Giving Thanks

We had a nice Thanksgiving. Busy. Split between families (which we're planning to do away with -- the splitting part, not the families). My sisters and I went to the outlet malls for Black Friday. Usually we get there at midnight, but this year we decided to go early as some stores were opening as early as 9:00. I got some really great deals including a $250 Pottery Barn quilt for Josie for $32 and a $70 Timberland coat for James for $20. That was exciting.

In other news we are moving in January. This is, ultimately, good news but at the same time overwhelming. First off, packing. And with packing comes an enormous amount of cleaning out and decluttering. Then there are children. Moving with children is a different animal from regular moving. Inevitably, everything you organize gets gotten into, and everything that needs to be discarded is a treasure of sorts. I feel like I really must clean out a good deal, and I have actually been pleased with the progress I've made.

However, the week before Thanksgiving we finished a lot of school. I have been pushing (myself) hard to get caught up with Joel by year's end. But two weeks ago, I completely lost all steam. I kept having panic attacks over nothing, and trying not to have panic attacks about the really important things. Is was just a complete oh-my-word-I-can't-do-this-anymore about everything. Enter: the thought of moving. Result: mental and emotional roller coaster.

I had not planned on such a holiday break from school, I felt I couldn't afford to take a break. But what's done is done. We've had a two week break. I needed to reassess. At first I didn't think I could pack and do school, but I have found a balance I hope. With the good progress we've made since August I think we shall still be able to finish the main books I had planned for us to finish, and just a few to finish during the *unpacking*.

I am also trying to get rid of the ironing pile before we move. I am listening to a couple of chapters of Withering Heights off of Librivox each time I iron. I have never read it before, and it's been great. I've also started reading The Help, and a Cesar Milan book as a refresher since I haven't read any on the subject (dogs) since our black lab, Raven, was a puppy.

And I think Jack wants to learn to read.

And it came to pass ...

I'm up while everyone else in the house is asleep. They're all tucked away, and I'm up waiting on the cinnamon rolls I baked for breakfast to cool so I can put them away and go to bed. When I'm up late (this, of course, is only relatively late) I sometimes begin to think of the days of having newborns. Translation: being up at all and any times of the night. Since I do not have to do that these days, I am thinking of my friends who may be up. If you're awake, dear friends, I am thinking of you.

You may or may not want it to, but this too shall pass.

Farmer Boy

Warning: If you read Farmer Boy to your sons, they may want to become farmers. Joel now wants to be a farmer. And he is practicing for it. He has planted a fall "crop".

Beets.

Thus the younger brothers wanted to plant something too. James at first thought cabbage until he saw turnips.

And we have kept Jack's violet plant alive, which I think is something to be proud of. I have an extra pot that I think he'll plant something edible in.

Go Dog, Go!

Jack: Hello, and now do you like my hat?
Me, trying to play along: No, I do not like your hat.
Jack: Yes you do!

Current Favorite Picture

Reading

I have been reading instead of blogging. I have a lot that I want to write about, but sometimes it's a little too laborious to write a post from my iPhone. I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin'.

I finished The Man Who Was Thursday. I thought it was fantastic. And fantastical. I would like to read more Chesterton in the future.

Joel and I both finished Brighty. It was very enjoyable. I loved the reaction if the librarian when we checked it out of the library, "Oh, I LOVE this book! I read this book over and over when I was a little girl! And now I have a donkey of my own!". I thought it was great for the boys to see the librarian get so excited about their books.

I recently subscribed to receive emails from the CiCLE Institute. The last email had a commentary on reading written by Andrew Kern. I thought I'd share it, as I found it profound.

On Reading
By Andrew Kern

Reading is an extraordinarily complicated intellectual act, which leads some people to think that it can only be taught by experts. In this it parallels, motherhood. However, both reading and motherhood are both too complex for experts for the simple reason that expertise implies that you have identified the way things work regardless of context.

The expert fails at both reading and motherhood because he looks in the wrong place. I will focus on reading. Reading has to do with the soul engaging and grasping the idea (logos) of a text, not remembering the content that embodies the idea. But because we are culturally opposed to the soul and to the logos, we focus our attention on very limited faculties like critical thinking and, to a much lesser extent, memory.

The goal of reading is apprehension. Beyond a few very general ideas, I’m not sure anybody has come close to comprehending how we go about apprehending when we read. I suspect that much of our reading instruction makes students to self-conscious to be conscious of the text.

That is why the best way to teach reading, after students have learned to decode, is by engaging in debates about the text read.

Sometimes, especially on a first read, the idea is better grasped (or maybe felt is a better word to use) through a quick read than through a close analysis. You don’t want to give premature attention to detail and comprehension. First, you simply want to encounter the text as what it is.

Apprehension comes later. I don’t think you can apprehend anything on a first read. The mind has too much work to do to grasp the idea embodied in a text in one or two reads, especially if the text is worth reading.

What to do then? Stop worrying about reading comprehension and attend instead to the point of the story or text. How do you do that? If it’s a story, discuss whether a character should have done something or what will be/are the consequences of a decision made. Then argue about it, using the text to answer the question. If it’s non-fiction, identify the point and discuss whether the author is right – or even comprehensible.

Then let the discussion go. You’ll find out something marvelous: reading is not eyes scanning symbols on a page, it is souls conversing over ideas.

So Sad

I have no pictures of the cake. None. Not one. I do have a video of us singing to Jack and him blowing out his candles, which I may be able to upload by some feat of technology other than this beloved phone.

So sorry. It was very cute.

G K Chesterton

I don't know why I always do this, but I always find about 3 books to bring home from the library and try to read them. When am I going to read these books??? My latest temptation was The Man Who was Thursday by GK Chesterton. I have never read Chesterton or even heard of him until about 5 or so years ago. But whenever I hear him spoken of, I feel as if I must go immediately and read something he has written. So while I was at the library on Saturday, I went perusing, and found two of his works, one of which was The Man Who was Thursday. It was thin, so I felt it was safe to check out.

I am halfway through already.

I have recommended it to none other than my FATHER. And it begins with a POEM.

I really wish this blogger app offered such options as italic and bold, because the all-caps just doesn't cut it.

In other news, James is finishing his ninth week of first grade. It is flying by! And Jack is turning 4 tomorrow! No! It cannot be true!!!

Cake pictures following the weekend.

Caramel Apples

My mom helped my boys make caramel apples last week, here are some pictures. They were delicious but we weren't completely satisfied with the caramel, so no recipe is included. But you can find one online and try it out yourself. It was very simple to do. Beware of extreme sugar high followed by EXTREME sugar low. :) Happy Fall, everybody!

Commitment

I am about half way through Parents and Children by Charlotte Mason. It has been just the right thing for me right now. With subjects such as "parents as inspirers" and "faith and duty", did I mention PARENTS AS INSPIRERS????!!!!! With such subjects discussed, it has been amazing. Really! It has brought so much focus and clarity to my thinking, with regards to education. It's just philosophy, philosophy, philosophy, and I love it. But then it's practical application after practical application. She speaks of the evidence with validates her philosophy to be true, and which I know to be true from my own experience, and which I see evidenced in my children.

I am attempting to retain as much as I can from what I'm reading. I'm not so great at narrating, though. I mean sure, I could narrate Pilgrim's Progress or Our Island Story or Pagoo, but we're talking about a completely different level here. The reason I know that I do do poorly at narrating CM is because I will try to tell Jason about something. Note the word "try". He answers with blank looks and answers such as, "ok, that's the most vague thing I've ever heard".

Sigh.

So I am committing right here, right now, to answer the questions in the appendix when I am finished reading Parents and Children. I mean answer the questions here on my blog. I have never gone through the appendices of CM's books because I was way too intimidated by the questions. But this will force me to clearly articulate what I have learned.

Current Books

I am reading five books right now. I think five is a good amount to keep going as I am not usually in the mood to read the same book night after night. Perhaps it's the Charlotte Mason mental feast thing rubbing off on me. Heh heh. Or maybe I don't see the need to discipline myself into finishing one book before beginning another. Whatever it is, that's just how it is with me right now. Along with CM's Volume 2, I am reading The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer, the Something or Other of Motherhood ... Meaning? Method? It's a Sally Clarkson book I have been reading bits of for months now. So those are the grown up books I'm reading. Definitely each of them need to be savored. I don't think any of them would benefit me at all if I just read them cover to cover. They require Thinking.

So now that Joel is beginning Ambleside Online Year 3, I am finally through the Year 1 free read list. Until now, I have read all the free reads aloud. But at the last visit to the Library I picked up Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry for Joel to read himself. I have him read two chapters a day (they are short chapters), at separate times. Since I have never read the book, I have been reading several chapters at night a few nights a week so I can stay ahead of him. It's a great book, and I'm glad I chose this one for him to read. I also checked out Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit. I plan to have Joel read it when he's done with Brighty. It Is a completely different flavor (from Brighty), and is quite delightful. It has longer chapters, and I am slowly working through them. I never thought I'd be staying up late reading children's books, but I am! Five Little Peppers and How They Grew is what I am reading to the boys at night, with Poems and Verses for Children interspersed. I am finding that reading children's literature while I have children is helping me. It reminds me of my own childhood, my own feelings as a child, and also to have more reasonable expectations of my children. To remember what's important.

Oh yeah, the Sally Clarkson book is The Mission of Motherhood.

Current Favorite Picture

Beautiful Weather

Right now I am working on a system of regular Bible reading, and regular Nature Study. I would love to do the Outdoor Hour Challenge. The only thing keeping me from being able to do it is the no Internet issue. I want to be able to go to the Library weekly -- ALONE -- with the laptop and get what I need to get, download what I need to download, etc., etc., etc. Again I say, I am working on a system. The key is not seeing all the things I cannot do right now and wishing I could be doing those things. It blinds one from seeing what one CAN be doing. If nothing else, we are spending more time outdoors.... The weather has been heavenly!

A New Beginning. Maybe.

After what seems ages of bemoaning the fact that I have no Internet, I finally had the thought that surely someone in this great Age of Blogging had come up with a way for those of us who have need to, to blog from their iDevice of choice. And they have. And there are options. Thankfully there is a free option among them!

Although I am quite aware that no one will probably read this as all have given up on this blog ever being updated, I do not great hopes of a large following. It is only the accountability of Cyberspace that I *keep telling myself* that I need. However, I don't always tell myself the truth (yes, I have been known to lie to myself) I may end up falling off the bandwagon again as we may find that this option is really not a viable one at this time. But let's not give up before we have begun. Again.

Nothing New Under the Sun

For those of us who dream of the Edwardian era in England with perambulators and personal maids and tea time and all those romantical things, it helps to hear that mothers during that era had at least one struggle in common with the modern day mother. Read on, gentle reader, with your best English accent....


Disobedience
by A. A. Milne

James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three.
James James
Said to his Mother,
"Mother," he said, said he;
"You must never go down to the end of the town,
if you don't go down with me."

James James
Morrison's Mother
Put on a golden gown,
James James
Morrison's Mother
Drove to the end of the town.
James James
Morrison's Mother
Said to herself, said she:
"I can get right down to the end of the town and
be back in time for tea."

King John
Put up a notice
"LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED!
JAMES JAMES
MORRISON'S MOTHER
SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISLAID.
LAST SEEN
WANDERING VAGUELY:
QUITE OF HER OWN ACCORD,
SHE TRIED TO GET DOWN TO THE END OF THE TOWN -
FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD!"

James James
Morrison Morrison
(Commonly known as Jim)
Told his
Other relations
Not to go blaming him.
James James
Said to his Mother,
"Mother," he said, said he:
"You must never go down to the end of the town
without consulting me."

James James
Morrison's Mother
Hasn't been heard of since.
King John
Said he was sorry,
So did the Queen and Prince.
King John
(Somebody told me)
Said to a man he knew:
"If people go down to the end of the town, well,
what can anyone do?"

(Now then, very softly)

J. J.
M. M.
W. G. Du P.
Took great
C/o his M*****
Though he was only 3.
J. J.
Said to his M*****
"M*****," he said, said he:

"You-must-never-go-down-to-the-end-of-the-town-if-you-don't-go-down-with ME!"

1st Day of 1st Grade

Well, we survived, Joel and I. We survived our first day of First Grade (second go-round for me, obviously). Hhew, hhew, hhew.... It was pretty good. Of all the days to begin school on, I could have chosen better - far better, but hey, life is not going to stop just because school has started. We started off with the Aesop for Children. I was way impressed with Joel's narration. You could tell he was nervous about narrating because he used his pretend baby voice. The more he narrated, the less babyish he talked. After Aesop, Joel did his reading, then we did math. Parables from Nature was next and I was wondering what Joel was thinking of the story all the while. He asked about a zillion questions afterwards and seemed to really like the story. For writing I was anticipating a little resistance, so I asked Joel if he'd like to write out A. A. Milne's Bad Sir Brian Botany for his writing lesson, a little each day. He was SUPER excited, as that is his current favorite poem and has been for several months. So needless to say, the writing lesson today was great and his letters are looking very well. We began reading the Gospel of John for Bible.

So... that was today!

Along with playing at the nursing home, ironing day and group guitar lesson. Doesn't sound like much written down, but it was very much a full day.

Our New Place

Even though we are in a severe drought, we have seen three rainbows from our front porch. Thought I'd share a couple views.

These three views are of a single rainbow. We could see the entire thing, from where it touched down on one side to where it touched down on the other.

Favorite Quotes from Summer Reading

As I update the "what we're reading" list, I want to make note that we also read Charlotte's Web and Peter Pan this summer. Those were quite fun. I have favorite quotes from each....


from Charlotte's Web by E. B. White:

"How's Avery?" [Dr. Dorian] asked, opening his eyes wide.

"Oh, Avery," chuckled Mrs. Arable. "Avery is always fine. Of course, he gets into poison ivy and gets stung by wasps and bees and brings frogs and snakes home and breaks everything he lays his hands on. He's fine."

"Good!" said the doctor.

from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie:

"Ah, old lady," Peter said aside to Wendy, warming himself by the fire and looking down at her as she sat turning a heel, "there is nothing more pleasant of an evening for you and me when the day's toil is over than to rest by the fire with the little ones near by."

"It is sweet, Peter, isn't it?" Wendy said, frightfully gratified. "Peter, I think Curly has your nose."

"Michael takes after you."

She went to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Dear Peter," she said, "with such a large family, of course, I have now passed my best, but you don't want to change me, do you?"

"No, Wendy."

Certainly he did not want a change, but he looked at her uncomfortably; blinking, you know, like one not sure whether he was awake or asleep.

"Peter, what is it?"

"I was just thinking," he said, a little scared. "It is only make-believe, isn't it, that I am their father?"

"Oh yes," Wendy said primly.

Quotes of the Day

James:

"Daddy, the sheep got bit by a dolphin, but I think she can fly still!"

Jason to Joel: "Stop eating your boogers! You flush those nasty things down the potty - don't eat them!"
Joel to Jason: "Are boogers waterproof??"

Yellow is the Sun

Math is fun! Especially when you pick your nose!

Sketching

One of my favorite things in homeschooling Joel is sketching. I had no idea it would be something that I would like so much. It is just incredible to see your child create something - it might not be a Michaelangelo creation, but it's your child's creation, and therefore that much more special. Joel has been sketching for Sketch Tuesday again, but his mother has been a little out of habit, shall we say, and has just now this week actually submitted a sketch. So to make up for it, I told Joel I'd put his sketches on my blog. That's still cool to him.

We'll go from newest to oldest....

This is his sketch of money. A $20 bill, $1 bill, and $5 bill.

I love this sketch. It is of the ant farm he got for his birthday. I think it's abstract. You can tell where the tunnels are by the changing direction of the pen strokes. Very cool!

This is a sketch of a scene from "The Big Red Barn" by Margaret Wise Brown. His assignment was to sketch a barnyard animal.

Here's his cowboy boot sketch.

These are my all time favorites! Winnie the Pooh characters and part of the 100 Acre Wood Map. I think A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard would be proud.

Verbage

Jack is talking up a storm, thanks to his not having the pacifier as much. He seems to be saying EVERYthing. I thought I'd make a list of them all in case I wanted to know later what he was saying at this age. Here we go....

Mama
Daddy (sounds like Gaggy)
Joel (sounds like Dole, and he calls both James and Joel this - but if you ask him where James or Joel is, he will point at the right person, he just calls them the same thing.)
Oma
Opa
PawPaw
JL
Please
Thank you
Baseball
Football
Trash
Horse (horses are his current favorite animal)
Woof (dogs are his second favorite animal, but just in pictures)
Thunder
Tractor
Trash Truck
Apple
Banana (nana)
Cheese
Juice
Up
No
NO
NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Book
Shoes
Baby
Nose (he is fascinated with noses)
Mouth
Hot
Cold
Chancho (yes, Chancho. As in Chancho, the little boy in Nacho Libre)
Boss
All done
More
Thank you
Sippy

I'll keep adding as I remember more and he says more.

Can you find the connection?

James has taken to calling the store Target, Guitarget.

Teetering on the edge of Cyberspace

I am now able to blog again. Yea! I have missed blogging ever so much, yet when we finally got back online I found that I had so many other things to fill my time that I had actually gotten used to not having the Internet. I was planning Joel's birthday party, handwriting invitations, reading the final book in the Mitford Series, trying to catch up on email, and getting bombarded on Facebook. I tell you, some people have real problems.

Highlights that occurred during the Cyber-sabbatical were:

Well ... that is to come. I'm a little brain dead after the "day of rest" that is never as restful as I think it was intended to be - I really don't know what those Isrealite women with three-year-olds did back in the day.

In other Teeth News...

I have to post (hahaha - I originally typed it up as "poast") about James' teeth. Probably no one but me cares about it, but, uh, yeah, this is my blog. Okay, just before his birthday, his bottom 2-year-old molars started coming in and last week his top ones started coming in. I am thrilled, as his chewing abilities will be much improved. Seriously, as a 2 and 3-year-old with his sort of appetite, more teeth is a big deal! As Robinson Crusoe would say, he is "very much disposed to eat".

Bravery

Jack has begun to let go of things while standing up. He is quite daring at it and will laugh and laugh and laugh when he latches back onto something or falls. One of his favorite things to do is pull up on the big boy's stuffed animal chairs, let go, and fall forward onto them. I know now that it won't be long before he walks because he is very willing to let go and try.

I weighed the boys. They are 41 lbs., 38 lbs., and 19 lbs.

Tooth Log

I hope that Title doesn't sound too gross. I've got to record when Jack got his top teeth. At the beginning of August I wrote a post about his teeth, and two days later the first one cut through. So... that was around August 8. About 1-2 weeks later the second tooth cut through. They show very well now, and there's a big gap between them which is hilarious. He plays around with his tongue, feeling them all the time. Also, when we saw Teresa, our dental hygienist friend, at Dan and Caitlin's wedding, she checked out what I thought were his molars. She said that they're not molars, it's just a rough ridge in his mouth. So, I'm glad to know that.

Doing Without

We are doing without the internet at home right now, so I'm only able to post when I can make it up here to the Library solo. Not too often! But cute things are still happening at our house! ;) I have lots of extra time without the internet, although it is very inconvenient to not have it. So, bear with me not posting as often. I miss checking in with everybody every day!

One thing happened that I thought I'd post about because Jason said it was just too hilarious. It is just a typical thing that happens when one has three young children. I had had enough of our car being filthy, so the other morning during Jack's morning nap, I decided to clean out and vacuum out the inside of our car. Joel and James love to play in the car, so they were quite excited about it, too. This chore took quite a long time. Long enough to where Joel and James didn't want to be in the car anymore. They were playing on the carport still, though, and I knew I needed to hurry because Jack was going to wake up any minute (and God forbid that I couldn't finish before he woke up!!!!!) . So as I was putting the last few things back in the car, I looked down to see James' arm covered in black car grease. "Mama, I put this jar in there and pulled it out again." "what??!!" "Joel told me 'no' so I pulled it out." James had taken a little spice jar and stuck it into the exhaust pipe, then when Joel told him he ought not to, put his arm back in and pulled it out. I can only say thank God that it came out! So while I was trying to make heads or tails of the situation and assess how to clean James up, Jack woke up and pulled on the blinds of his window because he could hear us and knew we were outside. He spied us and started howling. I marched James inside only to discover that the orange cleaner Jason uses when he works on the car was outside in the storage closet. So we marched back outside, although Jack was still howling. We got the orange cleaner slathered on, and I turned on the water hose to rinse James off. This of course turned into a mud mess. I took James to the front porch to undress him before taking him inside. Joel followed us, but didn't pay attention to the mud and walked right through it, getting himself thoroughly dirty. And yes, Jack was still screaming at the top of his lungs. I wanted to scream, too. Needless to say, I didn't finish the car before I rescued Jack from his crib.

My Girls Jewelry

I am very proud of my mom. She has started a new business on Etsy called My Girls Jewelry. She and Jessica took a jewelry making class several weeks ago, and they have been "into" jewelry ever since. It's bordering on obsessive! Well, the best way to make money is doing something that you love. And I think that Mom is really loving making jewelry. I am very impressed with what she and Jessica have been doing (they are actually both selling their items under one shop). So please check them out and support their business! They also do custom orders, repairs, and just about anything you could think of.

Cheers, please!

I have added Jason as an author of this blog, so now if he has anything to say there will be no confusion as to who is saying what. No hard feelings, dear!

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside -

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown -

Up in the air I go flying again,

Up in the air and down!

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Joel has turned a new leaf. He likes to swing. He likes it very, very much. He actually says, "I want to go high!" And high he goes. I remember when he was just a newborn in the baby carrier, and Jason would swing it back and forth to try and comfort him. His arms would flail outwards with each descending swing. He hated swinging. Then, four years later, when his friend Adam showed him how he could swing all by himself, Joel's interest was piqued and you might catch him sitting on a swing on the church playground. When we moved, Jason put a swing in our front yard. It is hanging from a wonderfully immense oak tree. This is where Joel learned to love to swing.

In honor of his birthday...

This video is more like him ....

Home School

I have been planning to start doing school this fall with Joel. Not very much school, just a kindergarten sort of amount of school. September was my estimated time of beginning school ... and now that that time is next month, I am really trying to get my act together. I decided that for kindergarten (or Year 0), we would do reading/writing, math, art, and science/nature study. Reading we will do every day, maybe math every day, and the others will be more project based. We have a little desk that Joel will use and he is very excited about it. He has always been more interested in going somewhere to school instead of having school at home. But since we haven't really done any school work, I can see how going somewhere else would be more interesting. Anyway, since the desk is for "his home schooling" he has been rather pumped.

I have been interested in the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, as I have heard many people using it and giving it stellar reviews. Last week I decided that I wanted to go ahead and get the book because I haven't really found something that has helped Joel progress very well with his reading. I really think the Lord was in the matter of me deciding to get this book. I didn't have the funds to purchase it and was moping about that a little when I realized that the Library might have it. Now, I was also thinking that it would be a stretch for the Dripping Springs Community Library to have this book since the only grocery store in town only recently started carrying baby diapers (you know, like Pampers???!!!). But I looked anyway; I pulled up their website and nearly hit the ceiling when the search engine said that they had a copy and it was not checked out! YES! Let me just tell you, I love this book. Today Joel and I worked through Lesson 1, and he enjoyed it so, so much. That makes me love the book even more. To top it all off, a great home schooling website that I had perused over earlier this summer has free printable downloads of the writing portion of each of the lessons (all 100!!!) on manuscript paper. If you're interested, go here.

For math I am planning to use RightStart Mathematics. And art, science/nature study will all be fun stuff I find to do from the Internet, books from the Library, and Joel's Pop Bottle Science kit he got for his birthday. Aunt Mimi's gift subscription to Enchanted Learning is really going to be nice when it comes to doing these subjects.

So begins this chapter of our lives....

Typical Teether

Jack is teething; he's been teething for awhile now. He cut those top two molars in April. They have not come down any farther - they are each still just four little points sticking though the gums. Then on July 19, just two days before his 9mo birthday, Jack's first front bottom tooth came in; it's on the right side. It has grown in quite nicely and is very cute. He has not cut any more teeth since then, but he has had a couple days of fever, some diaper rash, (on some days) been more tired and clingy, and gnaws the living daylights out of his pacifiers. He is extra picky about food and sometimes just won't eat, and doesn't like me looking into his mouth to investigate. This morning I asked Jason to help me investigate because I just had to know how things were progressing (or not). His top two front teeth are very to cutting through, or so it appears. I am not really quite sure how long it will take, as Jack's teething experience is differing greatly from Joel's and James'. But you can see both teeth, bulging in the gums, so it's just a matter of time before they break through.

I am trying my best to beef up Jack's diet with more variety and interest. It is hard to believe that in a little over two months he'll be a year old and able to eat most things. He is somewhat of a picky eater. He purses his lips and makes the most hilariously awful faces when I give him something he doesn't like. He will wave the spoon away and shake his head if I try to give him a second bite. The other day, before I even gave him a bite (he must have known what was coming), he placed his hands on top of each other on his highchair tray and laid his head down on them in an defeated sort of way. It was pretty funny to see such a little guy do that. This is certainly one way he has kept me on my toes and made me pay attention to him; he is not the little porker that both his brothers were.

He likes:

bananas and cereal
mangoes
really ripe peaches
applesauce
avocado when mixed into something Especially Delicious
pinto beans
summer squash (even the way Grandmommy makes it!)
winter squash
peas
sweet potato
melons
lentils

So we have quite a ways to go. I have started giving him what we are having for supper, when it's 9-month-old approved, which doesn't seem to happen that much, and it has been pretty successful.

Mighty Men

James and Joel went to story time at the Library on Friday without me, as I was without car, car seats, and very much time as the day of the party was approaching. Aunt Jessica took them and afterward told me that they were very good boys, even though other children were not exactly using their Library behaviour. Anyway, Ms. Stark was telling the story, and also went through a whole host of things and had the children say whether the item was God made or man made, and whether it was used for work or play. One thing that she brought was a little toy "Lofty", a crane truck who is a character from the Bob the Builder series. James bonded with it, and Ms. Stark let James bring her (Lofty is a girl) home for keeps.

I discovered, once James had shown Lofty to me when he got home, the main reason he liked her so much. She talks. In the shows, Lofty is the character who is afraid of things, including heights - Lofty???? - and instead of saying, "YES WE CAN" at the end of the theme song, she says, "yeah, I think so!" All that to say that this toy Lofty says, "I don't like it, I DON'T LIKE IT!" among other lesser desirable responses someone could say in response to being given a job. Not bad things, like I said, just less desirable. I didn't want to take away James' new toy, but I also didn't want him to start repeating everything Lofty was saying. So I decided that James needed to start teaching Lofty a few lessons on how we talk to Mama, and gave them some jobs to do. James had me give Lofty/James a command, such as, "go put your shoes away". Lofty would say, "I don't like it, I DON'T LIKE IT!" and I would reprimand her, telling her that we don't say that; we have to do many things we don't like. Then I would tell James to tell Lofty what the Lord tells us to do, and he would tell her Ecc. 9:10, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;". And over and over again we would go through a similar lesson with Lofty, giving her and James jobs all afternoon. Ever since, he has done the teaching all by himself, and it is quite comical to see him walking around teaching Bible verses to his toys.

James' 3rd Birthday

It was a success! Here is a mini-slideshow of the mountain building and cake decorating process.

56 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal...

9 bags of marshmallows...

oh yeah, there was cake, too...

my arm is getting tired...

painting on the grass (is she serious????) ...

He loved it!

Joel dubbed the mountain, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain", which is what the mouth of the tunnel says.

You can see Jason's gum paste characters - Sir Topham Hatt, the Funny Little Clown, Humpty Dumpty, and various toys.

Sketch Tuesday 4

Harmony Art Mom was on vacation last week, so there was no Sketch Tuesday. Joel drew a picture for fun anyway. He used a washer to create the circular faces and noses of these pigs. They kind of look like Pigling Bland, Pig-Wig and Alexander!

This week's assignment was to draw a flashlight. Joel wanted to draw the flashlights with lightbulbs in them. He was planning to draw one in each color of marker he had, but I told him four was plenty and got him another paper to continue drawing on....

Winnie-the-Pooh speak

I didn't grow up reading Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, and have immensely enjoyed reading it to the boys. The stories are a little lengthy, but so good! When I was last in Dallas, I was talking to Queen Shenaynay, Beatrice and Fa-so-la-la about not knowing what to call things, or do I pronounce/mispronounce things? For instance, "wolery". It is obviously a misspelling of "owlery", so do you read it "wolery" or "owlery" since you know what it is really supposed to be? Fa said that you certainly must pronounce it "wolery". Now on to heffalumps and woozles. Tonight I asked Jason, "is a woozle a weasel?" He said no, it's a made up animal. Then I said that surely it wasn't, since heffalumps are elephants. He was inclined to think that they were both made up, but since the picture in the story clearly indicates that a heffalump greatly resembles an elephant, one must concede that, indeed, a heffalump is an elephant. In the case of the woozle, I consulted Gooooooooogle. Gooooooooogle directed me to Wikipedia. You can read what it has to say here. My paraphrase: a woozle is assumed to be something like a weasel. Fa and Q. Shenaynay also cleared up my inquiries of Expotitions (as in expeditions), but there are different words that pop up here and there, and I wonder, "do I explain this one, or do I just let them figure it out"? Such as when the animals are trying to figure out what Christopher Robin does in the mornings, and Eeyore is telling Rabbit and Pooh that he is, "be[coming] educated ... he instigorates ... he instigorates Knowledge." It's hilarious; so does it ruin it to tell Joel that he really means a different word? AND, how do you read this: "HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA THUTHDY." ???? It's what Owl writes on the empty honey pot that Pooh is going to give to Eeyore for his birthday. He's supposed to have written, "A Happy Birthday". Help, please!!!

p.s. you shoulda seen spell check on this post!

Great Expectations

Okay, since these Wilkinsons don't really celebrate any of the holidays except Thanksgiving, 4th of July, and New Year's, I have made it a point to have really special birthdays for the boys. Special is sort of a relative term. Perhaps "unique" is the adjective of choice. Anyway, James' 3rd birthday is next month and we are throwing him a train themed birthday party. James loves trains, and has since he was old enough to play with JL's Thomas the Tank Engine trains and for us to read him "The Little Engine that Could". So I combined several different train stories and have come up with a "cake" that is a lot more involved than anything we've ever done before. Our "cake" will start as a mountain, about 2' tall, made out of rice krispies. The Little Engine that Could ...

will just be reaching the top of the mountain. There will be a tunnel running through the mountain, coming out of which will be James the Red Engine (because his name is James, of course) ...

pulling those Troublesome Trucks. And we cannot forget our special friend who was key in helping James learn to do his business on the potty. Thomas the Tank Engine with Annie and Clarabel, of course....

I have borrowed Jessica's train cake pan and am decorating them all appropriately. Jason has been busy with gum paste (!!!!!!) making all the items that the Little Engine that Could is carring over the mountain! Very fun! He has also made the faces for all the trains. I cannot wait to put it all together.

I like to move it, move it

After seeing Kung Fu Panda at the movies this summer, Joel and James have been singing "I like to move it, move it". I didn't see the movie with them and didn't know that the song was in the movie. Then about two weeks after seeing it, Joel breaks out singing "I like to MOVE it, MOVE it", just like a pro.

Daddy in the dust...

So I was reading my sister's blog. I miss her so much.....yes, I'm crying right now! Does that mean I'm sensitive? I feel like I get left in the dust sometimes. My job is to be out making a living. That's my job. I go and dutifully "bring home the bacon", and I miss everything. That means one of two things or a combination of the two. I feel the sorrow and longing that comes from missing those special moments in the life of my young little family, and I get in trouble for not knowing what is really going on and "just making things harder" by trying to insert myself into the family life when I come home from bringing home the afore-mentioned bacon. Yeah, I can see the knot growing in the manly stomachs reading this right now; and I hear your unspoken words. "What is he doing?!?! Nobody was supposed to talk about that!" or maybe "I would have never said it, I'm sure glad someone got it out in the open."
Ladies, I'm sorry for this sudden window into the fatherly male mind. You have your own deep struggles.(We do appreciate them. We just have no idea how to help you with them. It just keeps changing.......constantly!!) Men have struggles too. Oh yeah, those meat-headed guys that seemingly should have no problems. "All they have to do is leave us ladies with all the responsibility of house and home and raising children, go to their "work", come home late and collapse on the couch. Do they have any idea how hard it was while they were gone? Do they even begin to comprehend the stress I've been under all day?" No. We do not understand it all. I think I can safely speak for all of us. But we do appreciate it. God bless you!! That's why we married you. That's why we love you. You are amazing!! Can I get an "AMEN"? Can I get a "HALLELUJAH"?!?!
I feel like I'm left in the dust. Ferdinand learned to read 2 new words today. Flitterwallet is swinging all by himself in the big rope swing and goes potty all by himself. Fancy Pants can crawl across the room and he cut a new tooth today. Who knows whether I will see his first step or not. Now what do I do? Everything happened while I was gone. The only thing I have to offer is bacon. Bacon seems a poor payment for everything that happened while I was gone. Reading my sister's blog brought that to the front of my mind. Some of the crazy things that happen at her house with her 3 kids and the things that happen at my house with my 3 kids are quite simply priceless. What I would give too see them or be a part of them!! I never will. They are already gone....
It's hard to miss it all and read about it later on an Internet blog. I miss my mother and my father and my sister and her husband and precious children and my brother and his lovely new bride and my wife and my own 3 beautiful treasures. It's hard to miss it all. Keep blogging ladies. It's good to read about it. You are doing a great job.

~King Arthur~

Perfection vs. Excellence

My epiphany of the week:

I may not be capable of acquiring perfection, but I may acquire excellence in what I do.

And the Glory, the Glory of the Lord...

... is the song in the background. I think this may be as close as I'll get to capturing James' dramatic singing face. It's not nearly as animated as when he is when he's not on camera.

I'll do what I can

There really are so many things to write and record that it is overwhelming. Lots of things are not appropriate to post, some are essential to post, and there is a large area in between. But what it comes down to is posting what I remember when I remember it. It is not the most precise science. I really hate it, but it is the nature of life as I know it right now. Jason says that if I do my best, it is good enough. The question is: am I doing my best? Sometimes I do; I hope it is most times. But I know that I do not always do my best. I have a quote by Mary Anne Radmacher that is magnetized to my refrigerator. It was a gift from Queen Shenayay. It says, "Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow'". For me, occasionally, it is in the morning saying, "I will try again today". Sometimes there is very little courage in me, and on those days I feel like a failure. "Does the road wind uphill all the way?" asks Christina Rosetti's poem, and the answer is, "Yes, to the very end." Or as GG says, "Life's hard, and then you die". It's true.

...BUT...

I'll do what I can. What I can do is my best. What I can do is try again tomorrow. What I can do is choose to be happy even though I haven't had a shower in three days, and my teeth haven't been brushed since ...?..., and even though I don't want to cook supper, and even though I am sick and tired of all my clothes, and even though Jason has the car today and I could really just stand to get out of the house, and the floor is dirty and the ironing is piling up. I CAN choose to be happy. Because God has given me so much. A wonderful husband, three great kids who are beautiful and healthy. And countless other things. I'll do what I can because I must - and I want to! "To whom much is given, much shall be required". I might as well do what I can because it will be required of me whether I like it or not.

Mother's Talent

Today at church I was able to get Jack to fall asleep. Yea! I walked back (up, actually) to our pew to sit down with everyone else. Now, if we had a family of girls, everyone would scoot down and whisper to each other to "make room". But we have a family of boys. Plus, cousin JL was sitting with us. They look up at me, then look down, down, down the pew and pat and point at a place right smack dab in the middle of the pew. So I climbed over our two big boys, Jason and JL in my heels with a sleeping baby and he actually stayed alseep and I actually didn't make a fool of myself, either. I actually got a compliment on my success.

No Pressure

To some of you this blogging thing is new. Once you have been blogging for two years, like I have, it will just become something else on your to-do list. So please be patient with me until I get around to entertaining you with my posts.

Okay, that was just a little too nasty to leave unended. You must know it was all in good fun. But in this case the scripture has been fulfilled, "Pride cometh before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall". I have been do-gooding and been working like mad to finish James' baby book. I have been pouring over all my old posts of when he was little, when his teeth came in, his first words, what foods he liked, &c. Do you notice something missing? Well it's a pretty big thing. Weight. Height. No where do I find the smallest inkling of it. So where I left off in his baby book at 17 lbs at 3 mos is the last thing I have until 27 lbs at 22 mos. I am absolutely sick and feel like I could throw up. Barf, barf, barf.

Humorous Bits

Today James made two funnies. The first was his realization and relief that the hiccups he had had all day long were finally gone. He said that he, "ate them all up". Later on when I was singing a song to Jack just before his bedtime, James thought that I was singing the wrong words and started shouting, "SINNERS!! SINNERS!!!"

A little game I play with Jack is raising my eyebrows up and down. He thinks it's hilarious and just laughs and laughs. When he looks at me, he almost always looks at my eyebrows first, and if nothing happens he will look in my eyes. My glasses are a little bit of a problem because he wants to touch my eyebrows when they are moving, but my glasses are there and he gets them along with the eyebrows. So the game ends up not being as fun in the end. I need to get contacts so that my kids can see what I actually look like without glasses on. Oh yeah, and play with my eyebrows. ???

Sketch Tuesday 3

This week's assignment: something that comes from an egg. Joel drew a yolk (all by itself), a chick, a turtle, and an alligator. See all the other submissions at Harmony Art Mom's blog.

Stand up, sit down

Jack has begun standing himself up, and sitting himself down. About a week ago he started standing himself up in his crib. Then, of course, he started pulling himself up on all sorts of things as he crawls around. He is so proud of himself when he does it, too. He absolutely shrieks with delight when he stands himself up in his crib. Yesterday he started sitting himself up without any help.

Romanticising Mountains of Laundry

Whenever it is time to change *bed linens* (which happens ne'er too often since our third child was born), James and Joel get very excited. They love to play in the dirty sheets - dirty laundry of any sort, but sheets and pillow cases are best - and have all sorts of adventures. First they pretend it's nighttime, then they build a house or a tent, then it's another imaginary dwelling. Finally laundry is being thrown everywhere, then ending the laundry adventures for that day. But, while they playing amongst the piles I always think of the following poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. The boys may never have the experience of playing in real piles of hay, but dirty laundry will do for now. No, it doesn't smell sweetly, but mice don't dwell in it, either.

The Hayloft

Through all the pleasant meadow-side
The grass grew shoulder-high,
Till the shining scythes went far and wide
And cut it down to dry.

Those green and sweetly smelling crops
They led in waggons home;
And they piled them here in mountain tops
For mountaineers to roam.

Here is Mount Clear, Mount Rusty-Nail,
Mount Eagle and Mount High; -
The mice that in these mountains dwell,
No happier are than I!

Oh, what a joy to clamber there,
Oh, what a place for play,
With the sweet, the dim, the dusty air,
The happy hills of hay!

Sketch Tuesday 2

See Joel's Sketch Tuesday submission here and at Harmony Art Mom's blog! He drew a centipede, a mosquito, a potato, and a flower.

Singing Video

Here are Joel and James and Jason singing "In the Highways" from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Jack-man

Jack had accomplished much in the last few weeks. He has begun crawling. He does a wonderful camo-style crawling, with occasional on-all-fours spurts. He's everywhere, all the time! I have to now be on the keep-the-floors-clean-and-clear-of-possible-choking-objects campaign. Joel and James have jumped on the band wagon and have been quite cooperative in making sure that Jack doesn't have something he shouldn't. His crawling has allowed him to pull up on things, and sit himself up after he's pulled himself up on his knees. So he isn't just sitting himself up all by himself, but he's getting there. Jack has also started saying "mama", and makes a very impressive motorboat sound. He makes raspberries like nobody's business.

Since our trip to NYC for Aunt Jeana's graduation, where he got spoiled by having two of his favorite things all the time - being outside and people-watching - he wants to be outside all the time. If we walk to the door to lock it or to look outside, or if we're headed outside and I realize I've forgotten something and we turn away from going out the door, he becomes very upset. (In other words, he throws a fit, an 8-month-old fit). He wants to get out in the open.

Sketch Tuesday

Joel is participating in Sketch Tuesday, hosted by Harmony Art Mom. He was supposed to draw something to serve at a picnic. He drew a grilled cheese sandwich. His sketch will be posted on HamonyArt Mom's blog tomorrow, and each week that he participates. Here is his sketch....

They're growing up...

The boys understand why they can't go to the ladies' meeting, but why can't they go to the men's meeting??? "When you grow up, you will get to go," I tell them.... Jason swooped James up to say goodbye and go to the men's meeting this month. He held him way up in the air. James exclaimed, "OH, I GROWED UP!!!!!!!!!"

Music Buffet

James and I were sitting on the bench swing in the front yard the other day, taking a rest from play. The tejano music across the street was blaring as usual. Upon the start of each song, James would nod his head and say, "Yea, that's a good one!" I chuckled and was glad that at least someone in our household could enjoy it.

His apparent taste for tejano music has probably developed as a result of listening to it so much during the last five months. I think it is wonderful that children can develop appreciation for different types of music just by exposing them to it. The boys like everything from baroque and classical music, to country and bluegrass, to tejano music and Michael Jackson. They have absolutely fallen in love with MJ's "Beat It". Weird Al's parady "Eat It" is greatly loved as well. They like it all because we listen to it all, over and over and over again.

I am going to try to get a picture of James "singing" "And the Glory of the Lord" from Handel's Messiah. He lip-syncs and has the most hilarious look on his face. The trick will be to get him to do it for the camera. I have high hopes for all the boys being musical in their own special ways.

Liz

I can't believe I didn't take a picture, but I didn't. Around the beginning of spring Joel caught his first lizard. It was about 5" long, and was green then brown and back and forth quite a bit. He looked like this. Joel actually caught it twice because "Liz", as Joel donned him, got away once. I got a jar (after much begging to please let us keep him) and we held Liz in captivity for the rest of the day. Then Joel decided Liz was probably hungry and he let him go. Ever since, though, he has been on the hunt to catch another lizard.

A lizard exactly like Liz made its way into our house and has been living among us for a few days now. I am really on a mission to catch him and get him out. It's nice to have such an avid hunter around.

Calling all Beatrix Potter Fans

My mother-in-law found this ... and I get to enjoy it with my kids!

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/32581/beatrix-potter-collection-the-world-of-peter-rabbit-and-friends-the/

Shopping

I have never been much of a shopper. Most people who know me very well know this; Jason is quite proud of the things that he has shopped for because I didn't care to or was unable to. Since having children, I do enjoy shopping more than I used to because it is a nice outing. But I still am not what you would call "dedicated". However, one thing I enjoy tremendously is online shopping. In fact, today I found countless beautiful things that I wanted to buy. All on one website. Yea, me. Do YOU think they're pretty? Jason does not care for the painting. At all. He says it looks like something Joel would've done. Maybe that's why I like it so much. I am not revealing all that I found, as I hope to buy some as presents at some point. Don't worry. I won't buy anything that screams "JAMIE". Unless it screams your name, too.

Masters of Ourselves

"Make us masters of ourselves," wrote the prison reformer Sir Alexander Paterson, "that we may be the servants of others."

We have to talk about self-discipline again. We keep coming back to that, and we'll keep coming back to it as long as we live, whatever struggles we have to endure. "Does the road wind uphill all the way?" asks Christina Rosetti's poem, and the answer is, "Yes, to the very end."

No woman who has not learned to master herself can be trusted to submit willingly to her husband. And that word willingly means that she does not merely resign herself to something she cannot avoid. It means that by an act of her own will she gives herself. With gladness she submits because she understands that voluntary submission is her very strength. Because it is the thing asked of her by her Creator, it is the thing which assures her of fulfillment. It is the task assigned her which, willingly performed, actually strengthens the husband in his weakness.

The husband strengthens the wife in her weakness by obeying the command to command. But he, too, must first have mastered himself. George MacDonald points out that the strong-willed one is not the willful one. A willful child wants only his own way. His will has never been exercised against himself. The strong-willed person wills against himself, chooses that which he does not naturally choose. Many men protest that it is not their nature to dominate. Many see their wives as superior to them in intelligence, strength of character, physical endurance, or spiritual perception, and use this as an excuse to let them lead. But the roles are not assigned on the basis of capability. Thy were determined at the beginning of Creation to be a man's role and a woman's role and again, we are not free to experiment, tamper with, or exchange them.

It takes self-discipline and it takes humility to do your job. We can count on the God who issued the order to provide the strength to carry it out. No man has sufficient strength in himself properly to be the head of his wife. No woman can rightly submit to his headship. It takes grace, and grace is a gift, but we are to use the means of grace. Self-discipline helps. Prayer helps. Christ, who is the Head of all of us, stands ready to help any man or woman who asks Him.

~Elisabeth Elliot from Let Me Be A Woman

Cutting Edge

When Jack's five month birthday rolled around I began to look for teeth. Joel and James both got their first bottom two teeth when they were five months old and I expected Jack would too. That month came and went with no bottom teeth. I thought it was curious, especially since he was acting like he was teething. His sleep was disruptive, he was gnawing on his fingers, the drool was pouring out of his mouth. One day I was letting him gnaw on one of my fingers, and he immediately pulled it towards he back of his mouth and I felt something sharp. The poor baby had cut a top molar, and the second one came right after it. So Jack has two top molars but still no other teeth.

Inspiration

Beatrice has inspired me by her post of her Favorite Things. I am changing up my blog a bit and adding my favorite things to it. Hope everyone enjoys it, especially Queen Shenaynay.

He's mobile

During the first week of June, Jack began doing the "forward flop". He is now making his way quite easily across the living room floor and delighting us all.

the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker

Our little Jack began to clap today! I was holding him while assisting James, but I could see Jack's reflection in a mirror. He began to laugh and clap at James (who, when Jack sees him coming begins to laugh). I am so glad that I got to see his first clap! I think if it hadn't been for that mirror, I would've thought that he was still waving his hands up and down instead of bringing them together. So, another milestone passed today.

Ol' Mr. James . . . well, he's growing up. He's in perpetual motion, and in a perpetual growth spurt; now wearing size 10 shoes, and 3T and 4T clothes. He can't wait until his birthday so that he can be important and have his portrait taken, too. He instantly underwent Middle-Child Syndrome when Jack was born. It is a continual challenge for me to make sure I am connected to each of the boys, but especially James. He loves his brothers, and is Mr. Assertive and Mr. Instigator. One of his favorite things is hearing me say that something is "James' business" and not anyone else's. Now that'll make his day! He has recently showed a marked improvement in his drawing/coloring. He will color one object on a coloring page and although he doesn't stay in the lines, he doesn't go very far out of them either. He also has started drawing circles very well, triangles sometimes, and also he will marker or pencil lines as it were to fill in something. It ends up making a rectangular shape. Anyway, Joel did that when he was younger as well; basically, you can just tell that he is controlling his drawing utensil well. It's exciting to see. Pretty soon he will be counting to 100 by 10s and reading. Everything that Joel does he wants to do, whether or not he should (he doesn't stop to think that), and he is more times than not successful at what he sets out to do. He has great determination, which is wonderful. I know it will serve him well in his life. Quirky bit: James has begun to eat left-handed.

Joel began tying his shoes earlier this year, actually before his fifth birthday. It was quite a pleasant surprise for us, and what a big help it is for him to be able to do it! He's also taking showers, setting the table and sweeping. I'm so glad to have such a good helper. His jobs are changing a little bit so that James can have his own jobs and learn to work as well. Joel is a very nurturing older brother (except when he is not! ;) ). He enjoys "teaching" his brothers to read or some other thing that he hasn't quite mastered himself. It usually is well received and actually helps improve his own skills.

not one little bit

Jack is six months old today. He rolled from his back to his belly two weeks ago! Today I fed him a few bites of avacado. He is was so happy for the first 4-5 bites. He wasn't even thrusting his tongue out. It was as if he had eaten many times before. I was thinking, "oh, my wonderful, amazing child!!" Then the picture-perfect scene changed dramatically. Jack began to be very upset with his avacado. He began to grunt and fuss and cry and spit it out! He looked like he was spitting out a cherry pit. He was very precise about it. I believe he removed every bit of avacado from his mouth and did not swallow another bite.

Hidden Potential

Today I put Jack down on the floor for some play time. I placed him on his belly, and he immediately rolled over. I sighed, happily and proudly, then put Jack back on his belly. He had a grand time playing on his belly, and actually almost started turning himself in a circular motion to be able to see what he was trying to look at. He never got tired or laid his head down. I picked him up for a minute or two to give him a break, and put him down again. He rolled over again! So it definitely wasn't a one-time thing. He can really do it! Yeah, Jack! Now I just have to keep myself from overprotecting him, and let him get down on the floor and do his thing! I mean, we've got to get practice in for his 3 month portraits!

Favorite Things

Joel's choice word of late is "mongoose".

My favorite mispronunciations of James' at present are:

bithdee potty (birthday party)
poopted
berry coot (very cute)

All About Jack

Jack is eight weeks old now. In two days he will be two months old! He is such a good baby! He is pretty close to sleeping through the night. He sleeps from about 9pm to 4am on average. The 4am is sometimes 3am, but a couple of times it has been 4:30 or 4:45. He also naps well during the day, usually 2 hours at a time. He loves his bouncy seat. Today he was just kicking away (it looked more like stomping), and making the seat just bounce and the toys swing. He also loves the swing. He watches the mobile quite intently while the swing swings and the music plays. It is a good place for him to sit in the filtered sun coming through the glass door in the living room. I try not to put him in these seats too often, but it is nice to know that he does enjoy being there when I need him to be there. And there are times when I do need him to be in one of those seats! However, they are not safe havens for him. Any time he is not in my arms or in his bed I must keep an eagle eye on him to protect him from the big brothers. They would quite smother him with kisses and hugs, and James would try to give him fives and head butt him. Lest I forget, here are his weights and lengths that I have recorded.



Two weeks: 9 lbs. 1/2 oz.

Four weeks: 10 lbs. 2 oz.

Six weeks: 11 lbs. 3 oz., 23 inches

Eight weeks: 11 lbs. 15 oz.

Mama Takes the Cheese

The other day at lunch, Daddy grated the precious last bit of our cheese onto my food while Joel and James gazed on longingly. While Daddy was doing this he was telling Joel and James about how wonderful Mama is, how we love her so much, and all of the things she does for us and how hard she works; how we must treat her so well and do special things for her. Just what a good Daddy should be telling his sons! After a few moments Joel said, "and we give her cheese, too."

Remember doing this?

It has begun. While driving down our street, I could just barely hear Joel saying to himself, "has leaves, doesn't have leaves, doesn't have leaves, has leaves, doesn't have leaves, has leaves, has leaves...."

The Season of Fall(ing)

James seems to just fall over himself continually. Tripping, slipping, not looking where he's going; these are defining parts of James' little home life. And people wonder how a 2-year-old could have subluxation in his spine.... Well, during the Thanksgiving holiday at Opa's & Oma's, he took his grandest fall yet. He fell backwards out of a barstool. It was sort of a complicated fall which I did not witness, but the details that mattered were that he fell from the barstool backwards while he was sitting, and on his way down hit another chair, and ended up on the floor with the barstool on top of him. His entire backside had bruises and bumps, from his bottom up to his head. The main injury, however, was his left shoulder which really hurt him. It was one of the situations that Jason has always told me to "get ready for" and "get used to". But I don't know if I'll ever be "prepared" to see my children in pain. Thankfully we had two doctors on hand: Daddy and Aunt Jeana. Their assesment of the "patient" put everyone's minds at ease, although it didn't make James feel much better. Poor James. He is doing much better now, thankfully, and I am perhaps a little more experienced at this thing called mothering boys.

Contradiction (Pooh speak for Introduction)

He has 10 toes . . .

. . . it's Jack!

Play Ball!

One positive attribute that comes along with James' affinity for the wilder side of life is his athletic ability in playing ball. The football, in particular, is one of his favorite things to play with; he says, "can ye pay catch??" He has no fear of the ball coming for him, and catches it amazingly well. He is catching it from 10-12 feet away now. The ball can hit him right in the face without the slightest wince from him. Only once or twice has he ever given a scowl or unpleasant look about the impact. His ability to throw is not as great as his ability to catch, but it has improved dramatically in the past month. I used to pretty much never be able to catch anything he threw to me, but now his aim is much better - you just need to be about 3-4 away from him. His advancement in this area has given he and Joel a real game to play. It isn't always a very long game of "catch", but as each of them improve their skills, I think it will just get better and better.

Just for You

This book came to mind a few weeks ago - cannot remember the circumstances which brought it to mind, but it had to do with the lawn mowing page in this book. I told Jason about it, and how much it reminded me of Joel; how he tries so hard to do special things for his mother, but they just don't always work out right. I couldn't remember the name of the book or the author, but while at the Library this week they actually had this book on display and the cover was something that I could never forget! Of course I snatched it right up! James and Joel both love it, although Joel is really into more advanced books. He understands the sentiment of it, though, and I like to think he appreciates it.

It is fun to see which books the boys tend towards. Right now James loves Eric Carle, and the two Golden Books he received for his birthday, "Scuffy the Tug Boat" and "The Happy Man and His Dump Truck". Those are basically the only books he requests to read, but happily sits down to any story. "Stone Soup" is a new one for him to enjoy. Also, he calls Jemima Puddle-Duck, "Jemima Puppy-Duck". One of the current favorites, for both boys, is "Jack the Giant Killer" which is way better than any Jack and the Beanstalk tale I've ever heard. James walks around saying, "Fe Fo Fum ... man ... bake my bread!" Joel is very much into Fairy Tales. He likes all of them; Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Rumpelstiltskin, Hop O' My Thumb. He also loves anything Mother Goose. If you tell him it's Mother Goose or a Fairy Tale, he is sure to be excited about it.

Joel is doing well with his learning to read. He likes to try to sound things out more and more. He is really solid now on his short and long vowel sounds; a little bored with them, I think. About two weeks ago in the middle of playing, he sounded out the word "cans" on the toy he was playing with. He just decided to do it all by himself. I was so excited to see him do that! He is excited now about learning to read, and learning about the letters. The blending of the letter sounds together is something he understands now, which was a big step. He will also pick out letter sounds in the words that I am reading or saying to him, and try to figure out which letters are in a particular word because he recognizes the sound. I love seeing the desire to learn in his eyes.

I Winned!

For all of Joel's tenderheartedness and gentleness with his little brother, James is aggressive and conniving back. No thankfulness on his part yet for a nurturing elder sibling. This upsets Joel to no end, and he has no idea how to handle these "situations" or "rows" or ... fights. If James takes something away from him, Joel doesn't want to go get it back. James is more than half his size and strong. It's never easy to go up against him on anything. So one day when James had sent Joel into a crying fit, I explained to Joel how James doesn't care about this or that, he just wants to see what Joel will do about it. It's all about power and not about substance with him. So I told Joel if he wanted to win, he must be strong on the inside and not be a bad boy and throw a fit. If he throws a fit, then James has won, but if he doesn't throw a fit, then he has won. Later that afternoon I heard some growling cries coming from the playroom. It was Joel. A few minutes later I heard James crying. Upon investigation, Joel came running up to me saying, "Mama, James hit me with --- and took ---, and I hit him back and he gave me back my --- and I winned!"

And so it was Mama who learned a lesson that day, and not Joel. At least, he didn't understand the lesson that I tried to teach him. We had to talk about not hitting each other for quite a while after that. But this episode did teach Joel to stand up for himself a little better, and that's a good thing.

The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad

You learn something new every day, and this time the lesson came from a CD of Mother Goose songs. For those of you who have enjoyed or suffered through hearing Joel's and James' "Puff and Toot" CD and, along with Jason and me, were puzzled by the song "Where Do You Work, John?" you now know that John works on the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad.

Restaurant

Yesterday afternoon the boys took their hot pink frisbees, piled rocks in them, and called it "chicken" and "pie". Joel set up chairs for their "restaurant", which according to him was a no-shoes restaurant. They just sat there and pretended to eat for quite some time. One would think that they were really and truly hungry, but they were rather upset to have to come inside to eat their real supper. Apparently the way this food looked to them in their imaginations was much more exciting and appetising than what I had prepared for them....