Finding Our Groove

We are finding our groove again. 

Jackson is preferring a schedule, so I am learning how to keep one. He wakes up about 7am, then naps 2.5 hours later. He naps again around 2pm, unless there is a car ride before then. He goes back to bed at 7pm. He feeds at 12am & 5am. As for growth, he dropped in percentile, again. His nurse has decided not to be concerned. He has great color (skin), he is active, social (very social), meeting mile stones, etc. She just asked us to offer 3 meals a day and snacks, via solids (on top of nursing). He prefers real food, but will eat some baby food. For breakfast, we share a bowel of oatmeal together, if his brothers are eating something he can enjoy (an orange or banana), he gets his own to eat and play with, etc. At dinner, he's eating shredded meats (something I put off as long as I could before). He loves the world of food! This is a picture of him watching Alex with his new game. The light rushes from one side to the other. You have to squeeze the ends together when the light is in the middle. Jackson loves to watch the lights flash by, and the boys love the competition.

 Rilie is enjoying boxes. The last 6 weeks has been full of new things. He is learning how to get undressed and eat at the table. Lately, he loves oranges! He is singing songs; Jingle Bells is his favorite. (Still working on catching that on video). He enjoys soothing Jackson: He will find him fussing, get on Jackson's level, pat his head, and shush him. It's really cute. He is beginning to color with crayons, rather than eat them. He is talking much more. His hearing exam was last week. They weren't able to complete it. Her informal diagnosis: he can hear speech just fine. She wanted us to come back and check on tones though. He missed a lot, but there were some distractions going on. People seem annoyed when I bring all my kids to appointments... you try finding someone to watch four kids at 8am!

Alex is enjoying life... in general. I love his enthusiasm to run off and get lost in his own games! He enjoys all the breaks he gets from a mommy seeking balanced: "Time for math! Wait, I need to feed Jackson.", "Time for reading! Wait, Rilie has a poopy diaper", "Let's finish history! Wait, it's lunch time and I need to do the dishes first.". By the end of the day, we do complete all our assignments. He just expects these breaks. Before I finish my sentence, he is already off and running onto something else (usually Legos). He loves being read to. This week, we finished Treasure Island (adapted for young readers). He loved learning all the pirate phrases and he added the Jolly Roger to his viking boat for history. It has snowed a lot, and he has reminded me about their need to be outside. He has built several snowmen and an igloo. We started the igloo at a park, then we had to pick up dad from work. They asked to go back and finish. Dad thought it was a great idea. Nick has pictures of it on his phone. Hopefully, I can transfer them on to here. 

One of his Lego projects. He took the picture too.

Alvin loves reading. We are very proud of him! He still isn't at grade level, but he is reading at HIS level fluidly! There is an amusement park up north, Silverwood. They give free tickets to students who read 10 hours between now and March 15. School assignments do not count, it has to be "reading for fun". My nightly readings do count though. Last night, we started the Chronicles of Narnia (Christmas presents from Grandma & Grandpa Anderson). Afterwards, we marked our sheets. I encouraged the boys to take books to bed, so they can read (instead of just looking at the pictures). It was their choice, but I could mark it on their sheet if they were actually reading. I checked on them every 15 minutes. Alvin read OUT LOUD for 45 minutes. He enjoys the Frog & Toad series. In Cub Scouts, he has earned 3 beads. He's on his way to earning his Wolf badge by Blue and Gold. 

Alvin's snowman. He took the picture too.