A snippet

Noemie is my bubbly, obedient, social, charming little girl who, likely an ENFJ, is so like me in some aspects of her personality that I rarely comment on her behavior because it seems so ordinary and nondescript to me. One thing about her that is a bit unique is that she is given to panic attacks at the occurance of loud noises. This afternoon, when a neighbor decided to drill something into the walls during nap time, little did they know the psychological trauma they would inflict on my unsuspecting two-year old. Our condominium's studs are made of metal, so that when they are hit or cut, the whole building trembles with the grinding sound, so that you can't tell if they're drilling the floor beneath you, the walls under yours, or even if it might be the unit two doors down. As soon as the drilling started I braced myself for it. Sure enough Noemie was, within seconds, screaming in mortal terror. I walked into my bedroom (where she naps) and she was gripping the comforter for dear life. Just screaming her head off. I took her into my arms, holding her tightly, and after several minutes she, between gasps for air, was able to make out, "Estoy SCA-A-RY!" (How can you not laugh at that?)

Noemie is also different from Dominic in that she is taking much longer to acquire the reading and arithmetic skills that Dominic had already mastered at this age. By his third birthday, albeit quite advanced, Dominic could identify 11 letters of the alphabet and 6 numbers. I've started using flash cards with Noemie to see if that will help. I can show her a letter and tell her what it is, and then show her another. I'll go back to the first again and she won't remember. Every letter I ask her to identify, the answer is "ep." With the exception of "O" to which she confidently answered "penguin."

As for Dominic, he thought peeling off the panel of wallpaper by his bedside would be a good way to kill time as he fought off sleep at naptime today. I explained to him when he woke up that he can't do that because this home belongs to someone else and he was damaging it. Dominic was very alarmed to find out that we lived in someone else's home and now he wants out.

Those were the funny moments in our day today, which like other days this week, have been kind of on the busy side. I spent the morning going to grocery stores and recording prices on our family's staples for comparison's sake. (Whole Foods is, on average, twice the price of Publix in everything from cheese to peanut butter... with the curious exception of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream. Also a curiosity- that I consider Ben & Jerry's a staple.) And my church has been having a week-long revival. We leave for Venezuela on Monday. But first, I have to bake six quiches. And pack. Oy vey.