Interrupted Wanderlust: Isabella at 4 Years, 5 Months

Isabella at 4 Years, 5 Months

7 Comments posted by Kristi on Thursday, February 03, 2011 at 11:15 PM

It's been a pretty good month in Isabella Land.

She is loving her Saturday morning Clay Class at the art gallery, and so far, she's made a bird's nest, a fish, and a monster. Last week, the class glazed.

Saturday mornings are hectic, but so far, she's doing well with the packed schedule. Clay class ends at 10:45 and her tennis lessons begin at 11:30am. Her coach says she's become a "class leader," and always asks to do specific drills. I think we'll keep her in lessons until she decides she doesn't want to continue, if that point ever comes. Tennis is an interesting sport, and one I know very little about, so it's been fun learning about it through Isabella.

Out of the blue, she's begun searching for words that rhyme: At least once or twice a day, she'll say, "Hey, "cat" and "sat" rhyme, don't they?" as if she's made this great discovery. I bought her these books for Christmas, and the hubs and are working on them at night with her. I have to say I was skeptical of them at first, but she's actually been able to read the first few books all on her own. The stories are hardly interesting, but I suppose that's not the point with early-reading books.

Art projects are still her thing, and I've just given up cleaning off our dining room table every night. It is overflowing with her creations, markers, crayons, glue, and supplies. We have no place else to put them and have them accessible to her, yet out of the reach of L and N.

Of course, sometimes they're drawing right along side her.

Interestingly, at her preschool conference, her teacher mentioned that she has trouble cutting complex shapes with a scissors. Given all the time she spends on craft projects, this was a surprise. Apparently, she keeps popping her thumb off the handle. Isabella is left-handed, so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it.

However, that was the only issue brought up in her conference. Her teacher says she loves school, loves to learn, has many friends, and is developmentally on-target or beyond where she's expected to be in all other skill areas.

We had her Kindergarten Orientation (Kindergarten!) last week. We toured the school and the Kindergarten classrooms, which were huge, and so cool (smart boards, reading areas with window seats, Plan Toys dollhouses, and enough art supplies to make her head spin). Registration is in March, at which point I will have to write a letter asking for morning Kindergarten (it's only a half-day program, unfortunately) because the twins will be in preschool 3 mornings a week (cue the choir), and I need that time to work. Apparently, everyone in my district wants morning Kindergarten, and those who request it need to submit their reasons in writing.

Isabella has been very excited lately because Chubbie (our oldest cat and mother of Louie and Claudia) has been coming into her room and sleeping on her bed.

She's asked me to leave a food bowl and a water bowl in her room in case Chubbie needs refreshments while visiting.

(Thank you to those of you who have emailed me asking about Louie. He continues to do as well as can be expected. He is eating and drinking and acting normally. He still cuddles with Chubbie every night in my office on the ottoman in front of the big chair where I work. But the mass on his shoulder is growing. What that means internally, I don't know.)

I read in one of the silly parenting magazines that I still subscribe to despite the ridiculousness of their articles and the utter laughability of their "healthy snacks" or "healthy dinner" articles placed on opposite pages to ads for Pop-Tarts that kids don't begin to feel empathy until around age 6. That until that age, kids are 100% focused on their own needs and desires, and basically don't give a rat's arse about anyone else.

But what I've realized lately is that I have a really empathetic kid. When Isabella sees me melting over the twins' often abhorrent behavior (and shamefully, she does a lot), she will say things like, "Mommy, let's go in your office and read a book" or she'll try and distract L and N so they'll stop screaming. I've been sick this week, and she's brought me a blanket, unprompted, while I was lying on the couch. When I say I'm tired, she'll say, "Mommy, someday you can stay in bed ALL DAY, and I'll bring you breakfast in bed, and you won't have to do anything."

Sometimes it is the Isabella show. Sometimes she's just as loony as her brother and sister, and sometimes her behavior is just as bad.

Isabella at 4 Years, 5 Months

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