report cards...

We got report cards/progress reports for both our little boys this week.

Ike's started out with: "Ike is a happy and stubborn little boy."  Of course.  It followed with: "He has well mastered fine and gross motor skills. He can cut with scissors, write out his letters, kick a ball, run, skip, gallop, etc. when he WANTS to."  With the included capitalization :)  It ended with: "We love Ike's mischievous grin and scary monster voice".

This kid really is so stubborn.  If you ask him to do something- he'll say no simply because you asked him.  He loves to be goofy and the class clown- as long as you are laughing with him and not at him. 

He isn't a bad child at all- but LOVES to say no ALL of the time.  It drives me BONKERS.  It's like negotiating with a terrorist.

Zeb had parent teacher conferences this week and passed with flying colors.  He has surpassed all first grade goals but one- math.  And that's just because it's stuff like fractions and whatnot that he's never even seen before.

His teacher wants him to work at home with creative writing.  His handwriting is great, his spelling is above average, and his reading comprehension is wonderful.  Now she wants him to work on adding details to stories.  Taking his writing to the next level.   I'm excited that we got to talk to his teacher and get some things to do at home!  She's a wonderful teacher.  His school is AMAZING and I am so sad we are leaving.

Mrs. Patel told us that Zeb is a fountain of information and is a wonderful student.  He loves to help her out and always gets excited to share things with the class.  He also LOVES the state map rug and state map puzzle. We talk about the United States and the whole world a lot at home so I'm happy to know he's retaining that info :)  I'm also just glad he's nice to the other kids and is respectful to the teacher!

I could not have asked for a more responsible and upstanding first child.

And miss metta.  I get a progress report on Metta every day when I pick her up at the gym. Seriously- they tell me the FUNNIEST stuff about her.

Remember how I posted about her maternal instinct??  This week at the gym she's been wearing all of her babies under her shirt and pretending to be pregnant.  FOR REAL. We don't even have any friends who are prego.  I have NO idea where she gets this stuff.  Next thing you know- she's going to start trying to nurse her toys.

Did I ever blog about her being in speech therapy?!  long story short- I self referred her to the 'help me grow' program because at 18 months old she ONLY said 'mom' and 'binky'.  She qualified for free bimonthly in home therapy.   The ladies who come do her therapy LOVE her.  And of course she's a chatterbox now.  We are still working on 2-3 word sentences- but her speech is growing exponentially by the day.

Lately she is obsessed with Zeb's school gear.  She'll scream 'backpack! backpack! backpack!' until I put it on her.  She walked around the house like this for 45 minutes today.

Kids are such hard work.  But I suppose it's the most important work I can be doing here on Earth. I remind myself often about this quote- taken from a talk at LDS general conference about Children-

“Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”

Raising my monkeys is God's work  And I don't always love it- but I know it's why I am here.