December 6: An Abundance of Wonderful Moments

This week is full of wonderful moments. Our Christmas tree is up and decorated as of Monday. Sarah, true to form, wore shorts when we went to get it. The decorating goes faster each year and the ornaments are more evenly spread at all height levels. 

We learned that Amy is ready to join the Barracuda (pre)swim team if she wants. I have made inquiries and we will give it a try. It is still part of the British Swim School just at a different pool from where she has been taking lessons. 

Sarah had us cracking up on multiple occasions. When I was with her one night for her bedtime routine she was playing at saying she was down in the dumps. Then she pointed at her floor and said, “That is the dumps.” One day at lunch she wanted her clothes to squeak as she walked, the way some pants make noise. She was wearing pajama shorts though, so she scampered off and gleefully returned wearing her snowpants and exaggerating her walk to make the sound more notable. She was so pleased and we were so surprised that we were practically in tears laughing. Meanwhile, Sarah finds it hilarious to talk about wearing (or not wearing) clogs in the snow. Anna has clogs and Sarah wanted some so together they made paper clogs for both of them. 

Sarah loves to sing the line from “Hickory Dickory Dock” about “the clock struck four, he ran out the door!” As the days go by we continue to elaborate on all of the things the mouse does that rhyme with “four.” 

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck four, he ran out the door, and polished the floor, and came back for more, and asked for a tour, and went to the store, and threw out the core, and said a prayer to Thor, and wrote to Al Gore, and tried not to be a bore, and tried not to snore, and had water to pour, and told tales of yore, and packed for the shore!

Amy has started wearing her hedgehog nightgown again. She used to love hers and thought it would be ok if Sarah had one too, but when Sarah did start wearing one then Amy began hating her own because it didn’t seem special. I refused to give it away. Not only did Amy wear her nightgown this week, she even encouraged Sarah to wear hers at the same time. 

Sarah started reading one of Amy’s easy chapter books! Of her own volition. Amy is letting Sarah borrow the book, Dr. Kitty Cat and Peanut the Mouse, and Sarah has been reading aloud to Anna and answering questions about the content of her reading!!! This is amazing. 

Amy likes to watch “Descendants” about the offspring of evil fairy tale characters. Sarah and Amy often sing duets of one of the songs, looking joyfully at each other as they belt out the lines about the wicked world and being rotten to the core. If we play the actual song then they each bust out their dance moves. 

Overall I feel like Sarah is quite noticeably more connected in conversations. One thing that helps is when I remember to count to 15 before repeating my question or assuming she isn’t going to respond. Often it is after the point when I think she isn’t going to say anything that she speaks. 

I have learned to rephrase things when Sarah has to wait for Anna to arrive. In general she is having an easier time with this, in part because she continues to observe the science class taught by her homeroom teacher. When that is over or when Anna has a later start time then I have stopped saying, “let’s do…. while you wait.” I think the word “wait” triggers her impatience. So I have reframed it as having special Mom-Sarah time or Dad-Sarah time. I think it helps.

Speaking of waiting for things, Sarah is soooooo eager for Christmas. She has x-ed out all of the days on the calendar hoping that will make Christmas be NOW. Sometimes I can feel annoyed as she asks for the hundreth time if it is Christmas yet. Yesterday I started asking her, playful-impatiently and she sweetly told me “no” not yet and then I could also tickle and tease her when she started asking again. We had many good snuggle times about waiting for Christmas mixed in with our usual repetitions about being mice snuggled together in the house and singing hickory dickory dock. She also likes to say she’s as tiny as a pea or as tiny as a pussywillow catkin. One evening Amy created a contest over who could say the tinier thing. Carl and I would whisper our answers in her ear and she would be the judge. Sometimes Carl judged between Amy and me. The tiniest thing overall might have been the speck of glitter. Sarah only sometimes likes to add items to her list of what she compares to tinywise. You know you really got a good one if she repeats it, but sometimes she doesn’t repeat it until days later, as with “tiny as the tip of your nose.”

May you have special-time instead of waiting-time for anything you are eagerly anticipating. If you think of anything more that rhymes with four, let me know! Who knows? a goal you might score!