September 2021

Wow, was this September a hot one!  We were swimming right up until the end of the month.

As you can see in the previous post, we celebrated our little Lucy Lou's 1st birthday.  She wasn't keen on the singing or cake (she kept shoving the cake away at her photo shoot and started crying after our attempts to give her cake at her party!) but she loved the presents.  She wears her little teething necklace all the time, loves her outfits and grows increasingly fond of her dolls.  

She had her 1 year doctor appointment a week later and she was 20 lbs, 12 oz (or 44%) and 29 inches tall (69%).  She continues to be leaner and taller than our boys.  She got her fifth tooth just before turning one and her little smile is just darling.  

As far as talking she definitely says "Da da" for Dane and sometimes says "Mama" for me.  For the record, "Mama is very often growled, while "Da da" usually sounds bright and musical.  Go figure!  She still says, "Mmmmma!" for more and has started saying, "Zhoo, zhoo!" while playing with cars and makes the same growling sound for sheep and ducks.  One thing we are so excited about is her singing.  She started doing fifth intervals earlier on, singing, "Dat dat" while exploring.  She has also started saying, "Uh uh" with the intonation of "Uh oh" when she drops things (which has become a great game for her, just like her brothers.)  Her most frequent way to communicate, however, is by gesturing toward what she wants and opening and closing her hand.  

She loves to roll and throw balls and will kick them if she's given help.  She loves having someone creep up on her while slowly growing in volume and then being tickled.  Atticus does this all the time and she will make a mischievous face at you and start mimicking the sound he makes in hopes of getting you to do it.  It is darling.

She is getting so big.  She has started climbing our slide in the playroom.  She'll call for help and delights in sliding down (with help, of course!)  This last time we went to the park I actually put shoes on her and brought a walker.  She was in heaven, walking all over the place.  I don't think there's any going back to keeping her in the stroller!

At the end of the month she started a new little game where she will grab you, let go and balance and then fall back on her bum.  She thinks it's so funny.  I can't help but laugh with her.  

Hinckley has been a mixed bag this month.  There are some days that go so smoothly and others that can be pretty rough.  I think his little body is gradually getting used to dropping his nap.  Thank heaven.

We are both so happy that Joy School is in session again.  This year we came up with our own lesson ideas, one of which is celebrating each child with their day.  So, when I taught, we had "Hinckley Day."  Since we were also assigned the letter D we decided to focus on D being for Dragon (we read Hinckley's favorite book- Mikey and the Dragons) and the Dark Knight.  We did a Batman workout while listening to Batman music, saved a stuffed animal from another stuffed animal villain, ate some of Hinckley's favorite snacks (popcorn and fruit leather made the cut because grilled cheese sandwiches and bacon sounded too intense!) and ended the class by creating little Lego people.  He was not his nicest self that day but it was still really fun to dream the class up with him and give him some additional attention.

Now to repeat the whole process for his birthday this month... 

Here he is at Joy School celebrating another child who loves baseball...

And these are his messy hands at another class held for a friend whose favorite treat is s'mores.

His artwork and control continue to improve.  He amazed me with this coloring job early in the month.  As I've mentioned before, however, he is already letting perfectionism prevent him from trying and will often give up before starting, begging me to draw things for him because he "CAN'T!"

The same day that Joy School began Hinckley had his first real soccer practice.  He was positively on cloud nine on his way there.  He had on Atticus's great big shin guards because I couldn't find them anywhere in stores or online for a few weeks.  On the way to the field he told me, "I'll do my best!"  and he did just that.  I wish I could say the same for his subsequent practices.  He often hasn't wanted to go and when he's there can be very sluggish, telling me how tired he is (in his defense it is pretty late for him!)  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos yet but I do have a great video showing one practice where he tried very hard and it was so fun to see.

They are SO adorable.  It's been so fun to really enjoy how very cute they all are as I watch from teh sidelines this season.  Our little Otter Pops are the cutest!  (That's the team name they chose.)   

At his first and only game so far he got very frustrated because the other kids kept beating him to the ball.  He would go on the field, have one of the players (didn't matter who) get to the ball first and then he'd storm off the field.  After this happened four or five times he gave up and refused to go back on the field for the rest of the game.  While I do hope our next games will be better I'm not going to lose sleep over it.  He's only three, after all!  

One day we were practicing a little Spanish and had the funniest, saddest experience.  I asked him how he was and he replied, "Moy mal."  I asked him why and he replied, "How do you say my fwend huwt my feewings?"  We practiced it a little before I could get him to talk about how his Joy School friend didn't want to play with him that day.  

In her defense, he has an obsession with role playing the same scenario again and again that is exhausting.  It involves having a girl (preferably Princess Leia) stumble upon Batman's cave and then have Batman do tricks that surprise her.   Next Batman will slowly, dramatically remove his helmet and tell the frightened girl, "I'm Batman."  In case you're wondering, there is no attempt at secrecy.  If Leia asks his name, he is quick to tell her, "Bwuce Wayne."  

Since he insists on having a girl play this with him he wants me to play with him all day long.  All this being said, I was very empathetic with his little Joy School friend that day.  At the same time, my heart hurt for my lovesick little three-year-old who just wants to save all the princesses and have them tell him how handsome, strong and brave he is.  It is so stinking adorable.

Another hilarious experience we had involved our beloved neighbors who are two doors down.  They will be moving soon so every minute we can spend with them is precious.  Hinckley managed to invite himself to their home for dinner and when the day arrived he did not forget.  While there he poked the meet they had and told my friend, "I don't like that."  She told me that he did eat a reasonable amount but then, after dinner, told her, "I'm going home to eat another lunch."  When she asked him, incredulously, "Wait, are you still hungry?  Didn't you eat enough?" he told her with a mischievous grin, "Nah, I'm not hungwy."  When she offered him a pear before he left he told her, "I only eat pears from my house."  What a dramatic ham!  

He still has the most amazing moments where he teaches me.  Earlier in the month when Atticus was having a tough time with something I lost my patience.  Hinckley came in and saved the day, quietly giving his brother a head massage.  Atticus calmed down and said, quietly, "Thanks, Hinckley."  If only that Hinckley could be around more often!

Hinckley Speaks:

• "But I want it now!" (We have had so many fits over toys that he wants me to get him RIGHT NOW.)
• "I'm going to mawwy Lucy." ("I thought you were going to marry Ellie!")  "Okay, I'll mawwy Ellie, I guess."
• "Why did Mulan spit on the floor?"  (Spits on the floor while I'm trying to answer his question.)
• "None of yo business!"  (We hear this way too often, I'm afraid.)
• "Fo WEAL!"
• "I'm stwongo than you."
• ("Hinckley, what did you learn about today?") "Kawate chopping." ("Really?  From whom?") "Fwom Ewwie.  Ayah!"

While there have been times of great frustration with Atticus he has also been such a trusted and helpful ally this month.  His helpfulness can be hit or miss around the house but he has been so good about home school.  He rarely complains and usually gets to work right away whenever I ask him.  He's also really flexible with all the interruptions that come our way.  Most importantly, he is so forgiving of me when I lose my temper or anything else goes wrong. 

Speaking of being forgiving, I had a very profound experience with him early in the month.  I got really mad at him and yelled, leaving the room right afterward.  When I regained my composure, I went right back to apologize and told him, "I'm trying not to do that anymore."  (In my defense, he was being really unreasonable!  But there was still no excuse for losing my temper.)  This cute little kid forgave me and led me downstairs.  He pulled out a rubber band and told me to put it on my wrist so I could snap myself the next time I repeated that bad habit.  

That same week we had read a verse in D&C 95:1 where it says, "Whom I love I also chasten..."  As soon as I reread it I knew that the Lord had chastened me through my little boy.  I shared the lesson I had learned, telling Atticus that the Lord had chastened me through him.  Atticus was dumbfounded.  "He talked through me?!"  It was a special moment.

He is also becoming quite the soccer player.  His team is very small (he's the oldest and tallest) and so he has been playing goalie quite a bit, as you can see above.  While other kids his age might get distracted, not our Atticus.  During one game the kids were doing so well he yelled to me, "Mom, where's my action?!"  In other games he has gotten plenty of "action."  He plays the position well.  He also started dribbling more while playing on the field just this week and that was really fun to watch.  We'll see what October brings for him and his little team (the Dynamites.)

Leopard, above.

Something that made me laugh this month was a sing off he had at church.  I wasn't there but was told that he challenged the song leader in the children's class to sing by herself, a capella.  She cleverly told him that she'd be happy to do so on one condition: he would have to sing with her.  I'm told that, without reservation, he stood up and sang his loudest and proudest with her.  

Since Atticus is at home with us when we do Joy School I thought that we had better host an "Atticus Day," as well.  We ate cinnamon covered apple slices, drew (D was for drawing that day) using Art Hub for Kids, played a funny table soccer game with straws and pom poms (I was surprised by how much the kids loved it!) among other activities.  

Here are all of their "snow cones."  

Here are some homeschool highlights from September:

We learned the proper way to use matches and made our own aged world maps.  We then drew the paths of the explorers we had learned about: Leif Eriksson, Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus.  Since then we have been putting stickers on any countries that we study.

We made the Nina, the Pinta and Santa Maria and had them sail across the pool (with mixed results!)

We studied India, reading The Jungle Book in its entirety and watching the movie.  We then ate chicken curry and naan bread on the floor.  The only reason Hinckley ended up trying it was because we told him it was the man food Mowgli ate when he went back to the Man Village.

Then we studied China.  We especially loved the Folk Tale "Butterfly Lovers" and the beautiful musical piece that was composed with the story in mind.  

We learned a lot about their culture and the Great Wall.  We made dragons and learned about the Dragon Dance and the Lion Dance.

We finished off with Chinese food.  Once again, Atticus was a great sport, eating everything and even trying to use his chopsticks.  Hinckley tried each dish and gave me a thumbs' up each time but then pretty much refused to eat without some... intense persuasion.

Then came Japan.  It was so fun to learn about the Land of the Rising Sun.

We made origami (of course we had to make ninja stars!) and Atticus even chose to write a story about ninjas for a reading assignment.  

We finished with an exhausting meal of gyoza, Hibachi steak and sushi.  Still, my first attempt at making sushi was a success!  And, even better, I now have a date to take with me whenever I get a craving (Atticus loved it!)

Our last week was a mixed bag- we studied Mongolia (watched The Story of the Weeping Camel, which I highly recommend!), Thailand (we watched The King and I) and the Philippines (our neighbor is from there so we had her over for dinner and asked her questions.)

While it can be hard to know how much of what we are doing for school sinks in we have already been so pleased with some of the fruits of our home school efforts.  One night my heart was especially happy because I heard Atticus reciting poetry as he fell asleep.  He and Hinckley have also been singing many of the songs we've been introducing them to and ask for the folktales repeatedly.  

I know our system isn't perfect but it is working and, more importantly, Atticus is loving it.  On the Sunday morning after our Chinese meal he woke up and asked me, excitedly, "Are we studying Japan today?!"  I told him that it was Sunday and I was planning to take the day off.  He didn't skip a beat, asking, "Then can we please learn more about China?"  

Finally, here are some fun pictures from our nature study.