Starting School

Well, we started school again on Thursday. Ladan is now working on his 1st grade phonics/reading/handwriting/art program; Saxon 1 Math; his catechism and scripture memory program; and some fun and random science stuff. He's so fast at learning new phonics rules and figuring out new words! He's also great at addition and subtraction and is beginning to learn how to tell time on a "real" clock along with some very basic fractions. I was pretty surprised at how quickly he dove back in after two weeks off. Well, at least with regard to his understanding. He's still a bit distracted by his desire to play, which hopefully he's figuring out ends up stealing his time to actually play with the things he's pining after. Isn't that so true of many adults though? We sit and stare at what we want to be doing, and rather than just getting the mundane stuff over with so we can move on, we sit motionless chewing our fingernails and staring out the window. Well, I don't chew my fingernails, because I think that's gross, but you get the picture. The point is that he's doing great for the most part and just has to get back into structure mode.

One thing that's been really fun is that Ladan has been running up to me giving me totally random HUGE hugs much more often than normal for about a week now. I don't know what it's all about, but I'll take it!

He's learning to make sense out of so many things in the world, and his conclusions are often very observant and entertaining. For example, today he was eating an apple for his snack. He was just walking around the kitchen while I was doing dishes, and he said, "Mom, I really like apples because they're crunchy and sweet. And they have vitamins that are good for my body. But the seeds are NOT the vitamins. They're the part in the middle that we eat around and then throw away so we don't choke!" And a couple weeks ago I told him I needed to dust the television, and he said, "Don't you mean 'undust', Mom?" Well, yes, I guess that does make more sense, doesn't it?

For Christmas, Gabe received a copy of My Giant Sticker Activity Book. I went through this book with Ladan when he was three, and it really got him moving in the direction of paying attention to instructions and learning quite a few basics about spelling, numbers, vocabulary, fine motor skill development, etc. Well, when I started school with Ladan last Thursday, Gabe ran to find his new sticker book because he wanted to "start school" too! And boy, was he serious! He went from A through N in the alphabet section of the book, breaking only to run up and show Chet his "work" every couple pages. I finally had to stop him and tell him we'd do more the next day. He was so excited about it. My favorite part was when he got to the letter M. He said, "That's a letter M! It says 'Mmmmmm'. Marvewous!" I love that my three-year-old boy exclaimed "Marvelous!" all on his own. His great-grandma would be proud. It's one of her favorite words.

Sure enough, on Friday, Gabe went running for his sticker book to start school again. He finished the alphabet and was ready for more when I had to stop him again. Today he did the same thing. I was so disappointed that I couldn't help him with it today because so many things were going on, but I'm going to make it a point to work with him at least 3 times a week. It seems like he may be ready to start Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons this summer. For sure he'll be ready by the fall. I'm so excited that he's so excited! The only two things that can hold his focused attention for longer than 10 minutes are "doing school" and playing in a sink full of water (that still wins by a long shot seeing as how he literally will play in the sink with three toys for 2 hours or more at a time).

Gabe is a drama star! His favorite thing to do when he has the attention of a crowd is to recite the lines from Bambi when Thumper says, "Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat. I made that last part up myself." He says all of this with the appropriate motions and then dives into a recitation of a monologue given by a caterpillar in the Veggie Tales move, Jonah. It's something about how Jonah is going to chase off a band of camel thieves, and in the process, he's going to break the heart of the woman he loves! [Huge gasp!] He has all of the appropriate motions with this as well. It's my goal to get this on video this week before he changes the way he does it. He's such a fun kid!

Claire is still a remarkably happy baby. She still throws up often enough, but it's SO MUCH BETTER than it was! She's very easy-going, which is a lifesaver for all of us. Just tonight, I found Gabe happily slapping her in the face with her new Sophie Giraffe, and she was just sitting there like nothing was going on at all. Thank goodness Sophie is made of very soft and pliable natural rubber, so she wasn't getting pelted in the face with something harmful... but you'd think that she would have at least tipped me off that something was going on. I guess Gabe's cheerful smile was enough to calm any nerves that may have been frazzled by the onslaught. She's starting to laugh every once in a while, and it's so cute! I hope we can get it on video soon.

As far as her motor development goes, she's able to grab and hold onto quite a few things. She definitely knows when she wants something and will go for it. My favorite is when she sees me and reaches out to grab both sides of my face and pulls me toward her so she can give me a big sloppy kiss on the face! She absolutely cannot stand tummy time, and she's content to just lay still on her back for LONG periods of time playing with the same toy or just staring at something, so she's not in any hurry to roll over it doesn't seem. Unless some major shift happens, she's definitely not going to be crawling by six months. And to that I say, "Praise the Lord!" I'm not ready for her to be mobile yet, so I'm fine if she wants to take her sweet time like her oldest brother. Well, actually, a balance between her two brothers would be ideal, but I'll take what I get as long as she's okay. She's starting to get better at holding herself in an upright position in her exersaucer. I still have to pack a little blanket in around her so she doesn't tip over, but she's able to stay up for a minute or two before I have to support her.

I regularly find her laying on her back with her left leg stuck straight out at a 45 degree angle. Random and kind of funny. She loves it when we tickle her feet and will stick her feet out to us when she wants to play. Speaking of her feet, they are some of the cutest little baby feet I have ever seen! They're so dainty! Claire is dainty herself, I guess. I take her in another couple days for a shot visit and a height/weight check, so we'll see how big she is then.

That's a little peek into the recent educational/developmental milestones the kids are making. We are so blessed to have healthy children who are growing and learning new things all the time! I do not take that for granted and realize it could change at any moment. We thank God for every day we have with these little ones! They are amazing! They point us regularly to the grace, mercy, and glory of God. Who else could create such intricate and unique individuals?