J wanted to make sure we wrote down that T calls instructions for building Legos constructions. Anything that is an instruction, he calls constructions.
We went to the Lego store for FHE one day. It was Papa's turn to be in charge of the activity. They have a cup that you can put whatever pieces and amounts you want from a particular wall for a flat rate. Us adults get the whole idea. W and T didn't. They both looked at the wall and W found some fences. She told papa she only wanted four. And four purple colored pieces. T wanted two extra wheels and the axles. Haha! Just goes to show that us adults are glutenous and want more than we need. But not kids! J dumped in a ton of wheels, axles, hitches and eyeball pieces. They went home and W made some bug cars. Only two of them. Because that is all they needed.
T is starting to get really good at drawing. He has put a lot of time into coloring his trolley pictures, making detailed train pictures, or drawing detailed pictures about a story, game, or "play" that they pretend play about. He has one particular picture of a cat in soft, soft grass with a princess that has angry clouds above her blowing wind and lightning. He also made a "Utah " license plate for the "boat". They have been pretending that the trailer is their boat and play on it for hours and hours. He also draws buildings and includes all the necessary vents on the house. The dryer vent, the heater vent, the chimney itself and the food exhaust vent. He is very vent aware.
I made job charts. I have been very very surprised. T is the one that gives me the least amount of grief about doing his part. He seems to be very glad to do his part to help the family. He is also very good at doing his jobs.
Here are some funny things they say.
While playing on the boat, W said "Listen to your speaker!" She was telling T to follow the directions given by the speaker, just like on the ferry. Instructions come over the loud speaker. They also called each other captain and put towels around them to make them look like they have life jackets on like when we went sailing. One of their favorite places to eat snack right now is on the boat.
I have been trying to teach them to use the word mistaken instead of lying. Often when E is confused and learning new terms about how the world works around him, T says E is lying. Like when E calls a semi truck with a label a Costco truck, even though it is some other store. T says he is lying. So I keep saying that E is mistaken, not lying. It is catching on. One morning at breakfast T was saying that E was mistaken about something. E yelled back "I not mistaken! You are mistaken!"
T likes to taunt his siblings by quietly saying a nickname for them over and over. E yelled at T and said "don't call me weath!" It sounds so funny to me to have him verbalize concepts like that.
Every time we drive by the mailbox, E says "look at the beautiful mailbox we made!"
T helped me do the finishing touches for the mailbox. He helped me put on all the address stickers. He also used the power drill a bit to take down the old stand. That was fun for him, even though all he did was push the button. We had fun doing it together.
E sorted all the color buttons to the right color at the playground. He also can easily count to 15.
W is doing well with reading. They can both read simple consonant, vowel, consonant words out of bob books. It has been fun watching it turn on. It still amazes me that skills just turn on. W and T approach reading differently. Whitney sounds it out and then starts memorizing the words she has sounded out over and over. T takes in the whole picture and pages at once. He looks at all of it instead of focusing on a detail, like which letter comes next to sound out. He notices the picture, he notices matching words on the opposite side of the page, etc. Focusing on a single part is not fun for him at all, but he is disciplined enough to sit there while I ask him to complete a task. Crazy!
W has started practicing writing, too. She sounds out words and copies sentences from books, even though she doesn't know what they mean.
She also copied drawing a 3D object the other day.
When we are outside, she likes to make arrangements. She uses leaves, flowers, pinecones, etc to make them. She is pretty good at balancing stuff and getting a pop of color.
She also is often a nurturer. She helps E get in his seat, or teaches him stuff she knows by patiently explaining it to him.
T amazes me on his ability to care for others. Today he changed E's wet diaper, pulled him in the wagon and helped him get on his flip flops. He is really good at being a host to his friends and making sure they are happy. He reminds us to wash our hands and not eat sugar. He is good at taking care of our bodies and others, too.
E told me today. Mom. Thank you for fixing my flip flop. He surprises me with how well he can completely say an awesome thank you
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| Ethanette. He said to me, mom! look at my necklace and made a face that said he knew how cute he looked. I tried over and over to get a good picture of him wearing W's pink plastic princess high heels while playing with his trucks. |
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| The sweet moments of these past couple of weeks is seeing that the boys are finally starting to play with each other. It involves T playing with E, but it is so cute. This is a train. The train has signs on it that say no smoking and no grown ups. The grown ups portrayed have very sad faces. There is also a license plate. Because all trains need license plates. |
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| E admiring the sky |
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| W made a ton of stuff after our road trip. I think she missed her art supplies the most. She made herself her own paper dolls. They look like her. They even have flowing brown hair like her. It amazes me what she thinks up. An T has drawn and colored many good trains since we got back. |
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| T loves pulling the shopping cart. Even if it means he misses out on a ride in a cool cart. He always asks to pull it. |
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| Kitty in the tree |
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| T with his buddy. The love playing construction worker together. W leaves because she doesn't like his friend's rules. T loves them |
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| E isn't quite tall enough to get into trouble. He often finds some toy to stand on to play with the forbidden trains and legos. This time he is standing on his megablocks |
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| "Is this W's wheelchair?: E was wondering before he played with it. E and T invented the wheelchair game. |
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| an arrangement made for me by W. She knows hoto put these together. She also calls them arrangements. She made it for me on a day that we were climbing trees at a park. |
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| T made a license plate for his boat. It was a Utah one because it had a sun on it and everything |
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| The shaw creation W made with packing materials. She made T a cape after that. |
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| Snack time on the ship |
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| T as a turtle |
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| W loves to be with me. I love this pic because it shows each insect with their mommy and a heart to show they are excited |
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| W drew this about a month ago. It amazes me that she can copy something so well. She has reached my capabilities at drawing already |
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| T and Papa bought this for me. T was very excited about it.He can use it well himself, too! |
