Nova Wind

I've been trying to write this post for months. But, as Nova Wind is an imaginary place, it is also fluid and evolutionary, thus making it difficult to describe. It seems I am getting ahead of myself.

Nova Wind is a place in the Arctic Ocean. It is also in Nova Scotia and occasionally Saskatchewan. It has even been in space. Nova Wind has a King, a prince and a princess. The princess is named Princess so we call her "Princess Princess". 

The other day was a very special day in Nova Wind- it was a day to give the Princess flowers. We can buy flowers from a man wearing all black. He grows flowers and then the bees come and pollinate them and then we can buy them. We give her flowers so she knows it's a holiday. 

The King of Nova Wind is fair and kind and quite eccentric. He requires baths of soup, monkey butlers and that everyone wear socks with grips on the soles. The only vegetable permitted in his kingdom is red peppers. That's it. Every day they eat red peppers. Except for the days when they have broccoli. But they never have carrots. 

There is a museum in Nova Wind. The soldiers like to go there and look at their horses. It also has big snakes. The soldiers are knights that protect Princess Princess from bad guys. Don't worry- the castle has a moat with crocodiles so the royal family is quite safe. 

The King of Nova Wind goes to school. He loves school and his teacher. The King makes friends easily and is very good at sharing. Except for when the King is actually a soldier. He's not very good at sharing then. Sometimes the King is not the King or a soldier, but an astronaut. The astronaut flies a space ship that looks like a tent way up high into the sky to get aliens. Sometimes the aliens are nice and other times the astronaut has to use his knight skills to fight them. If Nova Wind is in space, the aliens are even farther away, or sometimes the people of earth are the aliens.

The King/soldier/astronaut is a good hunter. He can fight and kill and eat everything in "one big chomp". Except for when the King is the tiger. Then he could still fight and kill and eat everything in one big chomp, including any hunter. 

Nova Wind has a very challenging language. It occasionally sounds exactly like English but at other times it's intricacies are so complex there is only one person on earth with the ability to translate. I'm glad I don't have such a heavy burden to carry. 

The shapes and sizes of various items in Nova Wind are quite intriguing. For instance, houses in Nova Wind are much bigger than you've ever seen anywhere else, but the graham crackers are tiny. People always sleep in bunk beds in Nova Wind and they all share one big bedroom. If you're ever wondering how so much stuff fits inside a room, or space ship in Nova Wind, you can rest easy: it's bigger on the inside. 

They have firemen and police in Nova Wind (the forces of which the King also belongs to) and- thank goodness- they also have an ice cream store. A huge one- taller than the giant houses. Princess Princess gets the giant cone with raspberrys and chocolate sauce. The King picked it out for her. It's lactose free, of course, as all food in Nova Wind is. 

We go to Nova Wind several times a day. We talk about it incessantly, and it changes almost every minute of the day. And I love it; I embrace it and ask questions and marvel at my son's creation. For he is truly a wonder, and the rightful King of Nova Wind, his Majesty, Silas the First. 

Lactose

Silas has officially been declare lactose intolerant. Not surprising considering all the trouble with dairy we had when he was an infant. He is doing incredibly well with having different milk and not having any cheese, etc. He takes it very seriously and even reminds me when I forget :). 

"Holiday" concert 2014

Ezra had his first school Christmas concert this week and he did really well. Unfourtunately, the school only allows for two tickets per child (due to firecode) so Rob went to the rehearsal in the afternoon and Silas and I went for the evening performance. Silas was bored waiting for it to begin and then got tired of "so many songs" but for the large part, he was enraptured. Ezra's class sang two songs, and he even got to introduce the French one. He spoke clear and well and I was very proud. Getting pictures was a challenge but this is what I got! 

Silas's Haircut.

The other night, against my better judgement, I cut Silas's hair. He has been asking me to cut it because it is in his eyes, so I relented. He wanted it shorter than daddies hair. So I gave him a nice cut and he was very good and happy about the whole thing. 

Then, after he'd been sleeping for an hour, he was wailing in his bed because "I miss my curls and I want them back!" 

I tried the whole "your hair will grow back" bit but he kept crying "No it won't! It takes long time!" He was inconsolable so I left him to cry- he calmed down after a few minutes alone. 

Then, half hour later, he calls me back to tell me "It still hasn't grown and Jesus won't help [him] sleep because he has no curls anymore"

I tried to console him. I tried not to laugh. I reminded him he asked for the haircut. 

He told me "I was about to say I didn't want my haircut anymore before you cut it because I learned how to fold my hair so it wasn't in my eyes but you cut it anyway" 

Oh the lesson of regret he has learned. 

The upside to all of this is that he seemed just hunky dory and he was fine with his haircut. All that drama for nothing. 

School Progress

I haven't been happy with Ezra's school since the beginning. 

Maybe I've had a bad attitude because I know I can do it better. 

Or maybe, it just really sucks. 

We chose to put Ezra in French immersion because we didn't want him to be bored. He's bored anyway.

At least he's social and loves his friends. 

This is his report card: 

See how all the objectives have been reached? He has more than a month until "holiday break" and he has no more goals to reach or learning to be had. 

We've had two meetings with his teacher. She thinks we are crazy for expecting her to do anything above and beyond the basics for Ezra. She even told us she wants the other kids in his class to catch up to him.

I have a feeling we will be fighting for this kids education for his whole life. 

Ugh. Homeschooling is looking pretty good about now. 

Excited.

I needed to post and tell you that our upcoming trip out west takes up probably at least 50% of what we talk about these days. 

They can barely wait! 

Philip walks for Real

I got a much better video of the walking today. He's really taken off the last two days or so. Won't be long before he's running! 

Philip walks.

Reading with Pip

Silas Says

Silas is doing really well. He loves preschool and being at home with Philip and I. His behaviour has been a bit rough in the past, but recently he has been very compliant. Silas feels deeply and reacts deeply, but as he matures he is better able to understand his world and process his emotions. He loves hugging and kidding and saying, "I love you so much" on a regular basis.

Silas has also not had a bathroom accident in recent memory. Yay! We are going through testing to determine if he continues to have issues with dairy, the first step removing all lactose from his diet. If this doesn't help we will remove all forms of dairy and if that doesn't help we will do a blood test. For some reason they like to avoid blood tests as long as possible in three year olds ;). 

I've had some very interesting conversations with Silas recently. Here are some examples: 

Silas, "I want grandma to read me a bedtime story today."

Me "Awe, sorry Silas but grandma lives in __________ and she can't read you a story right now"

Silas, "Yes she can! And there's music!" 

Me "What do you mean?"

Silas, "I'll show ya."

And he brings me Twas The Night Before Christmas, a recordable story my mother gave Ezra (three or four years ago). 

Silas, "See mommy? She CAN read me a story. And after our airplane ride, she can read one for real life." 

"I think the rain cloud lives by hisself Mommy."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he's sad all the time."

"Will Caroline be at preschool today?"

"I don't know, sweetheart, I guess we'll have to wait and see when we get there."

"Because I love Caroline."

"Awe that's sweet. What do you love about her?"

"I love Caroline when we sit in the saddle and ride the toys together." (Haha!) 

"I love holding your hand Mommy" 

"I love holding your hand too Silas."

"Know why I love to hold your hand?"

"No, I don't. Tell me!"

"Because I love you so much. And holding hands tells me you love me too. And also, sometimes it tickles!" 

Overheard while the boys were heading up to bed: 

S (in a taunting tone) "Ezra! You don't have a penis!" 

E "Yes I do! I'm a boy. That means I have a penis!" 

S "No way Ezra! You just have a pee hole on your bum! That means you are a girl!"