The crud continues! Two oldest kids now have ear infections and baby is hacking away and would probably suffocate if I didn't attack him with the blue snot sucker every hour or so. Thank goodness for our sling - I can't set him down or he has even more trouble breathing, at least with our I have a hand free. Even so, Joss has made some major strides with her arithmetic facts, due to this little plastic machine my mom gave her, which has all the 1-10 addition facts on it and you can push a button to check the answer. She has also been exploring other ways to add (using number chart, beads, fingers). We have also been spending more time reading since Z is sick enough to sit still for it! We have been practicing all the sight words we've learned as well as sounding out all the CVC words as we read together. It is a neat thing about homeschooling that I always know exactly where Joss is on a particular skill and what her latest thing is. I know I would try to stay on top of those things if she went to PS, but I wouldn't have such an intimate understanding of exactly which words are hard for her and which ones she is good at. And I LOVE watching her progress and sharing her excitement over each small victory (she finally figured out THE - it stumped her for quite a while) I also really like how knowing I am fully responsible for my kids education has caused me to be a better parent. I am much more inclined to find answers for most of their questions than I used to be - I can't say I can answer all of them, but I really try, since I know I can't tell them "you'll learn that in school!" I think that is why Jossy is continuing to progress in math and reading, despite the fact that we have not touched our curriculum for 8 school days now.
As for Zeff, he is so much more pleasant and cooperative day by day. We had fallen into a very authoritarianish, punitive type discipline pattern as I found his behavior very appalling and had been trying to really hammer it into his head the need to "Play NICE". "Touch GENTLE" etc. However I observed how a good friend interacts with her two year old son, and started trying to approach Zeff with more of an attachment-parenting style (I also read Dr. Sears "The Baby Book" and "The Discipline Book") It may also be due to his maturing, but we are getting along so much better, and his hitting and unkind behavior have really been decreasing. I learned that he is actually a very sensitive little guy under his tough exterior and responds so much better to a sympathetic approach, when he is having a hard time behaving.
Okay, I know that none of those are earth-shattering realizations, but I had really gotten into the tough power struggle dynamic with him and it took being inspired by a friend who also has a boy of a similar age to examine my style and realize what about it wasn't working.
I had actually set out to say what Zeff's latest favorite activity is: Let's just say give this kid an ice cream bucket, turkey baster, wire whisk, a little food coloring, dish soap and warm water - then throw a big bath towel down on the kitchen floor and let him loose. He can stay busy with this for a good half hour at a time!! A large cardboard box and some "babies" can also be good for a good long while (Daddy taking them on errands to the library, the bank, the grocery store, etc).
And the baby, well he is just such a joy! Despite the fact that he must be feeling cruddy he is smilier every day and I am guessing while give us his first laugh any day as he is very ticklish. Even with his being so sick, he still sleeps through the night and I just have to thank God for him every day because he is such a blessing! Is it just me or are kids like peanuts? You always think just one more, just one more. This kid makes me want another for sure, but we'll have to see what daddy thinks in a few years :)! Some people also seem to think I should want a larger house or something - I happen to think we fit pretty nicely in our 700 sq foot, two (tiny) bedroom house. I suppose I do want a boy room and a girl room someday - so we may remodel our attic, but I feel like alot of people are spending less time home with their families in larger and larger houses and I would rather have our family be the reverse of that trend. Sure we could make alot more money if we worked more, and we could afford more "stuff", and a bigger house but at what price? I get to let my son slop water all over the kitchen every day, spend hours reading stories with my budding reader, and play with my baby all day long. I really don't think I could like a big house in the suburbs as much as I like my life working a couple evenings a week and spending every single day with my sweet kids.
Speaking of sweet kids, they are clamoring for me, so that's it for today.