December went by at our usual breakneck speed. December first was our ward Christmas party
December second was the homeschool student Christmas Business Expo, so the boys were able to sell their Advent candles again. This year we added rock art nativities and they were a huge success. They sold out in about ten minutes. We even had someone order a small one for later. My only regret is not keeping one for myself because I loved them all so much... but I guess that just means well have to make more next year!
Israel is still pulling up to stand any chance he gets. He won't stand independently but he is getting a little better at coasting along furniture.
He still loves "Pat-a-Cake," "Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," "If You're Happy and You Know It" and really any hand play. He really enjoys the music class we take with our wonderful homeschool program, Belle Ame at Home. He still loves our seesaw, swing and rocking horse.
He's making more messes now, including the toilet paper and dog water, just like his siblings did at this age. He is a decent fellow, though. Unlike Hinckley, who would race over to the dog bowls, laughing as he dumped them as quickly as possible, Israel usually pauses and looks up at me for approval. If I'm not there or fast enough, he still dumps them but it does give me a lot more time to realize what's happening and stop him.
We do feel like he's trying to mimic and communicate with us. I could have sworn he was signing "more" a few weeks ago, although it was pretty inconsistent. When Dane talks to him in grunts he will start grunting and growling back. When the dog barks, he starts imitating him with adorable little baby barks. When Hinckley was hugging him, saying "Pat-pat...SQUEEZE!" Israel seemed to copy him, saying, "Ah-ah-EE!" But none of these are consistent yet.
We are worried about his two front teeth. He seems to have chipped them and I'm worried about the color... but hopefully my worries are ill-founded. Thank goodness they are baby teeth.
He got a little cold right after Christmas, which wasn't fun but boy was it fun to see the children interact with him on Christmas day. Each of them had gotten him a gift from the dollar store and they were so excited to see his reaction. He had a very good first Christmas.
Lucy is so adorable and so frustrating. For months and months she has been treating clothes like toys- putting them in different bags/containers and leaving them all over the house. Even worse, she kept getting into clothes that were 1-3 years too big and mixing them all up. Fortunately, we were able to switch around our storage in her closet (putting the clothes in giant totes) and it has made a huge difference. She still makes messes everywhere and changes her clothes 3+ times a day but at least the sizes aren't getting mixed up.
She has entered the "Why?" phase, which is so cute but can also be so tiring. You really have to pick when you explain things because she will so often ignore your answer and just ask, "Why?" again. But she is understanding so much more, which means there are times she really is listening.
This month Lucy and Hinckley became really close. They play legos together, wear costumes and pretend to be superheroes together (so much that she asked for a Ghost Spider costume for Christmas- which she received.) There was a rare rainy day in the middle of the month and the two of them put on some warm clothing and had the best time playing in the rain. Hinckley calls her his "best friend" a lot of the time. It's not really exaggerative. They get along so well, which is so nice. Hinckley and Atticus have such different personalities that, while they love each other, they often clash. With Lucy it does seem effortless.
This was the first Christmas that Lucy really knew what was happening, which was so fun. Besides asking for "pink presents" at the beginning of the month and a ghost Spider costume, she really came to know the true meaning of Christmas. We have a great nativity storybook that we read often enough that she was able to "read" it to us and sing the songs.
She still has a ways to go as far as gift giving. When I took her to the dollar store to shop for her brothers she grabbed three gifts for herself. I eventually let her get them and just took some of the money she has been keeping in her piggy bank. She is only three, after all. It did make me chuckle as we wrapped all of the gifts she got, three of which were for her.
Listen to Lucy:
- "Don’t be mad." (or) "You calm?" (or) "Be calm!"
- "I sowwy!" (Usually said in a loud, angry voice or in a monotone voice, neither of which is very convincing.)
- "Angel, mommy!" A few seconds later, "I hear Joy!...Good tidings!..." (She went on repeating all the words and phrases she was familiar with durng the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional.)
- "That’s Baby Jesus!"
- "I want 'pink pwesents.'"
Hinckley had the best month he has had in a very long time. He tried so hard to be good and it made such a difference in our home. Of course he had little setbacks but I felt like we got back our peacemaker. He has been the loudest and most difficult child for such a long time. It was so nice to see his strengths again. Here's hoping this continues in to 2024!
This doesn't mean that it was easy to get him to buy Christmas gifts for his siblings. It was the first time I've taken him to do so and he was really dragging his heels, saying, "I don’t want to spend any of my money!"
As soon as we got to the store, however, he caught the Christmas Spirit almost immediately. He wanted to get everything for his siblings- especially Atticus. My favorite part of the whole experience was on our way home. He told me, "I'm like tingling inside! Christmas isn't about getting... it's about giving! I want to give gifts to all my friends now." Yes!
He kept his Christmas list incredibly short this year. He felt that he didn't get anything he asked for last year so he only asked for two things: a Kylo Ren lego and an Ironman lego. Needless to say, he got both and plenty more.
Hinckley Speaks:
- ("Thank you so much!") "I just want to make your life easier."
- "Have I been good today?"
- ("Are you sure you want to eat that? It’s a little spicy… ") "That’s okay, I’m Mexican." (In a couple minutes he was gasping and sputtering from the spice.)
- "If you guys don’t stop arguing… I … will.. join the argument!" (While Dane and I were arguing)
- "I need to see my best friend!" (Talking about Lucy)
Atticus turned nine this month! Instead of having a birthday party, he asked to have a party with our family up in Utah. He especially wanted to be with his Nana since she can't travel anymore. He also wanted to get some Brazilian barbecue, which was smart because he knows we feel like it's too expensive to get that kind of food here, locally.
As luck would have it we weren't able to go until the middle of the month. This actually turned out to be perfect because Dane was called to be the second counselor in our bishopric just a couple of days before we went. He asked his dad to ordain him as a High Priest while we were there. It was such a sweet experience.
We also were able to go to Thanksgiving Point's Luminaria while we were there, Atticus and I. I haven't done anything with him, one on one, for a long time. We had a great time.
As a sie note, Dane and I were also able to finally get some one on one time. Bob and Marti watched the kids (with help from Aunt Paula) while we went to watch "A Christmas Carol" at The Hale Center Theater. Oh, it was such a fantastic experience. Just being out together was special, since we hadn't been on a real date since Israel's birth but the play was incredible.
everyone’s yelling at me again.
My favorite moment with Atticus in December, however, came when he performed for a Christmas recital at a local memory care facility. He practiced so hard and did a wonderful job playing "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" and "Good King Winceslas" (we played the second as a duet together.)
After they performed his wonderful piano teacher, Whitney Madsen, encouraged her students to talk to at least one person. Some of them looked so frightened at the idea. Not Atticus. He had a huge smile on his face as spoke to a few different residences. He even took one lady's hand. I was so amazed and proud.
He admitted in the car that he was a little scared but then he shared, "I got such a good feeling when I talked to them." What a kid.
Right before Christmas I celebrated my 38th birthday and wow it was a memorable one. The night before we had our friends, the Jones family over to do a live nativity. It was so fun.
I couldn't expect much more after that. Dane had to go to work in the morning and then he had to go to the temple with the youth from church that evening. What I didn't expect, however, was to have my boys run away on my birthday!
When the boys asked me what I would like for my birthday I had half jokingly told them, "Well, you could shave your mullets!" They had no intention of doing so but the morning of my birthday Dane became pretty forceful about shaving their mullets. It backfired. The boys ran away!
I had no idea what had been going on because I was with the baby while all of this was going on. I came downstairs and by then they had already left. It was so funny. They finally came back and Atticus admitted that his mullet, which had gotten really long and curly, had gotten stuck to a cinder-block wall. He grudgingly agreed to let Dane shave his mullet... and off it went! Hinckley followed him the next day. So I got my birthday wish, after all.
While a lot of our fun Christmas traditions and books took over when it came to homeschool we did study Greece and Italy a little. We made a delicious Greek bean stew called fasolada, we made "karavakia or Greek Christmas boats and Atticus drew a Siamese cat. We also learned a beautiful Italian lullaby, "Ninna Nanna Calabrese."
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