Family update

It feels like I haven't written in a while about Xander - or, at least, it's been a while since I've written in the detail that family requests! So let's see...

Some big news is that yesterday was Xander's last day at his daycare. For a variety of reasons, we're switching out of the care at school and going to a nanny-share. One of the caretakers at the school was leaving, so she's going to come to our house three times a week, and our friend's house twice a week, for the next month. After that we may keep with her or go to the JCC, we're not sure. But we're very happy that Xander gets to stay with a caretaker he knows, and the people we're sharing with are the parents of his very best friend in the world, Yasha (the younger of the two boys in the tractor pictures). So the caretaker will be looking after Xander, Yasha, and his older brother, and they'll have a good time I'm sure.

Our babeleh is also reaching a small milestone, which will hopefully lead to a bigger one soon... he's telling us when he needs a diaper change! Hooray. This means I've brought out a small potty to the living room, and he's slowly being introduced to it. He's not using it yet, but I have hope.

He loves to sweep - our kitchen floor is actually cleaner than usual because after every meal he insists on going to the pantry, signing for "help" to open the door or just opening it himself, and taking out his tiny broom. Then I pull out the big one and we clean the floor. I swear, it must be from Jonathan's side. God knows he doesn't get it from me.

Staying inside the house on weekends is getting a bit challenging, because he is a boy who likes to go places. So this morning we went to the park with Yasha's family, and tomorrow we're headed to the pool with his 3 year old girlfriend Claudia. Xander's getting into climbing, running, throwing a ball, all those gross motor skills he was lacking before. We can also tell he's becoming much more independent, as he now has definite opinions on what he wants to wear in the morning, or which book we should read him at night. He was sick with a fever last week and we couldn't take him anywhere, so Jonathan got a small tent to put in the dining room. Between that and Deann's suggestion that we play with rice, the week wasn't too miserable - it's now the special sick activity to sit in our tent, pour rice from one bowl to the next and sift it through our fingers.

He's upset because I'm taking a picture and not coming inside.

In terms of Jonathan and I - I finally finished all my side research work, and I'm more than halfway done with my summer class. My professor had to leave for a family emergency in Israel, but rather than cancelling my class, we're doing an independent study. He emails me articles, I read and summarize them, then we discuss them over Skype. I love technology.

Jonathan has been very busy taking a whole bunch of exams and certifications. The state has a program for "displaced workers" where they will pay for job training, so he's taken one certification and a bunch of classes so far. Right now he's studying for the PMP (Project Management training, the one Sylvan's involved in) in late June.

Simcha is looking thinner because he's shedding so much... and because Yentl now chases him all over! She's a spitfire, that one. Half his size but she wrestles him to the ground, and they play constantly. The weather's been so nice that Osher's practically living outdoors. He only comes in for food and the random snuggle.

I'll end with a short series of pictures about Xander's hat. Josh gave it to him over a year ago, since it has a big "X" on the front. (We tell Xander it's for his name - don't tell him it's for Xavier University). It's now his very favorite article of clothing.