Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Latest NEWs

NEW for Benjamin:
--Sunday School Class. He now goes to class in a room with a table and little blue chairs which he can sit in and play with big boy toys like the "Little People" Noah's Ark. In his new class they teach a lesson and he does crafts. Sunday he brought home his first, a dessert-size paper plate with odd-shaped red and green paper glued to the surface. The sticker affixed to the top read, "God cares for me when I'm eating."
--Attitude of Helpfulness. Benjamin has really grasped and embraced the concept of helping lately. He has helped "sweep" the kitchen floor for awhile now--he stands in the middle of the room and waves his whisk broom around, occasionally coming into contact with a chair or cupboard door--but he now also helps hold the dust pan and empties it into the trash can. He also helps put away his own pj's, sort laundry, carry his plate and cup to the sink, put the dishes away after they are dry, pick up his toys and books, and other small tasks. In the context of teaching your children and managing daily household tasks, I recently read, "Never work alone." Benjamin seems to be taking to this philosophy quite nicely.
--Words. ("Eees"=Please; "Tuck"=Stuck; "Bi"=Bib; "Dai"=Daddy)
--Letters/Sounds. Benjamin now knows 3 letters by sight. If you show him a "p" he will say "p-p-p." He also knows "k" and "t." The other day, on two different occasions, he pointed out a "t" (in a book and on a toy) and said "t-t-t." So he is starting to recognize that letters aren't just on flashcards, they are everywhere! He loves reviewing his flashcards. When we get to the end of the 9 sounds he knows he usually says, "more?, more?, more?"

NEW for Talia:
--Consonant sounds. Miss Talia is quite a talker. She loves to babble happily face-to-face. "Ya, ya, ya, ya. Da, da, da. Na, na, aaaaaaaaa!"
--Feet. At least they are new to her. Unfortunately they are usually only accessible to her at diaper-changing time since the bulk of cloth diapers often limits her ability to bring them up far enough to grasp.
--Rolls. As in rolls of baby chub. Her little wrists and ankles are just creases where her fat little hands and feet join with her fat little arms and legs. And the dimples that are her elbows and knees are so sweet!
--Obsession with chewing. I would say at least 90% of Talia's awake time is spend gnawing on whatever she can get her hands on. And if there's nothing within her grasp she'll just go ahead and mouth her hands. For the amount of time she spends gumming our belongings, her clothes generally stay remarkably dry.

This should give you an idea of what life looks like at our house these days. I probably say this way too much, but being Mama to these sweet kiddos is so much fun! Motherhood is definitely a life of abundant blessing.

2 comments:

DellaRose said...

how delicious to have an eager learner and especially one with the desire to "help"

Becky Frame said...

While I was reading this post, Jonathan walked over, pointed to Talia, and said, "Who's dat, Mom?" I said, "That's my friend's baby." He studied the picture a second longer, then said, "I like dat kind a baby."

I do too. :-)