Let's start with today, it was so great! Both boys were so sweet and happy!
Sometimes Lee has issues with emotional outbursts in the morning before school but this morning he started out grumpy and turned his attitude around entirely! They had a short school day (out at noon) because this week is conference week. They both were in a great mood after school. My"Mom friend" Lucy's (aka Rylan's giiiirlfriend) mom actually asked me to watch her kids while she ran another kid all the way to the office because her parents must have forgotten it was a half day and the boys rough housed for at least 15 minutes cracking up the whole time! They don't usually rough house the way that most biological brothers do so it is a really cool break through to see them do it. Then when Lee accidentally fell Rylan said sorry and Lee accepted his apology right away and came to me when I asked if he needed a hug! I was so proud of him for not placing blame on anyone or anything and moving right past it!
After we went to the store to pick up some things for dinner and both boys didn't complain at all, (sometimes they make a HUGE deal about having to go into the store with us) it was nice to take time with them and talk about all kinds of things! We talked about which cereal box had the most appealing cover and Lee asked me all kinds of questions about what is healthy and what isn't. It is really wonderful he has taken such an interest in how to balance his meals to make sure he get's nutrition every time he eats and how to pick the healthier treat out of the other treats when given an option. I also had time to ask them to find me the best deal on a few items and to read the ingredients on a couple things! While we were in the store Lee melted my heart with a variation of a song that now has become my favorite for obvious reasons. Instead of the "Jingle bells Batman smells Robin laid an egg the bat mobile lost its wheel and Robin laid an egg..." Lee sang to the same tune, "I love Paige, Dad farts on everyone's face and Rylan laid an egg..."
When we got home I gave them one of their favorite lunches, (grilled cheese sandwich (with hidden veggies) and red bell pepper tomato soup & apple sticks in a log cabin arrangement (haha it's the little things). Lee was so appreciative he told me thank you a few times, told me it was the bestest lunch and that he loved me times a million! Rylan is usually the one to proclaim love for me. Rylan agreed and reiterated everything Lee said. I gave them 2 magnets (which equals 2 minutes of video game time) for the please and thank yous and then gave them a "kindness bead" for their kindness buckets (when they get 15 beads for being especially kind they get a little prize!) It was so fun to really sit with them during lunch too which I have been missing so much. Thanks to Michael last week, we have our dining room table smooshed into our living room area so we can all eat together finally! Before Michael and I would sit at the couch and the boys would sit at their individual little tables. But now those tables are for homework and holding their art easels!
After lunch we played a couple games if Crazy 8's and a few of UNO. It was so much fun! Rylan got a little upset about not winning one of the rounds and cried but then turned it around and Lee was a great sport through all the games even though he didn't win any of them! (I gave him a magnet for sportsman ship too)
Both boys are doing well in school! They both love math and they both are reading well. Rylan is more interested in reading than Lee right now though. He is able to read bed time stories with the correct voice inflections for questions or exclamations and sometimes he uses silly voices. Lee is very good at reading but not as interested on his own and needs to be bribed a bit to read to us. If he is in the right mindset he really does wonderful at it and they have told us that at school his attitude is much better than what we describe at home. Rylan struggles a bit with staying on task in class especially when he is tired. We told his teacher how much he loves technology (as she does) and charts, graphs and checklists so she downloaded an app onto a phone for him so that he can keep track of how on task he is being. It has helped tremendously so far.
Lee has been struggling with his emotions getting out of control a bit more at school lately. We did anticipate it happening with all the changes that come with having a new baby sister so the teachers are all very informed and his teacher is willing to work closely with us to make sure we are all on the same page about how to handle things when they are out of hand. Unfortunately the school counselor that was able to help him so much last year is overwhelmed this year and hasn't had as much time with him so we will be looking for a therapist on our own again....
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Something incredible that has been happening lately is that both boys have been getting much more creative with their artwork.
The funny thing is that I always assumed that Rylan would naturally be drawn to art because all I used to need as a child was a writing utensil and something to draw on to be entertained. And his biological father at one point in his young adult days hoped to be a cartoonist for a newspaper...but it seems he is too busy thinking about other things to pay full attention to art. In kindergarten he would try to complete his pictures as quickly as possible with one color, whatever color was most convenient to use. He has a beautiful imagination...but he would rather express it in charts, graphs and numbers in his own video games he creates on his white board.
Lee on the other hand is naturally inspired by ANYTHING artistic. He is so excited if he is introduced to ANYTHING new that might make his drawings/creations better/different. Currently he loves having access to my stapler so that he can make envelopes and "Pikmin Hats". Art has really helped us bond. He likes to have control in his life by being the one that knows things (anything) correctly, being the leader, making the directions, being fully informed of what will happen each day, and by not losing/breaking anything that he decides not to lose or break. But then in contrary he will let anyone do anything they want when they create art with him. There are no rules. He will let me use any color draw anything I want even if I take up the whole page. And if you make him something, he will always love it. I have made him things that I saw so many imperfections in and he still loved it. If you really want to give Lee something that will make an impression (ya know besides video games and awesome toys) give him something you made...or even better make something with him.
Michael pointed out how lucky we are that he can see so much of himself in Rylan and I can see so much of myself in Lee. To us it is the perfect situation. Rylan is a part of me but Lee is also a part of me not by blood but by soul.
A few weekends back we didn't have either of the boys. We decided to hang out at home and relax most of that weekend and I missed them so much. I wanted to do something special but we had just paid all our bills and I wanted it to be more special than something I bought. So I made each boy a picture. I worked really hard on them. I actually sketched them out and then painted them with watercolor I haven't done anything like that for YEARS. I made a family of Pikmin (our family) and a Luigi's Mansion picture that was personalized to be our family as well. I honestly thought to myself that the boys probably wouldn't really care...after all it was just a piece of paper I made for them. But they both loved their pictures. They insisted on taking the pictures when we went places and noticed every detail. I told them I looked pictures up on my computer so that I got most the details right. Then Rylan actually started getting really interested in drawing. And both boys have started looking up pictures on their computer to draw.
