we did it!

This morning, we did it.  We kicked off our first day of the homeschool year.

"To the new school year!"

There were candles and smiles...

There were homemade cinnamon donuts.

There was apple cider.

And, of course, there were children.  What would homeschool be without children, after all?

Gabriel, tot school

Elise, preschool

Owen, kindergarten

Kyle, 3rd grade

Ben, 5th grade

Of course, there were other things.  Not-quite-so happy things...there was poop on the floor and there was interrupting.  There was an assignment that needed to be re-done, and there was (just a little) whining.

And of course, there was a toddler.  'Nough said about that.

But those are not the memories I want to carry away from this day.  So here is my back-to-school post, with the happy photos (you wouldn't want a picture of poop on the floor anyway, wouldya?), along with hopes for a happy, healthy, richly fulfilling school year.

Cheers!

Dear Gabriel...

Dear Gabriel,


First, thank you for honoring our verbal agreement on that day last week that you'd take a super duper nap today. I would also like to point out how happy, charming, and polite you can be when you are *well-rested.* Let's keep all this in mind for the future, shall we? It's definitely worth some consideration, son.

Dear Gabriel, I know you miss your siblings. When you see a photo of them (or even one which reminds you of them), you always smile and say their names. Our house has been much quieter than usual, little love. But they're coming home soon. Home to thrill you with their antics, play with you, and help you. I'm sure your sister will be doting on you again in no time. It won't be much longer, sweet boy.

Dear Gabriel, did you enjoy your first visit to Tiny Tots storytime at the library? I'm so glad we had a chance to go. I loved taking the older boys, but after a certain point it seemed too hard. Maybe we'll try it again one of these days, and the older kids can bring books to look at in the corner of the room. We'll see.

However, I stand by what I said after we got home from that library trip: 90 minutes is just too long to keep a toddler at the library. It wasn't pretty at the end, was it? Next time we'll be more efficient in our book-selecting.

Dear Gabriel, when I don't understand you the first time you say something, it really doesn't help to whisper when you repeat yourself. Trust me.

Dear Gabriel, we've had a fun time, you and I, haven't we? We've gone on a ton of walks, we've played outside, we've gone on adventures. We've read books and visited friends and "organized" the study together. Your enthusiasm for life never fails to brighten my day. You are a joy, a gift, and I'm so glad the Lord blessed our family with you!

That said, I'm unspeakably thankful that you're sleeping so much better these days. There were times when I thought that first year was going to absolutely do me in. But now I can look at those days with something like perspective, and I can see that it was all worth it. Every minute.

And so, my darling toddler, my charming, maddening toddler, thanks for spending time with me this past week. Here's to many more adventures!

Love,
Mama

book time (from a week ago)

I absolutely love that this happens...

...whenever I announce, "Book time!"

sometimes it's the little things

Gabriel is weaned.

He was the latest of any of our little ones, at 16 months.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely ready to be done nursing him, and yet of course there's a little twinge of sadness and loss.  But mostly I'm thrilled.

The last feed which was dropped was the pre-breakfast session.  Because he is now weaned, I've beeb able to slip back into my old, pre-Gabe morning routine (mostly).   The key to that is that I come downstairs around 7:30 AM, serve breakfast around 8:00, and we can easily clean up, get chores done, and begin school by 9:00.

I realize this may not sound very exciting to you.  But trust me, I am tickled pink.

It just works so much better for us.  When I don't get downstairs until 8:00, I always feel like I'm running late.

I tend to get cranky when I'm running late.

homemade sourdough English muffins

Several days this past weekend found me in the kitchen alone as I prepared our first meal of the day.  "Alone" sounds a bit bleak, let me rephrase.  I was by myself.  The children were upstairs with their dad, even our little toddler-baby.  I could listen to a podcast, or some music, or just soak in the silence as I bustled around my domain.  It. Was. Awesome.

That isn't the way of it every day, of course, but even so - it's so nice to have that extra time in the morning.  Sometimes I even have a few minutes to sit down and blog before heading downstairs to fire up the stove - now that's luxury!

Gabe is happier in the mornings, too.  And he even had a stretch of several days when he slept until 7:00 AM, which was a rarity.  He was so cheerful with that extra hour or so under his belt.  A beautiful, beautiful thing!

Yeah, sometimes it's the little things.

the question of the year

"Where Kyle?  Where Kyle?  Where Kyle?  Where Kyle?  Where Kyle?"  ~Gabriel, age 16 months



The boy loves him some Kyle.

Mr. Chattypants

Here he is: Mr. Chattypants.

Much to our astonishment, our fifth child has been far more verbal, and that far earlier, than his siblings.  At 15 months he can name everyone in our family as well as the typical "hi," "bye," "ball" and such.  He can say "water," "cheese," "crackers" and other food words.  I can't even remember everything he says as I write this.  You'll just have to believe me when I say that never have we had a child speak so much, so early.

I'm pretty sure that this week he has even been using two-word sentences.  I took his brother to a friend's house to play today, and after Gabriel's morning nap we had a near-constant stream of "Where Kyle? Where Kyle?  Where Kyle?"

I have suspected for quite awhile that I had another sanguine on my hands.  The past year has only confirmed that suspicion - and I am thinking this is another evidence of it.    And while sanguines sport many wonderful and enviable personality traits...living with them in my home can be very wearing on this homebody-introvert.

And so...here we go.  This could be a very interesting toddlerhood!

a first for my fifth

My fifth child had a first last week.

Remember this photo?

Well, with the help of a skillful friend, we did something about that.

 He was very stoic.

But before long he was all done!

His very first haircut.  How exciting is that?

Gabe looks so grown-up and handsome!

sad but true

My littlest boy needs his first haircut.

He eats! He sleeps!

Our little boy is growing up.

Just one short month ago, we could find nothing to entice him at dinnertime.  Not at breakfast or lunch either for that matter.  Food off of our own plates?  Not interested.  Banana slices?  No, thanks.  Applesauce on a spoon?  How insulting.  And finger foods were merely an excuse for tactile experimentation.  

Our priority is to avoid feeding him grains until he's quite a bit older and will have an easier time digesting them.  And so, a few weeks ago I offered him a coconut flour pancake.  I'd given him coconut flour pancakes before, but this a different recipe.  An extra egg, a little vanilla mixed in.  To my surprise and utter delight, he loved it!  It was a definite turning point.

Since then we've had hits and misses, but he has definitely become more interested in "people food."  Coconut flour pancakes.  Almond flour cheddar crackers. I'm even letting him chew on some delicious fermented carrot sticks for the probiotic benefits. Life is so markedly different from how things were even three or four weeks ago.  We're all so pleased, and quite excited.  Our doctor had said at his 12-month check-up, to let her know if he still hadn't started eating better by 15 months or so.  It looks like Gabe's chosen age was 13 months. 

And on a related note...

He's finally sleeping better!  I don't know if I've shared here much about it, but Gabriel has been our worst  sleeper to date.  It had been months since he'd slept through the night (although he has done it before), and as of last autumn he was waking up 2 or 3 times each night.  I was pretty weary of it, though one's body does adapt.  Still, between that and the fact that nursing him supplied a good 95% of his daily nourishment...well, there seemed no end in sight.

But just over a week ago, out of the blue, he slept 10 1/2 hours one night.  Then he did it again.  And again.  The fourth night he woke up and cried, but I sent my husband in to cuddle him in my stead.  I'm happy to say that our sweet and spicy Gabriel is now about 11 days night weaned.  If he fusses at night, he gets Mr. Wonderful for a snuggle - and this mama stays in bed.  No more nursing him back to sleep!  We have closed up shop!  And he's doing very well.  I am one ecstatic girl, let me tell ya.

Things are looking up around here, people.  And I am incredibly, indescribably thankful!

a cloud of witnesses

This is what it looks like when number five takes off!

a first birthday

Happy Birthday to my little charmer.  Can you believe it's been a year?!

who's who? tigger edition *ANSWERS*

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for!  The answers to Wednesday's Who's Who? Tigger Edition are as follows:

Top left: Ben
Top right: Kyle
Bottom left: Owen
Bottom right: Gabriel

I think everyone who guessed (both on Facebook and in the comments) got one or two right, but the only one to  correctly identify each of my boys?  Grandma L.  Way to go, Mama!  I'm so proud.

undone

We call him Dr. Destructo, and with good reason.

The other evening I was tidying the play area - a little space close to the kitchen with baby and toddler toys, for the little ones to play nearby while I'm working.  The play area'd had a lot of love recently and things were in pretty serious disarray.   Alone in the house with Gabriel, having a few minutes to spare before I would take him up to bed, I thought to spiff it up.  Give us the gift of a nice neat play space in the morning.

I gathered the play food into their groups.  I sorted the magnetic animals and the ring-stacking cone.  I put the car and tow truck in the Little People garage along with their mechanics.   Gabe was happily beside me, and it took me a few minutes to realize what he was doing.

To my dismay, he was coming along behind me and undoing everything.  Unabashedly, without shame.  The clothes to dress the little princess?  Plucked up one by one and dropped off the shelf.  The magnetic animals?  Dumped on the floor again.  His sister's plastic tea set and the tractor set.  And then he went for the real prize: those child-sized pots and pans.

He'd come through like a tiny tornado and disrupted my attempts at order, completely and utterly.

Some times in life are like that - you're trying to put things in order, and you've nearly got it...and then one thing happens and it's all undone.   Without warning, in an instant.  Erased.  Changed.  Undone.  As though it had never been almost there.

Some people in life are like that.  There are those who sweep in and knock us off balance.  Sometimes in a positive way, sometimes not.  And there are children who are like that too.  They come into our lives like little tidal waves: roaring, confusing us, stretching us.    They challenge all our previous experiences, all we thought we knew of parenting.  They leave us a little shaken...and maybe even a little scared.

Gabriel has been that child for me.

He has been a hard baby for me.  I love him fiercely and completely, but he has been hard.   Considerably more demanding than my other children (with one possible exception), a lot more clingy.  He refuses to sleep through the night with anything like consistency - most nights he's up three times.  He consistently yells over my voice when I read aloud for school.   He is challenging, in more ways than I can express here and now.

And I know, yes, I know, that there are parents in far more difficult circumstances.  I know there are so many babies with health issues and intolerances.  I hope and pray that my words do not sound callous or insensitive.  I do not mean for them to be so.

But in my own life, in my family, in my home, in my circumstances, it's been very much a stretching experience.  He has been a stretching experience.  But it's an experience given specifically to me, and I'm growing through it.

I am finding my footing - and finding myself thankful.  Thankful for this past year, the challenging times as well  as the happy ones.  And there have been very happy times for Gabe and me.  We have a great time together, and I think it's safe to say we're crazy in love with each other.

Still, the truth remains: he rocked my world.

He has changed me forever, and it's good.  He is a blessing, and an instrument that the Lord has used to shape, humble and mold me.  I'm so thankful for my little son, for the place he's taken in our family.  Sometimes coming undone makes me stronger in the end.

Whatever the path, whatever the situation, it can refine me.  God can refine me through it, if I let him.  Even through those crazy twists and turns of this journey of life.

10 things I love about my little boy: Gabe

1)   His killer smile: those dimples!

2)   The way he gets oh-so-much fun out of chasing balls around the house.

3)   His curiosity.

4)   His love of our two cats (though I'm not sure how they feel about it!).

5)   The way he loves me!

6)   His air of mischief.

7)   The way he says "Dada."

8)   His love for all of his big sibs.

9)   The way he rocks his Tigger costume.

10)  How he appreciates the beauty of fresh vegetables, even if he's not all that keen to eat them...

nine

My littlest little turns 9 months this week!  At this milestone, my darling...

...can pull himself up.

...is able to get himself down from a standing position.

...can crawl like the dickens.

...charms people everywhere he goes with his dimply smile.

...loves loves loves to chase cats; he would make it a career if only it paid better.

...is mostly interested in table foods as hands-on, tactile experiences.

...has the loudest tongue-click in the west.

...just cut his second tooth.

...has discovered that he can make a lot of noise with that mouth of his.

...is quite a "chatterbox," and is going to give a certain talkative sibling a run for his money!

the first & the fail

When trying spoon foods for the first time

please try not to hit yourself in the eye with a spoon

because it can really take a toll on a boy's morale

and appetite

\

and generally turn a first into a fail.