April 2022

The first half of April was really great.  Since all of our neighbors and friends were on their Spring Break we decided to make that week extra special, especially since it was the week before Easter.  

Three days after Easter I got pretty much the worst news I could get about a dear friend of mine.  Life kind of seemed to stop going for a while there.

I've journaled about it and if you know me well I'm sure I've talked with you about it.  So I won't share the details.  But I've certainly learned a lot in a very painful way.  Oh, how grateful I am for our Savior and His atonement and resurrection.

I just haven't had the heart to write on here this month.  Still, there are a few things I don't want to forget.

Lucy figured out how to say Hinckley's name this month!  It seemed that she was calling both boys "Athis" for a while but she now proudly (and often loudly) calls out "Eedee!" (or "Eekee!")

She LOVES nuts and asks for them often.  She'll eat walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios.  She loves them all.  She is also always ready for 'nacks and will pull everything out of my purse looking for snacks any chance she can get.

She has the cutest, quirky little sense of humor. She'll make a scrunched up, cheesy grin that makes her look a bit like a chipmunk when she's being really funny.  She loves to make us laugh by laying on one of the boys and then wiggling around (maybe it's her version of wrestling?)  S

She is such a daredevil.  She seems to really enjoy the feeling of falling off of things (She always lands on a bed or couch but it still makes me nervous!)   

Listen to Lucy:

• "Mine"
• "Eyes"
• "Mats" or "Matsy" for Max
• "Bup" for book
• "Yats" for rocks
• "Sots" for socks
• "Shoes"
• "Eat!"
• "Die" for "Daddy"
• "Sigh" for sorry

Hinckly still alternates between being the sweetest and most charming little boy and the most hard-headed.  One night when Atticus was going to get a spanking he started fighting Dane.  He even climbed the couch and shouted, "Sneak attack!" as he jumped onto his dad.  
After Atticus received his punishment Hinckley yelled, "Dad!  Now it's time for my spankings."  So Dane tried to keep a straight face while half-heartedly administering the punishment.  Hinckley looked up at him and yelled, "Harder!"

He has loved girls already for so long and this month he finally had someone requite his feelings- at least, a bit.  The two of them decided that someday they will get married.  He drew the wedding scene one day (she was wearing pink, it was adorable.)  I guess this sweet little girl has told her mom that they will have two kiddos.  One will be named Hinckley and one will be named Pickle.  

I'll share one last story that is related to his special friend.  A few days ago he knew he was going to Joy School and I was trying to help him choose a shirt.  I had two options, one of which was red.  For probably the third time I asked him if he wanted the black shirt or the red one.  He looked up at me and finally registered what I was saying, looked at the shirts and asked, "Mom, does __________ like red?"  I managed to hide my smile and tell him that yes, she definitely did.

I had to include writing samples from both boys.  They just crack me up.  These are from his journal:

This was to his friend at Joy School:

Hinckley Speaks:

• "That soccer game was pretty darn."  (a minute passes)  "What does darn mean?"
• "Atticus, you're my vewwy best fwiend." ("And you're mine.")

The biggest development for Atticus in April was on the piano.  We discovered the app Simply Piano and Atticus took off!  It has been so exciting to have him play more and more.  He was starting to have more symptoms of whatever Dane had as a child (opening his mouth, repeating himself, widening or stretching his eyes, complaining about his hands and feet being "cramped.")  I was getting worried but now that he's willingly playing three times as much as before and sight reading music his symptoms have lessened by quite a bit. 

Atticus also has had an experience with the need to forgive someone.  Back in March an adult wronged him and, while I was pretty upset about it, I thought he hadn't really noticed it.  Well, a week or so into the month of April I discovered he was not okay and was actually quite angry about it.  He even had a couple dreams about that person.  So we had a few talks about forgiveness- how he doesn't have to forgive right away but that he shouldn't hold on to those feelings because it is only hurting him.  He let me know that he was dead set against forgiving and any time I began to bring it up he would stop me.

Thank goodness for the passage of time.  It really can heal so many wounds.  We've also had such bigger problems to think and pray about that I think Atticus just let it go.  And so have I.  In this instance, I don't think I forgave by myself.  I think the ability to forgive was a gift- God's grace in my life.  

Atticusisms:

• "Wait a minute!  You're trying to get me to forgive them.  It's not gonna happen."
• "I know what you guys do all night.  You talk about composting!" 
• "Mommy, can you see into Heaven?" ("No, I guess I can't.") "Then you can't see how happy she is."

Well, I wrote more than I expected to.  I had better get back to real life!- We only have eleven more days in May, after all.