The "BOOGY MONSTER"!!

YIKES! I haven't blogged in awhile and things have changed on blogger. It's going to take me a bit to get used to it. I have a bunch more pictures and topics to blog about, but my time is really limited having 3 little ones at home (one of them being an infant who is still nursing). One of the topics I'd love to blog more about is the "schooling" we're doing at home. It's not officially homeschooling at this point, but it's been fun to do some structured things with the boys. This week the book we were reading was "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans. It just so happened that on Thursday we were scheduled to talk about health (in the story Madeline gets her appendix taken out) and Micah also came down with a bad cold. It was a great opportunity to talk about hygiene as cold and flu season is just around the corner. Here is the visual lesson we did on spreading germs. The original lesson plan used cooking spray and glitter, but I didn't have glitter and I wasn't able to get out to buy it seeing as I had a crabby and sick child at home. So, I borrowed some green washable finger paint from my neighbor and I think it worked just the same. I put some clean objects on a tray.

Then I put GERMS (green finger paint) all over Jackson's hands. I figured Micah already had germs on his that he could keep for himself.

I had Micah leave the room and had Jackson touch several of the items. Micah then came back in and had to tell me which items had germs on them. I then asked Micah to pick up one of the objects with "germs" on it. He refused. (Perhaps that means he grasped the lesson a little). I picked up one of the objects to show how the germs then got on my hands.

We read a couple of books: "Germs Are Not For Sharing" by Elizabeth Verdick. There were a couple of other books on health that I found at our local library as well. We've also checked out this great book in the past: "Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo" by E.S. Redmond We colored signs to hang in the bathroom. The first one tells when to wash your hands and the other one tells you how to wash them.

Then later this week I found a project on Pinterst that we like to call "Boogy Monster Boxes" basically it's a discard box for used tissues with "boogies" in them. The boys had a blast, but ended up just wanting to play with the box instead of using it for it's intended purpose. Oh well.

Micah demonstrated how to use it once and then just played with it. :)

If only you could hear him saying "I LOVE BOOGIES!!!" in his monster voice.

Well ... gotta go feed the kiddos lunch and attend to my sick little baby. I'm hoping when they're all healthy again I'll have a few minutes to post some of the other fun things we've been up to lately.

Motion Sickness

Colin had it when he was a boy and I still have it and it seems like the day Jackson turned 3 years old he inherited it too. MOTION SICKNESS! Here are a few things that have worked for us when it comes to motion sickness in the car:

1. Always keep a large cup in the car. It's even better if it has a lid just in case you have no place to stop and rinse it out once it's been "used."

2. Cover the window adjacent to the child's seat with a thick blanket to block out any motion in their peripheral. We've found that by putting Jackson behind the driver's seat we can tuck the blanket in such a way that the driver can still see out of his blind spot.

3. Just recently we got Jackson a Leapster2 to play while we travel and bought kid friendly ear phones like the ones pictured here to go with them and that seems to have made a HUGE difference. I'm not exactly sure why, but it did.

4. I always keep a pack of gum and a few extra munchies in my purse when we travel. I know a full tummy helps my motion sickness, so I figured it'd help him too.

5. Now that Jackson is old enough he can tell us when he is starting to feel motion sickness and we can tell him to close his eyes until he feels better. Colin will also crack the windows for a few minutes for fresh air and that seems to help too. We've avoided having to use "the cup" several times this way.

Those are the things that have worked for us. I'd love to hear solutions from others whose kids struggle with motion sickness.

My First Dentist Appointment by Jackson

So first we went in. And then we played with toys. There were Duplos and there were stuffed animals (a giraffe, a polar bear, a panda bear) and there were more, but I don't remember them.

Then the waitress said, "Colin it's your turn." And then we went into the room where there were chairs and tools. There was a big chair and there was a small chair (like a rocking chair) and I sat in it and then I rocked. Then I read books while Daddy climbed up in the chair and then they started fixing his teeth.

Later Daddy put on an apron (a really heavy apron) and then ... um... cuz they wanted to take a picture of his teeth. The picture looked like a big picture with five pictures on it and it was turquoise color.

Then Daddy got out of the chair and then it was my turn.

I sat in the chair and then they looked at my teeth and they had a hook and mirror. They kinda got in between my teeth and then they counted my top teeth (there were ten). Then they counted my bottom teeth and I had ten teeth down there. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, TWENTY!

Then when I was all done I got to ride up and down on the chair. After that she showed me "Mr. Thirsty." He's a tool that sucks up water. They put it in a cup with water and he drank up all the water. Then I drank a cup of water and spit out in the sink. Then Pat (the dental hygienist) gave me a toothbrush and some toothpaste and some floss and some other floss... two toothpastes and a pencil. Then I said, "goodbye."

Then Daddy talked to a lady and I got a sticker to put on our calendar to remember when we would come back.

THE END

School

Why is this such a difficult and confusing decision for me? I guess it's a sign that I'm taking it seriously and wanting to make the right choice for my children ... right?

Anyway, Colin and I have talked about school a lot more this year than we ever have because Jackson has definitely begun to show interest in more structured learning and because we have several friends whose kids are starting school and/or making decisions about home school, public school or private school. We still haven't made an official decision and I realize that the decision might change a million times even after we think we've made it.

I feel like part of my lack of decision making is because we don't REALLY know where we'll be living when Jackson hits school age. Which, by the way, Colin and I do agree that we'd like to start Jackson in Kindergarten when he's six ... at least we've made that a final decision. Where we are will make a difference (in my mind) of how we decide to school.

Colin and I still have a lot to talk about as far as what kind of educational experience we want for our children and how socialization fits into that as well. We need to answer big lofty questions like: what do we want our children to get out of school?

Whatever we decide for our children's future education I'm also trying to live in the present and presently Jackson is HUNGRY for learning. So, we decided to start a curriculum called "Five in a Row."

"Five in A Row" is a literature based curriculum that takes one piece of children's literature per week and extracts different subjects each day.

For example, the first book we read was "The Story About Ping" by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese.

Our "school" time (which lasts about a half hour to an hour) Monday - Friday starts by reading the story of the week (I LOVE the idea of redundancy in teaching)and then we move on to a subject that is brought out in the story.

On Monday we studied Math and counted all the ducks in the book and practiced reading larger numbers.
Tuesday we studied Art and learned about different mediums and mixed primary colors to make secondary colors (I helped him draw the duck by the way, but he colored it).

Wednesday we studied Social Studies and talked about natural consequences and family relationships.
Thursday we studied Science and learned about buoyancy.


Friday we studied Geography and took a trip to China on YouTube.

You get the idea. It's been really fun for me and for Jackson and he begs to do "school" and will only call me "teacher" when we are. We've been doing "school" now since the middle of November.

The break we had with Thanksgiving and Christmas allowed me to see if Jackson was really interested in school or if it was just a phase ... he really does love to learn (surprise, surprise ... Colin and I are BOTH learners).

"Five in A Row" is really flexible and I really feel like it'll grow with Jackson until he's in the upper elementary school ages.

The only qualm I have with the curriculum is that the books can be hard to find in the library (at least our library) and I end up having to do inter-library-loans more often than I want to and our library doesn't have a smooth system for that. I recently went online and found a great website www.betterworldbooks.com and found most of the books on the book list for an average of $7.00, except the rare few that are out of print and are running for about $300.00 (I'll just skip those), but let me note that the proceeds go towards world literacy.

We're going to keep plugging away at "Five In A Row," but I'm going to remain flexible knowing that Jackson is only 3 1/2 years old. I'm excited about his love of learning! All the more reason to continue to keep prayerfully considering our education options for the future.

"It's a Hard Knock Life"

Jackson has started participating in chores around the house. He doesn't get compensated for doing them, it's just part of being in our family.

Everyday he makes his own bed and helps clear the table after supper.


He's also helped dust the living room shelves and vaccum the kitchen floor, but I don't expect him to do those regularly ... not yet anyway. ;)

Jackson prides himself in "becoming more of a man."

Exercise for Toddlers

It seems like when Jackson turned three something happened. Mysteriously my content-sitting-and-reading-books-child became my spontaneous-bursts-of-energy-running-around-the-house-like-crazy-child.

We are pretty good at taking regular walks, but Jackson was needing more than that in order to get out his excess energy. It's been hard to get him outside to exercise when Micah is still taking two 2 hour naps during the day and I don't have a fenced in backyard to let him run around in. As I mentioned in a previous blog our neighbors were gracious enough to let us use their trampoline. That has really done the trick and here's how I get him to jump on it.

Every morning at around 9:30am (when I'm putting Micah down for his morning nap) I put the trampoline in front of our computer and let Jackson watch playlists on sesamestreet.org. It's really cool! You can pick a character, theme, subject and videos and/or games.

Each playlist has about eight games and/or videos and runs for about 20 minutes (although I've never timed it). I usually let Jackson pick which character(s) he wants and I select sports/physical activities for the theme and do only videos. I figure that way he'll at least get some videos that encourage him to be physically active.

The deal is that he needs to jump on the trampoline for every other video and rest on the alternate videos otherwise I turn it off and he can go play with toys (I don't want it to become an opportunity for him to veg out in front of the computer all morning).

There's also a playsafe feature which prevents Jackson from being able to navigate away from his playlist and from accidentally deleting anything on our computer. It's just a quick download and really easy to use.

Jackson loves his new workout routine and we can definitely tell during nap time and night time when he hasn't had his exercise for the day. Not to mention the fact that he's also getting really good at jumping which is fun. We still get out for walks (and runs), but it's nice to know I have a back up plan on those days when we just can't seem to make it out the door.

WARNING: A Sensative Topic

According to the given statistics in the United States of America, one out of every four girls, and one out of every six boys will be sexually abused before they turn eighteen years of age.

SCARY!!! Considering those staggering numbers I would dare to say that most Americans are affected in one way or another by sexual abuse, not excluding myself.

My mom taught me about sexual abuse prevention at a very early age and I can recall at least two specific instances in my life that if I didn't have that knowledge I may have fallen prey to sexual abuse.

Now that Jackson is becoming more independent I've found this topic popping up in my mind over and over again. How early is too early to teach sexual abuse prevention? I don't want to steal my children's innocence, but I don't want to avoid the issue and have them unprepared if ... I can't even write it.

CAVEAT:
Please don't hear what I'm NOT saying:
I'm NOT saying that it's my job to be over protective as a parent or that if I don't teach my child about sexual abuse prevention that it's my fault if they are.
I'm also NOT saying that my children will be immune to sexual abuse if I do teach them about sexual abuse prevention.
I know that God is sovereign and the BEST thing I can do for my children is place their physical, emotional and spiritual well being in the hands of GOD. However, I do know that God can use me to help my children, but I guess I'm wrestling with exactly what that looks like.

So, I'm writing this very touchy blog looking for advice and to document what I've done in this area of parenting.

So far, Jackson and I have discussed that his private parts are just that PRIVATE.

We've also talked about the importance of being obedient to God versus an adult or even Mommy or Daddy. So, if Mommy asks Jackson to do something that is disobedient to God like steal, lie, cheat or touch his private parts, it's OKAY and right for him to say "NO."

We've also talked about how it's important NOT to keep secrets that promote sin or hurt other people emotionally and physically.

We've also discussed that if someone MAKES him do something that is disobedient that it is NOT his fault. For example, if Mommy says that she would hurt him if he told the truth to Daddy about something she did wrong, that's MOMMY'S SIN, not Jackson's.

I've really tried to keep it simple, but it's so hard with such a complex topic. I don't want to talk about it SO much that I start planting ideas in my sons' heads, but at the same time I want them to know that they can come talk to me about ANYTHING!

My plan for right now is to talk about it as the topic arises and may once in awhile get age appropriate books from the library on the topic. I'm thinking of getting "The Right Touch" by Sandy Kleven. Anyone read it? Do you have any other books or resources you recommend?

What about you? What are your thoughts about sexual abuse prevention? Do you have any advice?

I plan on blogging more on this topic as it comes up in our lives, but I look forward to hearing about how you are handling and wrestling with this difficult issue and gleaning insight and advice from what you share.

8 Months Old and 3 Years Old

In order to organize my thoughts about these ages, I thought I'd write out a typical day in the life of my eight month old and three year old.

7:30am - If Micah's not already awake (which he usually is), I wake him up to feed him before Jackson wakes up because once Jackson is awake and vying for my attention Micah has lost all interest in nursing regardless of how hungry he really is. Micah nurses pretty fast now. Even in the morning when I'm pretty full he can drink everything in about 10 - 15 minutes and only needs to burp at the end of the feeding.

7:45am - I can hear the pitter-patter of Jackson's little feet as he comes running out of his room ready to start the day. He goes potty (usually he'll go all by himself, but still needs help putting his clothes back on when he's done) and I change Micah and we all head downstairs for breakfast. Of course there's usually some time to cuddle a little or read a quick book or play cars for a few minutes.

8:00am - Our breakfasts usually consist of scrambled eggs or oatmeal with some sort of fruit and a glass of milk. Micah is taking a mixture of pureed fruit (he's had applesauce, apricots and blueberries so far) and oatmeal cereal (rice tends to stop him up)about 3/4 of a tea cup full.

8:30ish - Micah plays in his saucer until he gets bored and we've picked up the toys he's dropped for the millionth time and then he rolls around on the floor. (I haven't baby proofed yet, but that time is coming VERY quickly. Luckily Jackson has been very good about keeping the big kid toys out of Micah's reach.) Jackson usually wants me to play cars with him. He sometimes drives them around on the couch or floor or makes them fly around the house, but most of the time he just wants them to talk to each other. He has quite the collection of hotwheels and pixar cars, most of which he paid for with his own money (he's now getting $3.00 a week for allowance... plus he got a bunch of birthday money).

9:30am - Micah goes down for a nap. I love how he snuggles up to me right before I lay him in bed. He's no longer taking a pacifier and whenever I give him one he treats it more like a toy than an object to sooth himself with (I can sometimes here him clanging his pacifier on his crib like a jail bird with a tin cup ... it's pretty funny). Jackson and I usually have some play time together during Micah's nap. We pull out the toys that are not safe to play with when Micah's awake like Legos and Play Doh. Some days Jackson will play by himself while I get things done, or he'll play on the computer while I take a shower. More and more Jackson wants me to play with him though and is very disappointed when I tell him I've got other responsibilities to take care of before I can play. It'll be nice when the boys can play together ... I hope.

11:30am - Micah wakes up and I nurse him. I'll usually let Jackson watch a video while I do this feeding because otherwise he's in and out of the room a lot and Micah gets too distracted. Micah LOVES Jackson and is mesmerized by him whenever he's around. Right now Jackson's favorite DVDs are "Thomas the Tank Engine" "Curious George" episodes and "Mickey Mouse and Friends." They have several short episodes on each of them (perfect for his attention span) and no "scary parts" as Jackson would say.

12:00pm - We all eat lunch. Jackson will eat just about anything. I try to serve him a variety of foods. He likes all of the regular things like hot dogs, peanut butter and jelly and chicken nuggets, but he also eats salmon, black beans, avocado, asparagus, etc. Micah usually has about 1 tea cup full of a mixture of pureed meat (so far he's just had chicken), a starch (like sweet potatoes) and a vegetable. Sometimes I'll mix in a fruit, but sometimes I'll serve the fruit in a different tea cup depending on what I'm mixing.

12:30ish - We finish lunch and play for awhile and then head upstairs to read books and get ready for naps (change diapers and go potty). If we do have the car for the day this is usually the best time for us to go to the library or store (I'll even pack a lunch for Jackson sometimes and take it with us).

1:30pm - Both boys are in bed and I get some time to blog, facebook, read, make phone calls, sleep, etc.

3:15ish - Micah talks to himself for awhile in his crib. Sometimes he'll go back to sleep and other times he'll stay awake until his next feeding.

3:30pm - Micah nurses and we have one on one time. He's figured out how to roll to where he wants to go, but he hasn't figured out how to creep yet.
He's getting there and he gets frustrated when he doesn't get or can't get what he wants. He's also starting to get frustrated when I take something away from him that he wants (particularly books).

4:00pm - Jackson wakes up groggy from his nap. He LOVES to cuddle after his nap and is usually pretty sweaty from sleeping so hard. This is probably one of my favorite times of the day. Then we all head downstairs and have a snack (all except Micah). Then we may go for a quick walk.

5:00pm - The past couple of days Jackson has befriended the girl next door. She'll be 5 in September, but they play very well together. Jackson has played at her house once and she has come over to our house a couple of times. This is the first friend that Jackson has had that I WASN'T good friends with the mom first. It was kind of weird, but a good reminder that I should be expecting that in the near future when he becomes school aged. Anyway, it's been a nice break to not feel like I have to entertain Jackson until Colin gets home. Jackson's been getting good at putting on a pouty face and saying, "but you said you would play with me Mom." Oooo ... it gets me every time. Micah's usually content enough to play by himself at this time and I can start working on supper.

6:00pm - Colin comes home and we all have supper. Micah eats with us in a high chair. I was feeding him in the Bumbo up until this week when he was insistent on bending over backwards (literally) to watch the TV (whether it was on or not) and it was very difficult to feed him that way. At the end of supper Colin and Jackson usually work on catechism or Bible memory work.

6:30pm - Micah starts getting a little fussy as bedtime approaches. He doesn't take a third nap, but he's definitely ready for bed when bedtime comes. However, he's been getting better during this time more and more every day. Jackson and Colin usually play outside while I clean up supper.

7:00pm - We get ready for bed. If they take a bath it's during this time.
After we're ready for bed we read books or play until Jackson's night light comes on at 7:30pm. Then Colin reads the Bible story. We try and get Micah to stay all the way through the Bible story, but sometimes he's just too fussy and I nurse him and put him to sleep in his own room while Colin and Jackson have one on one time.

8:00pm - Colin's already said good night to Jackson and I get some one on one time with Jackson in his room before bed. We usually talk about the day or talk about "Dis-a-neyland" (yes, Jackson STILL talks about it almost every night). I sing him one song, pray with him and say good night.

To end, here are a few of Micah and Jackson's favorite and least favorite things:

Micah's Favorite Things:

His brother.
Rolling, rolling and more rolling.
Experimenting with the sounds he can make with his mouth.
Putting anything and everything in his mouth.
Sucking on the collar of his sleep sack and or rubbing the collar on his cheek.
Playing tug of war with any fabric hanging above his head (it makes him giggle).
Going for walks in the stroller or in the wrap.

Banging, banging and more banging.

Micah's Least Favorite Things:

Vacuums
Blenders
Coffee grinders
When his brother cries.
Strangers (although he's getting much better)
Bottles

Jackson's Favorite Things:

His brother (making him laugh).
Cars, cars and cars!!
Books
Puzzles (he's mastered his 25 piece puzzles)
Legos

His Cool School computer game.
Trains (particularly Thomas although we have Geotrax toy trains).
Watching movies.
Playing outside (he pretends the lamp posts are rockets and launches to outer space)

Jackson's Least Favorite Things:

Having to stop playing to go to the bathroom.
Mr. Incredibles boss (the short guy) in the the movie "The Incredibles"
When Sully "roars" in "Monster's Inc."
Playing cars by himself.
Being stuck in a car or airplane for too long.
Getting his hair cut (although he's getting better).
Bees (but he's not at all afraid of spiders)

It's an adventure every day with my boys ... some might thinks it's kind of a boring adventure at times, but I like it ... no ... I LOVE it!

Photo Fun

I retook some pictures of my haircut so that you could get a better idea of what it looks like. I think the natural lighting makes all the difference. I also took a few fun pictures with the boys. Micah is EIGHT months old today... CRAZY!

3 Year Check Up

Jackson had his three year check up today. I'm SO grateful to have a wonderful pediatrician. This time last year I took Jackson to a pediatrician in Santa Maria and it was a night and day difference.

I remember thinking to myself at last year's check up, "Aren't they going to ask him some questions? Don't they want to know how much he can say? Don't they want to know if he's potty trained or not? Or if he's sleeping well at night and during the day?" I don't think the pediatrician even talked to Jackson once and neither did the staff or the nurses.

This year was totally different. The nurses and pediatrician talked to Jackson more than they talked to me. I LOVED it! Both of the boys have mild colds right now, so the doctor even checked Micah's ears for an infection. After the check up was done I was rescheduling an appointment for Micah and Dr. Macias and Jackson were just hanging out for a little while. I think Jackson would have followed the doctor to all of his appointments if he let him.

Anyway, I wanted to make a note about the details of Jackson's check up, here are some stats:

Weight: 33.6 lbs (75%)
Height: 36 1/4" (50%)
BP: 82/54 (This was the first time he's had his BP taken and he did very well.)
No shots this time (YAY!).

Dr. Macias told us that 95% of 3 year olds can count from 1-3, can recognize one color and recognize a circle. He was impressed that during the appointment Jackson could count from 1 -12, recognized at least 5 different colors, recognized 6 different shapes, 3 different letters and can draw a circle on a piece of paper. Jackson spelled his name out loud for him too. Dr. Macias is anticipating that Jackson will be an early reader considering the fact that he already knows all of his letters and he has a good grasp on phonics.

As far as his physical skills Jackson is normal. He can jump, throw and kick a ball. He hasn't gotten pedaling down yet, but that's normal for a 3 year old.

I write all of this not to brag about my oldest child (although I am very proud of him), but it will serve as a reminder of what my expectations should be of Micah at this age. There will always be a danger in comparing my children.

I pray that God will give me the ability to always see them as two different individuals. I'm amazed at how God is growing Jackson into who he is and I'm anxious to see who Micah will become. Although (for simplicity's sake) it'd be nice if they were cookie cutter children ... nah ... how boring would THAT be?