Seth is 3 years 7 months old!

I can totally imagine teenagers are kind of the same as 3 year olds.  Seth just seems to be having such a hard time and he keeps doing stuff that just isn’t very inline with his personality.  It’s like some crazy demon has overtaken him and made him just meltdown all the time.  Sometimes I just look at him and think how hard it is to be three. 

For example, yesterday, he did not want to eat dinner.  It was stuffed peppers, but I had some of the filling just plain in a bowl for him to eat, but he threw the biggest tantrum, just crying over and over “I want something else”.  And he even likes the filling – beans, rice, and cheese.  I think he finally ate some bread before dinner, but my goodness, he just carried on for probably a good 30 minutes.  Just crying and hysterics.

He also has all these fears.  He apparently has lots of bad dreams – though he seems to be a good sleeper in my mind and doesn’t wake up at night often – maybe once a week or so.  But he doesn’t want to sleep.  He cries and cries about how he can’t go to sleep.  Some nights he keeps himself up until we finally let him sleep on the couch.  He says he can only sleep well on the couch.  I made him a dreamcatcher and he likes it, but I don’t know how much it has helped.  He has even started taking naps occasionally again because I think he is more tired.

Seth seems to have a lot of nerves, maybe social anxiety.  I think Christmas with all the people coming and going and Katsu being out of town was just plain stressful for him.  He was apprehensive about going back to preschool and then on the first day back, by the time we got to the car, it wouldn’t start because the battery had died.  So by the time we got the battery replaced, he was at least an hour late to preschool and went in uneventfully.  But the next day … he would not get out of the car at drop-off and then I had to bring him in and he was crying and hanging on me and I just had to leave.  He has complained about going to preschool a few other days, but went without tears.  And of course, he loves it when he’s there.

Similarly, for church.  Seth started sunbeams.  He hates going to church.  He usually starts his crying and complaining in the morning.  As he says “I am always sick on church days”.  Trying to get him dressed and ready is often a chore and sometimes there is kicking and screaming in the car.  And yet, once he is at church, he is just fine and loves Sunbeams.  (And he picks up the funniest things.  One day I asked him what he learned and he told me that he is special because he is Jesus.  Hmmm.  And this week, he asked me what a GPS is a few days later because I guess they talked about it at church.  And now he wants one, of course.  Ha ha ha).

But Seth seems to complain all the time about sickness, but most especially any time we have to leave the house.  To go to school, church, storytime, etc.  He will tell me every single part of him hurts – this even includes his hair and his skin (it feels like a sunburn, he told me).  Poor kid.  But he isn’t particularly shy in social situations and seems to do pretty well.  I think he is just a big thinker and a little nervous.

Seth LOVES electronics.  He likes TV, but doesn’t ask for it much because I think he is way more distracted with books.  And he self-entertains and is just quieter, so I rarely suggest it.  So, in truth, he rarely watches TV during the week.  But he LOVES the computer.  If it is out and he sees it, he always wants to play it or watch Andrew play it.  They love starfall and abcya.  I also downloaded some free reading / math lessons from Funnix which are actually really good and very similar to the ones from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 lessons.  He has been working through the reading lessons and really enjoys them.  I am impressed at how hard he works at the worksheets and drawing his letters.  I hate to have it look like I am pushing him because he is so little.  On the other hand, if he’s on the computer anyways and he really wants to do it, why not.

So the boys played Angry birds on their uncle’s phone a lot and it has infused their playing.  They make “levels” in all of their games now (playing with cars on the race track or with their army people) and they have to “pass” them.  They come up with all these feats.  It is so cute.  And so nice when they aren’t fighting.

Seth still loves reading and is obsessed with books about superheroes or Star Wars.  He keeps telling me that he is a superhero.  This entails:  being able to see very far away (like Katsu’s work), remembering things from long ago (like when he was born or even when I or Andrew was born – though he doesn’t remember when Jesus was born), and being really fast and having multiple eyes (I think 8).  It is pretty cute.  He still loves to wear super hero clothes.  He also really really wants to watch Star Wars.  Katsu is trying to hold off until they are 13 – I think they will still be scared by that type of movie for a long long time.

Poor Seth is just full of so much angst.  This month has been full of lots of pronouncements like “I wish that you were dead.  And Dad was dead.  And Andrew died.  And it was just me and Logan.”  Sigh.  Poor guy.  Obviously, he is dealing with a lot of tough emotions.  And there has been way too much hitting and throwing.  Otherwise, he’s absolutely delightful.

Fun Things This Month:

• Making a special huge heart cookie for Katsu when he got back from Japan. The boys were very excited for him to be home again.
• Snow ball fights and building a snowman with Katsu after he got back from Japan. I was lazy while he was gone and limited snow play to snow ball fights at school after the school day.
• A few play dates.
• A couple beautiful days at the park, but otherwise, the month has been really cold.
• Seth started swim lessons.  He has no fear and has done really well so they moved him up to the advanced preschool level.  He is so proud and wants both of us there to watch him.
• Incredibles movie at the History museum.  It was going to be a me and Seth date, but he wanted the whole family to come.  He got bored and wanted to see the exhibits with me, so we went to see the underwear exhibit but he thought it was incredibly boring, so we saw a brief demonstration of Colonial hot chocolate making (with tastes) and then watched the rest of the movie.  The boys mostly like the sweets.
• Seth had his three year old screening by the district.  He seemed to do really well but I won’t have results till next month.
• Seeing lots of planes at the airport from taking Katsu to and from the airport.
• Loop Ice Carnival – the kids LOVE this.  Businesses in the Loop have coolers full of ice with either dollar coins or chocolate coins inside.  You throw them on the ground to get the treasure inside.  It was a gorgeous day and the Loop was packed and most of the coolers were already empty, but the boys got a few.  We also checked out the ice sculptures that were in front of the businesses, ate out for lunch on Katsu’s treat and Andrew and Seth both went down the ice slide a couple times.  It was a super fun day and gorgeous.
• A mommy and Seth date at Companion bread store.  Seth picked out a huge heart cookie.

Andrew is 5 years 8 months old!

Andrew is growing bigger and older.  He is still eating quite a bit, though the last couple of days, he has seemed kind of sick.  But otherwise, it’s been a big change.  He is starting to eat everything I send for lunch, which is a first.  Usually, Andrew takes his own time to do everything – use the bathroom (he can be in there 30 minutes easy, singing away), eating food, working on books at school.  And he still does.  But I think he must be hungry because today he told me that he usually focuses on eating at school so he can eat enough fast enough, but he hasn’t been able to since he has felt sick.  So, he must be growing!

Andrew seemed to enjoy having relatives here for Christmas.  He really liked “playing” video games (he still just holds a controller and thinks he’s playing) and playing Angry Birds on his uncle’s phone.  I think he spent a lot of the time plugged into a screen, but he seemed to enjoy it.

One fall-out from the relatives is Andrew now likes to call us “Amanda” and “Katsu”.  I guess Danny and Daddy sound too much alike, so he decided to just call Katsu by his name.  It has been driving Katsu nuts since he got home and Andrew is trying to change back, but I think his default is our given names now.  I think the whole thing is funny.

Andrew told everyone that his break was 11 days long and when it started and ended, but I think he was ready to go back to school.  Every now and then, in the morning, he will say that he doesn’t want to go, but he usually enjoys school.  He seems happy to go and happy to come home.  I asked him if he missed us or felt like he didn’t get to spend enough time with us since he is in school all the time.  He just kind of looked at me like I was crazy and said, “I never think about you when I am in school”, so I think that was a good sign.  He likes to write little notes to his teacher and is always writing “Mis is Kay” everywhere.  I tried to explain to him about Mrs. but he is very suspicious of that.

Andrew is starting to become quite a reader and writer.  As I said, Andrew is very methodical, so he works slowly at his pictures and words.  The other kids have written tons of stories, but they are kind of slap-dash.  Andrew puts in lots of details and has a goal (according to his teacher) to finish one page a day.  At Writer’s Workshop today, the other kids were asking him how to spell things.  He loves to add on silent e’s to the end of things, even when they don’t belong.  I tell him about those when we are doing reading at home and he actually has become really good at reading words with that pattern.  His fluency is getting better when he reads at home.  I know his teacher is testing everyone’s reading, so they will probably start more formal reading instruction soon.

Andrew pretends that he doesn’t want to be read to at home, but he loves to crowd around while I read to Seth.  Andrew’s favorite is to hear chapter books.  He really likes ABC Mysteries, especially the special editions because they have hidden letters in each picture.  He loves books that have finding things.  He loves doing puzzles, especially word finds.

Andrew is learning addition and subtraction at school and he seems to enjoy math.  He loves to talk about big numbers and count high.  When he is going to bed right before he goes to sleep, he is usually muttering some math facts and doing numbers.  His school asked them to play a math computer game at home and I can’t believe how hard it is!  But he works hard at it and seems to enjoy it.  I swear, you can put almost anything on a computer screen, and the boys will love it.

Andrew is starting a new unit in Science studying animals.  Previously, they were studying wood and trees and I love listening to all the facts that he has been learning.  They are studying Chinese New Year at school and it sounds like they are going to have a parade soon.  Andrew is excited and wants to wear his new robe thing that he got when Katsu was in Japan.

Andrew finished up a session of swimming lessons – this time twice a week for the last four weeks.  I feel like his progress is slow.  He can float well and move around on his back, but he has a hard time keeping his face in the water during freestyle and ends up more vertical instead of horizontal.  There was just one other girl in his class, a girl he knows from kindergarten, and she was gone half the time and so it was almost like private lessons.  Anyways, I told Andrew we can take a break for awhile if he wants.  And he told me that he really thinks that if he has one, maybe two, more sessions of swim lessons he can pass Level one.  I am so glad that he wants to keep working at it.  I told him that when he finally passes Level 1 he will be so proud because he has worked so hard and consistently at it.  I have a feeling that gross motor things will always be quite a bit of work for him, but I am so happy that he works hard.

Speaking of which, Andrew’s new thing to say is “Why does everyone always say that I am smart?”.  I am not actually convinced that so many people say this, but Andrew assures me that they do.  I am trying to explain to him that what matters is working hard.  I hope he doesn’t get cocky at such a young age – I am also not yet convinced that he is super smart – too early to tell.  Silly boy.

Andrew is full of school pride.  It is so cute to see him repeat the Meramec pledge and talk about Meramec this and that.  Both the boys only want to eat or drink out of dark blue and orange cups and plates because those are Meramec colors.  I think Andrew will be very very sad to leave this school.  I love it, too.

Fun Things This Month

• Advent – each Sunday before Christmas, we lit one candle per week and read scriptures and ate a special Christmas treat.  The boys loved learning about Christ and the Nephites, especially Samuel the Lamanite.
• Advent Calendar – getting the candy each day was a highlight of the day!
• Going out for frozen custard and seeing Christmas lights.
• Dentist – Andrew is a real champ at the dentist now and does the entire thing by himself.  Which is great because I am always watching the other two boys.  His teeth looked good – no cavities!
• Lots of swim lessons.
• A couple birthday parties – one at the bowling alley and one at a soccer arena with soccer and inflatables.  Andrew seems to have a lot of fun and especially enjoys having just me along with him.
• Making sugar cookies with the special cookie cutters from our neighbor Martha.
• Watching Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the TV.
• School Christmas sing-a-long.  Andrew was excited that we were there – we sat with him on the front row and sang along to all the songs.  The kindergartens especially sang “Here Comes Suzy Snowflake”.
• Going to Magic House with Danny and Dad.
• Going to Zoo with Danny, Sarah, and the family.
• Chinese buffet with Danny, Grandpa, Andrew, and Dad.  This week Andrew was walking with me and said – I can spell buffet “B-U-F-A-Y” – so cute. 
• Going up the big mount at Cahokia and seeing the lights in Belleveille with Grandma and Grandpa, Michael, Meghan, Sarah, and Danny.
• St. Charles – it was cold, but it was fun to collect all the Santa Character cards (Andrew loved sorting them afterwards and was sad he didn’t get all 30 some odd cards) and watching the Santa send off parade.
• Christmas with the whole family.  Andrew got alphabet letter stamps from Santa, plus new underwear, socks, craft supplies, and candy in his stocking.  He also got new books from Mike and Meghan and Tomo and Masami and his brothers.  From Mom and Dad, he got Legos.  From Grandma and Grandpa, he got a remote control car.  From Grandpa Dick and Grandma Clo, he got Book of Mormon action figures.  From Kiyo and Hiroko, he got a new race track (along with Seth).  From Sarah and Danny, he got an army notebook.  The boys spent most of the holiday racing cards down their new racetrack, playing remote control cars, wrestling with Grandpa, playing Angry Birds on Danny’s phone and playing video games with Dad, Danny, and Michael.  It was a fun holiday.
• McDonalds, Applebees, and delivery pizza with Sara and Danny.
• Babaloo Concert at the History Museum.  Andrew didn’t want to go, but he ended up having lots of fun.  I think the holidays were a little stressful for him, but he mostly showed it as obstinance.
• Science Center with Sarah and Danny.  A little too crowded, but the boys had fun.  They especially enjoyed building the arch together a couple times.
• Making a special huge heart cookie for Katsu when he got back from Japan.  The boys were very excited for him to be home again.
• Snow ball fights and building a snowman with Katsu after he got back from Japan.  I was lazy while he was gone and limited snow play to snow ball fights at school after the school day.
• A date with Mom to the mall for an ice cream shake at Johnny Rockets.  Andrew had a lot of fun and we even sat up at the counter which he loved.

Logan is 14 months old!

I know I say it every month, but I just can’t believe how fast my baby is growing up!  I feel like he was just born and now he is constantly running away from me.  How did that happen?

Teething, this was a hard month for Logan.  He was getting in his last front tooth on the bottom, so now he has his first 8 teeth.  But my goodness – that one was awful.  Waking up and crying all the time.  Sometimes inconsolably.  At one point, I thought he had an ear infection, but I really think it is just that darn tooth.  I am conflicted on whether I hope his molars start and we can just get it all over with or whether we all need a break.

So, sleep-wise was still a mess this month.  He sleeps a lot like Andrew at night (naps are different).  He basically has given up the crib and just sleeps on a futon.  I suppose we should just accept that and put the crib away.  He wants to fall asleep while holding us or being on top of me.  It drives me nuts, but whatever.  At least he is sleeping.  I think in a previous life, he must have been a kangaroo and just wants to revert to a pocket or something.  He loves naps – he will tell me when he is ready to take them and he is still definitely on 2 a day.  There is usually a short one (that he wakes up grumpy from) and a long one (like 1.5 hours, maybe).  When he wakes up from his nap, he bangs on the door and then wants to be held and cuddled for quite a while.  It is sweet. 

No weaning yet … though I seriously want to soon.  I feel like it will be easier when Katsu is around … and with a job interview plus Japan in Dec and rest of Japan and probably 2 job interviews in Jan, that is probably not realistic.  Someday …

Logan is loving avocados this month.  Banana muffins, but mostly just carrying them around and crumbling them everywhere.  Maybe string cheese.  Yes to real yogurt (not the plain stuff I normally make them eat).  Yes to all kinds of candy, which he had amazing abilities to find and then consume still with the wrappers on after Christmas.  Loves cheese.  Loves almost all vegetables.  Skeptical of tofu.  Usually likes meat.  Hit or miss on crackers.  Loves mandarin oranges and macaroni and cheese and peas and corn.

Logan tells you when he wants thing – by noises and pointing.  He will go and stand by his chair and kind of grunt when he is hungry.  He makes it pretty clear what he likes and doesn’t (those usually get thrown).

Logan is moving up in his fine motor skills.  He can do a circle on the shape sorter toy (though he doesn’t really sit down long enough to do that often) and today stacked blocks together for the first time.  He will very carefully stack two together and then knock them down as fast as he can.  Logan has also started to scribble and really loves crayons.  I thought it was too early, but he was insistent and he doesn’t chew on them – he draws.

Logan still loves to throw.  We are trying to limit it to balls.  Trying.  But he will throw anything given a chance, particularly food and toy cars.  He throws pretty well and loves to play catch – he doesn’t really catch yet, but I think he already had better aim than I do.

Logan is starting to get more attuned to our emotions and what we are saying.  If he thinks we are mad at him, he will get really upset and start crying.  If you apologize and give him kisses, he will usually be fine again.  I love how you can see him watching you, trying to figure out how you feel about things.  So cute!

Logan still makes kissing sounds to show he loves you.  To Joe.  To everyone in the family.  And even today when we drove up in front of our building – he must love our home.  He also figured out how to blow.  When we tell him food is hot, he will say hot and start blowing on it.  So cute!

He still only says a few things – Mama, hot, hat, hi, – I think those are his only regular words.  It sounds like he is trying hard to say Andrew now.  I feel like it is not enough, but I think it’s supposedly okay.  His comprehension seems good, so it is fine.

Logan is figuring out how to undress himself.  He can take off his coat and gets his arms out of sleeves of shirts.  He also takes off his shoes and socks as often as possible.  He refuses hats and gloves and throws them out faster than I can put them on.  Which is bad because it has been quite cold.  He also runs away from me and laughs every time I try to change his diaper.

Logan laughs and plays a lot.  He is figuring out how to do “funny” things now so that I will laugh.  I think he might grow up to be a little tease.  He just seems to fit right into the flow of our family.  I love it.

Logan seemed to enjoy Christmas.  He loved his presents.  He got a bowling set from Santa – mostly because we thought he should get a little something just so the other kids didn’t worry.  He actually really enjoys it – mostly just throwing the pins.  He also got a basketball hoop and balls – made to go in the bath, but I am trying to keep it out of there.  He also loves it and thinks it is really fun.  He got a book from Grandpa Dick and Grandma Clo which he loves.  Also, one from Michael and Meghan and from Sarah and Danny.  He loves them – his favorite books are pulling flaps, so he really likes it.  He got clothes from Grandma and Grandpa and also some new Pjs from us.  Not sure if he loves those or not, but they were much needed. 

I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the family and then Katsu has been gone for a week now, too.  It’s just been a crazy couple of weeks for him.  He did warm up to Sarah and Danny by the end and would let them hold him and would play with them.  Of course, as long as I was around, too.  They watched him for a bit, so Katsu and I could go out, but he got pretty upset when he woke from his nap and realized we weren’t there – he threw up he was crying so much.  But as long as he was playing with his brothers and Sarah didn’t look at him, he was fine until we got back.  We really weren’t gone long.  Anyways, I think no one else was there long enough for him to really warm up to.  He did seem to like Meghan some – I think she must just give off this preschool teacher vibe or something.

Logan’s favorite part of Christmas was the decorations.  He loved seeing Christmas lights and would stare and point in amazement.  He also loved the Christmas tree – they only knocked it over once, but he was constantly rearranging the ornaments.  He loved looking at the pictures of Jesus on the wall that I put up and I think he is sad they are down.  Maybe I should put it up in his room again.  I think he was actually starting to say “Jesus”, too.  So cute.

Fun Things This Month:

• Christmas program – Logan got to see both Seth and Andrew’s Christmas program.  He loved Andrew’s because there was lots of music and he sat still mostly the whole time (well, he was rocking out to the music – that kid can sway like no other).
• Dentist – His first dentist appt.  He cried the whole time, but I was surprised, they cleaned his teeth and put on a fluroride treatment.  His teeth look fine and he got a cool new shark teether/toothbrush.  He was suspicious at first, but I think he has finally conceded that it is a toothbrush after all.
• Going to lots of Andrew’s swim lessons – Logan did lots of screeching the first couple, but after that, he mostly figured out how to entertain himself (to my chagrin, pulling roots out of pots and throwing soil around).
• Time with Dad at the park and Sonic. 
• Going to Zoo with Danny, Sarah, and the family. 
• Going up the big mound at Cahokia and seeing the lights in Belleville with Grandma and Grandpa, Michael, Meghan, Sarah, and Danny.
• St. Charles – it was cold, but Logan seemed to enjoy the Santa parade.  We royally messed with his naps, but he seemed okay with it. 
• Christmas with the whole family.  Logan spent most of the time climbing up the stairs at the hotel and insisting on going down using the hand rail.
• McDonalds, Applebees, and delivery pizza with Sarah and Danny.
• Babaloo Concert at the History Museum – Logan was really enjoying it, but then he fell asleep – I am not sure how he did it since it was SO loud.
• Science Center with Sarah and Danny.