Tidbits

Putting my perfectionist to sleep and just typing out a few bits to remember:

Stewart made me cut Jack's hair and I hate it. HATE it. Not going to do it again. Not posting a pic because I hate it so much. He looks like a dork. It's all I can do to reign in my inner high-schooler and not bully him he looks so dorky.

Nate and Jack went to a playdate with a bunch of last year's co-op kids at Iyad's house and afterwards we got nothing but complements on their behavior. Dima told me that Nate entertained all the little kids by pretending to be a shark and chasing them around, and that there were no fights over toys or bad behavior from anyone. I'm so proud that we can leave them with friends and not worry even a little bit about their behavior. Good, good boys.

Halloween costumes are ordered. Ninja for Nate and, wait for it......a dinosaur for Jack.

Cool weather came in with a blast. I spent the weekend making soup, doing crafts, and huddling under blankets. So so happy.

Nate's asking a ton of questions about whether I love him or Jack more, or do I love Daddy or the kids more, things like that. I told him the standard stuff, that I love them all differently but I love them the same amount (which, as it turns out, is totally true). We're also talking about how sometimes we don't like each other, but we always have to act kindly towards each other.

The other day in the car I asked Jack if he loves Nate and he said something I say to Nate sometimes: "I love you even when you're grumpy." So when we picked Nate up from school I told him what Jack had said, and then they held hands across the middle seat for a while. After a few minutes of happy, Nate said "Today I did something I'm gonna do for the rest of my life." I asked what, and he said "Be nice to Jack. Not mess with him."

They really have been getting along so much better. I had almost given up hope (seriously) that they were ever going to start playing together at all. For so so so long, if they even start playing together it deteriorates in SECONDS. They'll head downstairs to play and be fighting literally before they've reached the bottom of the staircase. It took a few weeks to really notice the pattern, but for at least 3 weeks now they're really playing together for 20, 30 minutes at a time.

Mostly they're doing imaginative play, like Nate is a doggie and Jack walks him around on a leash and they play tricks together and whatnot. Sometimes they make up dinosaur families and assign roles and play with them. The most amazing part to me is that they are actually taking turns with whose game they'll play; I'll hear them talking about it and coming up with a compromise on what they're going to play.

And now I'll end this post since its now February and it's been sitting in my "drafts" folder since, obviously, before Halloween. I'm thinking about another post about my Nate and want to go work on it. I promise photos will be included!