Excitement

Daniel is so excited about Spring Break next week, I just don't know how he is going to survive this week at school. Also, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus is in town and we are going to that tonight. How much excitement can one kid take? (Of course, I don't know who is more excited about the circus - him or me!) Here is the verse from last week:

Notice the sweater! We did this on Sunday afternoon (the day we had snow). He was not a happy camper about having to wear a sweater to church. He said, 'Mom, it's too light. I'll be cold!' (he meant the exact opposite - I will be hot!) Sometimes I feel like I am in backwards-land. I always know what he means, and he knows what he means, it just doesn't pop out of his mouth right. Is this a learning English thing or a 6 year old thing?

Easter Eggs

We went from 85 on Tuesday to snow on the ground this morning. How messed up is that! So, I know we're a little early for dyeing eggs but we were looking for a fun indoor activity.

AND - Daniel LOVES eating eggs - scrambled, over medium, hard boiled, it doesn't really matter. He loves them all...

Hilarious quote of the week

Daniel and I were looking at a book of super heroes and trying to guess the names of them. I wasn't sure on one of the guys:

I was telling him we should look through the book and see if we could find the name. He looks at me and says,

'Mom, you could Google it'

It was such an unexpected thing to hear him say. Is this kid a long way from a Ukraine orphanage or what? How does he even know what that is? He is learning a lot in his computer class at school!

So, I Googled it. Apparently this guy is 'The Thing'. How hilarious!

Spring Fever!!

WOW - the high here was 85 today! Woo hoo!! I am so ready for Spring to come. We had a nice weekend too, so Daniel got out a bit and enjoyed his scooter...

Recently, Daniel asked me to do his hair in a mohawk. I did my best and he loved it:

Things are plugging along as usual. Daniel has some good days and then some days he makes a bad choice, general silliness at school, talking out during class - nothing too horrible, but just kid stuff. He is still learning about personal space, and how to be a friend to the kids without running them off. Social cues are subtle and tricky to interpret but we're working on it. I was so pleased when one of the moms of a boy in his class called and setup a play date. Awww - he has an actual friend. I was so happy for him.

I have to tell you about a great thing that happened - our church does a big Easter pageant. This is the last year they are doing it, so we decided to take Daniel. I was a little worried that it would be too graphic, but we talked a lot about how it's not real. The story is true, but what we see on stage is not real. We thought it would be good opportunity to open the discussion about Jesus' life. Daniel was really engaged, leaning forward in his seat and taking it all in, asking questions (not necessarily in a whisper - sorry to the audience!). There is a scene where John the Baptist baptizes Jesus. When he brought him back up, Daniel looks at me right away and says, 'Mom, where's the dove?' I was so surprised. While we have shared many Bible stories with him, the story of Jesus' baptism is not one of them. Wow - that means he heard it at church or at school and it stuck with him. Can I just say - that Christian school education is worth every penny. You really don't realize how much is sticking in there - mulling around in that little head of his. What a blessing!

Things I love this week:

- Daniel's fresh hair cut

- out at a restaurant, Daniel reminding the table that we forgot to P - A - R - Y (OK, well he meant Pray and he spelled it wrong, but still pretty great)

- hearing Daniel read me a book

- being able to have the windows open

- finally starting to feel better

- the green buds out in the yard - it's almost here!!

Adoption Anniversary - 2 years

March 10th was our adoption day and we were so happy to celebrate 2 years of having Daniel in our family. Unfortunately, I had strep throat again so I had to miss the party but he had a great time....

Frustration

Well, I totally jinxed us with that last post. The very next day, I got a call from the school that Daniel was having a melt down and I needed to come over. I haven't had that kind of phone call in months!! It turns out that Daniel was taking a test, didn't know the right answer to a fill in the blank question and the frustration over that just built and built and built until he just let it take over. He started hitting himself in the head with his fists, when the teacher went to call the office he freaked out ran off to towards the bathroom and when she ran after and caught him he had a screaming melt down and had to be carried out. Whoa! Of course, by the time I got to school he had calmed down. We talked (again!) about what we can do when we get frustrated - take a deep breath, ask for help, skip this one and go to the next problem, pray. He knows all of the right answers but in the heat of the moment, he just lets the anger and emotion carry him away.

I have noticed his frustration really cranking up lately. When he can't do something (tie his shoe, button the top button, cut something out, whatever) he really gets frustrated and has an overreaction. He will start crying and kicking his feet, just falls apart. If I am right there, I can usually say something in a teasing way to make him laugh and that will break the tension and then he can ask for help before it goes too far. But I am realizing that in doing that, I am not really helping him. Because I am not always going to be there and he needs to learn how to work through that emotion and make a good choice when I am not around to make him laugh. WOW - this is tough one to learn. Especially when there is so much emotion tied to it! I am thinking I need to back off a little, let him get frustrated and try to work it out and then coach him through it a little. Just so he can experience that feeling and learn how to react appropriately. We all get angry and frustrated but it's a matter of making a good choice when that happens.

I told him, he isn't going to know everything - that's why we send him to school. He is there to learn. So when he doesn't know, he doesn't have to get upset - that's when you ask the teacher. Of course, on a test - she can't tell him the answer. (so then the mom guilt kicks in - I should have helped him be better prepared) She is worried when they get into the standardized testing towards the end of the year - it's going to be an issue. She can't deviate from the script when giving the test and if he falls apart he won't be able to take the test. She is going to send me some practice test so we can start practicing what to do when we come to a question that we don't know the answer to. It's OK to skip it and go to the next one, but that's totally not his personality. He simply cannot leave a blank and move on. He gets totally paralyzed by not knowing the answer. I guess it's a learned skill so we are going to practice it. (it's just so hard because we have also been working on not being a quitter - you finish what you started - quitters never win. Now this message is totally opposite - skip the question and move on - isn't that quitting?)

So yes, we still are having challenges but he is still an unbelievable sweetie. Check this out....

Tonight he was telling me, 'Mom, I wish God made you smaller so you could be in First grade. You could be in my class and I could have you at school.' How sweet is that?

Still here!!

Sorry for the long pause between posting! I have been reeeeaally busy at work so my evenings when I usually post have been busy with work. That and Jason has been traveling a bit for work so I have been a single parent. Whew!! I don't know how you single parents out there do it. It is tough to be the only one. No one to tag team with when things get hectic. I am doing the drop off and the pick up, homework, baths, play time, stories, loving, prayers, instruction, taxi service, laundry, dinner, bike rides, cleaning house, games, ya, ya, ya.

Daniel is doing great though. 2011 has been such a turning point for him behavior-wise. Not that he's perfect (me neither!) but he is a new kid. Now, instead of getting in trouble for hitting, running away, or melt downs we are dealing with talking during class, disrespecting the teacher, and disrupting class. A BIG improvement in my book! I am the parent of the class clown! Most of the time when he gets in trouble, it's because he is trying to make the kids laugh. I definitely don't want to squash that awesome, out-going part of his personality but we're trying to learn when it's appropriate to be silly and when it's time to zip it and learn. Some days we do better than others, but for the most part - things have been great.

I just got a reminder today to slow down and enjoy those little moments because they're gone too quickly. Things I love this week:

- Daniel snuggling into my side while I read a story

- 'I love you mom!'

- those big brown eyes, hung on my every word while I explain March Madness

- Daniel's sweet prayers before bed (please keep Pop safe!)

- a perfect score on the spelling test

- Singing, 'This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made'

- That little hand tucked neatly into mine when we cross the parking lot. I love that I don't have to look down and grab his hand - it's just automatic. We get out of the car, I drop my hand down there and he inserts his into mine. It thrills me every time!