Baking and new drawings

Gosh, I have had such a feeling of quiet the last few days and have not felt like communicating at all. Julia has had some bad behavior in school -- hitting and today kicking. It is usually during one part of the day -- but either morning or afternoon -- usually not against kids, althought she wounded two boys this week, and she has been doing her work. She has also been willing to talk to me a little bit about the hitting. On Monday, Julia pulled Seth's hair. She plays with Seth and they chase eachother around the schoolyard, so she and Seth have a rough and tumble relationship. When I asked why she pulled his hair, she said it was "because Seth hit me." I was so thrilled that she used "because" in a sentence that I almost forgot to look stern. She told me that she hit yesterday because Eileen, an aide, wanted to hold her hand. Now, I am not putting any great reliance on what she is saying. Seth may have brushed up against her, or done nothing at all. I talked to Eileen this morning and she said that she took Julia's hand after she calmed down, but it is exciting that Julia is trying to provide some answer to my Why questions. I don't think she knows herself why she go into hitting mode. But once we can start talking about it, we can do more to find out.

Julia was also very concerned that Christy, her teacher, was angry because of Julia's bad behavior. This is great! Here she is recognizing emotion in others that are not part of our household and maybe she may want to please Christy sooner or later. We are moving along!

The messy face pictures are the official beginning of baking season at our house. I usually bake for Thanksgiving and for Christmas. For Thanksgiving, I bring a few kinds of biscotti to Maryland and last year, for Christmas I send biscotti, pumpkin bread, and poppyseed cake to those who we will not see for the holidays. I enjoy both the baking and the sending, the knowing that I am doing something that others will enjoy.

Julia loves helping and she is getting better at it. She can use the sifter, hold the mixer, and break eggs. I am hoping that we can get into measuring this year as well. The best part for her, of course, is the licking of the mixers' paddles. I remember doing the same thing as a kid. Just before I took the second picture, I asked her to open her eyes. I really didn't expect her to do it.

And now, some new pictures all drawn within the last week. Julia's people are taking on substance. There are fewer stick figures and some are even happy or excited. The first picture is a star girl who is dancing.
I love this little guy even though my picture is a bit blurry. I don't remember what Julia said this was but I love the big eyes and curls.

Finally, this is an angry fox. She drew on arms after I took the picture but then erased it too fast for me to gt another shot. When I asked why he was angry, Julia told me that the fox couldn't "do chasing."