Alex has his seventh birthday today and that calls for a big party. At times we have some difficulty with him, but if we look at the big picture we can only conclude that he did very very well the last year. At his school we turned out to be a very good student, even getting selected to be the personal aid for his teacher. At his music classes he turned out just a bit better than the other kids, so that as a reward he was selected to sit in the spotlights all the way up front at the closing concert. At taekwondo Alex got promoted two times within the year. First to white-yellow and a short while later to yellow.
Alex has worked hard and made tremendous improvements this last year. We have a boy that in situations of authority (like with teacher) is a very disciplined boy. In all he has deserved a birthday with a nice stack of presents.
Alan is only two years, but he is developing very fast. A big role in his development is of course his big brother Alex who functions as a perfect example for lots of things. Still, there is room for surprises, like the event that happened yesterday. Alan is developing his skills to influence. The great and subtle art of preparing the now with small little details so that a desired future will be more likely. For a two year old a great achievement, in fact even with an older kid I would be impressed.
Sport is not only fun, it is also very healthy. Alex goes to taek wondo twice a week, and these classes are basically running, jumping, doing obstacle courses and every now and then also kicking and hitting an imaginary enemy.
Alan is growing very very fast. Not only his physical size, but also mentally there is a lot of progression. Partly because he is being stimulated almost full-time, but also because he is a very smart little guy. He understands almost everything he is asked, and it does not matter if you ask him things in Dutch or Spanish. He also asks things himself using a limited set of vocabulary in both Dutch and Spanish.