changes

I realize that this possibly sounds both trite and redundant, but I simply cannot believe how very fast my boys are changing. Lately, it’s their love of music that has been especially evident. Both boys love to sing, but O*liver has also been very interested in the harmonica and piano lately. If he can get No*ah to leave him be for a few minutes, he carefully plays notes on the piano, going up and down the keys, seeing what happens when he holds 2 keys down or plays with more than one finger. We kind of have an idea that we’ll have Ollie take piano lessons and Noah on the violin, so maybe that’s an encouraging sign. He also plays the harmonica rather nicely, making very deliberate little tunes and trying to play the same pattern of notes over and over. It’s a lot of fun to watch him experiment, but a bit frustrating to see how often he gets interrupted by No*ah in the middle of his playing. I’ve been explaining a bit about the piano here and there to both boys—what an octave is, playing scales and so on. At this level, we’re not yet at the point where J’s expertise is that much more relevant than mine. We were talking about “middle C” the other day, and N*oah asked why “C” is in the middle, and not “A”, like in the alphabet? I didn’t really have a good answer for him, so he said, “I just think the notes people should talk to the alphabet people”.

Noa*h is all about singing, rhyming, and making up lyrics right now. He’s really quite good at it, making up simple songs, or creating entirely new lyrics for tunes he knows, in key. He’s imitating Joel and I, who do that all the time, and have since they were born, singing to ask them to come set the table, take a bath, and so on. It is so much fun to watch him do the same thing. Ollie is in the middle of a major creative streak as well, especially with storytelling. I can’t wait until he can write, because he has a fabulous imagination. He’s suddenly singing more or less in key too. And everything that I’m describing here has happened within the last couple of months!

Something both wonderful and also a little concerning is their connection as sibling twins. They are so into each other right now, and often quite loving.

They show concern for the other’s wellbeing, and if they hurt one another in some way, they’re often quite remorseful. The problem is, they don’t ever really want to be apart. As in, at all. I’m a little worried that this is going to be more of an issue, as even now, the little time they have apart is punctuated by regular request to be reunited with the missing twin. Their preschool doesn’t have the option for them to be apart, so that isn’t a place they can practice separating. We will likely separate them for kindergarten, but if they end up going to all-day kindergarten, that will be such a massive all-at-once change. Oy. The school district is changing all it’s school choice options and possibly re-zoning all the neighborhoods for the fall the boys start school (fall of 2010), and all the possibilities are making my head spin. We’ve also applied at a private Montessori that would have separate class options but still allow some interaction between them (and they’d go there starting in the fall), but getting them in there is a real long shot. We’ll know a lot more in April, and looking at all the options over the next year will likely be a consuming task.

Yesterday, N*oah irritated Ollie somehow, and Ollie said, ‘you don’t know everything, N*oah!”. He was facing away from Noa*h, and Ivy (our dog) ran past No*ah and stepped on his bare leg. N*oah started to cry, because it hurt, but Ollie misunderstood and thought he’d caused Noa*h’s reaction. He ran to Noah, threw his arms around him, and said, “No*ah! No*ah! You know many of the things to know!”

They don’t fight so terribly much at all, but they did receive a single balloon from someone else's party a while back that caused some bickering and possessiveness. Their big request for their actual birthday is “Many, many silver balloons with helium!” Here, it was Ollie’s turn, and he held onto his balloon even while he napped. (A nap is a rare event around here unless someone is sick, but he was.)

And did you know that blue and yellow make green and that red and yellow make orange? The boys have been telling everyone they meet about this new information.