rocks” pose, where he hoists himself up with his arms extended and his hips glued to the floor and kicks his little legs. This has led to another talent of late—scooting backwards, since his body frequently slides out from under him when he’s in that position. It’s pretty funny to watch as he roams the family room in reverse, leaving a trail of drool in his wake.
Watch as Daniel does little more than smile and put on a show of his cuteness. He eventually works his way back to a half-eaten tortilla that David left on the floor. At that point I had to stop filming because he was cramming it into his mouth!
Daniel has also developed some endearing body language. When he’s tired he throws himself back to a reclined position, then reaches up and softly pats my chin. I love it so much I almost can’t wait for him to get tired just so I can feel that little hand pat my chin. He also has started giving me what I like to think are hugs and kisses. If I have him sitting up in my arms he snuggles in on my shoulder, reaches his arms around my neck and tangles his hands in my hair. Then he leans back to look at me, smiles, and comes in to suck on my chin for a moment before detaching again to play with my hair, necklace, or buttons. The kisses are pretty slobbery, but I sure love them!
Daniel likes cereal! He took his first bite and grinned from ear to ear. Silly little brother! 
Daniel's looking pretty sharp in his little suit!As for me, my biggest accomplishment over the past few weeks was taking advantage of a warm afternoon to finally get our food storage organized in the garage. I’m amazed at how much more compact it all is without the boxes! I had wanted to do that since we moved in so finding the next can of whatever wasn’t such a chore. It seems like it would take at least 5 minutes of shuffling boxes around to find what I wanted. Now I can just skip out to the garage and pluck what I need off the shelf without batting an eye. Whew! The pest-control guy offered some motivation when he said silverfish like to live in and eat cardboard boxes. I fully resolved to remove that asset as soon as possible. I’m glad I did, too, for besides making stuff easier to find, I also discovered that a rodent had paid our garage a visit too and helped himself to stuff that wasn’t canned. I didn’t see any signs of a nest thankfully, so I assume that with everything uncanned now discarded, in unchewable packaging, or moved into the pantry, we hopefully will not have an encore act.
Here's the spread after I got it all sorted.
...And a much more compact food storage! This used to take up all the shelves, plus I had some stacked on top and some stacked on the floor next to it.
In spite of being busy with the boys and enjoying their progress and personality, I’ve battled a sense of loneliness the past several weeks. That sounds like such a pity party to admit, which is not my intent, but it truly has been a struggle, especially lately. Since we moved out here I’ve missed the camaraderie of the townhouses, where I knew everyone and could walk outside at just about any time and someone was sure to be out and ready to chat. I have not yet achieved that degree of sociability with our neighbors, but I did meet someone down the street with 5-year-old twin boys yesterday. Hopefully they will be fun playmates for David.
Nathan is just plugging along at work. He doesn’t tell me much about what goes on at work, but I do know that lately he’s been even less enamored with upper management than usual. He’s entertained several offers to interview with other companies, but it seems like nothing yet meets our needs. Either they pay less than he’s currently making or they require him to travel 2-3 weeks out of the month. (Who creates those kinds of positions anyway? No one with a family, I’m sure.) So, he’s carrying on until something better presents itself. Not much else we can do, really.
And once again I’ve written a novella, plus David’s beating on his door to let me know he’s ready to emerge from naptime, so I’d better close.
We love and miss you all,
The (Other) Other Nashes
Nathan, Natalie, David, & Daniel
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