Ramadan is over. The Iowan heat wave has broken and I'm hoping that the rainy season has begun. Iowa only has 3 seasons, Hot, Cold, and Rainy. I think this was probably the busiest Ramadan I've experienced. And the longest. And the hottest. But Alhamdilillah for that since now I know fasting, nursing, moving, and traveling is doable.
At the beginning of the month, I started taking classes with a woman who has just returned from Yemen with her family where they were studying and teaching. She and her daughter held daily classes on Fasting and Tajweed. Taking the class did required me to move the kids nap time around to ensure that AC didn't decide it was time to play roll the baby (yes, that is his newest game) when I was trying to recite. Hopefully, no one could hear AC's one crib circus that he likes to put on for KC when he's not interested in napping. I kind of wish I could have recorded one of her daughter's classes just to let people hear her poise, confidence, and knowledge. At 18 she was leading classes daily for a hundred strangers from Iowa to Australia and everywhere in between. She was homeschooled and hadn't developed any of the anti-social maladjustment that seems to stigmatize homeschooled kids.
The woman homeschooled all of her kids between the US and Yemen. She keeps a blog of her activities related to Yemen here. After returning to the US, she also started a new blog on homeschooling and homesteading.
Later in the month, we were able to retrun to our old home at Candle Ridge after a drawn out battle of wits with our landlord. AK commented a lot when we first got here that Iowans wouldn't survive on the east coast. They would constantly be getting into fights with people who thought they were being sarcastic. My landlord is one of those people. She's a very no-nonsense woman when it comes to running the property, but whenever I go over to her office, she spends 90% of the time playing with the kids, talking about her grandkids, and telling me about kid friendly activities in Iowa.
Yesterday, I found a note on my door. I was sure it was a citation for dinging the garage, which I had forgotten to mention to her when we last talked. Inside was a note and a copy of a magazine article. She had copied an article on activities this weekend. When I last saw her, she asked if AC could wear SpiderMan slippers and we started talking about TV and kids. I haven't become a full force anti-TV activist just yet, so I just mentioned to her that we want AC to enjoy life how he does now, playing and exploring. Taking note of that, she mentioned in her letter some other things we might enjoy like watching the trees get cut down behind the pool. She's got our number. We'll be poolside Wednesday for sure.
Candle Ridge has many amenities that we missed greatly while living in our old home. Pools, parks, bike trails, stable construction, and, most importantly, Fareway grocery. Those of you who knew Ben P or his daughters, will know what I mean when I say, I AM Ben's granddaughter. Fareway is a small grocery store that's kind of like Sav-a-Lot with fresh goods. The first week we moved in, they had Tazo Tea's on sale for 50 cents a bottle. Limit 20. Fortunately, I had to go back for some things twice that week. The Fareway workers are another bunch that would have east coasters raising eyebrows. the first time I went over there last year, one guy at the meat counter loudly proclaimed to the one who was waiting on me, "You know she's our neighbor!" to which the other replied "Well, well, howdy neighbor!" Yesterday, the young, blond (they're all blond, I think it's like a Scandinavian stronghold) cashiers at Fareway switched shifts with huge smiles and happy waves of "see you after break." That happens a lot. People here are happy, really happy, and, for the most part, want to help make you happy. Sounds kind of like a lobotomy cult when I write it out, but I'll take it.
Ramadan ended with us all back in Jersey, much to my surprise. Everyone was thoroughly smitten with KC and cooing and her finger sucking. I didn't know that finger sucking was a cute tactic. Perhaps I wont hot pepper sauce her fingers so she'll be able to use that when she's pulled over for speeding. AC spend the week proudly explaining to everyone "Thasa Dijah" as he re-explored all of the places and toys he hadn't seen in months. One day, I left the house thinking he was sick and would be sleeping all day. I returned to the signature bang-bang of little feet and a giant grin frantically trying to beat GS to open the door. So much for being travel weary.
The kids were kind of groggy on the flight and AC passed the time caring for his new sock monkey. After he figured out that the tail was not actually poop and stopped handing the monkey to me, he rotated through burping the monkey, putting it to sleep, and letting it have tummy time while he bobbed it's head up and down. After a 12 hour evening of traveling, everyone in the house did need to sleep off the trip. Although both kids have a case of snot-nosiness, they are back up and rolling full speed.
When they did stir, AC became quickly attached to a 5ft gift wrap roll insert and spent the afternoon parading around KC showing off his impressive ability to lift it over his head, run clear across the room, and then slam it down. KC just kind of bobbed around in her chair watching cautiously.
Today, we were hoping to make our way to the Homemakers' carnival, but it seems it's been overcast all day and just started raining. Homemakers' is another Iowan speciality. It's kind of like Ikea, but it's bigger, has much higher quality (and more expensive) furniture, and boasts free cookies, juice, and coffee served in a small seating area. Times like this, I'm glad the kids are still small enough that they don't know plans. We'll have to settle for back up fun of playing in the rain on the deck.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Milestones Update
AC is drinking his morning milk on the bed this morning. Perhaps as a harbinger of things to come, KC has worked her way off of the pillow and over to him and is trying earnestly to wrench it from his hands. AC of course, finds this hilarious.
AC's vocabulary and comprehension continue to grow as he starts putting together sentences. Moving on from "That Dijah" he now also often says "Thasa Dija" to refer to her if she's far and "Thisa Dijah" to refer to her toys, clothes, toiletries, and bottles when he finds them.
Potty time is progressing well. After a day of no-nonsense training (i.e. no more books, food, and toys on the potty) AC has learned to just go ahead and get the job done. Yesterday, he only needed a diaper during nap time. We put him on the potty every few hours or so and now he's got the routine down. He goes, dumps, flushes, washes, and runs out the room for his "snack." Gladly, he hasn't figured out that one Smartie isn't a traditional serving.
We managed to make it to the pool this week. Last year, AC spent the time screaming at the top of his lungs while I tried to convince him that he was fine. He wasn't buying it. This week, he went in one step at a time and let me hold him up for floating on his stomach. He was kind of wary of floating on his back, but he soon found out that he could kick loudly and that relieved some of his fear. He also let me dunk him a few times without coming up in a dazed panic.
Other AC milestones include: Pedaling backwards (not forwards yet with any real coordination), putting dishes away in the proper drawers, explaining his toys to KC, sitting in the Masjid rows by himself until salat, trying to "count" stairs, and trying to put on shirts and pants. He speaks gibberish in 3 languages, using a different tone of voice to denote each one. English is his main language, which I still have to translate for most people since it sounds more like JarJar Binksish. His Arabic is higher pitched and mostly involves him making a sound like Arab women at a wedding. His last language is reserved for playing with KC. They have started a game where AC runs over and screams some gibberish then they both laugh, flail, and AC runs away. AC can also drink nicely from a cup although if he gets bored, he will opt to simply pour the contents on the floor.
As noted above, KC is coming into her own in regards to moving and grabbing. She has finally gained enough coordination to have entered the "in the mouth" stage. Alhamdulillah, AC has left that stage so he doesn't let her put random things in her mouth on his watch. I'm sure some people who saw her last weekend were thinking she was pulling them in for kisses. Sorry, she just wants to eat your face. She continues to be a prolific roller, only sleeping on her stomach (with fingers in mouth) and she can flail enough to make it across her crib at night. Just this morning, she made a solid attempt to crawl commando style over to some bread that AC left unguarded. She even tried to put one knee up to support her effort, but in the end, she settled for rolling onto her back and sucking her fingers.
AC's vocabulary and comprehension continue to grow as he starts putting together sentences. Moving on from "That Dijah" he now also often says "Thasa Dija" to refer to her if she's far and "Thisa Dijah" to refer to her toys, clothes, toiletries, and bottles when he finds them.
Potty time is progressing well. After a day of no-nonsense training (i.e. no more books, food, and toys on the potty) AC has learned to just go ahead and get the job done. Yesterday, he only needed a diaper during nap time. We put him on the potty every few hours or so and now he's got the routine down. He goes, dumps, flushes, washes, and runs out the room for his "snack." Gladly, he hasn't figured out that one Smartie isn't a traditional serving.
We managed to make it to the pool this week. Last year, AC spent the time screaming at the top of his lungs while I tried to convince him that he was fine. He wasn't buying it. This week, he went in one step at a time and let me hold him up for floating on his stomach. He was kind of wary of floating on his back, but he soon found out that he could kick loudly and that relieved some of his fear. He also let me dunk him a few times without coming up in a dazed panic.
Other AC milestones include: Pedaling backwards (not forwards yet with any real coordination), putting dishes away in the proper drawers, explaining his toys to KC, sitting in the Masjid rows by himself until salat, trying to "count" stairs, and trying to put on shirts and pants. He speaks gibberish in 3 languages, using a different tone of voice to denote each one. English is his main language, which I still have to translate for most people since it sounds more like JarJar Binksish. His Arabic is higher pitched and mostly involves him making a sound like Arab women at a wedding. His last language is reserved for playing with KC. They have started a game where AC runs over and screams some gibberish then they both laugh, flail, and AC runs away. AC can also drink nicely from a cup although if he gets bored, he will opt to simply pour the contents on the floor.
As noted above, KC is coming into her own in regards to moving and grabbing. She has finally gained enough coordination to have entered the "in the mouth" stage. Alhamdulillah, AC has left that stage so he doesn't let her put random things in her mouth on his watch. I'm sure some people who saw her last weekend were thinking she was pulling them in for kisses. Sorry, she just wants to eat your face. She continues to be a prolific roller, only sleeping on her stomach (with fingers in mouth) and she can flail enough to make it across her crib at night. Just this morning, she made a solid attempt to crawl commando style over to some bread that AC left unguarded. She even tried to put one knee up to support her effort, but in the end, she settled for rolling onto her back and sucking her fingers.
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