The Sleeper.

I think that with each subsequent child I get a little looser about things. It may be that I'm a bit wiser. It may be that I know more of what I want. It may just be that I'm a bit more tired and I'm working on surviving. (or it might be a bit of all three...)

With miss L I feel like I was a pretty traditional parent. We're all different, that's for sure, but she slept in her own room. She had a schedule. She napped at "normal" baby times. She had a bedtime! I mean, sure I did a few things that were sort of part of my inner "hippie." We started using g diapers and cloth diapers when she was around 6 months old.  I made my own baby food. I used a carrier when I could instead of a stroller. Of course, as I would tell you now, so many of those things are EASIER and soooooo much CHEAPER than the more "traditional" methods. So it isn't just my inner natural living lover coming out. It's just practical. :o)

Anyway, with mister W things were a little less easy. He had reflux and he was colicky. We had a baby in the hospital and then experienced the death of a child. We went from one child to three to two. With him bringing him to sleep in our bed was definitely a matter of survival. He wouldn't sleep alone and since I was pumping around the clock (nursing mister W for ten minutes on each side and then pumping on both sides for ten minutes) I NEEDED all the sleep I could get. Since miss L was involved in activities and we were out and about more I used the carrier AND seriously, we had all those cloth diapers already. I wasn't about to go buy diapers when I could just reuse those! Mister W didn't really develop a nap schedule until he was around a year old but he was generally a good sleeper at night. When he was nine months old he started nursing all night long and we started the process of gently moving him to his own room. I don't judge anyone else's parenting methods (as long as they are reasonable of course) but after going through the process of losing a child, I simply can't let my babies cry themselves to sleep. Everyone's children are precious to them, I totally get that, but after Ben died I simply found that I no longer felt like sleep training was important or worth it. I just want to hold my babies and love them all that I can. (again, no judging of anyone else, I'm positive that everyone loves their babies as much as I do, I'm just saying that I feel like going through that experience makes me sort of unable to bear that kind of crying - it may prove to be a hindrance later in life, but for now I think we are all just fine)

With sweet little man the process seemed to continue with one exception. He's never been a great sleeper. Sweet little man, much like his big brother, was refluxey and colicky. He was unhappy in the beginning as we all adjusted to life and sleeping together seemed to make all of those things that much easier. Whereas mister W would sleep in the carrier while being carried around, sweet little man isn't that interested in sleeping while being worn. He'll sleep in the car, but other than that likes to sleep in his momma's lap while nursing. When this photo was taken he really did need to nurse to sleep. At night he would often want to fall asleep in our bed and would sleep only if I were near. This is wonderful, actually, but around nine months we started to want our bedroom back even if it were only for a few hours at the beginning of the evening. With mister W we started the transition to his own room by putting him down in his own bed and bringing him to ours when he woke to nurse. He eventually started sleeping through the night and stopped coming to our room to nurse. With sweet little man it was proving much more difficult because he would wake up as soon as he would touch the bed. At twelve months though, he started nursing through the night, just as mister W did at nine months. I would be up once per hour. At this time it seemed like it was time to really start the transition. Brad took over bedtime. We started up a bedtime routine. We did the bath, nursing, books, songs and then Brad rocks sweet little man to sleep. At first he wasn't happy about it, but by the second day he was happy to go to sleep in Brad's arms. It seemed that going to sleep in Brad's arms made it much easier to put him in his crib and have him stay asleep too. Brad had to go in and rock him a couple of times those first two nights (and eventually he did come to our bed to nurse) but on night three he slept through the night. I don't think he's been back to our bed since, actually. With the advent of sleeping through the night came an earlier bedtime (instead of no bedtime, really) and napping during the day. It's actually made a huge difference for all of us. I'm a happier, more well-rested mommy and that makes everyone happier. It is a little sad that he's grown up enough to sleep in his own bed and it does feel a little like he needs me a bit less.

This photo was taken on the 13th of September before we started the transition to his own bed, but about the time it was becoming obvious that we needed a bit of a change so that we could all get some rest. This day during some afternoon quiet time he found a place on the floor and just fell asleep. I love that sweet little boy.

Playing in the Dirt!

We love to garden. We work hard in our backyard to grow food for our family to eat. Our front yard, however, gets neglected.  Our Homeowners Association prevents us from growing food in our front beds so it ends up that they just sort grow whatever the previous owners put in until that plant dies. In the bed on the smaller side of our front yard an azalea was hidden below some other plants. We transplanted it and it did well for a small while and then it died. We took it out thinking we'd put something else in and then it just became a dirt patch where the kids enjoyed doing their own "gardening."

I'm trying hard to take the kids outside at least once per day. They play so well together out of doors and plus it's good for them! There are so many science lessons to be taught simply by experiencing nature and so we use this exploration time to talk about those concepts. On September 12th the weather was beautiful. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold and the kids wanted to play in the dirt. After a few minutes of looking at Pinterest on my phone (I don't know how people ever homeschooled before Pinterest!) I noticed mister W putting dirt on sweet little man's exersaucer. Then I saw his face! Mister W had been putting the dirt down and then sweet little man had been EATING IT! Being the responsible parent that I am, I had to run inside and grab my camera before I cleaned him up.

 

We put an end to feeding dirt to the baby, but that didn't stop the big kids from getting covered. At some point the game became covering their exposed skin with dirt. They had a lovely time and thank goodness it was a bath night!

Homeschool Week 1

With our return home it was time to start school. I have to admit that when the day after labor day came and I saw so many facebook posts about the first day of school I was a little sad. I had it in my heart that homeschooling would be best for miss L but I remember those first days so fondly. The new shoes, the combed hair and nice clothing. I suppose we could have done all that, but instead we stayed in our pajamas and got to work.

As I look back on that week in August from my desk several months later I know it was the very best thing. Now I know that she's learning so much at home that she may or may not have learned in school. Miss L is old enough now that she can sit (mostly) still during things like school. The problem is that a classroom full of five year olds contains so much sensory information. There are the sights, sounds and smells of 28 other children. There's the voice of the teacher. There are the colorful classroom walls meant to stimulate. In miss L's case, she just simply shuts down. She has become good enough in a classroom situation to not be a behavior problem, but she isn't really learning, she's just sitting and being overwhelmed. Maybe next year she'll be ready to cope with the challenges of the modern American classroom, but for this year, I know she's getting the best education for her.

Part of our school routine is just that, a routine. Miss L (and lots of kids even without SPD) has a much easier time with a routine. It makes her feel comfortable to know what is coming even if it doesn't happen at the same time or even if it isn't exactly the same thing.

We used those first two days to figure out what NOT to do. In my former teaching career, I remember this feeling well. It was always those first couple of days when I had to just feel out my classes and figure out what course the rest of the year would take. This was the same with miss L. That first day we started with handwriting (as we still do, actually). I handed her workbook to her and said, "okay, let's do page 1, letter E." She struggled through that first page and I realized that we were going to have to do something else to practice. We're using Handwriting Without Tears and I looked through the teacher's guide to find all kinds of great activities. Miss L doesn't like it when things get hard, but she's happy to practice as long as something is fun. The book had lots of suggestions for hand position, posture (including feet on the floor, which I knew was important for a kid with SPD but I forgot!) and for fun ways to work on forming letters. Miss L is a very strong girl but SPD gives her weak wrists and writing is very taxing for her. On day three we started with "letter of the day" with an art activity focused on making the letter (in this case, F). We did a coloring page (great for building endurance in weak hands!) and we worked standing up at the easel instead of sitting. One of the best things that Handwriting Without Tears taught me is the Wet-Dry-Try method (which is also an app, seriously! AND I promise they are not paying me for this - though I wish they were ;o). Basically they sell a chalkboard (which we don't have so we use this white board on our easel) and the teacher forms the letter explaining each stroke to the student (Start at the corner, long line down, frog jump up to the corner, short line across, etc). Then miss L uses a damp sponge to "erase" the letter following the line, then she dries it with a dry cloth and then she writes the letter herself. Basically, though she feels like she's only written the letter once, she's practiced forming the letter three times.

 

Though we've added more methods of practice (yarn letters, sandpaper letter tracing, writing in salt, etc) we always practice writing on paper strips before writing in the workbook. The strips are made from an 8.5X11 piece of printer paper that's been torn into four strips (folded in half, then in half again and torn or cut on the fold. I tear mine since I learned at a recent women's function at our church that I'm a tearer. It's very freeing if you haven't tried it. ;o). The paper strips (which HWT also sells, but we didn't purchase) are visually easier to practice on than a large piece of paper. It gives miss L a definite top and bottom to the area in which she is supposed to write. After that we move on to the workbook and she generally always plows through that.

 

Another great advantage of homeschool is the ability to do lots of "life skills" work. I'm not very well versed in Montessori at all, but I love the idea of Montessori education. So though we don't adhere to it strictly or even loosely, lots of our work is inspired by Montessori practices. This is our herb garden in the kitchen. Miss L takes care of the watering the garden as it is needed (with our hacked laundry detergent watering can that she can fill herself). Here she is taking care of her plants!

 

The first week was a bit rough. We've been getting into a groove. We started with a phonics program for miss L, but that quickly proved frustrating and we moved to sight words for learning to read. That was the best move we made since she's really doing so well with that now! The homeschool experiment has paid off so far. I'm excited to start posting more of our adventure!

Relaxing by the lake

I think this might have been our last day there but I'm not sure. What I do know is that it was such a nice day! We picked Aunt L up from work and we headed to this lovely lake. There was a lot of turning and a different way there and back, but no matter what it was a wonderful day. The boys fell asleep in the car but the lot was on the playground and we were the only visitors. We rolled the windows down and let miss L run around on the playground. Eventually mister W woke up too and we played a bit on the playground and then eventually on the shore of this lake. We practiced skipping rocks and just discovered what was there.

It was a wonderful end to a wonderful visit and we'll be heading back soon, I'm sure.

 

After that it was off to home. We stopped over at another friend's house. We're so blessed to have so many to stay with. Our kids are blessed to have such wonderful friends as well. What an awesome trip!

Playtime!

On the 27th, miss L's actual birthday, we traveled a bit. The drive wasn't bad with wonderful company and we started our day at the world's most awesome playground. I can't find the name of it anywhere, but it's seriously awesome. The park is free and has a sand pit, a HUGE play structure, a mist/wet play area, tire swings and more. It was a PERFECT way for miss L to start her big day.

Mister W started his day on the diggers.

 

Miss L went for the play structure.

 

Eventually we found the mist and we got WET.

 

...and had a snack.

 

...and went back for more!

 

Okay, this may not seem like a big deal to you, but it definitely was to me. Sweet little man wouldn't drink from a sippy cup to this point. He'd drink water from an open glass, which is fine at home, but I couldn't really take water for him. This day, at this park, he finally mastered the straw. Then he drank almost all of mister W's water, but I was so proud of him!

 

Miss L took her turn on the digger too. It was a seriously amazing morning. It will also have to be on our to do list when we go back!

Park Party!

Later on the 26th we had a little party for miss L in the party near Uncle K and Aunt L's house. In keeping with a long standing tradition there was a pinata! Woohoo! There were even friends! Double Woohoo! We made burritos in the park for dinner! Triple Woohoo!

Everyone had a go at the pinata before we finally pulled the ribbons out of the bottom to release the goods.

 

We also got to play with this awesome stomp rocket. That thing has some RANGE! One of my favorite parts was watching mister W do his jump wind up. He'd swing his arms really quickly, then stop and then jump. It was super cute!

 

Miss L and her buddy E had an awesome time running after the rockets when they'd been launched. I'm telling you. Those rockets went FAR.

 

Sweet little man isn't much for stomp rockets, but he had fun playing with pinata prizes.

 

Even Uncle K stomped a bit. I don't remember how far it went, but it had to be super far cause it was a great jump!

 

We spent some good time at the playground after dinner. Mister W enjoyed being pushed in the swing by his big sister. After that it was back to the house and off to bed. What a huge day! I can't imagine a better way to turn 5!

Children's Museum

On the 26th of August we made our way to the Children's Museum near Aunt L and Uncle K's house. It was amazing. The museum isn't in its final place. They are still raising funds to build their final home, but if this was the temporary location then I can't wait to see the end product!

The museum is on two levels and when you walk in you are immediately greeted by an open space with oversized building blocks. Mister W likes to build towers to knock down and miss L likes to build structures to pretend in and both were able to do their own thing.

Mister W found this piece of an old VW bus to drive.

 

Miss L got to work building a house.

 

There are two little rooms off of the main one. In one there is the most magnificent farm set. It's a quilt really, but it has fabric dirt, water and even rows for corn to actually stick in. It's all surrounded by fences, barns and animals (of course). All three kids enjoyed it. Mister W, of course, LOVES anything farm related and sweet little man loves taking things apart. :o)

 

Here is more from the main building room.

 

In the other little room (opposite the farm) there was a music room. There were Orff instruments to explore along with lots of others and even an upright piano with the back panel removed.

 

The pictures are here in chronological order as I shot them. I should perhaps have rearranged them so it's a bit less discombobulating. Three kids in three rooms with me traveling between makes for lots of photos of different places all at once. :o)

Here's mister W back with his farm.

 

While miss L builds on her house.

 

...and then eventually joins in the farming.

 

Of course, mister W did eventually want to knock over her structure. What are little brothers for?

 

In the large open space by the entrance there was also an area for arts and crafts and water play. Mister W found this water table to explore.

 

...and a table nearby filled with water beads. I have seen these all over the interwebs but have never actually gotten to hold them. They are a really interesting sensory experience!

 

There was also a couple of logs with nails to hammer. So much fun!

 

Eventually we made our way downstairs where there was even MORE fun. Along the wall at the bottom of the stairs is a big structure for some great engineering play. There are pulley systems and buckets, large tubing and gutter pieces. All of this is for moving the heavy sand in the base of the structure. It really captivated miss L for a long time as she filled her buckets and then tried to devise different ways for it to reach the bottom again.

 

Just down the hall from the sand was a pizza restaurant, a vet clinic and a full store! Mister W sort of flitted back and forth between them and miss L seemed to concentrate her time in the store. Here she is picking out some produce.

 

...and mister W is brushing his dog.

 

Eventually though, miss L needed to pay for all of those groceries and mister W was there to ring her up and put her groceries in bags for her to take home.

 

Our final stop was in this water room. There's some kind of a pump on one end (with decking and a little pool) and then the water comes out at a point uphill and flows downward. We spent most of our time at the bottom playing in the water in the pool and getting wet. What an awesome museum! Uncle K and Aunt L always have the best stuff for us to do when we visit them and I can't wait to come back here again!