September 12

Hi!
Yesterday was Monday.
We played a bit downstairs, yesterday. The children, even Maddie, are venturing downstairs more, and I am quite thrilled about that. It's lovely to use your Entire house, instead of just a few rooms. Besides, it's the playroom, it's colorful, painted joyfully (if I may say so myself) and I also like the fact that Trev is getting over fear of venturing downstairs by himself.
It still makes him a bit nervous, and he'll often ask me to come down with him, but after talking with him yesterday about it, and discussing why he hears such loud banging noises when he is down there, I think he feels a bit more secure about it. Yesterday Maddie went down to investigate all by herself.
Trev played with his train track (he's playing with Thomas and friends again, I think it helps that the track is set up down there, not just in a box in his room, plus when we went to Damek's a while ago, he played with it there.)
We also beaded, for a second, and I was trying to quiz Trev on patterns, but he either didn't get what I was asking, or he just wanted to do his own thing.
Then we painted dinosaurs. I asked him if he wanted to make dinoaur bones, but he said "No, let's paint!" So we did. First we did water colors, but he found them to be unsatisfactory, and proclaimed that he wanted to get out the other ones, so we got out the poster paints.
We've had a game called "In The Jungle" for a while now, I think Aunt Robyn gave it to him, but we had never played it until yesterday. I tried Candy Land several months ago, but he had no interest in it, and didn't want to follow the rules, so instead of getting frustrated, I just didn't encourage games for a while. Though we have had success with a game called "Duck, Duck, Goose", he likes the duck, and the song it sings. Yesterday he was the one to instigate, wanted to play the lion game, so we gave it a shot, and it was a success. He followed the rules, and actually won the game.
Trev and Eric went to the movie to see Cars. He had a great time, of course.
We also did some reading practice yesterday.

Today we had playgroup, and so were at the park for three hours. At first when it was time to go, even though Trev had warning it was getting time to go (Maddie is sick, and was ready for her nap at this time) he yelled when I said it was time to go, but I just said "Hey, what's that about?" and he straightened right up, and didn't protest any more.
There was a bit of trouble today at the park, there is a stream (sort of a canal-type) going through the park, and the water is murky, and I don't know how deep, and he was starting to cross it. I told him no, and he kept going, and then I said no again, and he kept going, and I pretty much was saying "Enough!" and he kept going.
Eventually I got him back across, and out of the water, and told him that I couldn't see his feet, and that the murky water worried me, that it could be dangerous, and have dangerous things in it.
He got back in the water, and tested me a couple of times, and came out a couple of feet further than I wanted him to.
I think the issue was (he doesn't usually behave this way) that I always let him play in streams, like at the zoo, they have this little water area, and at Millcreek, it's in the mountains, and less than a foot deep, and let him splash in various other streams.
On the way home I asked him if he had fun, and he said he did, and he also liked playing in the river when I was getting nervous. I knew what he meant, but just to clarify, I asked "You liked playing in the stream, or you liked making me nervous?" "I liked playing in the stream." "Did you like making me nervous, too?" "No."
"The thing is, Trev, and I know you love playing in the water, but that water today was different. In the city, people throw lots of trash in to the streams, and metal, too, and if something rusty and metal scratched your leg, we would have to go to the hospital to get a shot, it's called a Tetnus Shot. The difference in that one and the other ones I let you play in, like at the zoo, is I know that one is safe. And Millcreek. I know that's safe. But I didn't know or believe that that water today was a safe place to play, so if you were not standing right there on the side, where I could see the little rocks, I could not see what you were standing on, and I couldn't feel that you were safe."
Since we've been home we've been playing downstairs. He wanted to play In the Jungle, again, and then he wanted to know what else there was to play. Snakes and Ladders? No, what else? Uh, checkers? I have no idea how that would have panned out, not successfully, I am sure! :) Then I spotted jenga.
So we played Jenga twice. (without any strategy tips from me, of course, let the boy figure out such complicated concepts on his own.) After that we build houses and caves out of them.
Now I'm here, Maddie is in her chair having a smackeral of something before dinner, and Trevy has brought Jenga upstairs, and is building it and knocking it down again.
We'll do some reading practice in a bit, if Trev is game (maybe while Daddy makes supper?), and then I dunno what.
I think that's it for now.
Steph