Logan ... that boy is busier and cuter than ever. He talks all the time. I think he really knows pretty much all words - I am always surprised what comes out of his mouth, even if it is only 3-5 words at a time. His favorite things to talk about are nursery & preschool (he loves to tell you what he eats there - mostly goldfish and crackers - and also that he plays trucks and cars with the other kids), about the new baby (how he will take care of it), and about how he wants to eat. And tattle on the other kids (Andrew did it is heard all the time!).
Speaking of the baby - he is very excited about it. He loves to rub my tummy. Basically rubs my tummy all night long because he wants to sleep with me every night, too. Sleeping with Katsu is just not the same. But he is so sweet, too. He is always telling me that he wants to see the baby and that he will take care of the baby. Sometimes, he likes to rub my tummy and then he pretend that he baby hit him. "Ouch - baby hit me". I can only imagine what it will be like with those two already.
Logan loves to play and run around with his brothers, but he also enjoys playing by himself, too. He play elaborate things with people and cars. It is so cute to listen to him make them talk. I love it. and I love that he can keep himself entertained. His favorite things to do are run around and read books. He can read books for hours. His new favorites are Elephant and Piggie, Froggie, and Arthur books. I don't know why he loves the Arthur books so much - they are long and seem way above his head, but he will sit still and loves to listen to them. He can read books for hours. He also loves to watch screentime when the boys have it. He asks for TV all the time, but we rarely watch it. He loves to watch Pete the Pirate and is obsessed with pirates. He loves to look for them all through town and also is thrilled to pieces with an old pirate ship that a friend gave us.
Logan is really loving preschool. He is sometimes still a bit hesitant to go, but he seems to genuinely enjoy it and then will spend the next 2 or 3 days telling me about what he did there. He is excited for the fall when he is in a 2 year old class and he can play on the their playground which looks pretty cool. He also enjoys nursery and is happy and excited to go each week! YAY! He finally is separating from me a little bit.
Logan loves to dig in the garden, is excited about the vegetables and flowers, and just loves life. He is a bit of a handful, loves to play hide and seek and run away from me, and throws the requisite 2 year old tantrums. He loves to play with trains at Barnes and Noble, go to story time at the library, and eat donuts together at Krispy Kreme. He loves to go places and loves to see his brothers. He is just a fun kid.
Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Logan was pretty scared about the Oni (he is kind of scared on monsters generally now), but loved the idea of throwing jelly beans.
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - Logan was pretty bored, but loved the snacks and picnic.
- Lowes - Andrew was going to go with Katsu, but Logan was furious he didn't go and threw the biggest fit ever. So, I ended up taking him along and we all made Love note boxes. Logan enjoyed hammering, but honestly, I mostly put it all together.
- Lots of cold weather and snow days and fun.
- Valentine's Day - Logan enjoyed the candies and tried to not be too jealous of his big brothers' stashes.
- Working on the garden.
~ March ~
- Tagging along to soccer. Logan loves to kick the ball around on the sidelines and kicks pretty well. What a cute leftie.
- Katsu was out of town for a week, but Logan let a friend take him to preschool and went willingly. Yay! He sure missed Dad that week though.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town. Logan drove to Raleigh with me to pick them up. And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet. On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears. Logan had quite a bit of fun, mostly copying whatever the other boys did. It was fun, but very cold! We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum. Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium. Logan loved to run around from exhibit to exhibit and especially loved the outside part The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish. The boys were mesmerized! He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him. They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals. It was pretty cool. They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun. Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much. On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun - Logan LOVED when the pirate float went by.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding. The boys loved it.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center -Logan had loads of fun - I am not sure doing what, but he just found it all exciting. All week long he kept asking to go back to Kids Fest.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival. It was AMAZING. They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers. Each room had like 3 art projects. Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk. The boys had SO much fun. Logan loved to try his hand at projects, but would get bored pretty quickly and kept trying to make a run for it. He loved getting a pirate skull painted on his face. We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Seth in Feb & Mar 2014
Seth is still a super handful. He wants to do screen time all the time. I set up an account for each kid on the computer and can set time limits and when they are allowed to have time. He gets 30 minutes a day most days. It is the highlight of his life. It has reduced the amount of whining, but boy, he still loves to whine about it a lot. I recently told him he needs to have something else in his life that makes him happy besides screens and he told me "comic books". He also spends a lot of time looking at comic books (and subsequently leaving them littered all over the office and stairs. It's amazing how many comic books he loves to look through. ... When it's cold outside and Andrew isn't around, that is about all he likes to do. If I'm lucky, I can read to him (which he also enjoys) or he will do reading lessons on the computer or he will read to me. We got some fun books from the library where I read some of the book and he reads some of the book. He really is starting to like reading ... on his own terms, of course. He loves to read Elephant and Piggie books and Fly Guys. It's hard to tell how much is memorization and how much is reading, but I know he is doing a lot of reading. He's a little quick to guess, but I think that is about right for his level.
Thankfully, it is warming up and Seth loves to help me garden. He loves to look at the daffodils or check and see if the tulips are growing yet and is quite good at carefully planting seeds and watering the plants. He also loves to play on the playground and on his scooter and is ready for Katsu to teach him to ride his bike without training wheels. He also loves to play army/trio/lincoln logs/etc. with Andrew. And sometimes he likes to play with Logan.
His new favorite thing to play with is Snap Circuits. We got it for Christmas and really opened it up when Katsu was out of town and now Seth is always asking me if he can do his "experiments". It is so cute to hear the boys talking about resistors and switches. So fun!
We registered Seth for kindergarten. I feel comfortable that they will know how to deal with Seth without him being too bored. They can deal with kids who are already reading, so that's good. Honestly, Seth is probably more on a 1st grade level - he is doing addition and subtraction on his own at home, too, but my main goal is just that he won't be bored and he will want to go to school.
Seth still whines and complains about going to preschool sometimes. Every now and then there are still days where he refuses to go, but I don't budge and eventually he will go. He really needs to go just to get some more experiences in his life and I know he enjoys it. He has fun with his friends, loves to run around on the playground, does great on all the activities and loves to sing. His teacher says that he has exceptional behavior (not really the kind of behavior he has at home) and he has started to read in his class (which amazes the other kids). He was getting a little bored, so his teacher (who is awesome) has started to bring in some extra things for him to do - harder puzzles and activities.
He LOVES soccer (and wanted to sign up for baseball, too, which starts next month). He is really good and fast, even though he is probably the littlest kid on the team. He makes several goals each game and is just jumping around like a little jumping bean the whole time because he is so excited.
Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Seth LOVED throwing jelly beans at Dad and had so much fun. He was throwing them a little too hard, I think. Next year, he wants to really hurt the Oni (oh, no!)
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - okay, we were not very impressed with the show. The lady was kind of weird and it was all about germs (and kind of gross). Seth was most interested in getting snacks. They were disappointed we didn't buy chic-fil-a. I guess for next time.
- Lowes - Seth went with Katsu to build a love note holder. Seth really liked the hammering. Physical stuff is best for this age.
- Lots of cold weather and lots of missed preschool days and snow days and fun.
- Valentine's Day - Seth enjoyed the little treats and valentines' in the morning, but spent most of the time having a huge fit because he didn't get the big box of chocolates that Katsu got. He seemed to have fun at his Valentine's party, but wouldn't tell us anything about it. Even though he brought home a big bag, he told us he didn't get any valentines and hid them all and then would bring out the candy in pieces over the next couple weeks. I kept finding toys and wrappers for ever!
- Working on the garden.
~ March ~
- Another season of soccer started. As I said, Seth loves it! His coach is really great (and from the other ward - he knew us). I love how non-competitive it is, but he played against a team with a really crazy coach last week that screamed at the kids the whole time. Glad we have a great coach.
- Katsu was out of town for a week, but Seth let a friend take him to preschool and went willingly. Yay!
- Dental health day at preschool - our friend (who is in dental school) came in and showed the kids about brushing their teeth.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town. Katsu picked Seth up from preschool and they had a little date and then went to his work - we all came and picked Seth up and toured Katsu's work before coming home. He took a day off of school to hang out with them. And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet. On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears. Seth had quite a bit of fun. It was fun, but very cold! We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum. After that, Seth was ready to go home, but we convinced him that the aquarium would be fun - he really eneded up enjoying it.Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium. Andrew really loved it. The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish. The boys were mesmerized! He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him. They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals. It was pretty cool. They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun. Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much. On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun (and we got to stand next to Seth's friends from church) and Seth had a soccer game that he went to with Katsu.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding. The boys loved it. Seth was so excited to mix the food coloring to make the pudding.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center - Seth was super excited about the free book and trying to score candy from all the booths. He also won a special egg at one booth for doing well on the bean bag toss. Plus, we found out we won a free birthday party! That should be fun for both boys to have a joint birthday party on Andrew's birthday.
- Career day at preschool. Katsu came to talk about being a scientist. The kids all loved the dry ice and it was fun to see all the other careers that were there, too.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival. It was AMAZING. They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers. Each room had like 3 art projects. Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk. The boys had SO much fun. We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.
- Parent teacher conference. Seth is doing wonderful, of course!
Thankfully, it is warming up and Seth loves to help me garden. He loves to look at the daffodils or check and see if the tulips are growing yet and is quite good at carefully planting seeds and watering the plants. He also loves to play on the playground and on his scooter and is ready for Katsu to teach him to ride his bike without training wheels. He also loves to play army/trio/lincoln logs/etc. with Andrew. And sometimes he likes to play with Logan.
His new favorite thing to play with is Snap Circuits. We got it for Christmas and really opened it up when Katsu was out of town and now Seth is always asking me if he can do his "experiments". It is so cute to hear the boys talking about resistors and switches. So fun!
We registered Seth for kindergarten. I feel comfortable that they will know how to deal with Seth without him being too bored. They can deal with kids who are already reading, so that's good. Honestly, Seth is probably more on a 1st grade level - he is doing addition and subtraction on his own at home, too, but my main goal is just that he won't be bored and he will want to go to school.
Seth still whines and complains about going to preschool sometimes. Every now and then there are still days where he refuses to go, but I don't budge and eventually he will go. He really needs to go just to get some more experiences in his life and I know he enjoys it. He has fun with his friends, loves to run around on the playground, does great on all the activities and loves to sing. His teacher says that he has exceptional behavior (not really the kind of behavior he has at home) and he has started to read in his class (which amazes the other kids). He was getting a little bored, so his teacher (who is awesome) has started to bring in some extra things for him to do - harder puzzles and activities.
He LOVES soccer (and wanted to sign up for baseball, too, which starts next month). He is really good and fast, even though he is probably the littlest kid on the team. He makes several goals each game and is just jumping around like a little jumping bean the whole time because he is so excited.
Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Seth LOVED throwing jelly beans at Dad and had so much fun. He was throwing them a little too hard, I think. Next year, he wants to really hurt the Oni (oh, no!)
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - okay, we were not very impressed with the show. The lady was kind of weird and it was all about germs (and kind of gross). Seth was most interested in getting snacks. They were disappointed we didn't buy chic-fil-a. I guess for next time.
- Lowes - Seth went with Katsu to build a love note holder. Seth really liked the hammering. Physical stuff is best for this age.
- Lots of cold weather and lots of missed preschool days and snow days and fun.
- Valentine's Day - Seth enjoyed the little treats and valentines' in the morning, but spent most of the time having a huge fit because he didn't get the big box of chocolates that Katsu got. He seemed to have fun at his Valentine's party, but wouldn't tell us anything about it. Even though he brought home a big bag, he told us he didn't get any valentines and hid them all and then would bring out the candy in pieces over the next couple weeks. I kept finding toys and wrappers for ever!
- Working on the garden.
~ March ~
- Another season of soccer started. As I said, Seth loves it! His coach is really great (and from the other ward - he knew us). I love how non-competitive it is, but he played against a team with a really crazy coach last week that screamed at the kids the whole time. Glad we have a great coach.
- Katsu was out of town for a week, but Seth let a friend take him to preschool and went willingly. Yay!
- Dental health day at preschool - our friend (who is in dental school) came in and showed the kids about brushing their teeth.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town. Katsu picked Seth up from preschool and they had a little date and then went to his work - we all came and picked Seth up and toured Katsu's work before coming home. He took a day off of school to hang out with them. And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet. On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears. Seth had quite a bit of fun. It was fun, but very cold! We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum. After that, Seth was ready to go home, but we convinced him that the aquarium would be fun - he really eneded up enjoying it.Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium. Andrew really loved it. The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish. The boys were mesmerized! He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him. They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals. It was pretty cool. They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun. Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much. On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun (and we got to stand next to Seth's friends from church) and Seth had a soccer game that he went to with Katsu.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding. The boys loved it. Seth was so excited to mix the food coloring to make the pudding.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center - Seth was super excited about the free book and trying to score candy from all the booths. He also won a special egg at one booth for doing well on the bean bag toss. Plus, we found out we won a free birthday party! That should be fun for both boys to have a joint birthday party on Andrew's birthday.
- Career day at preschool. Katsu came to talk about being a scientist. The kids all loved the dry ice and it was fun to see all the other careers that were there, too.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival. It was AMAZING. They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers. Each room had like 3 art projects. Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk. The boys had SO much fun. We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.
- Parent teacher conference. Seth is doing wonderful, of course!
Andrew in Feb & March 2014
Andrew, Andrew, Andrew.
What is this kid up to? Reading - he is really really loving the Magic Tree House books - I think he is on #26 now. He loves to read them at night when the other boys have already fallen asleep or just whenever. I think he will definitely be done with the series by the end of the summer - probably before then. I am so excited to see him love reading and love all the things he is learning.
Andrew has been busy in school. He keeps moving up levels in reading at school so all the reading at home must be doing something. He does pretty well at math - they have been learning two digit addition and subtraction (without carrying and borrowing) and are now doing hundreds chart. In science, Andrew learned about the moon and has been coming home with all kinds of science sheets - so they must be learning something! He learned a lot about Black History in February.
It has been really cold lately. Walking School bus has been cancelled a lot lately, so I or Katsu have to take him to school on the way to work. Sometimes, it has been raining a lot, so I will drive to pick him up because I remember hating walking in the rain when I was a kid. But he must be becoming like me because he has been telling me "You should have just walked. I don't mind walking in the rain.". They don't have outside PE when it is too cold, so they stay inside and do things like dance to Just Dance for Kids videos on youtube. It cracks me up, but Andrew loves to show us his moves.
Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Andrew totally knows it's Katsu, but he still loves throwing jelly beans at Dad. The tricky thing was finding jelly beans for it.
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - okay, we were not very impressed with the show. The lady was kind of weird and it was all about germs (and kind of gross). Andrew really enjoyed using his allowance to buy snacks for him and to share with the other boys. They were disappointed we didn't buy chic-fil-a. I guess for next time.
- Lowes - Andrew went with Katsu to build a love note holder. He enjoyed it, hammering things in.
- Ultrasound - Andrew didn't get to see it but was a little disappointed that we are having a new boy. He got over it quick and is excited to tell everyone that I am pregnant.
- Cold weather - a 3 hr early release, a day off school, and a 2 hr delay. Snow. So. Much. Snow. This. Year.
- Valentine's Day - Andrew enjoyed the treats we shared at breakfast and all the fun valentines. He had a (really low key party at school - basically just treats), and I was able to come to the party and help pass out the snacks. The hit was Krispy Kreme heart donuts. Andrew got lots of valentines and loved opening them and eating all the candies. He was pretty good at sharing with his brothers.
- Working on the garden. Andrew has enjoyed helping water and planting seeds and loves to watch the plants every day. He is especially excited about the strawberries and can't wait to show them to everyone he sees.
~ March ~
- Another season of soccer started. Andrew works really hard and really wants to try to get better. He is not aggressive and has a hard time getting himself out there, but he has a good sense of where to be on the field and is getting better slowly. He has games each weekend and practice every Thursday evening. Soon he will have games during the week as well.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town. Andrew was excited to see them when he came home on the walking school bus and to play with them. He took a day off of school to hang out with them. And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet. On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears. Andrew was upset that we didn't get to see all the bears (but there are like 50). It was fun, but very cold! We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum. Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium. Andrew really loved it. The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish. The boys were mesmerized! He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him. They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals. It was pretty cool. They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun. Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much. On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun and Andrew had a soccer game.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding. The boys loved it.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center - he was a little old, but he did get a free book and some candy, which he loved. Plus, we found out we won a free birthday party! That should be fun for both boys to have a joint birthday party on Andrew's birthday.
- College week at school. Andrew got to wear a college hat one day (Michigan) and an ECU shirt another day. Funny story - I said he could wear a college shirt, and he asked if he could wear his Cardinals or Red Sox shirt. No, prof. sports teams are not colleges. It was a fun break from the usual uniform.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival. It was AMAZING. They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers. Each room had like 3 art projects. Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk. The boys had SO much fun and Andrew was sad we had to leave. We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.
What is this kid up to? Reading - he is really really loving the Magic Tree House books - I think he is on #26 now. He loves to read them at night when the other boys have already fallen asleep or just whenever. I think he will definitely be done with the series by the end of the summer - probably before then. I am so excited to see him love reading and love all the things he is learning.
Andrew has been busy in school. He keeps moving up levels in reading at school so all the reading at home must be doing something. He does pretty well at math - they have been learning two digit addition and subtraction (without carrying and borrowing) and are now doing hundreds chart. In science, Andrew learned about the moon and has been coming home with all kinds of science sheets - so they must be learning something! He learned a lot about Black History in February.
It has been really cold lately. Walking School bus has been cancelled a lot lately, so I or Katsu have to take him to school on the way to work. Sometimes, it has been raining a lot, so I will drive to pick him up because I remember hating walking in the rain when I was a kid. But he must be becoming like me because he has been telling me "You should have just walked. I don't mind walking in the rain.". They don't have outside PE when it is too cold, so they stay inside and do things like dance to Just Dance for Kids videos on youtube. It cracks me up, but Andrew loves to show us his moves.
Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Andrew totally knows it's Katsu, but he still loves throwing jelly beans at Dad. The tricky thing was finding jelly beans for it.
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - okay, we were not very impressed with the show. The lady was kind of weird and it was all about germs (and kind of gross). Andrew really enjoyed using his allowance to buy snacks for him and to share with the other boys. They were disappointed we didn't buy chic-fil-a. I guess for next time.
- Lowes - Andrew went with Katsu to build a love note holder. He enjoyed it, hammering things in.
- Ultrasound - Andrew didn't get to see it but was a little disappointed that we are having a new boy. He got over it quick and is excited to tell everyone that I am pregnant.
- Cold weather - a 3 hr early release, a day off school, and a 2 hr delay. Snow. So. Much. Snow. This. Year.
- Valentine's Day - Andrew enjoyed the treats we shared at breakfast and all the fun valentines. He had a (really low key party at school - basically just treats), and I was able to come to the party and help pass out the snacks. The hit was Krispy Kreme heart donuts. Andrew got lots of valentines and loved opening them and eating all the candies. He was pretty good at sharing with his brothers.
- Working on the garden. Andrew has enjoyed helping water and planting seeds and loves to watch the plants every day. He is especially excited about the strawberries and can't wait to show them to everyone he sees.
~ March ~
- Another season of soccer started. Andrew works really hard and really wants to try to get better. He is not aggressive and has a hard time getting himself out there, but he has a good sense of where to be on the field and is getting better slowly. He has games each weekend and practice every Thursday evening. Soon he will have games during the week as well.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town. Andrew was excited to see them when he came home on the walking school bus and to play with them. He took a day off of school to hang out with them. And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet. On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears. Andrew was upset that we didn't get to see all the bears (but there are like 50). It was fun, but very cold! We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum. Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium. Andrew really loved it. The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish. The boys were mesmerized! He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him. They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals. It was pretty cool. They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun. Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much. On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun and Andrew had a soccer game.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding. The boys loved it.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center - he was a little old, but he did get a free book and some candy, which he loved. Plus, we found out we won a free birthday party! That should be fun for both boys to have a joint birthday party on Andrew's birthday.
- College week at school. Andrew got to wear a college hat one day (Michigan) and an ECU shirt another day. Funny story - I said he could wear a college shirt, and he asked if he could wear his Cardinals or Red Sox shirt. No, prof. sports teams are not colleges. It was a fun break from the usual uniform.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival. It was AMAZING. They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers. Each room had like 3 art projects. Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk. The boys had SO much fun and Andrew was sad we had to leave. We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.
Saturday, February 01, 2014
Logan in January 2014
Logan just keeps talking more and more. He pretty much talks in sentences, albeit small ones, now. I just love to hear him talk. It is so cute. I wish I wrote down all the cute things he says because there are SO many. Of course, they probably wouldn't be cute written down. They are mostly just cute the way he says them. But it is so nice to hear him communicate.
On the other hand, he is 2, so sometimes I have no idea what he wants and this tends to cause lots of fits. His fits are generally over lack of communication or not getting what he wants to eat. He also tends to hit when he gets mad or sometimes bite, but he pretty much has typical two year old tantrums.
Logan LOVES to eat. I think he eats as much as Andrew some times. I can not believe how much he eats. Yesterday for dinner, he ate two whole fish fillets - more than anyone else. These boys are going to eat me out of house and home. Logan loves cheese sticks the most and will eat as many as 4 a day. He also loves to eat canned oranges or any fruit. Taking him to the store is a challenge because he refuses to sit in a seat and he will put everything he loves in the cart - berries (boxes and boxes and boxes), apples, avocados, all kinds of cheeses, etc. He loves to peruse the refrigerator and take out everything he wants to eat. Priorities - first cheese, then any kind of fruit or yogurt, and if none of that is available, mushrooms (which he eats straight from the package). He is in love with avocados (which he calls cados). He likes to take them away and is pretty sneaky. The other day he was throwing one around but I must not have kept track of it because we found it like a week later busted open under the couch. Arg! Logan is starting to pick up that the boys don't like to eat everything and he will say "Yucky" to lots of food, but generally he eats most things.
Logan is really obsessed with the idea of a baby and won't forget about it. He loves to rub my tummy all the time and talk about the baby. He wants it to be a girl. He also is always telling me that there is a baby in his tummy too.
Logan had a lot of fun in the snow this week. Mostly looking at it. He had a little bit of fun playing in it and sledding, but I think overall, it was a little too cold for him. And he was the one with snow boots!
Logan has been doing much better at preschool because Katsu drops him off. He even seems to be having fun. The first few weeks he was being brave (and Katsu ploys him with M&Ms before he drops him off), but I think he is finally learning to separate! Yay! This month, he even will run and say good bye and wave before I leave somewhere but it is usually not the end of the world. Katsu even took him to nursery last week and he stayed the whole time and had fun. I think as long as he doesn't fall asleep during church (which he does most weeks since we have 1-4 now), he will go to nursery. Freedom! He has been doing so well, I decided we should keep the momentum going, so I signed him up for 3 day preschool next week. He will be 3 a couple months into preschool, so I think he will be ready, and with Seth in kindergarten, he will be a bit bored at home, even (or especially) with a new baby at home. Also, I will be teaching again, so it will be either a babysitter or preschool one of the days anyways. I hope he enjoys it.
Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- SNOW!
On the other hand, he is 2, so sometimes I have no idea what he wants and this tends to cause lots of fits. His fits are generally over lack of communication or not getting what he wants to eat. He also tends to hit when he gets mad or sometimes bite, but he pretty much has typical two year old tantrums.
Logan LOVES to eat. I think he eats as much as Andrew some times. I can not believe how much he eats. Yesterday for dinner, he ate two whole fish fillets - more than anyone else. These boys are going to eat me out of house and home. Logan loves cheese sticks the most and will eat as many as 4 a day. He also loves to eat canned oranges or any fruit. Taking him to the store is a challenge because he refuses to sit in a seat and he will put everything he loves in the cart - berries (boxes and boxes and boxes), apples, avocados, all kinds of cheeses, etc. He loves to peruse the refrigerator and take out everything he wants to eat. Priorities - first cheese, then any kind of fruit or yogurt, and if none of that is available, mushrooms (which he eats straight from the package). He is in love with avocados (which he calls cados). He likes to take them away and is pretty sneaky. The other day he was throwing one around but I must not have kept track of it because we found it like a week later busted open under the couch. Arg! Logan is starting to pick up that the boys don't like to eat everything and he will say "Yucky" to lots of food, but generally he eats most things.
Logan is really obsessed with the idea of a baby and won't forget about it. He loves to rub my tummy all the time and talk about the baby. He wants it to be a girl. He also is always telling me that there is a baby in his tummy too.
Logan had a lot of fun in the snow this week. Mostly looking at it. He had a little bit of fun playing in it and sledding, but I think overall, it was a little too cold for him. And he was the one with snow boots!
Logan has been doing much better at preschool because Katsu drops him off. He even seems to be having fun. The first few weeks he was being brave (and Katsu ploys him with M&Ms before he drops him off), but I think he is finally learning to separate! Yay! This month, he even will run and say good bye and wave before I leave somewhere but it is usually not the end of the world. Katsu even took him to nursery last week and he stayed the whole time and had fun. I think as long as he doesn't fall asleep during church (which he does most weeks since we have 1-4 now), he will go to nursery. Freedom! He has been doing so well, I decided we should keep the momentum going, so I signed him up for 3 day preschool next week. He will be 3 a couple months into preschool, so I think he will be ready, and with Seth in kindergarten, he will be a bit bored at home, even (or especially) with a new baby at home. Also, I will be teaching again, so it will be either a babysitter or preschool one of the days anyways. I hope he enjoys it.
Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- SNOW!
Seth in January 2014
Snow is the big news this month. Every since we moved here, Seth has been begging to go to the mountains so he can play in the snow. He has told me that he wants to live somewhere where he can sled and play in the snow. And we always told him ... well, not likely. It snowed twice this month! And once was a lot, like almost an inch of sleet and then prob. around 6 inches of snow. He missed tons of preschool and had only a short day of preschool many days. We went sledding, we built snowman and snow forts and threw snow balls. (He was quite disappointed that I can't find matching gloves for him and he doesn't have snow boots (like Logan) or snow pants (like the ones we borrowed for Andrew)). And then, he told me he doesn't like snow and he doesn't want it to ever snow again!
And that pretty much sums up a 4 year old. And Seth has been every inch of a 4 year old this month. He is constantly giving out threats (If you don't do X, I am going to go do some Y damage to the house or come and do some Z injury to you). He doesn't ordinarily damage the house, but sometimes he will hit you (he loves to hit/kick Katsu's groin!) or try to bite you! Or he will say you either do X or Y, both of which are ridiculous choices. Like, I have to give him some special food he wants but we probably don't have or else I have to read to him a whole book in Japanese. And then, he starts to count down from 10 and you have to have done it by then. He spend a lot of time pouting and yelling and crying and who knows what else. Thankfully, I remember Andrew being just like this and it went away. Sometimes, it's almost comical - like look how hard it is to be 4!
Seth would be most happy spending all day in front of a screen or reading comic books. He would prefer to be on the computer (his reading lessons, pbskids, abcya, reading eggs, etc) or watching TV or movies or playing video games all day long. If he has reached his quota, then he pouts and reads comic books. Trying to get the boy to play, especially by himself is a serious challenge. I can only imagine the video game addictions this kid is going to have.
Seth is starting to read things on boxes and loves to do his reading lesson on the computer. On one hand, I worry about him being bored in kindergarten (his main explanation for why he doesn't need to go to preschool or kindergarten is because he already knows everything). On the other hand, he seems so bored with "just" playing at home. Especially without other little playmates. He really is ready to do more academic things. Hopefully they can come up with something to challenge him next year in kindergarten.
Seth is doing well at preschool. He goes somewhat willingly though he will tell you he has no fun at all (which I don't believe for a second - he is always having fun when I pick him up). He is making friends and seems to be really enjoying himself. I really like his teachers and his school.
Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes with lots of fried rice for Andrew
- Birthday party at gymnastics place
- Date with mom to get ice cream and pick out books at Barnes and Noble - Seth picked out his favorite Ninjago books.
- School off for MLK day - 3 days
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- Lots of late start days
- SNOW and 4 days off of school
And that pretty much sums up a 4 year old. And Seth has been every inch of a 4 year old this month. He is constantly giving out threats (If you don't do X, I am going to go do some Y damage to the house or come and do some Z injury to you). He doesn't ordinarily damage the house, but sometimes he will hit you (he loves to hit/kick Katsu's groin!) or try to bite you! Or he will say you either do X or Y, both of which are ridiculous choices. Like, I have to give him some special food he wants but we probably don't have or else I have to read to him a whole book in Japanese. And then, he starts to count down from 10 and you have to have done it by then. He spend a lot of time pouting and yelling and crying and who knows what else. Thankfully, I remember Andrew being just like this and it went away. Sometimes, it's almost comical - like look how hard it is to be 4!
Seth would be most happy spending all day in front of a screen or reading comic books. He would prefer to be on the computer (his reading lessons, pbskids, abcya, reading eggs, etc) or watching TV or movies or playing video games all day long. If he has reached his quota, then he pouts and reads comic books. Trying to get the boy to play, especially by himself is a serious challenge. I can only imagine the video game addictions this kid is going to have.
Seth is starting to read things on boxes and loves to do his reading lesson on the computer. On one hand, I worry about him being bored in kindergarten (his main explanation for why he doesn't need to go to preschool or kindergarten is because he already knows everything). On the other hand, he seems so bored with "just" playing at home. Especially without other little playmates. He really is ready to do more academic things. Hopefully they can come up with something to challenge him next year in kindergarten.
Seth is doing well at preschool. He goes somewhat willingly though he will tell you he has no fun at all (which I don't believe for a second - he is always having fun when I pick him up). He is making friends and seems to be really enjoying himself. I really like his teachers and his school.
Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes with lots of fried rice for Andrew
- Birthday party at gymnastics place
- Date with mom to get ice cream and pick out books at Barnes and Noble - Seth picked out his favorite Ninjago books.
- School off for MLK day - 3 days
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- Lots of late start days
- SNOW and 4 days off of school
Andrew in January 2014
It felt like this January was a holiday! Andrew hardly had any school. He was out for New Years, of course. Went back to school on the 8th. Because of the huge cold, he had late start days (starting on a 2 hour delay) at least two or three times. The week of Martin Luther King day, the kids had 3 days of school off (Mon - Wed) and then last week, they went to school on Monday and then the whole rest of the week was cancelled due to snow. So, we have spent A LOT of time with all the boys hanging out at home. Which Andrew has really enjoyed. He is already bummed that he won't have so many days off in Feb (no planned days off at all ... a totally normal month!).
Big change this month - Andrew is reading chapter books. I was a little conniving. I figured he read well enough to do it, but he always told me he didn't. So, I got the first 8 Magic Tree House books on CD. Andrew listened to all of them in short order and loved them, of course. Then, I checked #9 out from the library. I told him I wanted to hear all about Jack and Annie, but I couldn't read it to him right then because I had to cook dinner, and could he read it to me? And sure enough, he could! He has read #9 and #10 and is reading #11. He used his money from his aunt and uncles at Barnes and Noble (which he always called Books and Noble) to buy two of them and then got a third from the book order at school. He LOVES it and I am so happy for him!
Also, Andrew is really getting into games. Katsu has been teaching him card games and I taught him Set today. He is finally getting to an age where he can play adult games (well, at least not preschool ones)! Yay!
Even though he didn't have much school, he did finish up a 9 weeks (with tons of dojo points), but they had to cancel their special shark party, which he was very disappointed about. They retested their reading this month and he went up about 4 levels. I am glad because the books were getting too boring and easy, in my opinion. He is working on his math facts - we really need to force him to memorize them all now. We also did some work with him over the holidays on his handwritten and it is starting to look better. I am planning on doing a homeschool handwriting course with him over the summer. Also, will probably work on some math, too, and reading. We'll see what else.
This month had lots of fun playing in the snow. Amazingly, it has been very cold and we got lots of snow. A few days, it was wind chills down in the teens when it was time to pick him up and they wouldn't even dismiss the kids from outside - they had to call each one of them out individually. I still think that kids are coddled nowadays, so rain or shine or snow or low wind chill, I pretty much walk over there. Walking school bus is cancelled in the mornings through Feb. so Katsu usually drops him off on the way to work, but we usually walk to pick him up whenever they cancel walking school bus in the afternoon (which is almost every day!). The snow was not quite as much as they anticipated because we got a thick sheet of sleet first, but it was probably still 6 inches or so. Enough to build a snow man and a snow fort and a big incline to go sledding down. Andrew definitely had the most stamina for playing in the snow and we're lucky to neighbors next door to play with.
Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes with lots of fried rice for Andrew
- Birthday party at gymnastics place
- Date with mom to get ice cream and pick out books at Barnes and Noble - School off for MLK day - 3 days
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- Lots of late start days
- SNOW and 4 days off of school
Big change this month - Andrew is reading chapter books. I was a little conniving. I figured he read well enough to do it, but he always told me he didn't. So, I got the first 8 Magic Tree House books on CD. Andrew listened to all of them in short order and loved them, of course. Then, I checked #9 out from the library. I told him I wanted to hear all about Jack and Annie, but I couldn't read it to him right then because I had to cook dinner, and could he read it to me? And sure enough, he could! He has read #9 and #10 and is reading #11. He used his money from his aunt and uncles at Barnes and Noble (which he always called Books and Noble) to buy two of them and then got a third from the book order at school. He LOVES it and I am so happy for him!
Also, Andrew is really getting into games. Katsu has been teaching him card games and I taught him Set today. He is finally getting to an age where he can play adult games (well, at least not preschool ones)! Yay!
Even though he didn't have much school, he did finish up a 9 weeks (with tons of dojo points), but they had to cancel their special shark party, which he was very disappointed about. They retested their reading this month and he went up about 4 levels. I am glad because the books were getting too boring and easy, in my opinion. He is working on his math facts - we really need to force him to memorize them all now. We also did some work with him over the holidays on his handwritten and it is starting to look better. I am planning on doing a homeschool handwriting course with him over the summer. Also, will probably work on some math, too, and reading. We'll see what else.
This month had lots of fun playing in the snow. Amazingly, it has been very cold and we got lots of snow. A few days, it was wind chills down in the teens when it was time to pick him up and they wouldn't even dismiss the kids from outside - they had to call each one of them out individually. I still think that kids are coddled nowadays, so rain or shine or snow or low wind chill, I pretty much walk over there. Walking school bus is cancelled in the mornings through Feb. so Katsu usually drops him off on the way to work, but we usually walk to pick him up whenever they cancel walking school bus in the afternoon (which is almost every day!). The snow was not quite as much as they anticipated because we got a thick sheet of sleet first, but it was probably still 6 inches or so. Enough to build a snow man and a snow fort and a big incline to go sledding down. Andrew definitely had the most stamina for playing in the snow and we're lucky to neighbors next door to play with.
Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes with lots of fried rice for Andrew
- Birthday party at gymnastics place
- Date with mom to get ice cream and pick out books at Barnes and Noble - School off for MLK day - 3 days
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- Lots of late start days
- SNOW and 4 days off of school
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Seth in December 2013 - 4 years 6 months old
Seth turned four and a half on Christmas Eve. He was a little disappointed he didn't get half birthday presents, but 1 - it's your half birthday, and 2 - it's Christmas tomorrow. He was pretty excited for it, though.
Life continues to be up and down with Seth. He is really moody and predictably unpredictable. Starting preschool was ... an adventure. The first day was a bit rocky - we ended up staying in the hall for a bit. The second day was even worse. It was a special Christmas Tea and Seth didn't want to dress up for it (fine), but then he would not go into class. I refused to leave, so we all sat in the hall for at least a good 30 minutes until Seth's class came out to go and take Christmas tea pictures. We followed along with a sad, crying Seth, but he eventually nudged closer to the kids - they were so cute and sweet and interested in him. By the end of the pictures, he went to Chapel. He ended up staying in the hall or visiting Logan's Mother's Day Out class the entire time, but he made it through the day. The next two days were fine (even though his main teacher was out of town), but the next week had a couple of rocky days again. But I think we've made it through the worst. He is never going to be the kid that loves it and wants to rush out the door, but I can tell that there are parts that he likes and it is good for him and his growth. Surprisingly, Seth volunteered to be Joseph in the class performance for their Christmas show. So, he was Joseph. It was so cute. His class dressed up as the nativity and sang "Away in a Manger". The girl next to Seth thought he was singing too loud and kept trying to shush him and tell him to be quiet. And Mary was probably about a foot taller than him. But he sang out loud and strong all the songs - and there was probably about 9. He knew the words better than anyone and he was only there for a couple weeks. I was very proud of him. The last day or preschool, he brought home a whole bunch of gifts for us (ornaments and pictures and things) and he was so proud to give them to us. So sweet.
On a related note, Seth has been going to Sunbeams by himself every week! Yay! The day the Primary was supposed to sing for the Christmas program, Seth told me over and over he wouldn't do it, but when the time came, he went right up and sang. His teachers were so proud of him. His sunbeam teachers were so sweet. One of them made stockings up for all the kids full of candy and little toys and Seth couldn't wait to open it on Christmas, too.
Seth was very excited about Christmas. He gets really into things being just so. For Advent, the four Sundays, we read scriptures and share treats. We were a little slack about the readings (and I really wanted to get an advent wreath, but couldn't find one), but Seth would not let us forget about the treats. We had to have them every Sunday and he would pick one out each week at the grocery store. He really enjoyed his presents on Christmas - Lincoln logs, legos, a remote control car, and other odds and ends, but he wasn't satisifed until he opened all the Doraemon comics from Ji. Then, he was in heaven!
FUN THINGS THIS MONTH
-Dentist, no cavities, and some special xrays. It all looks good!
-Ward party.
-Seeing Santa
-Christmas program at preschool.
- CHRISTMAS!
Andrew in December 2013 - 6 years, 7 months
Andrew has been loving his break off from school. He does well in school and is very well behaved (unfortunately, according to him, it sounds like half his class is quite naughty). But I think it takes a bit of a toll on him. And, as he says, he never gets enough time to play. He kind of thought he was going back to school tomorrow and is very happy to hear he has another week of break. He can't believe how much time he gets off! It's kind of cute. He has been playing pretty much non-stop over break. Right around Christmas was a little overwhelming, and the boys wanted to do more screen time, but I think they got through with this and aren't so "bored" anymore. Of course, getting Netflix probably didn't help any.
Andrew is on track with school. They raised his reading level finally - the books were getting way too easy. I wish they would raise his level a little quicker, but it's okay. He is probably right on track, maybe a level ahead of where he should be. Sometimes, I wonder why he isn't an avid reader yet at home and reading to himself, but I have to make sure not to project myself onto him. He is reading harder books than the beginning of the year, but more importantly, he is much more fluent, has a better vocabulary, and is answering questions well himself. His handwriting is AWFUL, but it's not really his fault. HIs kindergarten didn't focus a lot on the mechanics of writing, but more on the creative process, and now here, they did NOTHING on that lined paper, and just jumped straight into coursework. But I have been harping on his handwriting more the last few weeks and really instructing him as he does his homework. Last week, he brought home his list of spelling words and they were beautiful! He had really taken his time and wrote all the words clearly at school. I was so proud of him. His math is good - they do SO many word problems, but I try to throw some flashcards in when he lets me before he runs off because he needs to play. This summer, we are going to have to really focus on rote memorization for addition and subtraction so it is cold. Sometimes, I feel like there is a lot of supplementation (right now, we mostly just do history), but he learns a lot at school, too.
Andrew is still a little rascal. I feel like it has been coming out more lately. Somedays, it is like he gets on this naughty streak and just can't go one minute without disobeying. For example, this morning, I was trying to get the boys ready for church. Andrew will run around butt naked until he finally gets around to putting clothes on. Then, he will mess with other people's clothes or shoes, then run into the car, and start honking the horn because it's fun. ARGGG - that child. Or the other week, in sacrament meeting, he kept telling Logan to yell things (and yes, Logan does it). And other times, he is like a perfect angel. That child!
Andrew uses the bathroom more than anyone I know. He has to go right (and I mean, right) before we leave the house. If we are delayed by something, he will go again, even if it is just 5 minutes. He will go at least TWICE when we go to a restaurant. I don't know how he manages at school! He is just the kind of kid where if he thinks he needs to do something, it is completely and positively non-negotiable.
Andrew enjoyed Christmas, but spent much of the season trying to decide if he believed in Santa or not. His class at school celebrated Christmas more than I can imagine. They had an Elf on the Shelf (Andrew begged for us to have one at home, but I don't want to do it and Seth is terrified). Andrew was adamant that the elf was real, no matter how much I told him that they are pretend and you buy them at the store. He even got an email from his elf on his school email!!! Santa visited their classroom and they wrote letters to Santa and he wrote them back (although whoever wrote the letter didn't seem entirely fluent in English). He brought home all kinds of Christmas things and they had a fun Christmas party where they decorated t-shirts! They did celebrate the other holidays a bit (they made dreidels out of marshmallows and chocolate kisses), but I still can't believe how much they did. Andrew ultimately decided he believes in Santa, even though he told me earlier in the season that he think it is just us and we bought the presents. Andrew didn't get everything he wanted from Santa (he wanted Book of Mormon action figures (check!), a remote control helicopter (he got a car from grandma and grandpa), and army stuff (which he didn't get, but he bought himself with a gift card afterwards)), but he still had fun. He got some Legos. He built it himself (a house and fire truck) and really enjoyed it and loves playing with it. He also got Lego minifigs (like 20) from his Uncle Kiyo that he loves to play with. And the boys also got a Connect 4 game and Snap Circuits (yes, those are electronic circuits, but the boys are loving doing the experiments with me). And some Lincoln Logs, which Andrew also really enjoys. And Doraemon books from Ji and Ba. So, it really was a nice Christmas.
FUN THINGS THIS MONTH
-Football game with Katsu and his brothers. Andrew had a lot of fun.
-Kids motion study at ECU. Andrew went in two times and wore an accelerometer for a week (like a souped-up pedometer) and got a $10 gift card to Walmart with which he bought army things, of course.
-Thanksgiving.
-Dentist appt. No cavities for Andrew, but he was mostly excited about searching for their two elves. He also got a panoramic x-ray and everything looked good.
-Ward party. Andrew was a little upset we didn't stay the whole time to see Santa, but Seth and I were feeling a little under the weather.
-Seeing Santa at our realtor's office.
-Christmas party at school.
-CHRISTMAS!
Logan in December - 2 years 1 month old
Logan is growing into a full-on toddler. This month he has expanded his talking so much. I can't believe the vocabulary he has. It is sometimes still hard to figure out what he is saying, if there aren't enough context clues, but he usually speaks clearly - it's just a matter of figuring out what he is trying to tell you. He still mostly speaks in single words, but he will combine words occassionally. He uses both nouns and verbs and also says things like "Quiet!". His most recent word that really cracks me up is "ewww" when he doesn't want some food. Picked that up quick. He is always cracking me up and is really quite fun.
Logan has really jumped into playing the last couple weeks. He cries at night because he still wants to play and doesn't want to go to bed. He jumps up from breakfast and runs to go and play. He really likes to play with people (like Little People and action figures) and little animals. I love to hear his people have conversations. They mostly just say their names and talk abotu candy or treats (his all time favorite things). He also loves to play with cars and trains, his shape sorter, puzzles, books, blocks, etc. Today he built a huge city of blocks, stacking them into all kinds of houses and then destroyed the city. "City. Gone." He plays by himself well. He doesn't usually play toys with the older boys - they love to rough house. From morning till night. They wrestle and play hide and seek and chase each other and jump off the beds and furniture and play outside and throw balls, etc. etc. Logan loves to play with basketball hoop outside or to play on the swings. He could swing for hours.
Logan is attached to me like glue and it is getting a little old. He wakes up and wants me, wants to sit next to me at every meal, be in my lap always to the exclusion of any of the other children, go down for a nap laying next to me, play with me or sit on my lap when I am working on the computer, help me cook, help me shop, be held by me, let me exclusively change him, and then lay down with me at night and then wake up in the middle of the night crying hysterically for me and refuse to sleep unless I am there. It's a little exhausting! Katsu will say "Do you love me?" and Logan will say "Mommy". He went to nursery for one hour on his own last week and did really well, but this week, he was not himself during Sacrament meeting in anticipation of nursery. We saw a picture of nursery in the Friend and he burst into tears. As soon as sacrament meeting is over, he clings to me and starts sobbing. Someday he will go, right ...
Logan's toddler stubborness is starting to come out. He loves to say "no" to everything now. He will often change his mind afterwards to "yes", but it has to start out as no. He starts to hide from me when it's time for nap/diaper change/sleep/clothing change, etc. He thinks it's funny, but he also only wants his way.
Logan has started going to a Mother's Day out program at Seth's preschool on Friday mornings, since that is when I will be teaching my lab next semester. He cried hysterically when I dropped him off both days, but he did well and was happy when I picked him up. I know he doesn't love it (he HATES being away from me), but I think it is good for him and the teachers seem great and there are many little boys for him to play with.
Logan LOVED Christmas. If you asked him what Santa was bringing him, he would say candy. He loved to point out Santa anywhere he saw him, but he was also terrified of Santa. When we went and saw Santa, Logan would get nowhere near him. He always says that Santa is scary. Cracks me up. He loved getting candy out of the advent calendar every day and also loved the tree. He really enjoyed his presents this year - candy and a car garage with a crane (Santa), Thomas train - he loves to run Thomas endlessly (Great Grandma and Grandpa Crookston), and a remote control police car (Grandma and Grandpa).
FUN THINGS THIS MONTH
-Football game with Katsu and brothers. Logan LOVES the pirates and had SO much fun. I wasn't quite sure if he would go without me, but he loved it.
-Thanksgiving - eventful since Logan got nursemaid's elbow right after dinner. After many attempts, I finally got it back in, but he wouldn't use his left arm (his dominant arm) for a couple days. It seems all better now.
-Painting the fence - Logan even helped paint abit.
-Dentist visit. Logan sat really well for the exam, even with a stuffy nose. We'll try to get a cleaning on him next time.
-Ward Christmas party. Logan was slightly terrified the whole time, because Santa was coming.
-Watching Seth's Christmas program at school.
-Lots of time at the library, especially while hoping Seth was doing okay in preschool.
-Christmas
-Dinner with missionaries, who slightly scared Logan- he hid the whole time, until we brought out cake!
Sunday, December 01, 2013
Seth is 4 years 5 months old
a week ago ... behind again.
Anyways, the biggest change for Seth this month is he decided he wants to go to preschool. Yay! He said it for about a week or two before I felt like he was really sure. At this point, I wasn't sure if we would be able to find a spot, but luckily the preschool I contacted had just had someone that day say they were going to move. Crazy! We visited and Seth was a little nervous, but the kids in his class just loved him and were showing him all around and he made a bracelet and had a fantastic time. He is signed up for the 4 day class, so he is Tuesday - Friday. He wanted to start immediately, but I needed to get him a backpack and finish up my semester. And of course, Seth wanted a particular Batman backpack, so I had to order it online. And of course, the last two days he says he doesn't want to go to preschool. But too late buddy! He starts on Tuesday and I hope he likes it. I am excited - I think this will be really good for him (for getting ready for kindergarten and not being so bored at home) and I am excited. Logan will be doing one morning a week too in the Mother's Day Out program, so I will have one morning a week to myself ... well, until I start work again next semester.
Seth went to Sunbeams today the whole time. Katsu dropped him off - I think that makes the biggest difference. Yay! Maybe he will finally go regularly before he is no longer a sunbeam.
Seth is still mostly into reading his books and wanting to play computer games. He isn't too much interested in learning to read or his work books. I picked him up some Bob books at the library, though, and he loved them. I still feel like he is mostly biding time until Andrew comes home from school so they can play together. He is starting to play more with Logan which makes me happy.
Fun Things This Month:
Anyways, the biggest change for Seth this month is he decided he wants to go to preschool. Yay! He said it for about a week or two before I felt like he was really sure. At this point, I wasn't sure if we would be able to find a spot, but luckily the preschool I contacted had just had someone that day say they were going to move. Crazy! We visited and Seth was a little nervous, but the kids in his class just loved him and were showing him all around and he made a bracelet and had a fantastic time. He is signed up for the 4 day class, so he is Tuesday - Friday. He wanted to start immediately, but I needed to get him a backpack and finish up my semester. And of course, Seth wanted a particular Batman backpack, so I had to order it online. And of course, the last two days he says he doesn't want to go to preschool. But too late buddy! He starts on Tuesday and I hope he likes it. I am excited - I think this will be really good for him (for getting ready for kindergarten and not being so bored at home) and I am excited. Logan will be doing one morning a week too in the Mother's Day Out program, so I will have one morning a week to myself ... well, until I start work again next semester.
Seth went to Sunbeams today the whole time. Katsu dropped him off - I think that makes the biggest difference. Yay! Maybe he will finally go regularly before he is no longer a sunbeam.
Seth is still mostly into reading his books and wanting to play computer games. He isn't too much interested in learning to read or his work books. I picked him up some Bob books at the library, though, and he loved them. I still feel like he is mostly biding time until Andrew comes home from school so they can play together. He is starting to play more with Logan which makes me happy.
Fun Things This Month:
- Last soccer game. Seth just loved his season and did really well. He was always so eager and he still likes to play soccer every day.
- Loving the new swing set. Would love to swing for an hour or more every day.
- Voting with Mom. Mostly wanted to try out the swingset at the church we were voting at. Wish every Sunday that our church had a playground.
- Playing too much Lego Star Wars video game while we painted the fence. Seth LOVES it. I smell an addiction on our hands if we aren't careful.
- Visiting preschool.
- Going to an ECU football game. Seth LOVED it!
- Doing a motion study for ECU. Seth wore an accelerometer for a week. I can only imagine the data - it is probably him being still for hours at time (reading comic books) and bouncing around the rest of the time. Unless that kid is obsessed with something, he is the wiggliest kid I know.
- Thanksgiving - Seth wasn't much interested in the food and didn't stay around at the table very long. He was mostly interested in playing soccer with our guest before and after.
- Putting up the Christmas tree and decorations.
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