Orange Belt Test

A two minute look at Eva's orange belt test:

It was so fun to watch confident, self-assured Eva doing her thing. Especially since she is working her second language and the acoustics were terrible in the gym. The jumping jacks in warmup was one of my favorite parts.

Afterward she told me she liked doing the test. She is now very psyched to get to the level where you break boards!

Wordless Wednesday

TKD

I think I enjoy the kids' class more than they do! Well, I definitely look forward to it more than the kids do. Every time I announce with great excitement that it's time to go to Tae Kwon Do, the kids groan, "AwwwwwwWW!" I think (hope?) it's just because they're kind of tired by that time in the day. During warm-up they always have giant grins plastered on, with a similar expression to a dog with its head out the car window.

Their teacher, Barbara, is really really good. She got to one or maybe two steps away from representing Mexico in the Olympics. She obviously enjoys children and knows how to work with them effectively. She keeps the classes moving so the kids don't lose interest and she pushes them farther and faster than you'd think possible.

In the short time since they started, Micah's attention span has increased considerably. He used to tune out at around the 30 minute mark. Yesterday it was about 50 minutes before he began kissing the mirror and contemplating his navel. It is so incredibly cute to see these little guys standing at attention, bowing, and doing all the different movements.

My heart swells when I watch Eva. She has developed such confidence and self-assurance recently! She is the first to volunteer when Barbara asks who wants to do something in front of the class. Her shouts are among the loudest. She has an obvious sense of belonging among her peers. These changes are so huge, as she has struggled with self-consciousness. Answered prayers!

I see so much of myself in Eva, and Andrew in Micah. In their learning styles and ways of being. It makes me chuckle as I see Eva trying to be 'efficient' when doing different movements, and the way she focuses on following instructions as exactly as possible. And then there's Micah who just kind of does stuff as he sees fit. He sees the basic idea of the exercise and isn't so concerned about precision so much as getting it done.

Next Friday Eva will test for her orange belt. Apparently it's a "massive" test day with all the local schools attending. Should be interesting. I'll be sure to take my camera.

I Spoke Too Soon

I made classic parenting mistake. I declared something so. Hence immediately thereafter it became NOT SO.

Joshua was miserable all afternoon.

Micah opted out of much of the Taekwondo class today. "I'm not interested."

Hopefully I didn't compound my mistake by signing them both up anyway. Micah was really tired from his sniffles so I'm counting on the return of his enthusiasm by next week.

Here is a 23 second clip of them working on a punch. SO cute.

Snot, Smiles and Taekwondo

So Josh wasn't even over his last cold when this one hit him. Poor guy is so tired but just can't stay asleep once the snotcork wedges into place. However, despite the miserableness of having a cold, and at the risk of him immediately proving me wrong (as kids are wont to do) I am going to declare Joshua more content.

The last week or so has seen him enjoying diaper changes, quietly hanging out in the bouncy chair or swing for a stretch, and doing much less crying in the carseat. Yippee!!! He really enjoys when the big kids fuss over him- which is such a double edged sword because that's how he gets his colds. Yesterday he sat on my lap and quietly enjoyed the kids' Taekwondo class for a good 15 minutes before the snotcork got the better of him.

I've been looking for some sort of activity in which to enroll Micah. He is so bored in the mornings! He needs an outlet. Of course there are no morning activities since other kids his age are in school. But most afternoon activities are for kids four and up. But I found out that Xochi's Taekwondo teacher takes kids as young as three!! Yesterday we went to check it out. It only gets better. Both kids can be in the same class. There is a volume discount. It is two days a week and starts at 4:30 (many activities are three days a week and start as late as 6 or 7'o'clock). I like the confidence, discipline and language benefits I see coming from this class. And the kids really really enjoyed it! So did I. It was really fun to watch them learning with big smiles, and Micah was so cute doing his best to follow instructions. I will try to get some video tomorrow.