Skateboarding already

S. and M. have been trying to skateboard with their new gear their Dad had got them. S. is quite good at this, better than me (which doesn’t take much !). Anyway it seemed to calm down his hyperactive energy burst on Sunday afternoon. You could tell he was proud of himself, as he was in a positive mood on the way home. The boxer who won silver in the Olympics was apparently hyperactive which was why he was sent to learn boxing. I think busy hands need to be kept occupied or else they end up in trouble. The behaviour of students (male) in the program ‘That’ll teach them’ dramatically improved when they were busy learning how to change a tyre. This is why, although the temptation is great, I do not hide the lego. It is a double edged sword, its hand-occupying abilities versus the time spent putting it away, extracting it from between one’s toes, bedcovers or yelling in excruciating pain when it is stepped on, just about win it over.

H. is now waking up when it is light (sometimes) which means the days suddenly seem separate and not merged into one. I think getting them all in to a routine when school started helped, but it is a relief at the weekend not to have to rush around first thing in the morning.
H. is now not so complacent if you want to remove an object from his hand which is inappropriate e.g. CD case. Loud protests follow.

M. had a go at ‘writing’, drawing himself a line and then scrawling along it, much as I do myself. He was able to tell me to select the racetrack with a ‘B’ in it when playing a spaceship computer game.

Now H and M (not the shop) are both asleep I’d better get my exercise and do the laundry (3 flights of stairs 8 times I think).

Autumn's here and so is school...

S. is finding school OK, although like any other nursery he adamantly says he won’t go in the morning. He’s been coming home on the mini-bus the last few days. It does feel like he’s grown up suddenly. We decided against him being picked up in the morning as it was going to be a ghastly five past seven pick up, much too early!.
S.’s love of fires continues, and we tried to see how to make one without matches from the internet but it does look tricky. I think his dad is going to have a go this weekend, but keeping some matches on hand in case all fails. S. really wants to go camping but the weather is getting distinctly autumnal and a bit of planning is also required.
Today we read a bit from his space book and tried the suggested experiment about there being no air in space. This involved a candle, much to the kids delight. However as usual my experiments never seem to work as the book says. The candle went out before it was supposed to. I hope that doesn’t mean we have less oxygen in Sweden !?. S. consolingly told me , don’t worry that’s what experiments are for, to try things out to see if they work. (I think I must have used these words before to him ).I think I was more disappointed than he was !
M. drew a person for the first time a couple of days ago, just in time for his 4 year check up with the health visitor, which he managed to pass with flying colours. Surprisingly his height is only average (but Swedish average) and slightly above on the weight side.
H. copies his brothers with their intonation patterns (as in ‘Where’s the baby ?’) and screams etc. My ears feel like I’ve been talking on a mobile too long after all the high-pitched sounds they put up with.

Career prospects loom

S. has now decided he does want to go to school to learn to read and write as well as learn Swedish. (I did try to let him know I would be there to help with reading etc. too !)

This is because he has also decided he wants to have three jobs when he grows up. 1. Doctor, as his Dad is encouraging him 2. Lego builder. 3. Space engineer. Being literate is of course a prerequisite for these professions.

He plans to have weekends off though. The thought of earning lots of money is very interesting to him, as his current pocket money obviously takes quite a while to accumulate into enough to buy what he wants.

He’s tried to do some maths in the sticker book his Granddad gave him today. He was ok at adding up in multiples of 2, 3, 4 etc. He didn’t want to follow my advice to use fingers, but wants to do it in his head. It was as if I could almost feel the heat from his overworking brain.

We watched a bit of the Olympics Opening ceremony, which for mine as well as his benefit could have done with a world map accompaniment so as to pinpoint the participating countries locations. I do feel sorry for Micronesia, the name somehow gives negative expectations to its team !

Swimming school has been quite a success, although I was hoping he would be able to do a bit of doggy paddle by the end of it. However he has learnt to go under water with his eyes open, swim on his back with a life jacket, and jump into deep water. I suppose they want them to feel confident first. He does know the movements for breast stroke in theory. So he is now eligible to do the ‘dolphin’ course next. M. is still afraid to even blow bubbles in the water so may be we’ll try again next year.

H. has learnt to give kisses on demand and helps tidy away the Lego, he thinks it’s a game !How long will it last ?!

S’s last day at nursery today, with a weekend off and then InshAllah starts six year class on Monday.

H. s little progressions

I keep forgetting to include H.’s small but significant progressions. His walking is now quite confident. He looks like he wants to break into a run sometimes, e.g when he hears the dishwasher being opened. He enjoys playing a sort of golf with a ball and whatever ‘stick’ comes to hand e.g remote control. I still notice he cannot use his hands fully independently, so if he moves one the other moves in the same way although not actually necessary for the task in hand.
He has always been astute at emptying containers, bags, bins etc but I have occasionally come across pots filled with bricks or toys and I think they are down to H.
He’s now keen at feeding himself, and gorges roast chicken like anything. ‘ba’ is a consistent ‘word’ for ‘more of that please’ and has started waving bye saying ‘ta ta’.
He also continues to imitate head shaking for ‘no’ and no waving his index finger as I do sometimes, but with a glint in his eye. ‘mama’ seems to have been used, when he’s in a lot of distress, like when he’s been left in the cot so I can actually sort out that dishwasher.

M. has drawn a ‘lady’ for the first time today, well it was something more than a scribble, and wrote ‘M’ ‘A’ ‘S’ ‘B’ Arabic ‘faa’ on the paper as well, I think inspired by his older brother.

Swimming continues but not for all

Their Uncle has been here this week so have not had a chance to go on the computer so much. S. has been progressing surprisingly well with the swimming. For a start I was surprised how willing he has been to actually go. He has only missed one session when it was a slightly colder and wetter weather. They haven’t actually done much swimming as such , but they are getting them confident in the water. Yesterday he almost dived, accidentally, into the big pool. It was supposed to be a jump but he slipped a bit ! This didn’t put him off.

M. has a plaster cast on his leg as he woke up the other morning in a lot of pain and could hardly walk. After his dad took him from pillar to post, they decided it was a problem with the way his foot was growing, and a cast would give it a rest I think. It should be coming off on Monday. At least he hasn't been so enthusiastic about the swimming, as obviously he’s had to forgo the classes.

H. just today came round to being alone with his Uncle, the day he was leaving. He was in tears for the first few days, and when I had to leave him for a few minutes (e.g. when I had a shower) he got hysterical ! Any potential kidnapper will be returning him pretty sharpish if H. has anything to do with it !
He is now starting to learn how to get off furniture as well as on. There seems to be more and more things that I can only do effectively whilst H. is asleep and his nap time is likely to get less and less (e.g showering, emptying dishwasher, washing the floor..) This also includes using the computer so I’d better get on with some of the afore mentioned tasks !