Oops, accidentally got some other kids in the video. Oh well, it's focused on Phoebe, and if you're looking at the other kids, you're doing it wrong. That there is the little springboard that Phoebe flipped off of, but I didn't catch it on video, so she's only tumbling here, like she was supposed to. She was also the only kid in the class that was able to cartwheel over the obstacle without falling. On her first try. Nailed it, again.
Phoebe: Gymnastics
Christa and I had been talking about getting the kids into some sort of extracurricular activities since their swimming classes ended. When we first moved here, they went to MyGym to play and have fun, but it was overpriced for what they were doing, and we ended up pulling them out of those classes. So, we talked to the kids, and Charlie decided that she wanted to take karate, and Phoebe wanted to do gymnastics. I'm not permitted to take videos at Charlie's karate studio, but Phoebe's going to The Little Gym, and as long as I don't include other kids in videos, they're fine with me taking them. So far, she's done amazingly well. On the first day, they were supposed to hop off of a springboard, and do a little tumble. Phoebe did a complete flip. Nailed it.
Strategy
I've been teaching Phoebe how to play chess for about two years. The thing about chess is that with as much strategy is involved, it can take years to learn how to play properly, as opposed to just knowing how all of the pieces move. She's known how to move the pieces for more than the two years, but Phoebe hates losing, and that applies to anything, even a game where you learn by losing. She's very, very smart, and has what it takes to learn the strategy of the game, and looking several moves ahead, but what she doesn't have, is patience. She's getting there, but I think it might be a few more months of playing every week before she's really got it down.
Skates
Charlie is amazing. She's our superhero too, and here, she's refusing help, and teaching herself how to rollerskate. Charlie may not quite be the natural athlete that Phoebe is, but when Charlie wants to learn how to do something, she will not give up until she learns it. She's incredibly brave, tough, and determined. She will fall down, skin her knees, wince, and get right back up and try again, she rarely cries about it, and she has no fear. I was looking forward to teaching Charlie how to ride her bike without her training wheels. When the day came, and her training wheels came off, she just rode that damn thing away. I never had to hold her shoulders, give her a push, or even run behind her. Why? Because Charlie had wanted to learn, so, before those training wheels came off, she borrowed bigger kids' bikes, and rode, and fell, and got up, and tried again, and again. Phoebe learned to ride without her training wheels over the course of a week, with our help. Charlie taught herself, in three days. She's really, really incredible.
Hs & Is
Thea and I work on her letters at least two or three times a week. In that time, I've learned that Thea learns very quickly. I've also learned that Thea will show you what she's learned, if she feels like it, and doesn't really mind if that is fist-shakingly frustrating. Sometimes Thea will know exactly what you want her to show you, know how to do it perfectly, and give zero fucks about just not wanting to do it. If she weren't so sweet about it, I think we might have given up a while back.