Project 365: Week 21

Sunday, May 16, 2010

I spent a long time today reorganizing our homeschool stuff--moving it from upstairs to some bookshelves downstairs and near the kitchen. I'm hoping that will help us get things a little more under control. Anyway, I found one of Noah's VERY first stories ever written.

I'll translate: One day the squirrel found a acorn. He opened the acorn and it was empty.

(Beginning, middle, and end. You can't argue with that.)

Monday, May 17, 2010

I have these great bibs. Had one for Saylor when she was a baby. (In fact, if you don't have one, get one! I'd provide a link, but I'm not entirely sure they're still available anymore. Here...just Google it: Get Messy Bib by Babylicious. Best of luck!) Gabriel and Atticus both have one. Gabe stopped wearing his long ago, but lately he's been wanting to wear his so he can look like Atticus. They both get a big kick out of looking alike.

It's also my birthday today. I was sad that Paul HAD to work today, but we did all go out for dinner. And that was fun. But I forgot to take any pictures.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

I discovered we have a Cupcake Monster living in our home. One who eats only the tops.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

We ran an errand or two before lunch, but Atticus just couldn't hang with us. It was sort of weird, because it was a little after 12:00 when we got home, and his normal nap time is more like 1:30 or so. He was sound asleep when we pulled into the garage. And then he stayed asleep as I carried him in the house and put him on my bed. So sweet. But of course, the little cat nap totally messed up his schedule.

And today was Gabriel's last day of speech therapy--at least in this particular program, with this particular, dearly-beloved therapist.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

For some reason Atticus got it in his head that if he wore this hat...

and got down on all fours, he would become a dog. He traveled all around the kitchen woofing and panting...as long as the hat stayed on.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Crazy Weekend Event #1: Cousin Claire graduated tonight. We are so proud of her!!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Crazy Weekend Event #2: Sent these snack bags with Noah and the boys for Noah's final soccer game, which I had to miss. His team was undefeated, by the way!!

Crazy Weekend Event #3: Dress rehearsal. Somebody's having such a good time!

Crazy Weekend Event #4: Made two huge batches of chocolate buttercream frosting for about a thousand cupcakes. And then made a couple of race cars out of cupcakes.

Crazy Weekend Event #5: Hosted a party (WHICH we were late for!) at Jump!Zone for Noah and Gabriel. Lots of friends and fun. And I actually accomplished the pull-apart cake I was hoping for. Check out the race cars!

That's all for this week, but just remember...the weekend's not over yet, as far as the blog is concerned. I am, however, DONE. Sort of. Now maybe I can finally get caught up with all the participants linked up at Sara's. (I'm so behind.) On that AND laundry...

Snips, Snails, & Pretty Pigtails

Noah may not know everything there is to know about soccer yet. But he certainly gets in there and isn't afraid of the action. No, sir! I think he's a lot like me and really wants to always "be the one" who gets the job done! Ha! Even his guitar teacher says he's really picked things up quickly. And, believe me, it's been with very little practice. We're still working on that nice, disciplined lifestyle we know we're supposed to have by now. *sigh* But seriously, the other day Noah finally pulled out his guitar, immediately checked to make sure it was in tune (he definitely has an ear for that...), and then absentmindedly began strumming a chord combination. I swear, he sounded like he'd been doing it all his life. The strumming pattern itself was so laid-back--it really sounded good! And, y'all, I know I'm biased 'cause he's my boy and all, but I'm telling the truth here! He is just a natural!

Saylor is such a big girl now. If you know her well, you know that for her entire life she has owned (and adored) a small, pink blanket called "Silkie." When she held it, she sucked her thumb. It was an automatic response. From babyhood to age five, this is what would happen. She mostly only had it when sleeping, so it wasn't too big of a deal for us. But deep down I was a little worried that once she lost her front baby teeth, we'd have a mess on our hands. Well, the Lord was good to us and one day about a month ago, Saylor just flat-out lost "Silkie." I mean, for REAL lost it. We looked everywhere!! So, after quite a few tears were shed that first night at bedtime, she had no other choice but to go to bed without it. The next day it was still nowhere to be found, but by this time Saylor was a little proud of herself for making it okay without it. Since then she's only had a handful of moments where she really felt distraught not having it to comfort her. She's doing so well!! And she has truly delighted in telling her grandparents, etc. about how big she is now. And no thumb sucking! (She never even considered putting her thumb in her mouth unless she held Silkie. So, that part is completely over and without any blood, sweat, or tears.) Isn't that a blessing?

Then there's Gabriel...aka Resident Woodcarver and Visual Artist of Many and Varied Media, has recently been enjoying different activities, like filling the sink with water until it overflows the top (that's always fun), eating whatever scrap of food anybody was foolish enough to leave alone for two seconds, and dumping contents (like unpopped popcorn, for instance) of plastic baggies onto the carpet. He's always sweet about it, though. When you tell him, "NO! We don't do that," he says, "Oh..." and nods his head like he completely understands. He's one of those kids that will have to try everything at least once--just to see what it's like.

He is also turning into quite the little talker. Mind you, we still have a world of trouble understanding him. (Just try to speak the English language without using "g" or "k." Yeah...sort of limits him a bit.) But he tries so much more than he used to and even puts two and three words together on his own. The other day this little girl got hurt in Saylor's dance class, and Gabe said, "Mommy, girl...ear." Of course, it sounded like "Mommy, duh...ee-uh." But I got it. And it made my day! A few other marvelous things that regularly come out of his mouth nowadays are: "upstairs," "Honda," various friends' names, and "oatmeal."

Atticus is my Cuddle-Bug. I recently weaned him so Paul and I could take a trip to Eureka. Hate weaning...so. much. But he did great. He really did! Every once in a while (even now) he'll ask to nurse, which breaks my heart, but so far I've been able to distract him easily, and he doesn't fuss or anything when I put him in his bed without it. Still, it's hard for us mamas. I'm just so thankful that he is so very snugly. He loves to sit in my lap when I'm reading or we're watching something together as a family. And he's one of those babies who loves to put his head on your shoulder while you rock him. It feels so good to have his sweet little head up against my neck. In fact, I'm starting to tear up a little as I type this post, so precious he is to me.

The theme this time is definitely "Progress," wouldn't you say? They're growing up on me, y'all.

Snips, Snails, & Pretty Pigtails

Noah FINALLY finished a unit on Autumn. (Downloaded from TOS.) He actually finished it before now (more like a few days before CHRISTmas). I'm just getting around to making the video and getting the photos done.

I'll have to post the pictures of the rest of his work later. (I'm actually considering having a separate blog for posting most of the school work...so grandparents can see what we're working on. No need to bore the rest of y'all to tears.)

Saylor enjoys making Atticus laugh. She discovered a long time ago that he thinks it's hilarious when someone curls their nose up and says, "Ewwwww." The other day she was playing with him and said, "Oh.......what's the word?? (insert dramatic pause here) Ewwwww!!!" Atticus, of course, belly laughed, and I was blown away with her idea for a game. So funny.

Thankfully, she's all better from her little 24-hour stomach bug from last weekend. But I just had to get her picture (Saturday night) sleeping on the bathroom floor. Because even when pukey, she sleeps like a princess.

Gabriel has really shown an affinity for slap-stick humor lately. He LOVES watching AFV (America's Funniest Videos) with Daddy. (Just what we needed--another one.)

Here he is laughing his head off at Noah falling down over and over. (Don't mind the chocolate.)

He's also gotten tall enough to unlock and open the front door (Yeah, I'm a little nervous about that one...) for his beloved "Ash" (his therapist), who is also his very favorite person to talk to on the *pretend* phone. (She calls a lot.)

Atticus has been nodding his head "yes" lately to answer our questions. It is hilariously cute because he has to really focus on what he's doing in order to coordinate the effort. And our little "professor" doesn't just love to read books, but he also can be seen on a regular basis holding a piece of paper and a writing utensil (even straws will do, apparently) as he "takes notes." Love it! He even walked through the kitchen the other day with Noah's little camera, and this is what he was doing.

We laughed so hard. No idea he knew what to do with that thing!

Maybe he can teach Mommy a little something...

Snips, Snails, & Pretty Pigtails (Running Behind)

Thought I'd be a blogger again...you know...now that it's not crazy around here. (Ha! Who am I kidding?) I've been working on this post for almost a month now! I figured I'd better get it posted before it becomes December and none of this makes any sense anymore. Let the "snips" begin...

Noah was in a play at Academy. (Wait--did I forget to mention we enrolled him in LR Homeschool Academy?**) They did a little play about Christopher Columbus. Noah was a sailor. He had such dramatic flair when rehearsing his lines. Seriously cracked me up. The only problem he had was remembering WHEN to say those lines. He kept getting confused on WHICH lines to say WHEN, so he'd panic and then practically whisper until he was sure he was right and then suddenly he'd get louder. And he wouldn't pay attention to what the others were saying, so he would often say the wrong thing...even though he remembered it was his turn to speak. It was funny. Poor thing. I was honestly a little worried he'd never get it right in time for the performance, but when the moment of truth finally arrived...he did GREAT!! I've always thought he could be an actor. Just ask him sometime to tell you about something that requires some description, and boy! you'll get description alright!! Like when he wants to tell me all about so-and-so twisting his arm on the playground (yeah--gotta love that for a confidence-booster in our decision to put him in a group with peers his own age) or when he has found some amazing treasure up in the woods. Always entertaining, that boy.

Noah and His Friend Brady After the Play

And while I'm on the subject of Noah, here are some before and after pics of his hair. :) I cut it a while ago, but forgot to blog about it. Mostly, I wanted to share this website with you, just in case YOU ever have to take on this ultra-challenging task. It helped ME tremendously!!

Scandalous!

Much Improved

Such Precision!

**Homeschool Academy is a one-day-a-week classroom setting for children who are homeschooled. Kids in the upper grades get a chance to take classes like photography, chemistry lab., and ancient Roman history. Stuff like that. Second graders do geography, sign language, art and stuff like that. I know because I used to teach the second grade class. Anyway, that's Academy. It's a great idea, in theory. I actually help out in a kindergarten class, so Noah gets to go for free. (Hooray for free!)

Saylor has been enjoying her "status" as big sister lately. (Though sometimes a bit too much.) I often hear her talking to Atticus like "Yes, you ARE a cute baby, aren't you?" (and I DO hope you imagined that line with as much sing-songy baby talk as possible). And she's enjoying directing playtime with Gabriel. "Okay, Gabriel. Let's go to my room. Do you want to put the baby to bed? Okay. Come on!" We're working on not being manipulative. (Crazy how that just comes naturally.) Today she was doing such a good job, though, of helping Gabriel. He kept getting frustrated with the trains because one of the cars would flip over or something and then they wouldn't roll right. Saylor was very attentive to his needs. She kept going over and saying, "Do you need me to fix it? Okay. How about we let Thomas pull this one? Will that work? Now then. Now you can do it." Gabe would even come get her when he needed help!

Spontaneous Dress-up/Cowboy Game

(apparently with masks AND tooth-brushing)

The other day at dinner Saylor spontaneously wanted to tell things she loves about the babies. (Paul had taken Noah to a men's meeting at church, so it was just the four of us together.) Her answers?

1) She loves that Gabriel says "Eh eh" when he wants his silkie and "mm mm" (with proper inflection) for thank you. Ha!

2) She loves that Atticus has crazy hair when he wakes up and that he smiles big at her. So sweet.

She has really become very social (with kids) lately. I was shocked to find her several weekends ago at a VERY extended-relations family reunion talking and talking and talking with this seven year-old boy. I have no idea about what. But for whatever reason, they just hit if off. (Of course, after all that conversing she still didn't even know his name!)

Say Say and Her Little Friend Sydney

(Thanks for the pic, Syd's Mom!! Love you!)

And then there's Dane. Dane and Saylor have been friends since birth, so perhaps this is why he is so enamored with her. They are in class together at Academy and from what I've been told, Dane looks out for her. As in....if a boy wants to approach Saylor, he has to go through Dane first. Ha!!! Love that kid!

We may or may not have already arranged their marriage. (hee hee)

Gabriel is slowly, but surely, coming out of his language shell. We started the speech therapy process with...umm...about twelve words (and several signs and sounds). By the second week, he very eagerly let me teach him to say his therapist's name ("Ash" for Ashley). He LOVES her and is trying more and more sounds for her each week. He learned to say "yes" about couple of weeks or so ago, and he now uses it freely (without prompting). It is such a delight to hear real words come from his mouth. Some new words he can say now when looking at pictures or being prompted in some way are "bubble," "turtle," "purple," "read," "book," "open," and "bath." He's been actively USING words like "Say Say," "I don't know," "me," "stop," and "water." I've learned one thing that works for him is pairing a motion/sign with a new sound. He sometimes needs the physical thing to do while making the sound. Like when I taught him to say "Ash," I taught him to sort of hang on the short "a" sound for a bit and then clap when he was ready to say "shhhh." That's what worked for him. So weird how our brains work that way. Anyway, we are ever so thankful that he is able to receive therapy and that he seems to be doing quite well.

Extra Cheesy

Gabe is also very comfortable in his role as "Big Brother." You might think he'd rather just go on being a baby right along with Atticus, but nope. He definitely knows his job is to look after the "baby." In fact, he can often be heard telling Atticus "no no" when Atticus finds something on the floor and wants to eat it or when he looks like he might try going up the stairs. He'll run to get me and say "beh beh, beh beh!" and point to tell me that Atticus is going somewhere he shouldn't (like toward the toilet). The other day Gabriel "protected" Atticus from the strange lady/toy store-owner by running to his side, placing his hand on Atticus's head, and patting it lightly. He stayed right with him until I returned. (FYI: I was ten steps away making my purchase, while they played at a train table.)

When Atticus fusses, Gabriel makes sure to get him his Silkie.

They are fast friends, those two. They just have an understanding between them. I guess being a mere 16 months apart makes it easy to relate to one another.

And Atticus? Our little Atticus? Well, he's walking. Oh, yes he is. He technically took his first steps the day before his birthday (October 9th), but only a few short days later starting doing as many as five or six steps at a time. He fell on his face a few times, so he was a little tentative for the longest, which tends to slow one down. (Can ya blame him?) And while he's still going no more than say SEVEN steps before plopping down, he's willing to try more often now. And he's more stable when standing. He just hasn't figured out that he can stand himself up from sitting yet. But still...it counts. He's walking.

Most Likely the Cutest Crooked Teeth You Ever Saw

I've always said he is a very determined little guy, so this new endeavor suits him just fine. Recently he has developed the habit of making this cute little double grunt right after he says "dada"... so he goes, "Dada, uh uh." It is the keee-YOOO-test thing ever. He even heard Paul come in the front door the other day and immediately started crawling as fast as he could from the kitchen to the living room saying, "Dada, dada, dada, dada!" Awwww. That's my smart little fella!!

Atticus has also had a hair cut. I decided I would NOT allow the baby mullet to happen this time around!! Aren't you proud of me?? He's now had his first official trim.

Other snippets about Atticus I should have mentioned as they happened are:

1) He mimics "night night," "bye bye," "ball," "uh-oh," "ma ma," "Oh, no!" and Gabriel's version of "thank you."

2) He signs "hat," "dog," "bear," "duck," "car," "snake," and sometimes "more."

3) He waves "hi" and "bye."

4) He loves to play "This Little Piggy," "Peek-a-boo," and "Patty Cake."

5) He recognizes the word "Silkie" and smiles when he sees it.

6) He is the first Davidson baby ever to actually take a nap at church.

7) He is obsessed with obtaining the phone, the remote, and/or the computer.

We start 'em early around here.

These are the things I want to always remember...