How long have you been married? 6-1/2 years (June 21, 2001)
How long did you date? Our first date was Dec. 9, 2000 and we got engaged on January 2, 2001. But I was in Michigan from Dec 16th to Jan 1st.
How old is he? 29
Who eats more? Corey, but that's debatable--depends on how hungry I am.
Who said I love you first? me (though he claims it was him, I know it was me)
Who is taller? Corey
Who sings better? I think he does, but I think I like to sing more than he does.
Who is smarter? Me most of the time. But he has a knack for learning things just from hearing them once. I have to read them and see it three or four times before it sticks.
Whose temper is worse? Definitely mine, even though he's the redhead.
Who does the laundry? We both do it.
Who does the dishes? We both do. It's the unloading of the dishwasher that creates friction, since neither of us like to do that.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me
Who pays the bills? me
Who mows the lawn? Corey
Who cooks dinner? Mostly me, unless he's home and I've had it
Who drives when you are together? Corey usually, unless I'm really annoyed with how he's driving or I'm feeling protective of my car.
Who is more stubborn? me, I think. Though he certainly can be.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I am. Corey does the silent thing. I really can't stand it.
Whose parents do you see the most? mine, since they live in Mesa. Corey's mom lives in CA.
Who proposed? Corey did the formal proposal, but we decided together to get married
Who has more friends? me, since Corey doesn't care if he has friends
Who has more siblings? I do, but only by one
Who wears the pants in the family? I guess me, he always runs all decisions by me.
Why is it that when your 3-week-old baby is screaming at the top of her lungs, needing a diaper change and to be fed, your 1-year-old decides to throw his bowl of cut-up hot dogs and bread on the floor and your 3-year-old spills his chocolate milk all over the kitchen at precisely the same moment? At the same time that all this is happening, your 4-year-old decides that he wants to play with the 3-year-old's new Christmas toy and starts badgering the 3-year-old about it. The 3-year-old then starts screaming because he wants his toy back (and he's still covered in chocolate milk), the 1-year-old is crying because he doesn't have any food and is hungry (not that he was eating the hot dogs anyway), and the baby is still hungry and poopy and screaming as well. Then the 4-year-old starts to cry because the 3-year-old hit him for taking his toy. The baby is now getting her diaper changed and is screaming because of the horrible diaper rash she has and the 1-year-old is screaming because now the dog is eating his hot dog and bun that are on the floor (even though he wasn't going to eat them anyway). Your 3-year-old is still covered in chocolate milk, but now is wrestling his older brother to the floor in the fight over the toy.
Sometimes it seems impossible to make it through the dinner hour without pulling all my hair out and running down the street screaming...
The boys have been out-of-control wild all week. I'm sure the arrival of Eliza and a visit from Nana have sent them into this craziness. Their world has changed drastically and they are sort of shell-shocked, I think. Here are some silly pictures of them playing. Even though they've been wild, they've also played well with each other, so that's a positive.
We blessed little Eliza Helen on Sunday, December 16th. I just wanted to post a picture of her in her little blessing outfit (which was mine 30 years ago!) and our family with the new addition.
Our beautiful baby girl, Eliza Helen King, was born on Thursday, December 6th, at 4:18 am. She weighed 8 lbs 1.6 oz. and measured 20 inches long. I was in labor for about 4 hours, after being induced around midnight on the 5th. The birth was pretty easy (I love that epidural!) and she was out only after a couple pushes.
Eliza has a little pouty face that she makes already when she cries.
The boys love their new sister. Travis isn't sure what to make of her though. Caleb doesn't usually remember she's around until she cries out, and then he'll give her loves.
Westley is constantly wanting to touch her, hold her, hug her and give her kisses. He is fascinated with how she was in my tummy and now is out and has been asking me all sorts of questions about it. Maybe he'll be a doctor...hmmm...
Here it is, the end of November. We are currently staying in Mesa at my parents' house until the baby is born. This is because Corey is always gone with school and work. He was going to be gone for the whole week this week, so we decided to pack up and come stay. That way, I wouldn't have to find people in the middle of the night to come watch the kids and take me to the hospital if I were to go into labor. Instead, either Corey can take me to the hospital, or my dad (if Corey isn't here), with my mom staying with the kids.
So it's been interesting staying here. The boys aren't sleeping well, neither am I (but for different reasons--mine are contractions galore). I kind of just want her to come to put me out of my misery of these horrible contractions that plague me at night!
Westley has been pulling "no sleep" nights and days. He goes to bed between 6 and 7. Some nights I try to get him to bed at 6 because he just doesn't sleep long enough at night. He ALWAYS gets up at 5 am to go to the bathroom. Then he won't go back to sleep, and often wakes up Caleb. If we get him to come into our bed so he won't bother Caleb, he ends up talking and messing around and still not sleeping, just he keeps us awake instead. Then he won't, absolutely WILL NOT nap during the day. Occasionally he has, but the conditions have to be JUST perfect. I finally got him to nap today, but I think it's because he cried himself to sleep after I laid into him. I was just so mad at him for his antics. I told him he HAD to stay on the bed and couldn't get off. I guess I said it angrily enough that it scared him into staying in bed and he finally fell asleep.
Caleb spends nap time filling his diaper. Even though he's doing great with #1 on potty training, he still isn't doing well with #2. So he spends the first 30 minutes to an hour filling his pants and then I have to change his diaper and try to get him to lay back down to nap.
Travis spends his naptimes crying. Today he spent the whole hour crying (we usually let him cry for 1 to 1-1/2 hours to see if he'll cry himself to sleep). He cried the whole time and never went to sleep. That was for the morning nap. Then I took him with me on an errand in the car, and he had a hard time staying awake. What a little punk! Then, for the afternoon nap, he cried out about every 1/2 hour for a couple hours. I don't know if he even slept in between the moments I would hear him or not. No wonder he's completely exhausted by 6 pm. Usually, if Westley doesn't wake him up in the morning, he'll sleep until at least 6, sometimes later.
With all these sleep issues and a new baby coming soon, I'm very nervous about ever being able to sleep again. I may not sleep for a very LONG time. Needless to say, this is the last baby for at least a while. I need to get back some sleep!!!
On Friday, November 2nd, we went to the Phoenix Zoo as a family. It was the culmination of about six weeks of preschool science with Westley. We've been studying all the classes of animals (amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, mammals, even spiders and insects). While it was mostly just an enjoyable day, we did talk about how this animal is a mammal, that animal is a reptile, and so forth. The two older boys really enjoyed it. Travis seemed to like it also, I think this was his first big outing in the stroller, and that, in and of itself, was an adventure.
Westley and Caleb both got to go inside a big tree they had at the zoo and see what it was like to be inside a tree, like the way certain animals live.
But I think the part they liked most of all was riding the carousel.
For Halloween last night, I got the boys dressed up in their costumes and took them to the ward trunk-or-treat. Travis fell asleep in the stroller as we walked from trunk to trunk. Westley and Caleb were cute as ever. I think Caleb was a little tired because he wasn't as energetic as usual. Westley talked everyone's ear off at each trunk, as usual. He was so excited about being Superman. I dressed up as a farmer, sort of. I just wore a T-shirt with overalls, cowboy boots, a handkerchief around my neck and my hair in pigtails. Last minute costume idea. Westley was impressed anyway. But it was sure fun! After we got done going around the parking lot, we went back to our car and handed out some candy. When Travis really started to cry, it was time to pack up and leave. When we got home, I let them each have a piece of candy (even Travis). Then we put on pajamas, brushed teeth and went to bed. I stayed up and handed out candy at the door until about 7:45. After a long lull of about 20 minutes, I turned off all the lights and went into my room to watch TV until going to bed.
We are all feeling much better now. No more sickness for the time being. Although, I could definitely use some more rest.
Today is Halloween and the older boys are quite excited about dressing up in their costumes and going to the ward Trunk or Treat. I still haven't quite decided what to dress Travis up as, and after much deliberation, have decided not to dress up myself. Too much work and I'm way too tired.
These pictures are of the decorations Westley and I made in his preschool for Halloween. They fit in with something we were studying. We learned about spiders and bats and the human skeletal system. We also talked about pumpkins. The jack-o-lanterns that we made and hung on the windows have faded in the last few weeks with the bright Arizona sun, so it's hard to really see.
I'll definitely be taking some pictures and (hopefully) posting them tomorrow! Have a Happy and safe Halloween!
The month of October has really been a difficult one from the beginning. It started with a tragic event in the life of a dear friend of my brother's family in Texas (Oct. 2nd). Her 21-month-old child wandered into the backyard and got entangled in a soccer net to the point of strangulation. After several days in the hospital with little brain activity, he passed away (Oct. 6th). All week long we prayed and hoped for good news, but, alas, Heavenly Father had other plans. I feel such sorrow for that dear mother who lost her little child to a tragic accident. I know that Heavenly Father will make all things right in the end, but it sure is hard to have that perspective during such grief.
The following week (Oct. 8th), Caleb was diagnosed with a hydrocele, which is a fluid-filled sac that surrounds a testicle, causing scrotal swelling. It's caused by a hole in the abdominal wall. Most of the time, baby boys are born with it and it resolves itself by the end of the first year. But other times, it just occurs in older children, and when that is the case, surgery is required to fix the problem. The day after we found out what it was (Oct. 9th), the swelling got much worse, so we took him to the ER in case a hernia had developed. It hadn't, and we were relieved. However, I believe the ER trip brought the sickness into our house that has stayed for the last few weeks.
Two days after the ER visit (Oct. 11th), Caleb came down with a stomach bug. He threw up a couple times and spent the day dozing, either in his bed or on the couch. He also had a fever of 102 almost all day long. By Friday (Oct. 12th), he seemed much better, so we went ahead and celebrated his birthday as previously planned. But because he'd been sick, we didn't take him to church on Sunday. Travis still had a respiratory infection that had started at the end of September, so he stayed home as well.
On Monday, the 15th, Caleb had an appointment with the pediatric urologist. We were all planning on going to that, just so Corey and I could both be present to hear his assessment and ask our questions. Unfortunately, Westley came down with the stomach bug that day and had a few bouts of throwing up. So Corey stayed home with him and Travis, and I took Caleb to his appointment. At the appointment, we scheduled the surgery for a week later. Boy, that appointment seems ages ago now.
Tuesday the 16th was Caleb's birthday, but since we celebrated it the previous Friday, we didn't do anything really. Then on Wednesday, the 17th, Travis started throwing up. I had to monitor him carefully since he is transitioning from bottle to cup and not doing well with that. He's had a hard time getting enough fluids down because he refuses the cup and now the bottle too. I finally figured out that he will drink from a regular water bottle with help and a regular cup.
On Thursday morning, when Corey called me from school, he wasn't feeling well. He got sick with a respiratory infection on September 22nd and still hadn't fully recovered. But this time he was complaining of stomach upset and feeling like he had to throw up. By the time I talked to him again later in the day, he seemed to be feeling less like that. He still has a bad cough from his respiratory infection.
So we come to Friday, the 19th. Everyone seemed well, so I took the boys to playgroup. Later that day, however, Westley started throwing up and having diarrhea again. He had a really bad night where he was up a lot so finally we pulled a mattress into our room and he slept there with me in the bed and Corey on the couch. Travis had a bad night that night as well, and I couldn't get him back to sleep when he woke up around 4:30 a.m. Corey went to work on Saturday, and Westley slowly seemed to get to feeling better. I picked up some Pedialyte at the store as well as some more cleaning supplies and I disinfected the whole house--doorknobs, telephones, light switches, etc. I aired out the boys' bedroom and cleaned the bunk bed frame with Clorox wipes. I changed all the sheets and pillowcases and even washed all the boys' blankies and lovies. I thoroughly cleaned the bathrooms--sinks, counters, toilets, floors, tubs, and mirrors. And then I went through the house and cleaned every surface I possibly could think of that the boys had touched a lot--the refrigerator door, the garbage can, the bookshelves, the crib, the dressers, etc. On Sunday, we all stayed home from church to recuperate and to not spread the illness. Also, I didn't want Caleb to get sick since he was having surgery on Monday. We went Sunday afternoon to my parents' house in Mesa (closer to the hospital and the surgery was scheduled for 7 a.m.). On Monday the 22nd, we got up and took Caleb to his surgery. I wasn't feeling very good, but I'd gotten little sleep the night before and thought maybe I was just hungry.
Caleb's surgery went well, except for the waking up part. He didn't handle that well. The anaesthesia made him nauseated and he threw up, plus he had been given an epidural and couldn't feel his legs. I think it was a bit scary for him.
I, on the other hand, ended up with a major stomach bug. I spent the rest of the day throwing up and laying in bed with massive stomach pain. By midnight, I was so sick I required a trip to the ER to get fluids. Because I was so dehydrated, I'd started having regular contractions, which wasn't good because I'm only 33 weeks along. But after spending the night in the ER, with my mom by my side (Thank you!), I got to feeling MUCH better.
Hopefully, that is the end of all the sickness and chaos for a while. I wish I could say for good, but that's not how life works, is it?
We celebrated Caleb's third birthday on Friday, October 12th instead of on his actual birthday, which is Tuesday the 16th. The dinner was fun. We ordered pizza instead of making a big dinner. Too bad that Caleb hasn't been feeling good, but we wanted to get it done when some family was able to make it.
Grandma and Grandpa came from Mesa to celebrate it with us. Despite Caleb's recent illness (flu) and current condition (hernia), he was in great spirits. He didn't each very much though, but he sure had fun with his guests. After decorating the train cake, we ate the dinner and then did the cake and ice cream. Caleb took a few tries, but managed to blow out all his own candles.
After the cake and ice cream, we did presents. Caleb got a simple, toddler-oriented video game from us (Corey's choice) and a set of cool African animals from Grandma and Grandpa. He really enjoyed playing with both gifts on Saturday, and so did Westley. I only had to break up about four fights, though, so it wasn't too bad...
Sundays are always tough days. Church is rough with three little kids and then we usually come home and Corey sleeps until he goes to work. I try to sleep, but often one or more of the boys is awake and I can't really sleep because I have to keep an eye on them.
Today was no different. Church was rough (Westley had a really hard time, as usual). Travis was super tired and had a hard time staying awake on the two-minute drive home and then at lunch (his head kept bobbing in his high chair). So we put him down for a nap, expecting him to sleep a while, but he woke up 45 minutes later when Corey was just going to sleep. He screamed and screamed for a long time, but finally Westley (who was awake playing with pattern blocks) and I got him calmed down and happy.
Then Corey went to work and it was just me and the boys. Caleb finally woke up around 4:15, and I fed them all "supper" (we have our big meal for lunch on Sundays). After dinner, I thought it would be funny to put some of their big Legos on my toes and tell them I was wearing shoes. They thought it was so funny. We ended up going in the toy room and finding all sorts of different "shoes" for our feet, and they were just shrieking with laughter. We put their Halloween trick-or-treat pumpkins on our feet and declared them shoes. We put the castle stacking blocks that we have on our feet and declared them shoes. We put more Legos on our toes and declared them shoes. We put Daddy's hats on our feet and declared them shoes.
After that, they were quite riled up. So I taught them how to play Red Light, Green Light (only after cleaning up all the "shoes"). I stood at one end of the hall and they started at the other. Westley understood it; Caleb sort of did, and Travis was just having a great time running back and forth down the hallway. We played that for maybe 20-30 minutes. Then I blew bubbles for them and they raced around trying to catch the bubbles.
After the bubbles, it was time to calm down, so they all took a bath together. After the bath, we all put our jammies on. The older two boys got out pattern blocks and I put Travis down to bed. Then I did pattern blocks with the boys for about 20 minutes. By this time, it was about 6:15. We got out a card game set that is Westley's and played a round of Fish. Westley is really finally getting it. Caleb, of course, didn't. He laid all his cards out face up so he could see them properly, which helped us know what to ask for and also what he should ask for from us. Westley won and then we brushed teeth and went and read books and said prayers. Then they went to bed.
I think this afternoon/evening ended up being much more enjoyable than the usual Sunday. More exhausting, yes, but the boys sure enjoyed spending that time together with each other and with me. Maybe we'll make this sort of thing a tradition.
Let's see, today was a pretty typical day for us, so I thought I'd share...
4:00 a.m. Westley troops through our room to use our restroom. We've trained him to come to ours because the toilet in the other one, when it flushes, comes through very loud into Travis' room, and we don't want him waking Travis. I guess either way, we (or I, since Corey's not usually there) would wake up. So he comes through and goes to the bathroom and I take him back to his room to make sure he gets up on his bed safely (top bunk) and doesn't slam his door shut.
5:00 a.m. The alarm goes off for Corey to get up. Lately he's had Mondays off, and then school is at 7:40 am Tuesday morning. If he leaves here at 6, he won't get to ASU in time to park and walk to class without being 20 minutes late. But if he leaves here at 5:45, he can get to his class by 6:45 and have an hour to kill. Fun, fun, fun. So he gets up and gets dressed. His bags were already packed for this week of school, work and staying in Mesa, so he didn't have to do that. But he did have to eat breakfast and pack a lunch without making enough noise to wake the kids. A tricky endeavor, to be sure, at 5 a.m.
5:45 a.m. Corey leaves. I turn off all the lights and go back to bed for another fifteen minutes. At 6 a.m., I hear Travis crying. I quietly tiptoe down the hall and lock the boys' door, so they won't come out unsupervised and get in the shower (truly, a rare moment for me, a shower!). I take more time than usual, and even let the water run into the tub for a quick bath as well, savoring the last moments of silence.
6:25 a.m. I finally am dressed enough to get the boys, who are now yelling through their door because they've gotten up and found it to be locked. I let them out and go in and get Travis from his crib. He is soaking wet from his super soggy diaper, so I go and change his diaper first thing. The boys run out looking for Daddy, but I tell them he has already gone to school. We call him on the phone and have scripture reading.
6:50 a.m. I pour bowls of Cheerios for me and the older boys and slice up a banana in the bowls. I call them to breakfast, and we sit down to eat. A few minutes in, Caleb starts to scream and I look over and find no bowl on the table in front of him. The bowl is upside-down in his lap, with milk, Cheerios and bananas all over him, the chair and the floor. I quickly get him cleaned up (during all this, Travis is fussing in his high chair because he wants something besides just Cheerios on his tray). Then, I get a Nutri-grain bar from the cupboard and break it into small pieces for Travis. Then I sit down to finish my now-soggy bowl of cereal.
7:30 a.m. With breakfast done and the boys dressed now, I turn Caillou on for them to watch. They watch it and then at 8, when Sesame Street comes on, they leave to play in their room. I turn the T.V. off, check email, and play with Travis.
9:00 a.m. I put Travis down for a nap and turn Curious George on for the older boys. I lay on the couch and doze through Curious George and Clifford. Travis wakes up (it's now 10 a.m.), and I bring him out. The boys sit through one more show, Super Why while I do random things and play with Travis.
10:45 a.m. I start making lunch, peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Last week, Travis ate this, so I make one for him too and break it into bits. The boys devour theirs and ask for seconds, but Travis refuses to touch his. I end up spoon-feeding him some bananas mixed with barley. I eat my own sandwiches. We clean up from lunch and return to the living room to watch Word World.
12:00 p.m. I put Caleb down for his nap and leave the room. I put Travis down for his nap. Upon leaving Travis' room, I hear Caleb start to scream. I go in and he tries to come out. I don't really understand what he's trying to do or say, so I repeat, firmly, that he must take a nap. He continues to get more frustrated. Finally I ask if he wants to sleep on Westley's bed. This seems to solve the problem, so he climbs up to the top bunk and I tuck him in once more. Then I go out and start preschool with Westley.
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Westley and I do preschool. We do math, science, and we focus on the letter A for the week. We make an apple book on the computer, complete with pictures of Westley eating apples, applesauce and drinking apple juice (digital cameras can be so great!).
Afternoon Westley quietly plays with playdough for the next hour. I chat with my SIL, Allison, online and then go in and watch the rest of Yes, Dear. After that, Travis wakes up and I spend the rest of the afternoon with a crying baby following me around. Caleb finally wakes up too, and the boys go off and shut themselves in the toy room and won't play with Travis. Travis has a cold right now, so he's got a runny nose and is miserable. Finally, my visiting teachers arrive at 3:30 p.m., and the boys spend the whole time showing off to them. They leave by 4, at which time I phone my mother and talk for a bit. Then I get the corn dogs in the oven.
5:15 p.m. I feed Travis his dinner, chicken noodle dinner with sweet potatoes mixed in. Then I get the boys' plates ready and call them to dinner. We eat our corn dogs, canned corn, and canned pears. Then, I get Travis down and clean him up. I put his pajamas on him and make him a bottle. I brush his teeth, give him a dose of Tylenol, and try cleaning out his nose with the suction thingie. The boys, meanwhile, finish eating and then get their pajamas from their room. I rock Travis with a bottle and put him in bed, returning to set up the humidifier. Then, I go out and help resolve the issue of the stuck tape in the VCR, which Caleb tried putting in backwards. They start their movie, an animated story from the Book of Mormon. I clean up the kitchen.
6:15 p.m. The movie is over. We play one round of Old Maid. Then we brush teeth and use the potty. The boys go to their room and each choose one book for me to read. We read books and say prayers. Then I sing to them and put them in bed.
7:15 p.m. I finish blogging and then who knows what? Maybe a bowl of ice cream and then a nice soothing bath to finish out the somewhat chaotic day!
Well, we actually celebrated Travis' first birthday two days before the actual birthday. That way we could have a more relaxed dinner with Corey not having to rush off to work. (Turns out, he came down sick Saturday morning and missed work on Sunday anyway...)
Grandma and Grandpa Fowles joined the celebration and we had fun opening gifts (the older boys did all the gift opening for Travis). Travis really loves his new toy cell phone, courtesy of Nana King, and his stuffed football from G.G. He hasn't really had much chance to play with the little people sets he got from his grandparents and parents because his older brothers have been hogging those, but the few moments he's had, he seems to enjoy those too!
I made a cool baseball glove cake, which I'm quite proud of. I can't take all the credit, I got the idea from the June issue of Parents magazine. It's fitting because Westley had a football cake, Caleb had just a spherical baseball cake, and now Travis has a baseball glove cake for the first birthday. He actually dove right into the baseball cupcake that was placed on top of the cake and put his own face in it! With Westley, he wouldn't even try it, so Corey shoved his face in. But Travis had already had doses of frosting earlier, so I'm sure he recognized that! He then had a lot of fun playing in the cupcake after it was smashed to bits on his tray. I'm not sure he really ate very much of it...
Caleb is definitely a challenging child. He simply is NOT motivated to be toilet trained. He has the ability to do it, he just doesn't want to. Often, when I am getting them ready for bed, or ready for the day in the morning, he will go potty in the toilet and then request a diaper. But then he refuses to let me change his diaper unless he is really poopy or it's been all day. Often he wears the same diaper from when he gets dressed in the morning until he goes to bed at night. Sometimes, he even insists on going to the potty during the day and the diaper remains dry. But I can't get him to wear underwear anymore...he's not interested. I'm hoping that this will change in a few months and he will realize that wearing underwear is much better.
He also is struggling with speech, I think. He is almost three, yet I can hardly understand anything he says. There are a few words that I know for sure, but sometimes, I think he's saying one thing and it's really something else. Even though Westley's vocabulary by this age wasn't huge, you could still understand the words. I think a lot of this is due to his finger always being in his mouth. I don't really know how to rectify that problem either. I am waiting for his 3 year checkup with the pediatrician to discuss these concerns of mine.
Otherwise, he really has a delightful personality. He's very happy and loving, and he likes to be silly. I think he will be our little comedian, when he's finally able to really talk. He sure loves to laugh.
This week was a busy week with Westley's preschool. In Math, he worked more with pattern blocks and teddy bear counters. We also made a graph of boys and girls in our family. He even included Snoopy and Eliza in the graph. He learned that there are more boys than girls in our family. He has also enjoyed playing with the pattern blocks at other times of the day, and Caleb has played with them some as well.
In Reading, we worked more on memorizing the alphabet. He's almost got it down perfectly, he just gets confused in the L-P part (because it's so fast in the song), and he gets S and X mixed up. I think we will do one more week focusing on the whole alphabet and then we will start individual letters for the week and concentrate on their sounds.
In Science, we studied insects. We talked about what makes an insect an insect (six legs, three-part body, antennae). We studied ants and butterflies in more depth (mostly because I already had access to papers about ants and butterflies that we could use). When we talked about ants, we looked in the encyclopedia at lots of color photos of ants, close-ups. Then we went on an "Ant March", looking for ants outside, but pest control had come on Monday so we didn't find any. When we studied butterflies, we looked in the encyclopedia at the colorful pictures again and we talked about the life cycle of a butterfly. We will probably touch on butterflies again in the spring when I can get a kit and actually watch Painted Lady butterflies grow from caterpillars. We also talked about the differences between moths and butterflies, and I had a worksheet that I used in second grade where you identify which ones are moths and which are butterflies based on the criteria. After explaining the differences to Westley, he was able to identify all the butterflies and moths on the paper!
Other activities we did include talking about the difference between night and day. Westley just gets the terminology mixed up. Sometimes he says it's naptime when it's bedtime and sometimes he says that he wants to stay up all night when it's naptime. So we are trying to get him to remember what is what. The next thing we need to work on is time in general. Often he talks about doing something "last night" when it's something we did six months or a year ago.
We also had fun with some hidden picture activities. This past year, we've subscribed to a Highlights for Children book set of Hidden Pictures books. Westley has really enjoyed those. One of the last things I purchased before cancelling the subscription was a set of four Hidden Pictures books that contain masters for hidden picture activities. I copied three of those for this week and we used them in conjunction with the lessons about night/day and insects.
Sometimes the teaching is frustrating because Westley really wants to do his own thing and doesn't follow directions, but we are working on it. He is a very bright little boy, with a mind eager for knowledge. I hope to be able to channel that in the right direction, at least for now. I'm sure the public schools will whip that lust for learning right out of him...
Westley and I started doing preschool at home on September 4th. Our first day consisted of lessons in math, science, social studies, and reading & phonics.
I first had Westley put together his giant Alphabet train floor puzzle. He has done it so many times, but I think this was the first time that he did it without me giving him hints as to what letter came next. Every time he asked for help, I had him sing the alphabet song to the letter he had just finished and then find out what was next. Then he had to locate the letter from the puzzle pieces himself. After that, we did a phonics review of the letter sounds with a Hooked on Phonics CD and flash cards that I purchased earlier this year.
Math came next. I had purchased a Saxon Math homeschool program. It's actually for kindergarten, but it starts out so basic that I thought I'd give it a try. The first part of the first lesson was on the calendar. We talked about the calendar and how it tells us the month, day of the week, and the year and also the date. We filled out the first few days of September in his student notebook calendar, colored a green/orange AB pattern on the days, and filled in the numbers up through the 4th. I think the calendar is a very abstract thing for a 4-year-old, though, and it may be a while before he gets it. After the calendar, the lesson was on pattern blocks. He had only ever looked at the pattern blocks in their packaging when the math program arrived in the mail, so he'd never used them before. I was proud that the first design he made was so symmetrical!
Science came next. We have been talking about the human body since he asked about it last Sunday. This week we are studying the main parts (arms, legs, head, feet, eyes, mouth, etc.), the five senses, and the skeletal and circulatory systems. We will also touch on the other main systems (nervous, digestive, etc.), but only briefly. So on the first day, we put together a puzzle of the body. On the second day, we put together a skeleton while we named the different bones.
We did social studies next. We talked about Labor Day and all the different jobs people can have. We then put together a Labor Day alphabet book using a print shop computer program I have.
All in all, a good day, and Westley is still excited. All this morning he kept asking if we were doing school again, and was quite excited when I told him we would be. We will do it Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week.
Travis is such a clown! He is always making the funniest faces, and he crawls around the house 90% of the time with his head on the floor, like he's a little bulldozer. He also loves to wrestle with Westley, probably Westley more than Caleb because Caleb gets way too rough. But they mostly wrestle with a blanket as a prop--they roll around with the blanket and play peek-a-boo, during the game. Peek-a-boo is Travis' favorite game, and he gets really excited, kicking out his legs and pumping his arms every time we play. The usual way that we play involves him covering his face (and only his face) with something...a blanket, towel, or toy...and then I say, "Where's Travis?" and he laughs and laughs and kicks his legs and pumps his arms. Then he reveals his face with a huge grin, laughing, and I say, "Peek-a-boo!" which just makes him laugh all the harder. It's so cute!
Travis has been waking up lately with his pajamas all over the place. One morning, he woke up with one leg in and one leg out of his pants, shirt intact. Another morning (so pictured), he woke up with his pants completely off and on the floor and his shirt pulled halfway off. Sometimes he's only in a diaper. Apparently, we are often too slow in getting him in the morning and he gets bored.
He is just starting to take steps here and there, but mostly he still crawls. He's pretty good at walking behind a walker or with someone, but he just won't let go.
I think that four-year-olds are harder than three-year-olds. They're asserting their independence, and that makes them rather difficult to deal with sometimes. Of course, you need to give them situations where they can be independent yet still make good choices to learn how it feels to make the right choice. It's hard to give them this type of freedom though, especially for your first child. Obviously, a ten-month-old isn't capable of making choices at all, so the parents must make all choices for them. But a four-year-old is capable of making quite a few choices and must be given the liberty to do so.
For example, a ten-month-old just wants to learn about everything. So instead of leaving a house full of breakable and dangerous items, we, as parents, move these items up to higher levels out of the baby's sight and put items lower that the child can play with. Then the child does not have to choose which items are okay to play with and which ones are not. But a four-year-old can decide between an item that is safe and one that is not, like whether they should play with a knife or a toy car. Tempting as the knife might be, a well-taught four-year-old chooses the toy car and knows that he/she has made a good choice when the parents do not scold. They probably have been warned before not to touch the knives in the kitchen and perhaps have even had experience being punished for trying to play with one.
Currently, our four-year-old is giving us trouble. I recognize that many of the issues that we tend to battle about are really just a quest for more independence on his part. The problem is that I don't always know where to draw the line. How far do I let him go before I tell him he can't make that choice? If he makes a bad choice, like talking back to Mom and Dad, is he really trying to be defiant and downright rude or just trying to assert some independence? I'm sure the best way to teach him not to talk back is not spanking, but sometimes, when he goes on and on and won't be quiet, I have a hard time controlling that hand. Or when he acts out because he has to leave the pool before he's ready. I can understand not wanting to leave, and that's a fine opinion to have, but how do you properly teach him that he shouldn't have a wild temper tantrum because he doesn't want to leave? How do I teach him a proper outlet for his frustration? I just don't know. It seems easier than it is. Logically, I should be able to tell him that behavior is inappropriate, of course in his terms, and reward him when he behaves appropriately even though he's angry. But often the problem lies merely in the inability to calm him down. Usually, once he's calmed down, he doesn't even care or really remember why he's so upset. And then it's worthless to try and bring it up because he sweetly smiles and says, "okay, Mom," although I can tell he doesn't even get what I'm trying to tell him.
I guess it's just a constant learning process. Lucky me, I have at least three more kids to do this with. I hear it only gets better...
Caleb is still two, I don't know how else to describe him. He's very stubborn and has an iron will. Of course, being two, he gets upset about everything. Every ten minutes I hear him crying out somewhere in the house. It gets frustrating because it sure makes it hard to get Travis down for naps and to stay asleep, with Caleb always screaming. He's still not talking very well, although I can understand him better every day. Words like, help, sandwich, juice, milk, are all words I can understand, but he really doesn't say them very well.
His favorite thing to do? Get on Westley's nerves. Push Westley's buttons. As much as possible. And he's very good at it. Yet at the same time, they are best friends. On Westley's birthday, Westley didn't come home until late, so I had to put Caleb to bed by himself. He kept pointing at Westley's bed and saying, "Westley" over and over. I had to try and explain to a two-year-old why his brother wasn't there but that he would be back later, after Caleb was asleep. He was sad that Westley wasn't there.
Travis is sure getting around now. He crawls everywhere on his hands and knees and follows me around the house, as well as his brothers. Since he's only 7 months old, he's doing this way earlier than the other boys did it. He already pulls himself up on just about anything to a stand and walks along the edge, although he's not really sturdy at that yet. I think he really wants to be walking and be able to keep up with his older brothers. When they play outside in the backyard, he stands by the back door (sliding glass) and watches them.
Westley turned 4 on Tuesday! We didn't really do much for his birthday, as far as presents or cake. Corey made pancakes for breakfast, at Westley's request. He opened one present--a set of kid card games, like Old Maid, Fish, and War. Then he went to gymnastics with Daddy. After gymnastics, he went with Daddy to get the oil changed in his car and then I drove in to Mesa with the other boys and met them as well as my mom for lunch. We had lunch and went home for naps. After naps, Corey took Westley to an In-N-Out store party at Gamestoppers, this game place by the Arizona Mills Mall. They were there until 9:30 and came home wiped out.
Westley has been so cute lately with Travis. He really is a great big brother. He's very helpful, and he includes Travis in their play. And he's very good at making sure Travis doesn't put anything in his mouth that's too small. He's always saying to me, "Travis sure is a cute baby, Mom." And everywhere we go, he tells people that Travis is "his" baby. It's very cute.
The boys decided to have a marching band of their own. After I used a belt of mine to strap on Westley's drum, I tied Caleb's keyboard on with two bathrobe ties. They marched around the house for half an hour, "playing" their music. I got it on video too, and it's so cute! The best was how they really were marching. I'm not even sure where they came up with the idea for a marching band, though!
On Valentine's Day, we hosted a Valentine's Day party for some of Westley's friends, mostly from church. We had a lot of fun making valentines, counting conversation hearts (and eating them), decorating sugar cookies and playing Giant Candyland.This is the Giant Candyland game that we had put together for the party. I just used construction paper and made the squares for them to stand on. I used the original Candyland game and copied the pictures for the "candy squares"--an ice cream cone, a gingerbread man, a lollipop, etc. They had fun playing the game. Here we are eating the heart-shaped pizzas we made for lunch. The heart shape was a hit, it's what made lunch exciting. Here we are decorating sugar cookies. Corey and I made a bunch of heart-shaped cookies and some pink and white frosting. I also had a jar of a variety of sprinkles that I bought last year and never used, so that came in handy. Most of the kids ate as they went, but a few saved their cookies for later.
We had a lot of fun, and I'm thinking of making it a tradition.
We've been working with our kids, Westley especially (since he is older and talking better), at prayers. You know, teaching them how to open, what to say and how to close and letting them practice. At first, Westley would only pray for the food at mealtimes and for good sleep at bedtime. Lately, though, he has been praying for some interesting things.
Somewhere along the way he has learned that we wear clothes so we won't be naked. One of the things he is thankful for is that he is not naked. Another cute one is from a video we watch often on Sunday mornings. If you are LDS, you will know what this is about...the Book of Mormon animated story of the Tree of Life. Westley now prays that Heavenly Father will bless him to stay away from the Great and Spacious Building.
Other various things have included that bathtime will be fun, that his ducky will sleep good, and that Travis will keep smiling. Isn't it cute what kids sometimes say in their prayers?
One afternoon, the boys decided to play dress up with the box of dress up clothes I have, courtesy of their grandparents. Both costumes were former Halloween costumes of my brothers, and I think both were also costumes of one of my brothers for some plays he was in in elementary school. When they were all dressed up, Westley said, "I'm a cowboy and Caleb is my owl." I didn't know that cowboys had owls!
The boys and I had fun building a house for the lego dinosaurs (seen above) out of the big block legos. I showed them how to start by putting together the bases of the walls and then building up from that. They built the roof and just kept adding blocks. It was a lot of fun. The shot below is a close-up of the house we built. They were very proud, since they did most of it, I only started it for them. Westley and Caleb were watching a video--probably the "Chipmunk Adventure" video they got for Christmas from Aunt Leslie and Uncle Zach. It is their favorite movie. Westley asked if he could hold Travis, so this is a picture of all three of them. Westley loves to cuddle with Travis, give him kisses and play with him. The other night, Travis was laying on the floor, and Westley was laying next to him and he started sort of wrestling with Travis, pulling at his hands (making him giggle) and rolling him from his stomach to his back. Travis was enjoying it immensely, laughing the whole time.
The John Fowles family was able to visit Arizona before moving out of the country to London, England a week later. We were so happy that they were able to visit. They stayed in Mesa with Grandpa & Grandma, but we were able to spend time with them on Sunday and Monday, January 7th and 8th. On Monday, the 8th, we went to Makutu's Island in Chandler, a huge indoor play area with all sorts of forts and slides to climb on and slide down. Westley and Caleb both enjoyed that, and Travis dozed peacefully through most of it.
Later on Monday evening, they came over to eat dinner and have FHE with us. I was only able to get one snapshot of Marianne playing with our Leapfrog Fridge Phonics with the boys. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the camera to Makutu's Island.
Tonight at dinner, Westley said, "This is really good food." We were eating my homemade macaroni and cheese, in which I put canned diced tomatoes to flavor it up. Westley HATES tomatoes. He likes the mac and cheese, but he hates tomatoes. I responded, "I'm glad you like it." At that exact moment, he had a tomato on his fork. He said, "No, this is yucky. But I have to eat it because I want to grow big and strong like Daddy." He then proceeded to clean his plate, eating everything INCLUDING the tomatoes. When he was finished, I said, "Good job eating all your food, Westley," and he said, "I had to eat the yucky food, Mom. Now I can be big and strong like Daddy."
So far, this new year has been pretty busy. Both Corey and I had dental appointments last week. Westley is still involved in his gymnastics, which is once a week on Tuesdays. The weekend was crazy--attending a baby blessing for a friend's baby and then spending a lot of time in Mesa with my parents and my brother and his family before they (my brother and family, not my parents) move to England next week. We've hardly been home to have a regular routine day with naps.
Today, though, Caleb finally fell asleep after playing in his room for two hours. Now he's been asleep for about 2 hours, and we're wondering when he's going to wake up. Since his nap was so late, he'll probably be doubly grouchy when he wakes up. Then will come the problem of bedtime. Usually, we get the kids to bed by 6:30, but that will be too early for tonight, since he will have only woken up a few hours before.
Yesterday we went to a place called Makutu's Island in Chandler. It had all sorts of climbing equipment and slides for the kids to play on. We were there for several hours. Normally, in a place like this, Westley could be timid and afraid of trying new things. But he was courageous and even climbed through the netted tube from one tree house to the other. This tube was high in the air, suspended over the play area. At first he was a little scared and he told me, "It's too dangerous, Mom." But then he plunged on. I think his gymnastics has helped him be more willing to try new things.
All in all, it's been busy, but it's been fun. Hopefully, next time we do something fun, I will remember the digital camera and to take pictures.
We hope everyone is having a happy new year! Our resolutions as a family include the following:
1. To have regular scripture reading as a family 2. To have regular family prayer, morning and night 3. To have weekly Family Home Evenings 4. To better our financial situation 5. To get some exercise together and have some fun doing it 6. To eat better
We'll see what the course of the year 2007 brings our family and we hope for the best for all of you!
Westley got a fat lip when he was playing outside on Saturday afternoon. I swear, my kids get more fat lips than any other injury! I took this photo at about 3 am on Sunday morning when Westley got up to go potty. The lighting was bad, hence the blurred image.
I'm not even sure half the time what exactly happens when my kids get their fat lips. They'll be playing outside, or in the toy room, or even just behind my back when they start screaming and I look and see blood pouring from their mouths. I'm always afraid they're going to knock out a tooth or two. Westley bit through the skin below his lip when he was about 19 months old, there is still a scar there (caused by his excessive drooling--the wound never had a chance to heal without scarring because his chin was always wet!). Now he bit through a different part of his lower lip, and on the inside (good thing you can't see it in the photo!) it's all pussy and disgusting. It must be pretty painful.
I'm sure it will heal just fine, but I sure feel sorry for the little guy. I would imagine it hurts to eat anything at all...
