Eli and Tori Journal Update

Eli

-Eli is very compassionate. When Maggie cries because I'm finishing something and can't go get her right away, Eli always goes and tries to make her happy. Sometimes he's so successful, I'll forget that I was hurrying to her and he'll say, "Mom, will you come get Maggie now?" But he won't leave her until I do. It makes him crazy to hear her cry. She really loves him. He's also surprisingly patient with Jonah. I'll write more about Jonah's obsession with everything Eli does later.

-Eli is still obsessed with Legos. He really likes the Power Miner, Atlantis, and Space Police sets. When he's not building and playing with them, he wants to be on the computer on the Lego website.

-He just finished his first chapter book - in a day and a half. He's been capable of reading longer books for some time, but somehow he was intimidated by the idea. I wish I could say that he likes to read. He is an excellent reader, but it is easier to get him to do his worksheet homework than it is to get him to read to me - unless he's got a new book that he's really excited about. We went through the Mo Willems books a while ago, and he liked to read those. At night, I read chapter books to the kids. We've read Ramona the Pest, Henry and Ribsy, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (didn't care for it), and we're just finishing James and the Giant Peach. We also read a book from a series called the Magic Treehouse books. I'm not really impressed with these modern series books. They seem kind of boring and poorly written. If anyone has any recommendations, let us know!

-It took Eli a while to really acclimate this school year. He sometimes wouldn't want to go, even though he does well and seems to have enjoyed it when I pick him up. It's just part of who he is. His friends this year seem to be McKay, Brevin, Brigham, Jordan, Caius, and Ryan. (I volunteered once a week in his classroom last year, but have only been once this year, which is sad.)

-When I drop Eli off in the morning at school, he turns and waves to me every few steps, so it takes him a while to make it to the door. It's very sweet.

-Eli is still very affectionate with me and John.

-I don't think I've written about his earning money by helping me clean. It sounds silly, but it really was an answer to prayer. Before, when he had done a few little jobs for money, he hadn't done a great job, but this time around he really was surprisingly thorough. I have been so pleased. He really is a great little helper. He's been working to earn Lego sets, of course.

-Eli has quite a sweet tooth. The others love treats, of course, but it doesn't seem to be something they think about a lot - and they will often leave behind part of their treats. Not Eli. Hopefully it's a phase.




Tori

-Tori is a very sensitive child. She will always cry if she gets in trouble or if she feels like someone has slighted her in some way. If I even look at her with a disappointed face, she is reduced to tears - so time-outs usually aren't necessary. She is extremely affectionate and wants to be held often. She'll stand by me while I'm on the computer and pat my arm, etc. Sometimes she uses tears and hugs to get out of trouble - kind of a power play - so it's not always as sweet as it sounds. :)

-Tori will generally play by herself when she is with groups of kids. She does fine if it's one-on-one, but never in groups. So I worry about her starting kindergarten and making friends. (All of my kids seem to be intimidated by groups to some degree. If we go to a playground with lots of kids, none of them will want to go play. Jonah will always announce when we arrive that "There are only a few kids!" - or "There are too many kids!"

-Tori loves to play house. She and Lacey will get dolls to be their babies or they will take turns being the baby. She likes to get Maggie's dresses to put on her dolls. (One day, she and Jonah were both nursing their babies, although Jonah's was more on his stomach.) She always wants to hold Maggie.

-Tori loves her Primary teachers, Bro. and Sis. Finlinson. We kept her home from church when she was sick, so she wanted to call them at home and tell them that she'd miss them. Actually, she was concerned that they would miss her so much.

-I stopped doing preschool for Tori after Christmas. She is sad about it, which makes me sad. I've been trying to do someschool with her, but she really is fine academically. She writes her letters and numbers, reads simple words, etc. But she would have enjoyed continuing to go.

-I wrote some time ago that Tori didn't want to wear dresses and was stubborn about what she'd wear, but she's the opposite now. She loves to dress up, and she prefers to have me pick her outfits, because she's worried about matching. Once she was concerned because I gave her some brown shoes to wear and she had no brown in her outfit to match them. Around the house, she usually wears one of her dance outfits.

-Tori is going to start at a clogging dance studio next month. For the 3-5 yr.-olds, it's mostly beginning dance moves rather than intensive clogging. I don't think I want her to do clogging long term, but for now, the price and location are great! She's really looking forward to it.

-I got tickets for John to take her to Disney on Ice for a Daddy date the other night. (She really wanted John to take her.) She has been so excited about it for a long time. She was most excited about seeing Tiana from "The Princess and the Frog" before the show started. It is fun to do things like that with her, because she just gets so happy, and skips, and has the cutest little smile.