Sunday, October 14, 2012

Joey's Birthday

So now Joey is 7.  We had a pajama party for her on Friday night and all the girls got along great.  They laughed and talked, played in the kid-sized kitchen, and danced around to the music requests.  Joey is a little bit shy around new people, and when she wants to tell me something that's private, she often talks so soft that I can't hear her.  The twins were talking in the car the other day about popularity and who was popular in their class.  Neither of them see themselves as popular.  This doesn't seem to bother them; it's more of a fact of life.  I think it does bother them at some level just a bit, but we try to talk through it.  Anyway, Joey was mentioning one of her friends, and one of the twins asked her, "Is that girl popular?" and "Are you popular?"  Joey's answer to both questions was no and then she added, "We don't do popular in first grade."  :)

Joey's favorites...
color...any shade of blue
activities...reading, dancing around the house, doing fingernails (real and fake), playing school
food...Lately at supper, she opts for cereal rather than whatever we're having.  I haven't been real organized with suppers lately and have been just throwing some things together.  I would love to be Mrs. Cleaver and have a full, hot meal prepared every night without any trouble.  I need to remember that she was a fictional character:)
sleeping arrangements...Joey and Birdie recently moved into the smaller room next to their brother.  Dellaney and the baby girl moved into the big room with the crib and a big girl bed.  Joey doesn't mind sleeping with wild-sleeper Birdie, even though Joey wants to be completely covered up and Birdie sleeps with no pajamas and no covers.  Neither of us know how she can sleep like that.  Before she goes to sleep, she loves it when I have the time and energy to rub her face or her back while I sing some soft song.  This completely relaxes her and she's asleep in a matter of minutes.  When I'm not able to do this with her, she and Birdie laugh and talk and squeal and giggle and have a mini-pajama party until they finally fall asleep.  I've been "helping" them with this problem by giving them five minute warnings - Settle down and go to sleep in five minutes if you want to choose your clothes tomorrow.  Sometimes this doesn't work because the giggles get the best of them.  She enjoys snuggling and sleeping up close.
school...Joey does well in school.  Because of my background as a teacher, some of her comments about math completely astound me.  She's definitely an out of the box thinker, and gets math in a way that can't be taught. 
moods...She has begun to cry immediately when something doesn't go her way.  We've been working on this.  What's amazing about this is that if I can just hold on and bear with the crying for just a minute or so, she quits crying and completely moves on, not mentioning the situation again.
helping...She is a great helper around the house, and wants to help with the baby as much as her older sister does.  She picks her up a little more than the baby wants to be picked up, but she loves inventing and playing games with her.  She is very nurturing, kind, and forgiving.  She has more trouble getting along with the bigger kids than the younger ones.

Happy birthday, Joey!