March 2017

still way behind … cookin’ it up as fast as I can! 

Lukas Life
—Lukas’s 10-penny bad day: As delightful as most days are in Miss Bingham’s class, there are still some doozies, and Lukas had one this month — involving a semi-meltdown and hitting another kid, resulting in his losing a whopping ten pennies from his jar. His face, when he was released from class, told the whole story before I even knew there was one; he just crumpled into my arms and cried before he told me what happened. Poor kid pulled it together the next day, though; it was apparently a good lesson.
—Getting the gang together: We’ve formed a little crew with his running buddies Emmett and Manir; one afternoon, we all went for ice cream at Rite Aid with the boys, another day we spent the afternoon at Parma Park, etc. Annika goes along with more or less grace, and usually spends her time with Amira (who thinks she hung the moon).
—Annika the reading teacher: Big sister has become concerned with the pace of Lukas’s reading education and has taken it upon herself to nudge him along in the mornings, setting him words to learn and rewarding books read with cash incentives (usually 25 cents per book). As with most things she sets her mind to, this appears to be working, and he actually likes it 

All About Annika
—Beauty & the Beast: We went with Anne and Grace to see the new Beauty and the Beast movie (the live-action one starring Emma Watson), and then out to lunch after; the theater was surprisingly crowded, so the girls sat together a few rows ahead of us, which seemed to make them feel very grown-up.
—Reaching out: Since Annika seems to be kind of tightly-wound and had been open to the idea of talking with a counselor about her anxiety, we had her meet with a therapist and, on the therapist’s recommendation, take part in a kids’ anxiety group. It really did seem to be good for her, to talk about her fears and anxieties, and be around other kids who were dealing with similar issues (once a week for six weeks).
—Fourth grade, sorted: We got the news that Mr. Dinh would be looping, which means he will be moving to fourth grade next school year and taking the class with him (if they opt in). I wasn’t sure Annika would want to do that, but she positively lit up when she was told, so we are in for 2017-2018! 

Family Fun
—Cirque du Soleil: R. got us all tickets to see Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia show, which is all about Mexico — and it was fantastic! We all loved it — so much fun, and nothing too goofy or inappropriate. We’ll have to do that again sometime!
—Guinness party: The Marshalls’ St-Patricks-adjacent party returned this year, and for the first time, we all really got to relax; nobody has to hover over the kids, so they were free to run around and play while we hung out and drank from the kegerator, heh.
—The barfening: These kids really don’t get sick much, but there are exceptions. One delightful evening this month, both of them had some sort of hurling sickness — Lukas went down first, then Annika. They managed to get sick into the toilet and/or their trashcans, not on carpets or beds, so that was helpful … poor kids, though, they were so sick and pitiful. It lasted about 24 hours, then they bounced back.
—Thomases’ party: We went to a little get-together at the twins’ house, catered by Chipotle (some sort of prize-draw win), and for once, we actually got to hang with grownups and let the kids manage themselves! Parties are getting better around here …

Quotable
—We were talking about poppies — the wildflower blooming all over the place this month — and Lukas asked: “Do they grow up into dogs?”
—Annika re: recasting all the roles in new Wimpy Kid movie: “The kids have grown up, and the parents are like ... really old, or … R.I.P.” (Particularly funny to us, because the actors in the first run of movies are just a few years older than R. and I … )
—Lukas requested "Salty water. You know that kind with bubbles that goes fizzzz." Seltzer? 😂
—Lukas re: Michelangelo, in the Lego Batman Movie: “Mikey-langelo"