Category Archives: education

Well, we’re just over the hump in this first week of school and so far, it’s a mixed review. Maia’s been having some pretty great days in preschool and after how she struggled last time she was there, that’s been great to see. Generally she’s been very excited to go, often exclaiming, “Yes! I have school tomorrow!” The first day we dropped her off she was a little sad, but today she was ready to let go.

Aliya seems to really be enjoying seeing her sisters off to school and enjoys the special attention at home when it’s just her. Every day she flexes her newfound skills and talents and exerts her independence too. The big one I’ve noticed lately is wanting to get in and out of the car on her own and wanting to sit in Keana’s “big girl” car seat. She pitches a fit when we insist on the right-sized seat, but quickly recovers, usually being distracted by the world passing by through the moving car window. She has been very talkative too, and although her vocabulary and sentences improve daily, she often has a string of phrases that are completely unintelligible. In these instances taking cues from what she’s looking at or pointing to usually helps, but when you’re driving, it’s a lot of asking, “Ummm, what’s that baby?” Some of our favorite phrases are “Yeah, sure”, “I love you_”, “Sleepin’ me?” (She sometimes put “me” at the end of a sentence instead of an “I” at the beginning.) She continues to be a jokster and a ham, often mimicking her older sisters’ behavior like shaking her butt, walking like a fashion model, teasing, “roaring” and generally being crazy. All this is tempered by her super-sweet personality though, and she continues to be an absolute joy, especially during this stressful week.

That leaves Little Miss Keana. She is certainly still our package of sunshine and is once again a staff favorite at school. Her first day she was the only one to reach the top of the behavior/participation chart, and while that makes me proud at first, I do worry about what she’s learning about external assessment and reward, and what pressures she might be putting on herself. We try to keep the focus on how she feels about her performance and effort in school, and leave the silly grades and ranking at school. Still, I know it does sink in and we’ll certainly keep an eye on it. It’s been tough too because while she’s been excited this week, she’s also been very emotional and stressed out after school. One minute she’s bouncing around happily doing her homework and the next (it seems) she’s sobbing about how hard everything is. And by “everything” I think it’s school work, being away from home, adjusting to the new schedule, less sleep, new/old relationships at school, and who knows what else. The other thing is yesterday she had a side ache that wouldn’t go away and today it was a sore throat. At first I thought it might just be mental—or at least over-exaggerated—but she has developed a runny nose, so we may already be looking at the first illness of the year.

And then there’s us, the parents. The start of school brings new freedom but also a boatload of potential stress and adjustment. It’s hard to listen to what the girls say and watch how they behave and accurately evaluate what their going through. We get pieces of the picture and a few clues and that’s about it. With that we have to try and be loving and supportive and somehow piece together whatever they need to best navigate this new territory. And today it really struck me what a big adjustment it is for Sarah and I too and how important it is that we listen to each other, be loving and supportive, and give ourselves whatever we need to best navigate this same course. So if you’re involved with the start of school out there in any way, be strong, but most of all, be gentle.

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development, education

Into the World

August 19, 2012 Papi 2 Comments

In just a little over seven hours the thing on my wrist will beep, over and over until my waking consciousness suddenly jumps up and remembers it is an exciting day. Today is the first day of school. It’s strange as an adult, because for me, it will be like most days. I will work and I will do stuff—my day won’t be drastically different. But for the kids, it will be a very different day, one they haven’t had for months. And even then, it will not be like those other days that have come before, the ones where school was involved, because it’s all new, again. Not only that, but they have changed and that, really, changes everything.

The backpacks are packed—except for the lunches of course, those I make fresh—the clothes are bought, cleaned, and folded only to be unfolded in mere hours. The shoes are lined up, ready to be put on. Maia will be in “street clothes” while Keana will be in the now familiar navy blues, whites, and khaki. It was funny to hear her, two years ago as a kindergartner, use her new vocabulary word “khaki” for anything tan, and even now it sounds like such a foreign word coming from the mouth of our child. The supplies seem almost endless for Keana and it’s hard not to look back to when I was this age, only going to school with a notebook and pencil, and wonder how bad the state of education must be where even in a pretty well-off school like this one, Keana still has to bring two reams of printer paper, other notebooks with lined paper, a composition book, a box of pencils, glue, crayons, markers, highlighters, erasers, folders, and even a day/homework planner that has to be purchased for $3 from the office tomorrow. Oh, and two boxes of kleenex. I almost wondered if I should I also send her with the package of toilet paper that I have in the hall closet.

We’ll be sending our kids out for the day tomorrow packed high with supplies, food, and water, but even with all that, as a parent, you wish you could give them more. You know you can’t though, you’ve already given them everything for now—mentally, emotionally, spiritually—and you tell yourself it has to be enough. “It’s good, it’s important, it’s the right time,” you tell yourself and mostly you believe it. If you didn’t there would be no way to unlock that door in the morning and let them walk through it. This year should be much easier now that Keana is going into second grade and Maia is returning to preschool, now one of the older kids. Aliya, though, will be left wondering where her sisters are going and will no doubt want to follow fiercely. Maybe she won’t though. Maybe she’ll enjoy the alone time at home and Maia will be home by 1 p.m. anyway, excited to tell her all about her first day back at preschool. Then again, she may also come home in a storm, swearing never to return. You just don’t know.

And that’s the thing: you just don’t know how it’s all going to go. It’s just like any other day in that regard, but it’s not. We’re sending our kids out into the world with strangers. Not just adult strangers but smaller strangers too. Smaller strangers with different perspectives and vocabularies and experiences. They’ll experience new people and things and some will be great and some will be shitty and some may even fall somewhere in between. “It’s good, it’s important, it’s the right time,” you tell yourself and mostly, you believe it.

development, education

First Dance Recitals and End of School

June 17, 2012 Papi 1 Comment

It seems fitting to write something about the latest goings on of Team Hokama on Father’s Day, so, um…here they are:

First Dance Recitals (photos and video from the dress rehearsal at the end)
The big news I’ve really been wanting to write about is Keana and Maia’s dance recitals that happened last Saturday (June 9). It was such a big a deal! Of course they were both rehearsing their routines months beforehand, and I was really glad that they still focused on the basics and didn’t spend all of every rehearsal learning the routine. There were fancy costumes though and of course the girls did their hair and makeup(!) for the recital. Man, they were talking bout the makeup alone for a full week before the thing.

Of course, this sort of thing conjures up all kinds of issues as a parent. Is all this appropriate for kids this age? Maia’s dance was to Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend and part of me wanted to just enjoy it for the cutesy number it was meant to be, and part of me thought we were doing a grave injustice to Maia and women everywhere by allowing her to participate in something so sexist, materialistic, and outright dated. Sarah and I talked about it and in the end we figured what was the harm in something that Maia was so clearly enjoying and maybe it didn’t have to be anything more than just a cutesy number.

Keana danced to a somewhat generic piece called Music Box Dancer and the choreography was more classically ballet as far as I could tell. She was still dressed to the hilt in pink, sparkly, froofiness and again, we questioned if we were bad parents for participating in this stereotypic socialization of our little girls. I know it will be something we grapple with for a while, but this time, we let it go and just let the girls have fun. They’re 4 and 7. They like to dance. They like pink sparkliness. It is what it is.

The day of the recital was very exciting to say the least. We woke early to do hair and makeup for the dress rehearsal. Maia went on at 9 a.m. and Keana at 10 a.m. The recital was at the CUSD Performing Arts Center which was beautiful; new, modern, great stage, lighting effects and everything. I was very impressed and proud we could provide such a great performance opportunity for their very first recital. They were both a little nervous, Keana more so than Maia, but they both got up there and did very well. After their run-throughs, we went back to their dance studio which was about 10 minutes away for pictures. After the madness of pictures, we headed home for a few hours before heading back to the recital hall at 3:15 p.m. for the performance, which started at 4 p.m.

The studio was very organized, keeping all the kids backstage for the whole thing, entertained with various art stations and things for the kids to do between performances. The grandparents—Jennie, Robert, and Cin—met us there and we got great seats in the middle, far enough back from the stage to see everything clearly. When Maia came on my heart jumped and any doubt I had about letting her perform was instantly washed away. She was even better in the performance than I had every seen her and she was so alive on stage. Both Sarah and I were definitely teary-eyed.

We had to wait till after intermission for Keana to take the stage but again, any doubt I had about her performing was gone the instant she made her first move. She too was even better in the performance than I had seen her perform before and she seemed more relaxed than in the dress rehearsal too. Sarah and I weren’t going to spring for the professionally recorded video, but after seeing them live, we couldn’t resist.

Of course we took family photos and all went out to a celebratory dinner after. What a joy-filled day. There was some anxiety, but mostly it was just pure fun for the girls and they both can’t wait for the next one. At the end of the day it was a good reminder that sometimes as a parent, you have to just let go and not worry so much about whether or not you’re scarring your kids for life. There will be plenty of time for them to “fight the power” and right now may not be it.

End of School
School’s out! Keana is now officially on summer break and ready for second grade (but not quite yet!). It was a long, fun, tough, exciting, tiring year and we were all ready for it to end. Of course, once it was over, Keana instantly missed her teacher and friends but we’re going to make an effort to keep her social this summer between our family plans. It is really amazing how much she learned this year. Everything she learned—reading, writing, math, social studies—was leagues beyond what I remember doing in even second grade. We want to keep an eye out for burnout, and are still evaluating if the academically intensive nature of the school is really good for her, but right now, we’re just enjoying summer, which officially starts tomorrow for her. And I will happily let our hard-working Keansta Monsta sleep in on her first Monday off.

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development, education

Tell Me All Your Thoughts On God

March 14, 2012 Papi 3 Comments

We had just left Great Grandma Bev’s lake house, driving into the setting sun, when we heard from the backseat, “How did Jesus die?” The only reason I wasn’t totally floored was because Sarah had shared with me another time this happened. At the exact same point in the road, a week or two earlier, Keana had asked that exact question. At that time, Sarah wasn’t sure how much to say and worried about getting in a little over her head, so she punted, telling Keana she should ask me since I probably knew more about that. Lucky me. The conversation that Keana and I had after that first time was pretty brief; she was ready to move on to something else by the time she got home.

It would all be easier if Sarah and I didn’t question religion ourselves and went to church every Sunday, and if I just spouted off the classic, generally acceptable answers and stories within the Christian faith. I’ve spent so much time in church or church-related activities that I’m practically ordainable, but it’s only recently, after many years away from it all, that I’m beginning to come back to my childhood faith. Sarah and I have always wanted to provide our kids with a broad understanding of many forms of religion and ideas of God, hoping that when they were really curious and ready, our kids could embark on their own process with a good foundation—a process that wasn’t biased or misinformed. What we’ve come to realize lately though, is that in an attempt to be open, we may actually have been depriving our kids of the opportunity to develop any sort of faith.

So, back to the car. I thought for moment and chose the most direct answer. I explained he was crucified and the basics of what that entailed. I opted to leave out the public ridicule, beatings, crown of thorns, and stabbing—crucifixion seemed like enough. Keana (of course) asked why that was done to him, and I explained that some people don’t like to hear things that are contrary to their own beliefs or way of thinking, and unfortunately, it can and has resulted in some pretty sad and horrible outcomes. That seemed to go over relatively smoothly with the kids—and Maia was actually already drifting off to sleep, being exhausted from the day—which was probably good because Keana’s next question was, “How come you go to a bad place when you kill yourself?”

Yeah. Wasn’t ready for that one.

I think it’s safe to say that Christianity, and going to church regularly, is a pretty big thing in our current town of Fresno. It’s common enough that I’ve been asked on many occasions if I knew so-and-so through [the kids’] school or church. The church option never came up in the Bay Area. Also, a big population of Keana’s school are Mexican/Latino, so Catholicism is pretty prevalent I think, too. This is all to say that after the suicide question, I was pretty sure she was getting all her info from her friends at school.

Holy shit. Suicide? Hell? For first graders? Really people? These are the foundations of faith you’re sharing with your kids? On behalf of parents that are trying not to scar their kids and raise them in fear, I thank you. I calmly went on to tell Keana that there are different flavors of Christianity and in some of those, they believe bad things happen to you when you do certain things. I quickly followed it with the fact that Christianity is really based on love and that is the core principal to pay attention to. Sarah stepped in (thankfully) adding that it’s okay for everyone to believe whatever they want, but it’s important for each of us to make our own choices and respect others’.

The conversation continued for the full 40-minute-ride home and in the end I was a little worn out, but thankful that we could have a talk like that, in that way, as a family. Although there are many things that point to Keana’s maturity and growth, it’s conversations like that that remind me how much she (and all kids in general) pick up on, and how important it is for them to not only be able to talk to their parents or other adults about it, but to be met with an openness that encourages their own thinking and questions, and allows them to explore safely. At least I hope that’s what we did. Damn. That was weeks ago and I’m still processing it; great practice for what’s to come.

development, education, trips

Keana Goes to the Aquarium

February 11, 2012 Papi 1 Comment

Yesterday, Keana took her first big field trip. In kindergarten they went somewhere local for a play, but yesterday the first graders hopped on charter buses and headed to Monterey Bay. We had thought about taking the rest of the family and meeting them there, but work and other factors prevented such a plan. As the field trip day got closer and closer, more and more parents were asking me if I was going. It was funny because I got the sense that the parents were more nervous than the kids. The kids were excited (or at least all the ones I talked to). It was almost as if the parents were checking in with the group to get a read on where everyone else was at with letting their kids go on this faraway adventure from home.

I didn’t really think much of it, but a couple days before the field trip I started asking myself, “Should I be more worried or nervous? Should I try harder to be a chaperone or make plans to meet them there?” This only lasted a second though and then I settled back down. Keana is such a great rule-follower that I knew she would stick with the group and be safe. But then my mind started racing to bus accidents and bad weather and, and, and. Shhhh. Quiet mind. I told myself it would be fine and let it go.

5:00 a.m. came much too soon (as it always does when you have to be somewhere early like that). Keana was so worried I wouldn’t get up, that I knew I couldn’t let her down. So I got right up and started trying to wake her. She was out. Eventually I got her to open her eyes and it didn’t take long for her to get going once she realized that it was finally time for the big adventure to the aquarium. It was still pitch dark outside as we pulled up to the school, and once she saw those big charter buses, she started bobbing up and down and said, “Hurry Papa, hurry! We gotta get on the bus!” I assured her they weren’t going anywhere and hadn’t even started loading yet since we were pretty early. This had zero affect on her. She was ready to go.

It was so much fun to see the kids hug each other upon arrival and jump up and down with excitement. The crowd of parents were almost as excited as the kids but we contained our hugs and jumps. I gave her a hug, said I loved her, and there was no hesitation boarding the giant charter bus and finding a seat. I stuck around to wave goodbye, though I couldn’t tell if she saw me through the tinted windows, but I stayed anyway, just in case.

The day went on and periodically it sunk in that our baby was 150 miles away and completely out of our grasp. I knew she was having a blast though and I imagined all the wonderful things she was seeing for the first time and all the fun she was having with her teacher and friends. I knew this was good for her, good for us, and a really amazing experience for a little six-year-old. It was such a great reminder how important it is to let your kids go sometimes and it was also a very small preview into the future.

When I picked her up from school I heard from her teacher that they stopped at McDonalds and Keana told them she had never been. They were all very surprised of course, and she proceeded to tell them that her papa won’t let her eat there because they chop down rain forests to feed their cattle. One of the kids said that wasn’t true and Keana responded, “Well, my dad is older than you so I think he knows better.” The kids then decided that maybe they should go somewhere else next year. Then of course she went on to say how her favorite food was really sushi and I just had to laugh. What do these Fresnoites think of us? Eh, who cares. It is what it is. She had an ice-cream cone though so that seemed like a good alternative.

When asked what her favorite fish were, she responded with jellyfish, octopus, and sunfish. Slowly, more and more details are coming out about the trip, but it’s clear that she learned lots, had a blast, and truly enjoyed the whole experience: from arriving at school in the dark morning, to riding the bus with her friends, to seeing all the animals in the aquarium, to yes, even McDonalds.

education

First Trip to the Ballet

December 11, 2011 Papi Leave a comment

Today was Keana and Maia’s first trip to the ballet and what was on the bill? None other than The Nutcracker. It was Grandma Jennie’s Christmas gift, and we were all excited. Sarah hadn’t been since she was a kid (to that very same theater), and I realized that I had never been to a ballet before either.

Sarah got the girls dressed up in their holiday finest, and we dropped Aliya off at Grandma’s house. It was weird leaving our fifth member behind, but there was no way she was going to go. So it was a little sad but also kind of special just being able to focus on Keana and Maia.

Maia was hating her stockings and shoes all the way to the William Saroyan Theater, but once we got out of the car and headed towed the large building, she was immediately distracted. The theater is really nice and we got there with plenty of time to hang out and enjoy the experience. The girls were very anxious to get inside and see what it was all about.

We found our seats and I noticed right away that there wasn’t a live orchestra which was really surprising and also pretty disappointing, but I tried not to let that soil my experience. The girls were buzzing with anticipation, and Maia especially liked the self-folding seats. The lights dimmed, the music started, and the curtain raised. Show time.

Throughout the show I looked over to see what the girls’ reactions were, and they were pretty engrossed, for the first 30 minutes. Then the hunger and tiredness kicked in a little. Surprisingly, they had very few questions. We had sort of prepped them with what to expect, so maybe that helped. By intermission though, Keana was sad with hunger and Maia really needed to be close to Sarah. I tried to get them to go to the bathroom, but they insisted they didn’t have to go. The lights dimmed, the music started, and Act II began.

Maia was definitely having a harder time paying attention, but there was more action and more frequent cast changes, so they were pretty into it. The Russian dancers were almost more B-Boy than Russian, but were still really impressive and got the audience pumped up (and gave the girls a little jolt). They even had a dude in a wheelchair doing stands on his head, wheelchair lifted straight in the air. Crazy. I felt sort of bad for the other dancers in the other segments, because I’m sure they were doing really impressive stuff, but the crowd reacted much more boisterously to the Russian dance crew.

15 minutes to the end Keana started complaining about having to go to the bathroom really bad, but I convinced her to hold it telling her it was almost over and I didn’t want her to miss the end. The Pas de Deux at the end was really well done and you could tell the principals were quite talented. I couldn’t help but think they cut the orchestra to pay for better dancers, but it was a ballet, so that’s probably a good thing. Still, I was bummed the girls did ‘t get the live orchestra experience too (of course, they had no idea). Anyway, when all was said and done, the lifts were amazing and so was the footwork (or whatever it’s called). The bows at the end were fun and the size of the cast was really impressive.

The girls also enjoyed catching glimpses of the cast in their costumes in the lobby, but were pretty much ready to bounce at that point. When I asked them which were their favorite sections/dancers, they both replied “all of them”. So there you go, the first trip to the ballet. I’m really thankful we could go as a family and I’m looking forward to future performances. Now that Keana and Maia are a little older, these sort of excursions are becoming possible, and today was a really nice taste of what’s to come.

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development, education

Taking Her Time

August 26, 2011 Papi 2 Comments

In all the excitement of Keana starting first grade, I don’t want to lose sight of what Maia’s been dealing with this week: her second year in preschool. Last year was a bit of a roller coaster. She was almost three when she started, which felt a little young, and some days were easy, but almost an equal amount were hard. Even in May there were some mornings she just did not want to go. We left her anyway, two days a week, and there was the occasional day we had to peel her off and just head straight out the door, hoping her sadness at our departure would quickly fade once we left.

We began this year hoping it would be easier now that she was older and knew what to expect. In some ways things are definitely better. Both Tuesday and today she started out excited about going; excited about the process of getting ready for school, picking out what to wear, packing her lunch, etc., but once it came to us leaving her there, she got very sad. But on Tuesday, she came home exclaiming, “Daddy, I love school now!” and then basically the same today. So it is similar to last year, but one thing she’s warmed up to is playing with friends which makes a big difference I think. I got the impression that much of last year she played by herself or with minimal interaction with her friends at school. By the end of last year, she had definitely made a couple friends she hung out with, but nothing solid. This year, two friends in particular are pretty close, and I can tell it’s much easier and more fun for her to really play with them and she feels more comfortable in the school environment.

The first week is almost done and we’ve survived. There is a lot going on for each kid and it is amazing to see how much growth Maia (and the other two) have had over the summer. I think we’re all really feeling the lag of shaking off the free-for-all of summer, and I think Maia will really settle in this year. Of course she will always be different than her more happy-go-lucky sisters, but I think as Maia matures, all these social things outside of the home will get easier and easier.

development, education

One Day Down

August 23, 2011 Papi Leave a comment

Well, Keana’s first day of school didn’t end in her running to us, excited about coming back tomorrow. Yes she bounded off full of all the enthusiasm in the world at 7:45 a.m. and came back sunken at 3:45 p.m. It was a hard first day. There were good parts, and she did make a few new friends, but the rules were strict and she was hot and thirsty and she missed her family. The day was long and she was tired. Then she had homework.

That’s the way it goes sometimes and I think it’s good to realize that she’s not always going to come home happy, eager for more. We have to get rid of our own expectations as parents so we can see clearly what the actual situation is for her at school, and see the things that are working and the things that aren’t. Then we have to evaluate what we can do and what we can’t, and in all this, we have to give things time. It’s hard to see our baby have a tough first day in first grade. We’ll wake up tomorrow though, and try it again, and then again the next day and the next until we see things clearly.

development, education

Big Time

August 22, 2011 Papi Leave a comment

So it begins: another school year. It’s kind of weird saying “another” since we’re really only in our third year of “school-age” kids, but wow, tomorrow. We’re a little nervous. Last year was a big step for Keana going into “real” school (kindergarten). And for Maia too, her first year in preschool. We had all our worries about how they would do with the new environment, schedule, teachers, other kids, and the usual things on the list for parents when they send their babies out into the “real world”. Maia did about as we had expected—starting out excited then settling into a roller coaster of resisting getting there, loving it while there, then not wanting to talk about it till later—and we think this year will be a little easier in her Tuesday/Thursday schedule. Keana’s jump to first grade though feels like a big one.

Her school is an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program charter, a program we’re still pretty excited about. However, the academic intensity of it is still something we struggle with, especially for these young kids. Keana’s day will be 8 hours long with a 15 minute break in the morning and 30 minutes for lunch, so the breaks seem a little short compared to her academic day. Plus they often have quite a bit of homework. They do get PE every day in the afternoon though, as well as special sections of art, music, specialized PE, and Spanish. Also, what makes this curriculum so cool is that much of the learning is hands-on, interactive, and collaborative, so they’re not just sitting at their desks memorizing stuff. Sounds like I’m talking myself down, doesn’t it? Maybe I am…a little. She is so excited though and she got the teacher she was hoping for, so I think she’ll do great. As a parent I’m constantly reminded of how important it is not to overlay my own experiences, fears, and emotions on whatever our kids are doing. They get to have their own and we’re just here to guide and support them.

Today we had a family meeting too to get our own household rules laid out and agreed upon before starting this new adventure. We all sat down together, with homemade peach muffins, and all contributed to defining what we though respect and communication were, and what logistical rules were reasonable (like chores) and what the consequences were for not following them. It was a little abstract for Maia, but I know she understood what was going on. Even though she pretended to play games and check out, the amount she did chime in was a giveaway as to what she was soaking in. Keana struggled a little too, because I think it was all overwhelming with the big first day of first grade looming, but she warmed up to it, especially when we let her write down the ideas being thrown out. We also made it clear that these were rules that mama and papa had to follow, with the same consequences, and I think that was a little surprising to them (in a positive way). I know Keana is super-excited to bust my ass when I fall out of line, as well she should be. Sarah and I needed these rules as much as the kids did. So we put them up on the fridge and I think it was a great first experience defining some boundaries in our home, together.

Well, I better sign off and get some sleep for the big day, but first I think I’ll draw a little “we love you” note for Keana’s lunch tomorrow. Big Zoob is going Big Time and truly, we are excited.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Keana lost her third tooth 8/17/11 to kick off this sure-to-be exciting school year. Beat that!

development, education

Progress

April 13, 2011 Papi Leave a comment

It’s not a very glamorous word, but it seems like such an important one. Progress. We can’t really help it, actually. And the kids, man, they are beyond it if that’s possible. I almost feel like my humble writings, even combined with all the photos and video, barely do their amazing lives justice. Not to mention their vast and rapid development. It overwhelms me really, but then I remember that even the most basic of accounts speaks volumes years down the road, and we can already see this at this early stage of the game.

Keana is simply a delight. From the instant she wakes up until she falls quickly asleep, she is essentially a ray of light. She has definitely been trying out her defiance, coupled with sneers and powerful growling expressions, but we know it’s natural and it rarely lasts. She’ll ignore what we say until we force the issue but it’s actually really good to see her healthy questioning and the strength that’s behind it. I think it will serve her well later in life. She’s also excelling in school and gets along with everybody, even the kids in other classes. I’m still surprised when other teachers and parents know her and greet her on the way to school. Keana is definitely our social butterfly.

Tonight was special too. She was chosen by all the kindergarten teachers to present a piece of what she’s learned in school. There were three kindergarteners and three first graders. Here’s what she read from her animal journal:

We’ve worried a little about how much the kids are expected to learn in kindergarten, but Keana has really done well with it and seems to really enjoy the power that comes with reading and writing.

The epitome of progress though is Aliya. She has the unfair advantage of being baby, but she changes every day. After she began sitting up, it wasn’t long until she started to crawl, and she first crawled just a week ago. Sure, it’s still mostly a scoot crawl, but it’s surprising how far she can get in just a short amount of time. We’ve really had to watch out for all those older kid tiny toys, as well as anything else a baby shouldn’t be ingesting.

Aliya is very curious about everything and loves taking the magnet off the fridge and putting them back on, as well as banging things together to make sound. She may be our little percussionist. She’s always been a thump-a-foot, and a game we like playing recently is when I’m changing her diaper, I pretty to defend myself as she kicks wildly at my arms and face; kind of like a faux-karate match. Laughs and squeals and loves it, and so do I. She continues to be quite flirty with everyone really, waving hello and goodbye, and her super-smile is irresistible. I also love how she squeals really high when she’s excited to see someone she knows.

As for food, Aliya is eating much of what we eat with the exception of cheese, cow milk products, bread and that sort of thing. She loves turkey, peas, zucchini, gnawing on chicken bones, and these puff cereal things made for little babies. I like to line little bites up in a row on her tray and she just mows right through it.

We also started Aliya sleeping on her own, in her own room, about two weeks ago. She fusses for 5-10 minutes and then sleeps through the night. It is really amazing having our evenings to ourselves again. Sure she was adorable to hold while she slept peacefully, but it was time. She’s still not used to napping yet, fussing for 5-10 minutes and falling asleep, but not sleeping for more than an hour and is noticeably tired throughout he day. So that’s still being worked out. This is the earliest we’ve started the sleep training though, so we’re in slightly uncharted territory.

Finally The Maij…our fierce little Maia. She is hilarious. She is adorable. She is quick as a whip. And she is mad as hell sometimes. Her will will not bend or brake, and though it’s quite challenging now, I know it will be a strength someday. It seems she’s been having a hard time eating lately. We think she may be too tired at the end of the day to focus on it, or maybe she’s just going through some developmental thing that affects her intake. She’s growing fast and we’re trying not to make issues out of it, but it certainly has been challenging. And of course, bedtime and sleeping has been a challenge too, just as it was with Keana when she was three. We ditched the bunk beds and are having Keana and Maia sleep in the queen together. So far, they are able to go to sleep together most of the time, but Maia often pitches a fit in the middle of the night and Keana comes to sleep with me and Maia falls back asleep with Sarah. We would let her cry it out, but she’s so damn loud and persistent, that she keeps everyone awake. So we’re feeling our way through this one at the moment.

And that’s just a snapshot but I’m operating from the perspective that something, anything, is better than nothing.

team hokama

Category Archives: education

Navigating the First Week of School

Into the World

First Dance Recitals and End of School

Tell Me All Your Thoughts On God

Keana Goes to the Aquarium

First Trip to the Ballet

Taking Her Time

One Day Down

Big Time

Progress

The life and times of…