Snips, Snails, & Pretty Pigtails: July

Noah, still sometimes begrudgingly, is getting schoolwork done a little more readily. There have to be incentives and such at times, but it's getting done. And his handwriting is improving a great deal, which gives me great relief, seeing as how CURSIVE is looming on the horizon. Ugh. He is also averaging a chapter book per week. And enjoying himself! He has always been a great reader, but getting him to do it was a chore. It's better now because he has a piece of paper that tells him exactly how much he needs to do each day. That's the key for him. Knowing what is expected helps him feel a little more in control, I guess. 

I may not be overly impressed with the curriculum we're using right now, but his enjoyment of the books gives the curriculum value it might not otherwise have had in my mind. And it has created a craving within him to read by choice--when it is not required. Sometimes he'll sit and read through our entire stack of library books at one time. One night I caught him quietly reading his Bible on his bed. (I still have to sneak up on him when I have a camera in hand.)

Saylor is still such a little mommy. She's always toting a baby of some sort, careful to make sure said baby gets properly buckled in her car seat, takes her naps, nurses, gets her diaper changed, and gets her picture taken as much as the rest of the family! 

But "Saylor as Mommy" is nothing like her pajama-clad real mother, in that Saylor is always well-dressed and heavily accessorized. (Note her brother's pink neck tie clipped to the front of her dress. That was the fad around our house for a while there.) And perhaps most importantly, Saylor always has on a "clumpy" (her word) pair of shoes. In fact, she's wearing a pair of mine in the picture above! (She has on my shoes more than I do.)

Gabriel is talking up a storm. Up. a. storm!! And in full sentences most of the time. "No, I didn't." "Daddy helped me." "Atticus went upstairs." That kind of stuff. SOMEtimes he will start s-words with their appropriate s-sound. Which means SOMEtimes, instead of calling Saylor "Yeh Yez," he will say "Say Say." He's putting some g's on the ends of words. He is still behind in articulation, meaning that he can't accurately pronounce all the many, many words he knows. Because of all the improvements lately, I've really been feeling like everything will all balance out eventually. And that's just awesome news.

That's Gabe's voice saying, "Roll it" over and over. I didn't even know he KNEW the word "nicely"!

Atticus is keeping up with all of us. Fiercely independent and wanting nothing cut up into baby bites, he is definitely holding his own with the Davidson kiddos. He, too, is making some "sentences." "That Mimi (Miriam)." "Me ready." and "Hi Mommy."  He was hilarious when Gabriel was getting his evaluation, because the tester would ask Gabe a question about a picture, and Atticus would RUN up and say the answer! There's really not much he doesn't have a word for. He's pointing out bikes, boots, trees, houses, cats, birds, trains, cars, ice. The list goes on and on.

That's July. August will be forthcoming.