7/13/20

I feel sad that I haven't been keeping up with all that my little man has been doing. I post photos on Facebook and on Instagram to document what he's doing, but I'm still missing so many of the little details by not consistently writing them down in this journal. I will try to cover many of the things that Edwin has been doing.

Sleep

Edwin's sleep has been all over the place. I don't know if he's growing out of naps or what. I've known very few children to be over naps at less than 2.5 years old. I think it's just the teeth. Once he's asleep he sleeps perfectly, but it's been very difficult to get him to sleep until 2-3pm. He then wakes up at 5-6pm and won't sleep until 11 or even midnight! 

Adventure

We kept him up all day yesterday and went on a long hike around Spring Lake. We walked all the way down the trail instead of taking the little loop that we normally do. We got to see the lake from a little distance. We're not allowed to go to the water. They've closed everything down. Edwin walked almost all of the way up the steep road by himself. I used the reflector signs as incentives for him to keep going. He had fun counting them with me and being picked up to touch each reflector. When we got to the top he was so tired that all of the houses and plants and animals were extremely distracting to him. I picked a mountain laurel pod for him to shake and he took a little break. (He always jokingly screams when I say 'break,' and I'm not sure why, haha.) He carried the keys back to the car and then threw the pod on the ground when he finally saw the car. He was so excited to get home. It was hot. 102F, but not nearly as hot as today, which got up to 107F. It feels unreal. 

Playgrounds

Most playgrounds are closed due to the virus, but the private ones that I know about rarely have children on them even though they are allowed to play. Well, our plans have been halted by a rattlesnake, which I am almost certain David took Edwin right past. He's lucky it didn't bite them. I saw it when I joined them a minute or less later. I went to the car for a second to put something inside or take something out. I then came out and saw an interesting bug on the side of the playhouse. Luckily, the snake caught my eye even though it blended in with the ground. I told someone who is well connected to the preschool that owns the playground. They're not in session, but they'll be opening up in a few months. What a safety hazard. 

Language

Edwin's language has improved immensely! He has excellent pronunciation now and parrots many words that are said. He narrates much of what he does and puts together 2-3 words. He's not quite speaking in sentences or speaking fluidly yet, but he has his moments. He still says "dump 'um!" when he dumps anything out or into something else. He's getting reevaluated for speech therapy on Friday because he is doing so well. He doesn't yet know how to hold down a conversation, but he's getting there! He is very confident with all of his colors, shapes, animals, and sounds. He can name them all with ease! He's learnt some Spanish, too. I'm currently working on teaching him numbers and letters. He knows quite a few of them and enjoys counting and saying his ABCs. I love explaining things to him.

Education

Recently, I explained how we are all species, from snakes to trees, and that knowing the names of things can teach him a lot about plants and animals. I explain how roots come from trees and help them absorb vitamins and nutrients, just like how he absorbs vitamins from his gummy vitamins or from food. I explain how gravity works to him. I explain how he needs to be careful when walking so as not to get hurt. I love teaching him, and he loves listening to me. It is such a special bond we have. I am his refuge, and he is mine.

Fine Motor

He now stacks all of his blocks together to make a giant castle or tower. I bought a plastic shelf bin at Habitat for Humanity today for $2 and then bought bags of sand to turn it into a sandbox and he was outside for an hour enjoying it! I love being creative and providing my child with sensory play and stimulation. He often puts together his two South African puzzles and says "country" and "mountain" and "taxi." He loves playing with a bin of beans. He sits in the sensory table and just pours beans into containers for fun. He also plays with all kinds of plastic containers in the bathtub and does the same thing with water. He goes "Dump 'um!" every bath time. He also loves that I set a 10 minute timer when I want him to have a quick bath and enjoys pressing the off button after it beeps. He says "beep" all excitedly in anticipation!

Interests

He is such an enthusiastic, fun-loving boy. I am so lucky! He loves opening sugar snap peas and eating the peas out of them, and he is obsessed with doing 'yoga' with me, which he says all day. I ordered new yoga mats and he always wants to take them out and unroll them. He does a good Downward Facing Dog, too! He still loves hiking and loved the river before they closed it off :( He doesn't like Schulle, though. He prefers the big walks. I am so sad that they closed everything I loved down again because people didn't take the virus seriously. Now we can't go to the winery, which was a sanctuary and safe place that was so spread out and away from people. It has been hard and depressing. We have seen one other person since the virus spread again, and that was to go for a walk yesterday with Yates. He wore a mask the whole time. Edwin was excited to see him. He's been so bored lately, even though I'm coming up with lots of ways to be creative at home. My next activity for him requires glue sticks, which I just realized I forgot to include on the list.

Touching moments

There are so many amazing moments that I share with Edwin, and I am often so caught up in them that I forget to document them, which feels like a major tragedy to me. I don't want to forget all of these little moments with him. They're so dear to me, so sacred and precious. The greatest gifts I could ever ask for. I'll share a few of them and try really hard to remember to come on here and document them more frequently.

The other day the other day I redecorated the office and put a Shiva tapestry on the wall that I hadn’t put up since I was pregnant. When my son went into the room and saw the tapestry he pointed at Shiva and said, “Mommy,” and “Yes,” when I asked if that was me! I thought this was so amazing that he saw Shiva within me or me within Shiva. 

He was so cute tonight before I got him ready for bed. We were on the bed being all lovey and he was saying "country" and "Texas" and "Austin" and "San Marcos." It was so precious! He would smile so sweetly after saying each word. It melted my heart and made me want to cry. I love him so much.