Tag Archives: Maia

development

Summer Approaches

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Summer is on it’s way. Another school year is coming to a close, and even just saying it like that is funny, because we haven’t been participating in the whole school thing for long. But when I see new parents I realize that the six years we have under our belts at this point is a substantial amount of “street cred”.

The stuff Keana is doing, and has done this year, is amazing. All this year we’ve worried that she’s being pushed too hard, from the longer-than-average school day, to the level of work, to the amount of homework she’s had. But now that we’re at the end, it’s clear this school has been the perfect fit for Keana. Even now, two weeks before the end of the year, she wakes up every day with an excited, eager look and says, “Is there school today papa?!!” She loves her teacher, she loves her friends (which is practically the entire class), she loves the extra social activities (i.e. field trips, carnivals, fund-raisers, etc.), and she loves her new-found powers of knowledge. She tries to read everything around her and it’s really cool seeing her be able to navigate things in this world, through reading, at such an early age. And I have to say, personally, it brings me great joy to see her tear through double-digit addition/subtraction. I realize this accelerated learning isn’t for everyone, and it doesn’t guarantee life-long happiness, but right now, it seems like just the right thing for Keana.

Maia has been changing every day and continues to prove she won’t get lost in the middle child slot. Our little tiny is definitely getting bigger, and her understanding of how the world works and where her place is grows every day too. She does not love school…yet. She wakes up every day and asks, “Do I have school today?” and when we say no, she screams, “Yesssss!” She loves to play at home and I think she loves being the only older sister when Keana’s at school. She also truly misses Keana when she’s at school as they continue to have a really great relationship, being each other’s favorite playmates. Maia will be going back to preschool in the fall, so I think as she gets older she’ll get more into it. In many ways she’s our toughest little baby, and in others she’s our most sensitive. She may not be any more complex emotionally than the other two, but knowing where her thresholds are and what their triggers are definitely takes some deft maneuvering.

Today I decided to go in order. So now, last, but certainly not least, is Aliya. I don’t know if it’s because she’s our last baby or what, but there isn’t a moment that doesn’t go by without one of us thinking how cute or amazing or smart she is. In this past week she’s started standing up on her own, and her fearless exploration has been nerve-racking. She loves to crawl on her hands and feet, not her knees, and while she’s discovered this is a much faster way to get around, it also has caused many-a-face-plant. Of course, she doesn’t let this slow her down. She forges on and can’t be stopped. This is another girl who wants what she wants, and I think that’s good, because being the youngest of two other powerhouse sisters, she definitely will be holding her own. For instance, she doesn’t’ like to just try and stand. She usually is holding onto a couple objects, and as she stands she likes to bang them together or wave her arms wildly with excitement. She’s also started shaking her head “no” when she knows she’s not supposed to do something or if she’s actually saying no. Why is that so damn cute? Oh yeah, and she claps to signal she’s all done eating. There’s a baby sign language move that’s similar, but she just likes clapping. Aliya will be a year old in just three weeks, and as I’ve been remembering what we all went through to get to this point, I can’t help but be thankful and feel blessed.

So what are we doing this summer? Who knows? I do know we need to go camping and get out into the woods. A few trips to the beach will definitely be necessary. Sarah was also researching music festivals that are kid friendly, so that should be fun too. I’m also already anticipating the, “I’m boooored papa, take us somewhere.”; not sure anticipating that will make it any easier, but at least I know it’s coming, which should help, right?

development, education

Progress

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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.

development

The Devil’s Scourge

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It was last Friday, February 11. Keana and Maia were asleep in their rooms. Sarah and I were watching something from our Netflix queue while Aliya slept soundly on Sarah’s lap. Then I heard it. A cough coming from Keana’s room. At first it sounded normal, then, in an instant, it took on a whole new life. I sprang to my feet and ran to her room, hoping it wasn’t true but being far too familiar with Keana’s every sound that I knew it was. What I saw when I entered the room confirmed it: puke. Though surprisingly contained, it still covered too much to be an easy clean-up. With Aliya asleep in Sarah’s lap I was flying solo on this one.

Turns out this was/is a nasty, nasty virus or bacteria. Keana was up literally all that night with the scourge, and being the designated catcher, so was I. It was really tough going. I laid on the floor next to her bed and every 20 minutes for almost six hours, we both awoke to handle the situation. Before we knew it, the sun was rising.

The following Saturday was Great Grandma Bev’s 80th celebration, but Keana and I had to miss it due to the nastiness. As the day progressed, she did feel better and slept threw the night with no event, and even Sunday was quiet on the sickness front. Then came Sunday night.

The devil’s scourge hit me later that night, and at midnight, it took hold of its third victim: Maia. I moved onto the floor in her room and we traded off being sick. It was one of those moments where your strength is truly tested. It lasted again, until the sun rose. It was now Monday.

Our week continued this way, Sarah being the next victim, where the sickness struck fast and hard and eventually tapered off after several days. But even though the initial symptoms ended mostly after a couple days, it seems to take several more days to fully be over all the discomforts. We thought we were in the clear on Wednesday, but then Maia got sick again, and continues to throw up once every night between 10 p.m. and midnight. Kind of strange but at least she feels and eats normally throughout the day. We’re trying Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) now and will be moving on to the coconut water after that. Sarah’s used both these methods when she got the scourge in Chile and Mexico, so hopefully Maia will see some results soon. Maia’s one tough girl, but something about her diminutive size makes her seem especially vulnerable and every time she throws up, it just breaks your heart.

So now it’s been over a week dealing with this. I’ve slept (barely) on the floor pretty much all week and we’ve had to clean up more disgustingness this week than we have in the last five years. The kids are itching to get back to normality and Sarah and I reached our limits days ago, but pressed on, as all parents have to, and we’re just now starting to get on top of life again. Chalk this one up to one of those experiences in life (and as a parent) that you can never understand until you go through it. You know your kids will get sick, but you just have no idea all that that entails and what kind of love, strength, patience, perseverance, and understanding it takes to get through it.

development

Stressed out

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Maia, the past couple weeks, has really been doing a good job sleeping through the night. She previously would wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes every 1-2 hours, saying she had to pee or wanted milk or some other 3-year-old excuse. I think she was really starting to adjust to being potty trained at night, even though she had been sleeping without diapers for quite some time. I think it was also partly due to the fact that now I, Papa, was responsible for Maia in the middle of the night. No Mama, so less options and I suppose less fun.

Overall the adjustment has been great. I take her to pee before I go to bed, and she goes right back to sleep and sleeps until daylight. It is glorious. But sometimes she has a little trouble falling asleep, especially if she’s had a nap. Occasionally, when she’s freaked out, we’ve given her a little homeopathic stress-reliever called “Rescue Remedy”. In the beginning of this month, she started relating that she couldn’t go to sleep because she was “stressed out”. I think these audio clips (taken 1/4/11 around 8:15 p.m.) speak for themselves; just a little glimpse into my life with Maia, pre-bedtime.

Maia talks about being stressed out and not being able to go to sleep. time: 2:19

Maia reads a story in an effort to calm down. time: 2:06

development, trips

Perpetusmile

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That pretty much sums Aliya up: perpetusmile. She is so mellow, so easy going, and so damn smiley it’s ridiculous. Sure, she gets upset if she’s hungry or tired, but she can be talked out of it very easily.

Anyway, we had our 6 month check-up at UCSF last Friday (December 10) and the doctors confirmed what we’ve all suspected and have been observing since Aliya came home: she’s perfect. She handled all the “test” objects well, manipulated them, followed them when they moved/dropped/etc. She’s making sounds with inflection- she even says “mama” from time to time and “mmmmm” and has started “b”- and generally aced all the doctor’s tests. In fact, she did so well they said we could skip the 9 month follow-up.

We’ve also been trying out a few foods with Aliya since Thanksgiving in very small tastes at a time, mostly because she’s seemed so interested. She’s tried avocado, turkey, rice, pears, applesauce, and egg yolks (cooked of course), but she threw those up this morning and we’ve realized that maybe we’ve been a little overkill with it. I’m pretty sure Keana started much later than 5 months, and Maia was a little earlier than that, but not this early. So we’ll back off for a while. She’s a little over 19lbs and is over 26 inches long, so she’s getting enough to grow at a good pace.

Maia has taken huge leaps since turning three. Just before, and certainly now, she seems like a really different kid. More articulate. More reasonable. But of course, still her feisty, scrimesties self. She’s pretty much sleeping through the night and since I’ve been her only go-to guy at night, she’s done really well. I think she needed it to be clear who was on duty and what was going to be happen if she woke up and called out. She often doesn’t fights nap time and sometimes has enough energy to make it through the day sans nap, but if anyone’s going to fall asleep at the dinner table, it’s her. Or, of she’s in a car or stroller in the later day, early evening, she’s a goner. With being three there is some new fire for Maia, but in a lot of ways, that fire doesn’t quite burn you as much.

And our big Zoob. Little Miss Sunshine. When we were in Berkeley last week, Keana was dancing down the sidewalk, around the office, and in the hospital telling everyone she was the sun. And in so many ways, she is. Keana is the brightest, sweetest, most positive, open, person you’ll ever meet. She and I have been butting heads a lot lately, but I only have to take a breath and look at her, and she teaches me all I need to know about patience, love, and understanding. Oh, and the other day, we’re driving along and she blurts out, “Hey! 5 plus 3 equals 8!” I was blown away but at the same time not surprised at all. Also, while we were in Long Beach, Tia taught her Itsy Bitsy Spider in spanish and one day, weeks later, Keana was just singing it perfectly, as if she’d learned it an hour ago. She’s been doing stuff like this since she was born, and having little Aliya Baby in the house now reminds us how gifted these kids are from the time they’re born and on and on.

So there you go. Not all the times in Casa de Team Hokama have been bubbles and cookies lately, but as we struggle through learning to be good parents and good spouses, we have only to look at our kids’ tiny but growing faces to know that it’s all worth it, and it all shakes down in the end.

development, education, family, holidays

When Papa got a minute

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We got the kids to bed kind of early tonight so here I go…

Last week Aliya was still just figuring out grabbing things well with her hands and now, seven days later, she’s so much smoother. Yeah, she still drops things and doesn’t always rotate them smoothly, but she is so much more dexterous and accurate with her grip, it’s scary. These damn babies develop so fast and we are beyond thankful. Aliya still laughs hysterically at her sisters, so much so it almost sounds like something between a smoky bar laugh and baby’s cry. First time she did it I wasn’t sure she was actually happy until I saw her big smile at the silly things her sisters were doing. She’s also figured out how to thump her leg in her bouncer to back it bounce and once it stops, she thumps again to get it going. Brilliant.

Maia is still struggling with sleeping through the night. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t, but she always wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. People are always saying not to look forward too much to the teen years, but I have to say right now, I’m ready to get back to sleeping in until noon. I think Maia is still really struggling with not being the baby anymore and she wants to grow up and be independent like Sissy (Keana), but she’s just not quite there yet. It’s a big step and although we’re quite frustrated with her, I have a soft spot for what she’s going through. I remember feeling exactly like her at several stages when I was coming up.

Keana continues to be our extraordinary pioneer. Her parent/teacher conference was amazing and her teacher said that she is well beyond where they expect at this point in kindergarten. We, of course, try not to put too much weight in evaluations like this, but I have to say it’s what every parent wants to hear. There’s a little boy in her class that has been trying to kiss her and/or talk about kissing her, so that has been interesting. Keana and this boy played all the time together but when he started this behavior, she was done. Thankfully the school is taking it seriously and wants Keana to be comfortable, so we’ll see how everything turns out. Sarah and I know that this little guy just likes her a lot, and perhaps doesn’t have great modeling at home, so we’re just rolling with it for now and letting her teacher deal; don’t want to make it a bigger deal than it is. I guess the whole “boys and girls can’t just be friends” starts early (just joking…sort of).

Last weekend we went down to Long Beach to visit Tia, Uncle Ryan, and Cousin Olivia. We hadn’t been down there since last Thanksgiving, so it was time. It was a lot of fun, minus the 6+hour drive to get down there. But Iana and Ryan were very good to us and the girls had a blast with Olivia. She’s starting to walk, so Keana had fun leading her around by her hands, and both Maia and her had fun torturing her with as much love as she could take. Honestly though, I think Olivia really enjoyed having her boisterous cousins around for a couple days and it was fun watching them together. Of course the World Series was on so some time had to be spent rooting for our Giants, and there was the costume/trick-or-treating-candy-eating-mayhem on Halloween, but all-in-all it was pretty restful and great to get away. (SO many pics from October/Halloween, not enough time tonight, so I’ll get them up tomorrow.)

I can’t believe we’re already entering into the holiday season, with Maia’s birthday falling on Thanksgiving this year. This month is going to be crazy, especially with me having a work trip the week before Thanksgiving, but we’re looking forward to it. Today we had a very productive day around the house and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed raking leaves off the roof and cleaning out gutters. Why is being on a roof so much fun? I do not know. But it did feel good to get give away some things, clean up a bit, and prepare for this great month we’re about to have.

development, family

Death grip, sleepovers, loose teeth

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Curling toes that try to grab; tiny chubby fingers that have difficulty navigating at first, but then get a death grip that can’t be budged, the grip surprisingly strong. It’s these little things that we’ve forgotten over time that Aliya is now reminding us of. She’s really working on her motor skills and figuring out what those little hands attached to her chubby little arms are for. She still likes the finger puzzle (a term we coined when she interlocks her fingers and stairs at them intently wondering how and what they are), but she’s moved on to liking baby rings, watches, and any other baby-hand-sized object to grab, grip, explore, turn around, and bring up to her mouth. Yep, she’s started the quasi-teething. Maybe it’s real teething, but basically she’s started exploring things by sticking them in her mouth and producing inordinate amounts of drool.

Aliya continues to be completely entertained by her sisters. When she sees Keana or Maia dancing or jumping around—or generally acting crazy—she busts out laughing. It is the cutest thing. It’s not just a giggle but more of a bellowing baby laugh. Her sisters love to see how she’ll react almost as much as they love holding and squeezing her. The fact that Aliya’s beginning to sit up better and develop more of her core body strength definitely helps with being held by Keana and Maia who aren’t always, how should we say, stable. Also, Aliya actually enjoys “tummy time” for a while and can roll herself over onto her back when she gets up on her strong little arms. She continues to be very mellow and quite smiley, even to nosey strangers.

In other news, Maia and Keana had their first voluntary sleepover at Grandma Jennie’s house last night. They stayed at Grandma’s when Sarah and I were with Aliya in the hospital in San Francisco, but of course that wasn’t exactly something they chose. So we watched the Giants secure their place in the World Series, then said goodnight. Keana had a little trouble saying goodbye, and we assured her she didn’t have to stay if she didn’t want to, but when Maia decidedly said she wanted to stay and sleep there, Keana quickly decided that was really what she wanted to do too. We took Aliya home and it was very, very quiet. I sort of liked it and sort of didn’t. I was quickly thinking of what life would be like when they started sleeping over at friend’s houses or stayed out late doing who-knows-what. But I did sleep until 8 a.m., with no interruptions, something that hasn’t happened in ages, and it felt great. It seems like the girls had a blast too, so it was a win-win.

Oh, and Keana is on the verge of loosing her first tooth. She has several loose, and this one’s been loose for a while, but it’s finally, almost there. She’s in no hurry to get it out though, and certainly doesn’t want any discomfort, so it’s basically holding on by a proverbial thread. It’s so loose it can stay sideways, but yet she’s not quite ready for it to come out. Of course we don’t want to damage any trust by yanking it out without her permission or her being totally okay with it, so we wait. It’s her tooth, it’s her call. Maybe tomorrow.

development, education

And the beat goes on

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Sarah and I just celebrated our 6th year of marriage last night and had an amazing time out together. We finally found a truly excellent restaurant called Cracked Pepper Bistro here in Fresno. I mean, it’s not like we’ve been out a lot here, searching for that perfect, magical dining experience, but it’s Fresno, and things are different here. It brought us right back to our “younger” days in Santa Cruz and then the bay, pre-kids, when we were, as we like to say, “ballin’”. We frequently went out to expensive, fancy dinners with zero regard for how much it would cost or how long it took, simply because we could. From our very first date in August of ‘02, all the way up to last night, one of our favorite things to do together is eat really, really good food, and just talk and laugh. And last night we reflected on what an amazing life we’ve had together so far. Speaking of which…

Keana is doing amazing in school. She’s writing better and better every week, and even writes short sentences now. Her letters are getting cleaner and cleaner and she’s even starting to sound out words and knows some “sight” words (i.e. I, me, my, see, like, etc.). We were skeptical at first of a school that pushed her so hard in kindergarten, but now we’re seeing that she’s really ready for this knowledge and finds a great sense of individuality and power in knowing how to read and write. Just like it was when she started talking, it’s really amazing to see her find her voice through literacy as well.

Keana is also just the sweetest, brightest little vessel of light in her class too. I mean all the kids are really sweet and amazing in their own regard, but when Keana arrives and leaves every single day, it’s an event. Before she even gets on school property, her classmates are shouting, “Hey, here’s Keana! Hi Keana!!!” and even the lady that walks late-comers to class looks forward to Keana being a little late, just so they can have their 20 second conversation on the way to the classroom door. And yes, she has been a little late lately. Not technically, because I do get her there before the final bell, but the kindergarten classes line up at 7:35 in the cafeteria and walk to class together. So we’re usually running up to the school gate around 7:40 (class starts at 7:45). Anyway, every day when I pick her up, kids are literally lining up to say goodbye and get their Keana hug. At first, no one gave hugs. But Keana always hugged her teacher Mrs. Vick before leaving. And eventually it caught on and now all the kids get hugs before she leaves. It’s as if Keana gave the other kids permission to show their affection, and it’s truly one of the most touching things to see. This isn’t an occasional thing either, it’s every day.

Sarah and I volunteer in the classroom on Tuesdays from 10-11 (we alternate weeks). It’s a great way to see what class is like and meet all Keana’s peers. They really are great kids and it’s interesting to see how loving, respectful, and open these kids are in a school setting. It hasn’t been scared or shamed out of them yet and I hope it never is, though I know things haven’t changed that much since we were in school. But who knows?

Maia continues to be Maia. Willful, outspoken, and hilarious, she is our feisty middle link. There is no way she is going to get lost in the shuffle of Keana the Love Magnet and Aliya the Tiny. She is loving preschool and last Thursday when she came home, she ran to me yelling, “I had a GREAT day at school daddy!!!” She’s only going two days a week right now, but I think she’d be open to more in January if there are any other days available. And yes, she calls me “daddy”. At first I wasn’t sure about that, just because I’m so used to “papa”, but now I kind of like it; best of both worlds: “papa” from Keana and “daddy” from Maia.

Poor little Maij has been falling a lot lately too. She’s just more daring with her body than Keana was, but takes her licks like a champ. No matter how many times we caution her or how many times she falls, she’s right back into climbing, or running, or jumping. As her great, great grandma Beulah used to say, “I may be the smallest, but I’m still the mightiest.” These words truly apply to Maia.

And now for Aliya. Ah, our sweet, sweet mellow Aliya. She’s practically sitting up now and can hold her head quite well, looking side to side to catch all the action around her. She’s quick with a smile and continues to be our easiest baby yet. She naps a couple times a day and sleeps through the night. A couple things we miss though as she matures: grunting while pooping and laughing in her sleep. She still smiles in her sleep, but she rarely chuckles out loud like she used to. She’s still talking a bit though, and has begun to really suck on her fingers. She prefers gnawing on two fingers but often tries to fit both hands in there and gets a little frustrated when it doesn’t work. We weighed her yesterday and she’s 16lbs. and roughly 26”. We have Aliya’s first neuro follow-up tomorrow as well, here in Fresno, with a doctor that splits his time between UCSF Children’s and here. He’s supposed to be one of the best and we have another neuro follow-up in December at UCSF. Aliya is doing amazingly well and we have no concerns about her development, but it will be nice to have a “professional” confirm that.

So that’s the story here in Fresno. Team Hokama rolls on, into the fall, and we’re ready for the heat to give way to the cold, wet of winter. Oh, and for our anniversary, we got a new camera. No promises, but I’m pretty sure our pictures are about to get a lot better and our videos will now be in HD.

development, education

The Maij

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There are so many things we love about Maia and I think it’s safe to say one of her greatest characteristics is also her biggest challenge for us: she is full of fire. On the positive side of things this plays out in being confident, adventurous, and quite funny, and on the other side of things her will is very difficult to get around when she’s tired, hungry, or frustrated. She’s so much like me that having her as my little, slightly less developed mirror is scary.

Maia may end up being our most petite kiddo, but she sure is growing up fast. She begins her fourth week of preschool this week and she’s been adjusting really well. The first day was a breeze, but the next couple times involved some screaming and crying at departure. But the last two times I’ve dropped her off, she simply says, “Bye Papa.” gives me a quick hug, and runs off to talk to Great Grandma Bev. It’s been really nice, for both her and Keana, to have family as part of their first “teacher experience”. After school Maia is completely exhausted, but still insists on coming along to pick up Keana who gets out 30 minutes later. It is SO sweet when we arrive. Keana waits in a line until we show up and when they see each other Maia screams, “Sissy!” and Keana screams, “Oh Maia! Maia! I missed you!” and they run and embrace as if it had been weeks and not hours since they last were together. All the other kids seem to look on with envy and excitedly ask Keana, “Is that YOUR little sister?!”

And it’s a good thing Maia is so sweet with that touch of fierce, because although she and Keana play really well together 90% of the time, that other 10% requires some sweetness to deal with Keana’s bossiness, and a good dose of ferocity to eek out her space with her much bigger sister. I have to say it makes me proud to see our little one stick up for herself with such bravado.

Maia is also quite fearless. When she was having trouble sleeping she would often walk around the house in the dark, just playing or checking things out. Keana never did this and still won’t go into dark rooms without Maia. She often says, “Maia is much braver than me.” and I think it may be true. Also, this summer when we roasted marshmallows, it was Maia who stepped out first to get closer to the fire. Of course she has her things that she’s scared of, but overall, she’s our brave little girl.

We’re finally getting into a good schedule with her sleeping as well. For the longest time, probably because she is so independent, we tried to take cues from her for sleep. It was always a struggle though, and it seemed like just as we got on top of it, something big would disrupt it (the last being Aliya’s birth). So the last couple months we’ve gotten back on the boundaries and she’s sleeping much better, mostly through the night. At first, of course, she screamed bloody hell, but now bed time is much less traumatic for everyone. She even asks for her naps during the day when she’s ready.

Speech-wise Maia has always been impressive. Perhaps the influence of a very verbal older sister has helped. Communication is, though, a bit of chore at times. We think her thoughts might be moving much faster than her tongue can handle and she either gets very frustrated or gets stuck in these loops, repeating phrases over and over until they come out. For instance she’ll be telling a story and when she moves on to the next part, she’ll say, “And then, and then, and then, and then…”. It’s really cute, especially when she uses hand gestures that seem more in place with a thirteen-year-old than an almost-three-year-old.

Maia just continues to be our tiny-feisty-now-preschooler and it’s so fun to see all her amazing attributes just continue to develop and grow and evolve. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about her getting lost in the middle of our little trio of girls.

development, education

Say goodbye to summer

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I’d say we officially started “back-to-school” last Thursday. We went shopping for Keana’s uniform stuff and a couple things for Maia. After work we attended Keana’s back-to-school night at her new school, Dailey Charter. It was weird. I mean, there were lots of levels of weirdness. For one, there was the weirdness I felt. I know I’m a grown-ass man, but something about attending our first “real” school event for our little 5-year-old made me nervous. I felt out of place and couldn’t believe that we were now responsible for her formal education and the choices we made would affect her success in this crazy world. I know all the decisions we’ve made up to this point also affect her success and happiness, but this was a new level of it.

It was weird to see all the other families and kids too and to imagine what Keana’s interactions would be like with the other kids and how these other grown-ass people in the room were just like us; nervous, concerned, excited, curious, etc. Actually, they weren’t just like us. I didn’t get the feeling at all that they shared our political views, sensitivities, and/or education. One of the downfalls of living in a place like Fresno I guess. I was happy though to see such a diverse room full of people. If I had to guess, I’d say only 15% were caucasian, but there were very few asians, which didn’t surprise me. But it was good to see so many different types of people represented anyway.

Which brings me to the next weirdness. The teachers did not reflect the population of students. 90% of the teachers were young, white women. Which is fine, but I think it’s important for students to see themselves in their teachers. Of course, our girls are predominantly white, so maybe it’s my issues…I mean, I guess they’re all my issues, because Keana certainly doesn’t think about race very much. People are people to her and she doesn’t blink twice at skin color. (Note to self: work on that.)

Then we visited the classroom. It was a very neat, new classroom, with all the desks grouped in fours, and the kids’ names already on them. The teacher’s large, black desk was at the front, in the corner, angled, overlooking the kids. There was a laptop on there and a pseudo-laptop for the kids. To the right of that was a SMART board and a projector hung from the ceiling with new speakers on either side. Fancy. In the back there was also a behavior chart, like a stop light. All the kids start out on green. Everything was labeled: scissors, crayons, pencils, desk, etc. The kids will learn to read and write. There will be homework, especially reading every night. There’s a field trip. It felt sterile in the classroom. We’re hoping it will warm up and gain some character as the year goes on (after all, it is a brand new school).

I think Sarah and I both wished the teacher had focused on welcoming the kids, but instead it felt like she/the school wanted to emphasize to the parents that they were a serious academic school, with strict rules and a dress code. So we’ll have to see. The fundamental principals of the International Baccalaureate program sound great, so as long as those really shine through, I think it’s going to be a great school for Keana.

Little Miss Maia will be starting preschool too at the school that their great grandma Bev runs. Keana loved it there, and Maia got small samples when dropping her off or picking her up, so I think she’ll love it too. She’ll be going two days a week for now and she will be one of the youngest kids there. So we’ll see how things go and we’re willing to be flexible. If she hates it, we’ll try again in January. If she loves it, we’ll increase the days in January (if there’s room).

Aliya has been growing, growing, growing into a little chuberoo. She’s 12lbs. now and 24” (95% percentile for both). It will be nice for Sarah and her to have some alone time with both girls at school, and I think it will be great for Maia to have her little sister to herself on her days off.

It’s really hard to believe we take another plunge tomorrow. Kindergarten. The beginning of formal education. And Maia in preschool. Damn!!! Where has the time gone? I’ll let y’all know how the first day goes!