thoughts dumped.

randomness on a page:

• if you happened to bring soup to my door, thank you. it arrived the moment I was ready to attempt food again.
• grateful for preschool. cooper is learning so much that would require an immense effort by me for him to learn at home. both socially and educationally. his teacher said his personality really came out during their puppet shows this week, that he started using voices and was lots of fun. I think he is rather quiet most of the time at school, I'm glad he feels comfortable enough to be himself, if only behind a puppet! his teacher puts so much time into what she's teaching, it's completely worth the money for him to have those experiences.
• miss senny has developed a habit for us. before nap time or bedtime, we need to spend a minute rocking in my chair. we usually read downstairs, so the chair hasn't been used in a while, but she has fit it into the routine. "chair" and then "sing." after a moment of cuddle and a song, she'll happily go into her bed. it's an extra step, but these sweet moments of holding her little body won't last forever. I'm loving it.
• had a love and logic refresher conversation last weekend. the thing that has made the most impact this week is my using enforceable statements. it's amazing how difficult they are to argue with! "I take boys to school who have all their jobs done." it's as simple as that. no more nagging to make the bed, get dressed, get the silverware put away, brush teeth... and on and on. I say one thing and he knows the drill. it's torture to miss school. "I let kids keep the toys they pick up." brilliant. if they don't like enough to put it away, another kid can have it. no skin off my back. seneca is being a great little picker-upper. she knows where everything goes and participates in clean-up time with her own version of the clean-up song. beckham is getting there!
• beckham has overtaken seneca as the family's best eater. he's eating fruits that were once refused as well as anything else I put on his tray. try try again... they'll eat it eventually!
• I'm one page away from having cooper's "baby book" done. yeah, he's four, whatever. I have been combining the few notes I actually took in his baby book with a scrapbook that has been in progress since his birth. my strategy has been a two-page spread for each month of their first year. it works most of the time. I'm anxious to call this one done and move onto the next project.
• hosting couples dinner group next weekend. lots of ideas floating around in my head, but it hasn't all come together yet. let me know if you have any brilliant ideas!
• tried a new pillow last night. really liked it.