These past six weeks I have been inundated with school assignments and I've been loving every minute. I NEVER expected to enjoy this program, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. It's so intrinsic in my assessment work currently that I don't even have to study as hard or as long as maybe others might to get through a class. I'm steadily working my way through the course of study and enjoying the things I learn in a way I never expected. The MBA was SO BORING to me that I figured I wouldn't like this program either, but I got really lucky. Apparently I love instructional design! I think I love the layout and organization of the WGU course of study too, which really helps. It's just been a lot of fun and I'm really pleased that I am in this program.
Scarlet has been pushing our buttons for the past six months or so. She keeps pushing boundaries and pretending that all attempts to discipline her are just a hilarious joke. I recently took a personality quiz that said I'd struggle to discipline my children and I had to laugh. No kidding. I see the value in discipline but I have a hard time doing it myself. It just makes my heart hurt. I seriously never thought I'd be a softie but poor Josh has had to pick up my slack for months now. (Incidentally I just paused to put Scarlet in time out for yanking out my laptop cord when I warned her not to. See, I'm not a total slacker!) She is practicing sounding out the words we speak to her and she can go for weeks not saying a certain word we've been working on and then just out of the blue say it. The other day she just blurted out "Purple" for no particular reason. She was immediately showered with such praise, love, and affection that she felt no obligation to speak any new words for a few days. We're working on numbers, colors, and random simple nouns. She occasionally will make animal sounds (lions, cats, and dogs) and can now identify her nose, ears, and belly button. She may be quite a bit behind other almost-two-year-olds in speech development, but she is making wonderful progress in our eyes and we are thrilled with her.
Scarlet and I spent three weeks visiting my sister in Pittsburgh and we've been back home for just over a week now. It was a surreal experience. I loved being with my sister. I loved talking with her and watching Scarlet develop and progress so much faster with her four-year-old cousin around her, and I loved being able to provide tiny acts of service for my sister like babysitting on Friday nights so she and my brother-in-law could go on dates, and cleaning the kitchen. I didn't love working remotely (I just wanted to play with my sister and my niece!), and I HATED being a single mom (Scarlet often had hard nights so I got very little sleep), and of course I missed my husband fiercely. Josh passed the time by working 12- to 14-hour days and collapsing into bed afterward. He worked himself silly to avoid the empty apartment, but on some days he made the time to hang out with some work friends after hours since there was no one to come home to. Josh NEVER goes to movies or bowling or whatever--least of all with people who are not me and Scarlet--but he saw three movies in our absence and went bowling with his work friends. I was relieved that he wasn't spending all his time working or sleeping, but it was still hard to be without him for so long.
My sister and I took turns working on our schoolwork and babysitting the kids while I was in Pittsburgh, so the days were really busy after work. I remember feeling tired just all the time, but overall it was a wonderful trip. I'm attending an editor conference for work in March and it takes place in Pittsburgh (the coincidence made me laugh) so I'll get to see my sister again for a few quick hours next month. After that, I can't even fathom when I'll next see her. It is so hard for her to live so far removed from everyone else.
Scarlet's birthday is on Sunday so we're taking her to the aquarium on Saturday to celebrate. We'll bring cupcakes up to her grandparents' house and sing happy birthday to her that night as well, so she'll know she's loved. I can't believe I'll have a two-year-old. This year has really just started off with a bang and I'm excited to see what the next six weeks bring.
Also, please enjoy this brief video depicting one of the many things Scarlet learned from her twice-as-old cousin:
Oh my gosh. That video is the CUTEST! Scarlet is adorable. I'm with you on the disciplining front, though. How do other parents do it? Do people tell you that age 1-2 is their favorite age? And do you think, "Really?? So it only gets worse from here??" But your Scarlet is adorable. I love that she didn't make eye contact at first. It makes me smile just thinking of her doing that! She is cute.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love that you love your program! Don't you love pleasant surprises? It's so interesting where our lives lead us and how it isn't what we expected but it's still wonderful sometimes. :)