Spring might be coming

The days are certainly longer- in terms of light. It really is nice for it to be light by 7:30 in the morning now. And no longer dark at 5pm.

We are also over our various colds and bronchitis and back to a more normal schedule. David is coughing a bit so a cold is not necessarily far away. But we hope for the best.

On Friday we planted seeds in styrofoam egg cartons to see if we can eventually turn our balcony into a bit of a greenhouse. We have hopes for tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and spinach... time will tell. The was a project for the boys, but of course it was mama's idea and mama will have to "raise" the plants.

It has been nice to hear that Erik is doing well in his preschool class. Some who met our boys this summer might be surprised to hear that he is a rather compliant child and observant to follow the teachers' instructions without being told a second time. The teachers think his socialization is fine as well. Erik tells a different story though- that he has no friends and he does not want friends. We are not sure what to make of that.

We are starting to think it could be good for Erik not to be in preschool full days since it is not really a full day educational program. They lay on cots for 3 hours in the afternoon! On Friday I took him out to try bowling. Perhaps he is still a little young judging by his attention for that, but we saw other children smaller than he bowling!

David on the other hand is continuing to test the patience of his teachers and apparently is rather demanding when playing with the other children. Somehow this sounds like Erik a year ago. His teachers find that confronting David especially if it needs to be repeatedly causes his exceptional will to flare up. And sometimes they get a good result by reminding him he can be a good boy. David still has evidence of some developmental delay in a few areas too. And we sort of expect this. We will look forward to not buying disposable diapers that are put to good use every night -when that day comes. Unfortunately, conditions for his development while in the womb were such that he will continue to experience challenges in some areas of development for quite a while. He is not going to fit the cookie cutter expectations of most teachers here. But, there are some things that he does well for his age as well. That makes his harder not to expect that he "shape up".

We have one more week of classes at LCC and then the spring break comes when Gregg has the week off. Lithuanian Restoration of independence day comes in that week too so that is a holiday for everyone on that Wednesday. some other LCC families we know are heading to Egypt for that vacation week. But that is quite far from our minds- does not sound restful with two active boys who are overstimulated by new things!