What They're Up To

I hope you'll indulge me, as I feel I need to take a moment to think about my brood and celebrate some of the growth that has happened these past few months.  I find that our days get so busy, and we get so "in the flow" that I forget to stop and celebrate the growth.  Yes, it's just normal growth, but it's life!  And it should be celebrated.  :)

 Hen.  Hen is going to be two soon.  Hard to believe, but true.  I snapped this photo of him today.  He LOVES the wooden train set.  In honor of his birthday, and perhaps also so that we could be a little more productive with other projects while Hen is busy, we moved the train table back into our main living area.  He was thrilled.  The boys think his birthday cake should be a train, and I am trying to wrap my creativity around that idea.  I guess we'll see what I can come up with.

 Hen and Owl are learning to be brothers.  They seem to be at a stage that they either adore one another or abhor one another and I feel like I can not leave them alone for a second for fear of someone getting hurt.  It can be a challenge, but I'm so glad that there is passion between them and I am hopeful that they will work through this and be the best of friends.  Owl loves being a big brother, so long as Hen doesn't take something that is his.  LOL.

 Owl is learning how to read.  He mostly likes to memorize things, but is starting to understand the sounds and even some words.  He loves the idea of knowing how to read and "reads" me books before naptime.  It's adorable.  He's adorable.  For the most part, he spends his days being quietly busy.  He is active and talkative and will sit and work on a project for a good long time.  He also loves to run and often can be found running from the front to the back of the house, saying, "Mama look how fast I can run!"  :)

 Cricket.  Cricket is growing up so fast.  The change between six and seven is huge.  He is more dependable.  More self aware.  More capable.  He's still the same goofy, happy child, but he is more thoughtful about other's feelings now.  He is learning some self control in a few areas that have been hard for him.   He's thriving at homeschool co-op, and is glad that he recently auditioned for a singing solo in the musical and got one!  Whoo hoo!

And Badger.  Badger also will be singing a solo in the musical.  He has memorized every song already and is figuring out how to read music.  He is learning to be a kind and patient brother, and is often helping me with Hen.  (Hen's favorite lap is Badger's) Another really huge thing for him, is that he is starting to understand the responsibility he has for his own learning.  I think because he started reading so early, he became used to me "feeding" his brain for him, since I had to preread many things before giving them to him.  I also have had to "feed" his brain to keep him from getting bored and cranky.  Now, he is learning about his own need in this area, and is willing to put some work into his "learning time".   He's starting to understand that in order to learn some things he's really interested in, he'll have to learn certain less desirable things first, and he is willing to put some effort into these kinds of things.  I feel so proud of him about this, because I don't think I figured this out until, well, yesterday.