Highlights
- We get the Santa Barbara Zoo all to ourselves
- Kids start their first soccer seasons
- Calan does an online class, takes up hiking, joins a choir, while Evan shows us his sensitive side
At one point just after the holidays we decided we needed something different to shake off the post new year letdown. We hadn’t been to the zoo in a long time (since Evan was a baby), so we made plans and headed for Santa Barbara on the second Monday of the year. It was an overcast, misty morning. As we headed up the coast, we saw the remnants of the big fire that plagued the area in December. Seeing smoke still wafting up in some areas and charred hillsides was a reminder just how bad that wild fire was across this region.
When we got to the zoo, we were pleasantly surprised. Hardly anyone was there. In fact, it was rare that you would even see another visitor taking in the sites. With school back in and the weather not “great”, it just wasn’t a zoo day for much of anyone else but us. The misty air wasn’t too bad, and the boys had fun exploring most of the zoo grounds and seeing all the animals. The only unfortunate part was that the train wasn’t running on this day. But you’ll never be able to beat the exclusivity of this visit and not having to wait to see any of the animals. Nice.
The moisture in the air hadn’t let up and was a little rainy in some spots as we drove back home. Little did we know that the 101 freeway we were traveling back on would be covered by thick mud and high volumes of water less than 24 hours later. A lot of rain was coming overnight, and one of the worst mudslides in history was about to take place. 🙁
Soccer
We don’t know entirely why, but Calan caught a big soccer bug in the new year. As football ended in late December, we talked about signing up for soccer at the Y for the winter season. As it came time in mid-January, Calan was really excited. What a difference 2 1/2 years makes since Calan’s first official stint with playing soccer. It didn’t go so well for him back then, but now he seemed much older and ready to play. His spirit was high, and as the first practices kicked off and the first game came around, he was really amped up. He wanted to only play soccer on the sport court. He wanted to find soccer games on TV to watch in Spanish, and he stayed after practice to kick the ball around and try his go at playing goalie over and over. It was great seeing this, but it was also bitter sweet to see his football and quarterback obsession vanish. He was happy though, and that’s what counted.
In only his second team sport, Evan joined soccer too this winter. This was a different story from the experience just described with Calan however. It was a little bit like T-ball just six months prior. Evan was nonplussed most of the time at practices. He would participate when he wanted to and how he wanted to; rarely following the directions of the coach, an energetic southern mom who really tried to help get the kids involved. Evan wasn’t the only 3 year old not terribly into the soccer routines, but as the season got going, Evan remained marching to the beat of his own drum a lot of the time while some of the other kids got with it a little more. It was great to see Evan try in practice when he did though, such as doing the little dribbling drills around the cones or taking laps around the field at the end of practice. When it came to kicking drills with the nets, 90% of the time, Evan had no intention of practicing to get the ball into the small goal.
Come game time, it was all we could do to keep him out on the field when he was “in”. He didn’t cry or get angry about being on the field, he just sort of tiredly walked off, found Mama and cuddled in next to her as if he was exhausted. Mama did end up going on the field with him during some of his turn, walking with him as the match played on. Most of the other kids weren’t much better, but there are always a few “stars” at every age level that seem to just go for it and play the game. For them, a game actually transpires. Enough of a game that is…Needless to say, we’ll be looking forward to Evan’s soccer season wrapping up. Probably as much as he is!
Calan
Sunday Hikes
One activity Calan loved doing this month was Sunday morning hikes with Mama. We picked up some new hiking boots for Calan, along with a new pair of athletic, everyday shoes (the first in many, many months!). He would wake up on those mornings, eager to head out to a trail with Mama. They would leave early so they could get back in time for a late breakfast. It was cute to see Calan stock his backpack with items like a pad and paper, binoculars and other items he could use on his exploratory outings. Finding the right walking stick was important too of course. Their usual hiking spot would be over at Camarillo Springs park just below The Grade.
School
This month, Calan enjoyed getting into geometry a little bit. Just the basics so far, but he’s grasping the concepts for now. He’s also continuing to do Dreambox somewhat regularly as well as another math program called Beast Academy. For reading, he’s revisiting his Magic Tree House series and the How to Train Your Dragon series. We got a Word of the Day Calendar from the Grands for Christmas, so Calan has enjoyed checking out the words each morning so far.
One new way of learning that Calan did for the first time this month was taking an online class. The topic was Growth Mindset, and was hosted by a teacher on the east coast. There were just a few other kids in the class so it was small. Calan resisted a little at first, and while he never fully got comfortable with the platform he participated as much as he felt comfortable doing in each class. The material was a great introduction to understanding how we learn and helps us accept the learning process. This is HUGE for Calan as so much of new things he tries comes easy for him as he gets into it. Then when things get a little more challenging as he digs deeper or tries a more advanced aspect about it, he tends to lose patience, and frustration sets in. Hopefully some ideas and tools will begin to take root and help him with these kinds of struggles whenever they come up.
Sports
Aside from soccer, Calan continued his private training sessions with Coach Wil. They’re getting a little more sporadic as things come up with Wil and his schedule. When we did meet though, we went over some soccer drills and other agility drills that can help Calan move more quickly on the ball and have even more fun on the soccer field.
We also started season 2 of YAC football. We thought it was good since it’s, well, football, which Calan loves. Also, his friend Josiah had signed up again. The reality was though that Calan and Josiah didn’t really interact much with each other while there. Josiah also usually had to leave immediately following the 90-min practice and game. They also always seemed to end up on opposite teams for the games. Calan showed a little reluctance to go to these events each Friday. Maybe it was the time of day, still in the sleepy part of the afternoon. Or perhaps it was just the set up: Lot’s of coaches, a bit more structured practices, and a lot less playing than he was used to. The teams were big, and between each play, several minutes were spent planning out a play. Before the session, they offered a couple free training sessions for conditioning, speed, etc. Calan did these and seemed to like them, as they were very similar to what he does with Coach Wil. Our hope was that he’d get to know some of the coaches and take more of a liking to YAC’s version of football. But we started to realize the obvious, that kids at this age just want to play. Calan is happy to learn techniques, but if it’s too structured, the interest level drops and maybe even the pressure to perform elevates. The Y leagues he’s done for sports so far seem to be a good balance. Needless to say, we bowed out of the last half of the YAC season. Calan didn’t miss it at all. 😉
That said, when it comes to sports, we continue to notice Calan’s ability to pick up how to do things intellectually and apply them better than a lot of kids his age. He may not be the most natural athlete in a group, but he is athletic. When you give him solid instruction, he just makes the mind-body connection quickly and pulls things off the way the coach or trainer is instructing. People, like other parents, take notice and often make comments. They usually talk about how athletic he is. What they don’t know is he’s just a good listener and kid that can focus. Then, he works hard to do it right. We’ve seen it in swimming, football, basketball for sports. And it’s the same for other skills weather it’s typing, math, writing, etc. It’s truly fun to watch and makes for a proud mama and papa.
Choir
Calan informally joined and practiced with a local choir this month. His friend Augustine is in it, so he liked the idea of that. But, when it came time to go to rehearsals he was a bit apprehensive. After the first one though, he came home asking when he could do it again. He seemed to quickly forget what he didn’t like about it and fell in love with the experience he had. That said, a week later at the next practice, he expressed an uneasiness about going again. He actually showed us some developing maturity in the situation by articulating that he may feel a little uncomfortable about it again because it’s been some time now since he’s gone. We can definitely relate to how this works all too well! If you do something regularly that’s uncomfortable you’ll usually start to feel okay with it over time (in most cases). But go stretches of time with a break, and any illogical fears can continue to nibble at you.
Notable quotes this month:
Loved the joke this month: “What clef does Evan read in music? ….the trouble clef!”
Dada being silly about something taking time: “That’ll take a long time; it’ll take until the year 2074. That year I’ll be 100.”
Calan being silly back: “Yeah, you’ll probably be dead about that time.”
Looking around the house and seeing loose boys’ socks in various places. Says, “Look, there are socks everywhere. There are warm feet everywhere. If you need warm feet you can put on some socks.”
“This morning my privates woke me up at 6:59”
“What did they do?”
“Well, I had to get up and go potty.”
Calan said he was 110% on wanting to go to Wil’s class one night, but was 50/50 on how he feels.
Said that worms come out in the rain because birds don’t like to come out in the rain. So, the worms come out because birds eat worms. When asked how he figured this out, he said it was just an observation. He didn’t see any birds in the rain and only saw worms.
Evan
Evan still shows us his sensitive sides. We noticed a couple times recently this trait come out with music. For example, we were listening to the Holberg Suite one day. During the slower and quieter sections, Evan volunteered that the the music was “sad”. Then later when the music turned a little more bright and up-tempo he said “the music is happy”. It’s interesting to hear him communicate what his observations are about what we’re listening to. This happened again one afternoon after Mama put on the Civil War station on Pandora. This is relaxing Appalachian bluegrass violinish kind of stuff. Mama went to the bathroom, and when she came out she found Evan looking down gloomily. He told her that he was sad because the music is sad.
It’s also worth mentioning how we notice when Evan is alone with just Mama or Dada, and Calan is away, he is often a different version of himself. In a way, we see his intelligence shine a little. It’s as if he has the opportunity to think through things and talk about what’s on his mind. He focuses more on the moment and what’s around him, talking about what he sees and asking questions about his observations. This really makes him come across as older. And of course, what really stands out is his emotional stability while it’s just him. And of course…there’s not the natural conflict and other heightened states that you get with your siblings around. These times are really pleasant with Evan, and it’s nice to see him in this light. That said…you could never put a value on what he gets from having Calan as the older brother around most of the time. This is probably true for every child who isn’t a first born. Sure, they go through more emotional roller coasters when interacting with their brothers or sisters, and they may not always get to express themselves the way they want to but they get a whole lot more. For Evan, his life and development is enriched immeasurably and in every way by having Calan in his life. There is no best or better situation. Each one is great in its own right, and it’s fun to see and appreciate both.
We’ve also noticed Evan picking up on sense of humor. For example, when Dada was saying the wrong lyrics to a song he was familiar with for fun he caught on right away and started making up his own a couple days later. One instance was with the Daniel Tiger jingle “Grown ups come back” song. He was singing, “grown ups come book, chair etc. It feels advanced for a guy his age to purposely twist a song up and laugh about it. Perhaps he just knows how to have fun and let’s his Dad’s goofiness rub off on hims sometimes.
Evan also had another visit to Long Beach this month. He challenged barley and was introduced to egg white.
Notable quotes this month:
“I’m sad. I miss my friend. I miss my friend Mama,” Said one day after Mama had left for a bit.
Using his doctor’s kit that he got for Christmas, he checked Mama and Dada with his stethoscope. We said, “Thank you Dr. E” when he was done. Then he went and put it away in his room. When he came right back down, he announced: “I’m not really a doctor.”
“In the dark, you can see what you’re doing,” said while turning on the light as if to show that the way you see in the dark is by turning on the light!