Seth Seth Seth ... in some ways he is the easiest child because he is such a peacemaker and tries really hard to be helpful. On the other hand, he tends to freak out and get stressed and anxious about the most things.
School is going really well. Seth has been doing awesome in school and I think he enjoys it. It's hard to tell. Seth comes home and every day if you ask him how his days was he will spell B-A-D. But in truth, I think he has good days and enjoys school and is just a bit contrary (he obviously gets that from me). His teacher has been so wonderful about differentiating things for him. She has been teaching him and another student carrying and borrowing in math. Still, I wonder how challenging school is and if he is getting too bored. I am planning on meeting with his teacher soon to see what she thinks he should be doing next year. Because I highly doubt 1st grade math is going to be the least bit interesting or challenging for Seth, but I am not really sure what alternatives we have.
Seth loves to learn, though, especially math. I bought some workbooks for the summer, but Seth has already dived into the math one and loves doing the work. He still needs to work on memorizing some of his math facts, but he is awesome at doing his work.
Seth has very neat handwriting, but his spelling is completely hilarious. His binder from kindergarten is getting so large because I love keeping all the things he is writing because they are so funny, once you can finally decode them.
Seth's reading has improved quite a bit this year. He still doesn't read enormous amounts like Andrew, but I don't think he has quite gotten to that degree of fluency (though his fluency is up a lot). I also think he just has more varied interests than Andrew as well. I also have a hard time what he has actually read and what he just looks at the pictures. Maybe he really has read all the books he has said, but sometimes I think he is just being agreeable because he wants to be able to read all the books Andrew has. That said, Seth loves books that are more like graphic novels. He was in love with the Ricky Ricotta series. I have also enjoyed finding the kids easy reader chapter books, like the Mercy Wilson series and he has really loved those. There are so many more books and at such a varied level than there were when I was young.
We have been enjoying some read alouds. Seth really enjoyed Pippi Longstocking books and laughed out loud heartily to them all. He also seems to be enjoying Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Seth is very diligent about doing chores and piano practice and anything else. He is very very motivated by screen time - especially being able to play Lego star wars on their webpage or able to play video games. I used to be worried that he wouldn't be able to ever stop playing, but he has gotten much better. He still spends most of the playing time jumping up and down the whole time. It is really so cute.
Basketball went well, more or less. Seth doesn't really get the drift of the game as well as he does soccer. He got the ball only occasionally but basically just passed it off to someone as fast as he could. He spent most of every game jumping up and down. I am so glad that basketball is done. He wants to play again next year, but I would rather not. He got a medal, so he thought that was pretty cool. Soccer is starting this weekend, and I think he is going to totally love it. He is getting pretty excited.
Otherwise, he loves to play Legos and army, look at books, play the new piano, and run around with all the neighbor friends. He has really been fun.
Well, I gotta go and get Logan from preschool or I would write more.
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Sunday, March 01, 2015
Logan in January and February 2015
So, Logan used to be a sweetheart ... and then he turned 3. You can still see the sweetheart peeking through sometimes, but he has become a very big and loud handful. Logan now throws fits regularly. Sigh. And he also is just ... obnoxious. He will make this weird laughing noise and then kind of flail around on the floor like a worm. Or spaghetti. Or something. If he wants something, he wants it right then and he will take it. He also refuses to potty train, but will hide if he is poopy and it is like this epic 30 minute battle to find him and change it every time ... and he poops like 4 times a day. He hides when he try to change his clothes and it is another epic 30 minute battle trying to do that. He has a super sensitive gag reflex and it takes another 30 minutes to convince him to clean his nose and then you have to hold him down while he is screaming and crying and then he is mad at you and hiding from you for another 30 minutes. He won't put on socks, puts his shoes on so loosely they continually fall off and takes both socks and shoes off anytime he can. He is lucky to be wearing anything on his feet by the time I take him out of church along with Noah. Between the two of them, we are lucky to last about 20 minutes in sacrament meeting. He has started having nightmares each night and then will go into his brothers room and wake them up early in the morning. We finally told him to come in our room instead - that is how desperate we are - because the whole house has been waking up at like 5:30 in the morning. And everyone is tired and grouchy. He asks for water about every 10 minutes but always spills his glass. Seriously, probably two or three times a day he spills his entire cup of drink. He asks for food about every 30 minutes. He probably eats twice as much as me. Lately, he eats too much and then complains of stomach aches, and then spits whatever is in his mouth that he no longer wants to eat out. Lovely. Suffice it to say, three is fun. In fact, today in his sunbeams class, he said he was a ninja and painted his face with red paint. At church.
He really isn't all bad, but he has seriously become a handful. I kind of want to hide from him until he is potty trained and well behaved again. At least he goes to preschool. He is a funny kid. He still talks in funny complete sentences. He loves Noah and loves to spend a lot of time entertaining him (yay!). He talks to him and tries to make sure that he is happy when he is going to preschool. He says funny things. Today it sounded like Noah said his name. Logan said "But he didn't say my middle name". I asked Logan if he even knew what his middle name was. He said "I like cheese sticks." It was pretty funny.
Logan does well at preschool. He hardly went this month because of all the snow days, but he really likes it. He was super excited about his Valentine's Day party, a little confused about how exactly the valentines worked, but excited. He picked out Star Wars valentines for his friends, because he likes whatever characters his friends liked. He ate all the candy he got in like one sitting.
Logan no longer bonks down the stairs. I guess he is growing up.
He is doing fine in Sunbeams. The first couple weeks were a little rocky - he wasn't sure and wanted me or Katsu to be there. But now he is great. His teacher buys him all kinds of little toys and treats. He thinks it is wonderful. When he isn't painting his face red or being a ninja. Ha ha.
He loves his older brothers and they are playing better together but it is still a bit rocky sometimes. They like to wrestle and fight and play light sabers and all kinds of active play. Playing with toys is a little more rocky because Logan is apt to break whatever they are doing. He is doing a lot more imaginative play and with toys now. He likes to play army and super heroes and build forts and pirates. He still really likes to play games and read books together.
I was trying to teach Logan his letters. He is awesome at recognizing "O". The other letters pretty much went over his head. I'll have to try again when he is a little older. He is good with shapes though. I got him a little Kumon book to practice tracing. (I am aiming for him to have better fine motor control and handwriting than Andrew - have to start young). He actually does a pretty good job and is learning to have the right grip. He just needs to press a little harder. He thought it was pretty fun. I think I will try cutting next. He really likes Play-doh. His counting is better - he understands how to count objects though still tends to forget the numbers 4 and 5. He has been doing geography with us. He loves to look at maps and is getting close at being able to find Asia and Japan and China. He has the funniest answers to geography questions. We were asking which country has the highest mountain and Logan said "American flag". Silly boy.
He likes to help around the house - vacuuming, dusting, cooking, etc. He likes to feed Joe, though tends to spill cat food everywhere. He is good at setting the table. He is probably the neatest of the children and is pretty good at remembering to put things away. He is very eager to learn the piano. I think he is too young but I don't want to squash his desire so I am not sure what to do about that. He especially likes our new piano.
So, he's a handful, but we love him. It kind of reminds me of the book about Leo the Late bloomer. I suppose one day he will just be grow up and then we will miss the crazy handful little boy he is.
He really isn't all bad, but he has seriously become a handful. I kind of want to hide from him until he is potty trained and well behaved again. At least he goes to preschool. He is a funny kid. He still talks in funny complete sentences. He loves Noah and loves to spend a lot of time entertaining him (yay!). He talks to him and tries to make sure that he is happy when he is going to preschool. He says funny things. Today it sounded like Noah said his name. Logan said "But he didn't say my middle name". I asked Logan if he even knew what his middle name was. He said "I like cheese sticks." It was pretty funny.
Logan does well at preschool. He hardly went this month because of all the snow days, but he really likes it. He was super excited about his Valentine's Day party, a little confused about how exactly the valentines worked, but excited. He picked out Star Wars valentines for his friends, because he likes whatever characters his friends liked. He ate all the candy he got in like one sitting.
Logan no longer bonks down the stairs. I guess he is growing up.
He is doing fine in Sunbeams. The first couple weeks were a little rocky - he wasn't sure and wanted me or Katsu to be there. But now he is great. His teacher buys him all kinds of little toys and treats. He thinks it is wonderful. When he isn't painting his face red or being a ninja. Ha ha.
He loves his older brothers and they are playing better together but it is still a bit rocky sometimes. They like to wrestle and fight and play light sabers and all kinds of active play. Playing with toys is a little more rocky because Logan is apt to break whatever they are doing. He is doing a lot more imaginative play and with toys now. He likes to play army and super heroes and build forts and pirates. He still really likes to play games and read books together.
I was trying to teach Logan his letters. He is awesome at recognizing "O". The other letters pretty much went over his head. I'll have to try again when he is a little older. He is good with shapes though. I got him a little Kumon book to practice tracing. (I am aiming for him to have better fine motor control and handwriting than Andrew - have to start young). He actually does a pretty good job and is learning to have the right grip. He just needs to press a little harder. He thought it was pretty fun. I think I will try cutting next. He really likes Play-doh. His counting is better - he understands how to count objects though still tends to forget the numbers 4 and 5. He has been doing geography with us. He loves to look at maps and is getting close at being able to find Asia and Japan and China. He has the funniest answers to geography questions. We were asking which country has the highest mountain and Logan said "American flag". Silly boy.
He likes to help around the house - vacuuming, dusting, cooking, etc. He likes to feed Joe, though tends to spill cat food everywhere. He is good at setting the table. He is probably the neatest of the children and is pretty good at remembering to put things away. He is very eager to learn the piano. I think he is too young but I don't want to squash his desire so I am not sure what to do about that. He especially likes our new piano.
So, he's a handful, but we love him. It kind of reminds me of the book about Leo the Late bloomer. I suppose one day he will just be grow up and then we will miss the crazy handful little boy he is.
Andrew in January and February 2015
Andrew is mostly the same old mischievous little boy who is always running around, making forts, coming up with adventures, making super elaborate setups of legos, lincoln logs, Trio, blocks and then getting upset whenever it gets touched or falls apart. Andrew can be quick to help if he's in the mood, but is quick to blame others if he is in trouble (always, always). He is pretty emotional, easily upset, but generally upbeat.
School is going well and Andrew seems to like it and his teacher well enough. He is doing well, as always. He does not lack at all for self esteem. He will always tell you that he is the best person in his class - this means some combination of doing the best in school work and having good behavior. He is not always the most careful at his school work, but generally does well. He worked hard on a timeline project about his life (okay, not super hard, but he did work on it when he would have rather been playing). He learned about black history month and Martin Luther King, Jr. He had Jump Rope for Heart fundraising for school and was very excited to earn little ducks to put on a lanyard - thankfully, I stopped him from using all his allowance on donations so he could earn even more ducks. He is in a special literature group at school, where some kids from all the second grade classes meet together to talk about and read books in another teacher's classroom. He is always asking me to tell the teacher or librarian to let him check out harder books from school.
He still reads tons and tons at home. He loves Boxcar Children books, but also has enjoyed rereading Percy Jackson books and also reading the Magician's Elephant and Ten Kids No Pets. He also enjoys doing workbooks. I bought the kids some workbooks for summer and Andrew is already loving the multiplication book. He, of course, has not yet started the cursive writing. I am hoping it will help improve his handwriting. We also have been supplementing at home. We have been learning geography and also reading history each night from Story of the World. We learned more about Japan and China's geography. Andrew knows all his continents and oceans, but is also learning all his seas, and capitals and flags, too. So much to learn, so little time. We have also been doing read alouds at night. We read all three Pippi Longstocking books, and the boys laughed their heads off. We tried a Moomintroll book, but the boys are not so interested. We will probably try another one later. Instead, we just started Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Andrew has been relatively diligent at practicing the piano with lots of reminders and is improving. He is almost done with book 1A. He loves to memorize music and does very well when we play duets together. He is not a fan of counting, but is good at quickly learning the notes. We bought a piano yesterday and everyone is in love with it.
Andrew did basketball and just finished his season. He is not a very aggressive athlete and really mostly loves talking to his friends on the bench and getting snacks and trophies. But he does put in a good effort and tries to follow the coach's directions. I think we are all glad that the basketball season is over. Andrew got frustrated because he never got the ball during games and practices were a challenge because Noah doesn't like to go in the car at dark, so he could only go about half the time with Katsu. He starts soccer this week, but after that he might be done with sports. I think it is time to start something new - like drama!
This last month was very busy and crazy. Katsu's mother passed away and so he was out of town for a week and a half. And then it was quite cold and icy/snowy here, so Andrew had 5 days off of school and like 4 days of two hour delays. Plus a holiday! It felt like they were never in school. That equals lots of energy and no where to burn it. Luckily they got to spend a day or two playing in the snow, though playing with neighborhood friends often leads to lots of drama with Andrew. He plays a lot and very well with a new girl in the neighborhood, Hannah, who is in his class. Also, while Katsu was gone, we celebrated Valentine's Day. Before he left, we all made chocolates together, which was fun. While he was gone, Andrew had his school party - but was disappointed because they couldn't fit it all in. He did enjoy getting and giving lots of valentines. We tried to make it fun at home with special pink pancakes with red sprinkles and special individual heart shaped pizzas. Other fun things the last couple months was giving a talk in church today and our trip to Williamsburg.
We also got journals to write back and forth between me and Andrew and Katsu and Andrew. Andrew quickly co-opted his journal to write a long chapter story about Henry and Mary that he has been telling to his younger brothers. It is quite an interesting adventure ... with lots of fighting!
Andrew is a fun boy. We are looking forward to him turning 8 and getting baptized and starting Cub scouts (okay, Andrew is not looking forward to cub scouts, but I think he will enjoy it).
School is going well and Andrew seems to like it and his teacher well enough. He is doing well, as always. He does not lack at all for self esteem. He will always tell you that he is the best person in his class - this means some combination of doing the best in school work and having good behavior. He is not always the most careful at his school work, but generally does well. He worked hard on a timeline project about his life (okay, not super hard, but he did work on it when he would have rather been playing). He learned about black history month and Martin Luther King, Jr. He had Jump Rope for Heart fundraising for school and was very excited to earn little ducks to put on a lanyard - thankfully, I stopped him from using all his allowance on donations so he could earn even more ducks. He is in a special literature group at school, where some kids from all the second grade classes meet together to talk about and read books in another teacher's classroom. He is always asking me to tell the teacher or librarian to let him check out harder books from school.
He still reads tons and tons at home. He loves Boxcar Children books, but also has enjoyed rereading Percy Jackson books and also reading the Magician's Elephant and Ten Kids No Pets. He also enjoys doing workbooks. I bought the kids some workbooks for summer and Andrew is already loving the multiplication book. He, of course, has not yet started the cursive writing. I am hoping it will help improve his handwriting. We also have been supplementing at home. We have been learning geography and also reading history each night from Story of the World. We learned more about Japan and China's geography. Andrew knows all his continents and oceans, but is also learning all his seas, and capitals and flags, too. So much to learn, so little time. We have also been doing read alouds at night. We read all three Pippi Longstocking books, and the boys laughed their heads off. We tried a Moomintroll book, but the boys are not so interested. We will probably try another one later. Instead, we just started Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Andrew has been relatively diligent at practicing the piano with lots of reminders and is improving. He is almost done with book 1A. He loves to memorize music and does very well when we play duets together. He is not a fan of counting, but is good at quickly learning the notes. We bought a piano yesterday and everyone is in love with it.
Andrew did basketball and just finished his season. He is not a very aggressive athlete and really mostly loves talking to his friends on the bench and getting snacks and trophies. But he does put in a good effort and tries to follow the coach's directions. I think we are all glad that the basketball season is over. Andrew got frustrated because he never got the ball during games and practices were a challenge because Noah doesn't like to go in the car at dark, so he could only go about half the time with Katsu. He starts soccer this week, but after that he might be done with sports. I think it is time to start something new - like drama!
This last month was very busy and crazy. Katsu's mother passed away and so he was out of town for a week and a half. And then it was quite cold and icy/snowy here, so Andrew had 5 days off of school and like 4 days of two hour delays. Plus a holiday! It felt like they were never in school. That equals lots of energy and no where to burn it. Luckily they got to spend a day or two playing in the snow, though playing with neighborhood friends often leads to lots of drama with Andrew. He plays a lot and very well with a new girl in the neighborhood, Hannah, who is in his class. Also, while Katsu was gone, we celebrated Valentine's Day. Before he left, we all made chocolates together, which was fun. While he was gone, Andrew had his school party - but was disappointed because they couldn't fit it all in. He did enjoy getting and giving lots of valentines. We tried to make it fun at home with special pink pancakes with red sprinkles and special individual heart shaped pizzas. Other fun things the last couple months was giving a talk in church today and our trip to Williamsburg.
We also got journals to write back and forth between me and Andrew and Katsu and Andrew. Andrew quickly co-opted his journal to write a long chapter story about Henry and Mary that he has been telling to his younger brothers. It is quite an interesting adventure ... with lots of fighting!
Andrew is a fun boy. We are looking forward to him turning 8 and getting baptized and starting Cub scouts (okay, Andrew is not looking forward to cub scouts, but I think he will enjoy it).
Noah in January and February 2015
Noah is growing up so fast and we are apparently too busy to write about it! Noah is seven months old now and is full of personality.
He is cute and fat. His head is still kind of flat, but it doesn't look too bad. His hair was kind of falling off in the back, but it is starting to look better now. He has had a haircut or two, but is probably in need of another one. His hair is getting a little long in front. His hair is getting browner now and even just today someone said he doesn't look as much like the other boys. I think he looks more like me. He is pretty fat and chubby - he weighed 20 lbs at his 6 month well check. He was around 90% or something like that for weight, but only 50% for height and around 75% for head circumference.
He is still nursing, but he is kind of a distracted nurser. He nips around during the day, and only really eats well if he is tired around nap time or at night time. He has had a cold the last two weeks, so he has been waking up a lot at night and wanting to eat.
For the last few days, he has been coughing himself awake and then his eyes are glued shut in the morning. Poor thing. He was sleeping next to me, but I am trying to get him out of that habit since he is getting better and I really want him to be a crib sleeper, since none of the other boys ever lasted very long that way. He was sick most of February with colds and croup so it is hard to say how well he sleeps. He takes two naps a day usually. One shorter in the morning and the afternoon as long as he can manage before his super loud brothers eventually wake him up.
We started solids around 6 months. Spoon feeding went well until the last week or two, but now Noah wants to control the process. Even if he has a spoon, he still tries to take the one we are using and he flings everything everywhere. He loves to eat. He really likes table food though. He was in love with a cheese stick today, but he loves bagels, bread, pizza crust, crackers, bananas, apple slices, etc. He likes to drink water out of a cup if Katsu helps feed him. He is just starting to get the hang of the pincer grasp. He can pick things up between his fingers, but is still working out how to put it in his mouth. And of course, because he is the 4th, he has had ice cream, pudding, cookies, and all sorts of things.
He just learned to clap his hands this week and it is so cute. He will clap along to "If You're Happy And You Know It". He seems to really enjoy music and almost seems to kind of sing along sometimes. He likes to babble, though he is not super talkative. He has consistently said Mama or Mom to refer to me for at least a month so I think that is definitely his first word, but otherwise, he just babbles sometimes and loves to spit and blow raspberries.
He likes to sit. He is an awesome sitter. No interest in crawling or being on his stomach ever. Sometimes, you can entice him with something for tops a minute, but otherwise, he instantly rolls over. Lately, he will reach over to grab something and fall over onto his stomach, so maybe he will do it enough to want to crawl. He does love to stand. He does pretty well holding on to us. I have tried to teach him to hang onto a table and stand, but he isn't into it.
Noah had a hard time going back to Mother's Day Out at the preschool after Christmas. It was right when he started getting separation anxiety. But after a couple rough days, he is back to being okay with it. He doesn't love it, but he survives. He seems to do fine with teenage babysitters we have had over and actually seems to like having them hold him. So, I am hoping this holds up and we can go out every now and then (we just had babysitters when I had to work and Katsu was out of town at his mother's funeral).
Noah has his 3 comfort objects - his favorite gray blanket (a hand me down that funnily enough has someone else's name monogrammed on it), his thumb, and a teddy bear we call "Mr. Teddy" that Noah loves to cuddle with and hugs and kisses fiercely when he sees him again. So sweet.
Noah loves his brothers. He loves to watch them and play with them. He especially loves to play with their toys. He likes to play in the kitchen and sit on the counter and watch me cook. He likes to dance with us. Once he starts moving, life is really going to get interesting. ...
A few fun things
- Trip to Williamsburg and Norfolk.
- Watching lots of Andrew and Seth basketball games
- "playing" in snow - really mostly just looking at from inside. Not much fun to take a non-mover out in it.
- watching lots of work on our home, fixing the flooring and other random warranty stuff
- Dad out of town for 10 days ...
- Valentine's Day
- Lots of brother time when everyone was out of school or delayed from school for 2 weeks ...
He is cute and fat. His head is still kind of flat, but it doesn't look too bad. His hair was kind of falling off in the back, but it is starting to look better now. He has had a haircut or two, but is probably in need of another one. His hair is getting a little long in front. His hair is getting browner now and even just today someone said he doesn't look as much like the other boys. I think he looks more like me. He is pretty fat and chubby - he weighed 20 lbs at his 6 month well check. He was around 90% or something like that for weight, but only 50% for height and around 75% for head circumference.
He is still nursing, but he is kind of a distracted nurser. He nips around during the day, and only really eats well if he is tired around nap time or at night time. He has had a cold the last two weeks, so he has been waking up a lot at night and wanting to eat.
For the last few days, he has been coughing himself awake and then his eyes are glued shut in the morning. Poor thing. He was sleeping next to me, but I am trying to get him out of that habit since he is getting better and I really want him to be a crib sleeper, since none of the other boys ever lasted very long that way. He was sick most of February with colds and croup so it is hard to say how well he sleeps. He takes two naps a day usually. One shorter in the morning and the afternoon as long as he can manage before his super loud brothers eventually wake him up.
We started solids around 6 months. Spoon feeding went well until the last week or two, but now Noah wants to control the process. Even if he has a spoon, he still tries to take the one we are using and he flings everything everywhere. He loves to eat. He really likes table food though. He was in love with a cheese stick today, but he loves bagels, bread, pizza crust, crackers, bananas, apple slices, etc. He likes to drink water out of a cup if Katsu helps feed him. He is just starting to get the hang of the pincer grasp. He can pick things up between his fingers, but is still working out how to put it in his mouth. And of course, because he is the 4th, he has had ice cream, pudding, cookies, and all sorts of things.
He just learned to clap his hands this week and it is so cute. He will clap along to "If You're Happy And You Know It". He seems to really enjoy music and almost seems to kind of sing along sometimes. He likes to babble, though he is not super talkative. He has consistently said Mama or Mom to refer to me for at least a month so I think that is definitely his first word, but otherwise, he just babbles sometimes and loves to spit and blow raspberries.
He likes to sit. He is an awesome sitter. No interest in crawling or being on his stomach ever. Sometimes, you can entice him with something for tops a minute, but otherwise, he instantly rolls over. Lately, he will reach over to grab something and fall over onto his stomach, so maybe he will do it enough to want to crawl. He does love to stand. He does pretty well holding on to us. I have tried to teach him to hang onto a table and stand, but he isn't into it.
Noah had a hard time going back to Mother's Day Out at the preschool after Christmas. It was right when he started getting separation anxiety. But after a couple rough days, he is back to being okay with it. He doesn't love it, but he survives. He seems to do fine with teenage babysitters we have had over and actually seems to like having them hold him. So, I am hoping this holds up and we can go out every now and then (we just had babysitters when I had to work and Katsu was out of town at his mother's funeral).
Noah has his 3 comfort objects - his favorite gray blanket (a hand me down that funnily enough has someone else's name monogrammed on it), his thumb, and a teddy bear we call "Mr. Teddy" that Noah loves to cuddle with and hugs and kisses fiercely when he sees him again. So sweet.
Noah loves his brothers. He loves to watch them and play with them. He especially loves to play with their toys. He likes to play in the kitchen and sit on the counter and watch me cook. He likes to dance with us. Once he starts moving, life is really going to get interesting. ...
A few fun things
- Trip to Williamsburg and Norfolk.
- Watching lots of Andrew and Seth basketball games
- "playing" in snow - really mostly just looking at from inside. Not much fun to take a non-mover out in it.
- watching lots of work on our home, fixing the flooring and other random warranty stuff
- Dad out of town for 10 days ...
- Valentine's Day
- Lots of brother time when everyone was out of school or delayed from school for 2 weeks ...
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