Today has been a very nice holiday for us. We got up bright and early and headed for the beach. Since it is on the windward side of the island we thought we would get there early in case it got chilly in the afternoon. That worked out perfectly because we got there just as the rain was stopping, we played in the sun and sand just long enough to wear out a little boy and then packed up just as it began to rain again! I won't say we missed it all. We were just wet enough to bring a lot of that very fine Waimanalo sand home with us! Somehow I don't think I'm getting a lot of sympathy for that!
I don't think any of us enjoyed the day off as much as Zak. He has needed a little down time with all of his traveling and work and sermons and classes! He's been a very busy boy! Yesterday he finished his series of sermons on small groups. He did a great job of laying the ground work for the congregation based on examples in the Old and New Testaments. This Sunday he talked about how our church specifically would be putting this age-old principle into practice. It's pretty exciting! We haven't been part of a church of small groups in at least four years so we are really looking forward to it. Zak has put a lot of time and research into making sure we do things well from the beginning so the most benefit can be realized. I think he has also grown a lot through this process and it's brought his reliance on God to a new place. I'm really proud him!
Since we got home fairly early from the beach today we still had lots of time to fill with Koa's emerging favorite pastime--reading. He is just now getting patient enough to sit still for a book read in its entirety--well, almost. His latest favorite is "Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too" by Eric Carle. He likes how predictable it is, I think. For those who aren't into children's literature, it just asks the same question over and over regarding different animals. The answer is always, "Yes, a _________ has a mother, too. Just like me and you." The first time we read it Koa thought it was hilarious. Now he likes answering the question himself with, "Yeah." at the end of each page and then he laughs when I turn the page and give away the answer. However, apparently he thinks a bear does not have a mother because twice today when we got to the bear he said no and then lost interest at the monkey even though he did let me know that the monkey did in fact have a mother before he crawled down off my lap.
His other favorite right now (and it has been for a while) is "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boynton. Koa thinks the word "oops" is very funny and he is starting to understand why that silly turkey keeps getting labeled with it. We know this is one of his favorite books not just because he brings it to us multiple times a day, but because the cover has had one side of it almost completely devoured. Zak always says that in our marriage he is the reader and I am the eater. I guess Koa is once again a balanced combination of the two of us--he doesn't just read his books, he eats them, too!
In addition to sitting down to read, we have started trying to teach him to sit in his chair by himself to eat his snacks. Although this has always been the rule, now we take the tray off and ask him to sit there until his snack is finished. He does pretty well with it. The first day he tested it several times, but now he is getting pretty good about waiting even if he has finished what he was eating, but wants more. He has also started saying, "Isss, issss, issss" instead of whining when he wants more. I'm not sure if that is supposed to be "this" or "please" or just what, but I like it a lot better than whining! I figure the self restraint he is exercising will eventually lead into teaching him to sit more quietly during church and things like that.
You may remember that I was teaching him sign language at one point. We still do the sign for potty, but other than that we have stopped almost entirely because he just stopped showing any interest in doing it. The other day we were out to dinner for our friend, Bethanyanne's, birthday and we all shared a big plate of dessert after dinner. Well, I let Koa have a little of the chocolate cake on his plate and he quickly gobbled it up. I kind of ignored the fact that he had finished it, and he promptly let me know he would like some more please--by using his sign language. So, I guess he just holds out for desperate times. I gave him some more cake and he gobbled that up. Then I decided to give him a little bit of a different dessert--a white cake with fruit on it. He politely picked it up off of his plate and handed it back to me and then handed me his plate for a refill. It was pretty funny. I let him know that he was all pau with cake and he accepted it really well. I was a little bit surprised but very pleased!
Lately Koa has been having nightmares (anyway that's the only explanation we can come up with) and now he is terrified, during the day, of the vacuum cleaner! So, the only thing we can figure is that he is having nightmares about the vacuum. We have had to run intervention several times just to get the vacuum out of the closet without him having a meltdown. He runs and hides behind our bed or just stands there shaking. It is the saddest thing to watch. I just have to wonder what in the world the vacuum cleaner is doing in his dreams. He has also recently become mildly afraid of dogs which he has always loved! Any moms out there who have advice on helping little ones cope with nightmares--I'm all ears!
