Friday, November 04, 2011

Mrar, then mrarweeeee!

It's been a rough week.  I feel like I'm still suffering burn-out from the mania of this fall.  I look around and see nothing but messes and work that needs to be done and re-done on a daily basis. 

Our house is a stye and my little babe sits in the backpack while I battle demon housework.  And in my brain, I wonder: shouldn't I be sitting and playing with my baby? shouldn't I be enjoying that little guy? all my little guys??  But if I did . . . what would we wear? and what would we eat? and wouldn't I feel all the more upset with the piles of junk and filth everywhere?

I'm sure it is more of a feeling than anything, because we did sit in the sunroom this afternoon and played Babezilla, where the boys built towers of blocks, then unleashed the fat, sweet, baby-talking monkey-do on it.  And then laughed and laughed and laughed.

Arise ye fool!  Up from the quagmire!

A few LIFE NOTES --
  • Eating with a 10 month old is like trying to tame a cantankerous caveman.  It's all hollering, pounding, and exuberant signs of "more" mixed in with clunky, fat hands shoving the food into a little slobbery mouth as fast as he can.
  • He's so cute, he really is.  Jamie is doing all kinds of funny things these days.
    • He will fight his brothers for something if/when they try to take it away.
    • He signs "more" and "milk"
    • He hollers through diaper changes more often than not.  And tries to get away.
    • He plays peek-a-boo.  Really!  He holds his shirt or a clean diaper up in front of his face while I say, "Where's Schtinky?" and then flops it down in his lap while I say, "Oh! there he is!" over and over again.  Precious.
    • He likes to clap and say, "yayyyyyy", though it sounds more like, "ahhhhhhh" :)
    • He puckers up his lips and makes whining noises.  To be cute and funny.  No joke.  I thought it was a fluke but he keeps on doing it and it becomes more animated by the day.
    • He loves his daddy.  He wants to snuggle with him as soon as he gets home and often lunges for him if/when he hasn't seen him for awhile.
    • He is OBSESSED with the shower.  It is an almost-daily tradition for the boys to shower with Blaine (I don't know how he stands it) and Schtinky has joined the ranks.  He will make a bee-line for the shower when he hears it turned on and will lunge towards it if/when I am holding him in the bathroom and they are in there.  Loves it.  Loves. it.
    • He is standing by himself for several seconds at a time.  !!!
    • He loves walking behind the little push-car and laughs happily the entire way across the living room.
    • He also loves his brothers, who I call his "brudders".  His brudder and his udder-brudder.  He gets super happy and wiggly whenever they enter on the scene.
    • I can always tell when he is intrigued or excited by something when he is on my hip, because he immediately starts paddling his legs and starts rocking up and down.
  • Diego said his alphabet 100% correct the entire way through.  Yesterday.  For the first time ever.  He was pretty pleased with himself, as he should be.  And I was very proud. ♥
  • We have started formal "schooling" of sorts. 
    • I worked with Diego on his numbers this summer while the other two were sleeping, mostly because numbers seemed easier for him right off the bat.  He is counting, reconizes the basic numbers, and can do simple math.  I used combination of cards from a number-match game and buttons for manipulatives.
    • After this fall, I've realized our school year is going to run from October through May or June.
    • Within the last couple of months I've started getting serious about a structure for the beginnings of reading readiness.  He has never shown much interest in the ABCs and I was always just kind of waiting for his interest to ignite casually.  Nothing much has happened, so now that he is six, the waiting game is over. 
    • Each week is a different letter: Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, and so on.  This week is Gg.  I keep the Gg flashcards on the table on a prong-thingy so they can see the front and back.  Think, "g-g-g-gate, and g-g-g-garden".  Both boys are excited about the picture, though Diego is also interested in the letter itself.  Over breakfast we talk about all the "g" words and ask them to point out "Big G" and "Little g".  Throughout the week, I have him practice writing the letters he's learned on the chalkboard or on paper. 
    • It is going very well, I am rather pleased.
  • Truen, I realize more and more with each passing season, has a very hard time with change. 
    • This is something I don't relate to at all, but have started getting a better understanding for as I get older.  Change is hard at times.  But for this little guy, it is hard ALL the time. 
    • A prime example.  This morning, I put applesauce in with their oatmeal.  (I actually try to mix it up all the time -- raisins, honey, maple syrup, etc., but we haven't had applesauce for while.)  Truen came in, saw it, and immediately started wailing, "Wahhhhh!  I didn't want applesauce in my oatmeal!" like he was traumatized. 
    • I had him sit down, told him that while it is different than he is used to, he might just like it, so he had to try it.  By the end of the meal, he was proclaiming, "Mama, I want applesauce in my oatmeal every day!" with his spoon in the air. 
    • Uh huh.  Change.  It can also be good. 
    • (We'll be working on that.)
So yes, life is good.  I love my little boys, even when the going gets tough.  (And the tough get going, right?)

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