I'm Back! Doing at-home preschooling

It's been a long time but now we're in our house, we've had our newest baby girl, Baby B, I have my little home computer all set up and we are back in Alaska and getting past our busy portrait season - whew.

Here's our newest addition...

  
She's been a very good baby girl so far and she's very excited now to be able to crawl and pull herself up to follow her brother and sister wherever they go.

I hope to use these posts to view our preschool progress so I'll be posting various links I find useful for working with my little late-talker who is 4 1/2 now and about a year behind (he's doing much better than last year!).

Right now I'm working along these great prescool calendars I found at Preschool Alphabet. The calendars are on the right column near the bottom and are awesome for learning letters and various sight words. Right now we're skipping around letters and just finding a schedule that is comfortable by trying out different activities at different times to see when is best -- important for someone finicky about his mood and what he wants to do like my son.

Activities When I'm Too Tired Too Play with the Toddlers

I'm 20 weeks pregnant and poor Monica has to wean because the milk is finally gone. She wasn't able to go back to sleep last night for 3 hours. I even drove her around at 5:30am. Anyway, I'm a bit sluggish today and I can tell my poor husband and son are too (we have a family bed so the other members suffered a bit as well).

Monica is like the Jack Russell Terrier of our pack - she needs twice the activity to rest well and wakes up very alert at the slightest disturbance...it's been a far cry from my first who weaned soundlessly and sleeps every night through the night.

Today, I needed to tire out Monica (without upsetting or frustrating her) and I needed some sit-down activities for my tired Elijah. There was no way I was running after Monica to play today (I did for about 3 minutes) and Elijah wasn't in the mood to be outside for very long.

It snowed a little. :) Inspiration.

*** Made "snowflakes" and put them in various pie plates. Elijah liked throwing them from the couch, counting them, and Monica ran through them over and over.

*** Elijah had a wooden spoon. We balanced as many snowflakes as we could on it, counting and laughing when they fell. Then he let Monica hit it as she ran by. Then we grabbed anything we could to balance.

***We turned the wooden spoon, got a toilet paper roll and paper cup and made a "snowman" to balance on the handle. We used expo marker to draw and erase different faces, happy, mad, sad, etc. Monica thought it was hilarious to run around with the head after I made a "pop" noise when she took it.

***Put a little water in the pie plate and let them put in the scrunched snowflakes and watch them expand. Elijah pulled them apart and "pasted" them to an cardboard piece. Monica took them and threw them at an empty box to watch it tip, get wet, and change color.

***Ate "snow" with lunch - rolled up leftover white rice. Some were cold, some were microwaved, just to practice hot and cold. Elijah liked rolling some of them.

***Glued cotton balls and Q-tips to paper. Attached a little toilet paper to Monica and she spun.

***Children's music. Elijah pulled out cards of the things he heard and made the correct animal noises. Monica danced.

***Taped some "snowshoes" onto Monica - she frickin loved it! It was just a big paper foot taped around her foot. I would have done it to the bottom, but I didn't want her to slip. Then she wanted hands, then was entertained by the paper shapes and tape...another story. Elijah and I looked up pictures of arctic animals and native peoples.

It's going to be a rough week. Monica is going through a big change and I expect a lot of fits, tears, and whines. I figure I'll just keep cuddling and loving and kissing. I know she won't go on like this forever.

Love, Amanda and Cubs

Keeping My Baby Entertained...With a Box!

Give 'em a box. I LOVE how entertained babies and toddlers are by a big box. We're moving in less than a month and we have a lot of boxes around - the kids are outta their minds with excitement.

 

Playing Peek-a-Boo

 

 

Surprise!

 

 

Gave her a marker and she LOVED it!

  

Little word of advice - don't sit down thinking you'll quickly check your e-mail - Monica walked outta that box blue-fingered, blue-lipped, and blue-earred! 

Parenting Fail!

Love,

Amanda & Cubs

Pregnant, Baby's Moving & I Am Just Thankful

Sometimes things get in the way of the things we want to do.

Ha-ha I am not talking about my pregnancy!

I took this photo two days ago and I was all pregnant aglow and in a glorious mood and was going to write a beautifully written, inspiring post...but blogger or google or my computer was not responding and now I am not feeling well, cranky, am watching the kids from another room (I gotta get back there - they're annoying everyone back there!) and I am not in the mood I was in two days ago.

Still though, I am thankful for my love of my third pregnancy. I always thought I'd get tired of it or at least wouldn't have the same awe about it, but feeling the baby move the other day was still wondrous and miraculous.

We're so thankful for our babies and their health and we pray that we continue to be so generously blessed.

I am 17 weeks now, due March 19th. We'll be up to 3 March babies!

Love,
Amanda & Cubs

Friday - Elijah will be 3!

My first baby is 3 tomorrow! Wow, time flies! My daughter's 1st birthday was last Saturday so they are sharing a party, which will be tomorrow. Daddy's schedule is pretty crazy (he has a photo shoot before the party and will be editing photos afterward too!)

Elijah was a labor of love - 24 hour long love! It wasn't all painful - my water broke and we all took bets of how much longer it would be. I won with Midnight - six hours before I actually delivered!

One thing my husband and I always say though is that it has felt like he has been here all along - seriously, we don't remember what it was like without him. We're not those people who say we had such fun before our kids - our kids ARE our fun!

So, here is a link to our flickr pics of Elijah and below is the slideshow - enjoy!

Love, Amanda & Cubs

Happy Birthday My 1 Year Old Monica!

Monica's Birthday is tomorrow and I am just elated that she is 1!

I knew Monica was a girl before I was even sure I was pregnant. All I wanted was fruit, yogurt, and cheese...and the cat smell made me nauseous...and I just knew it was a girl!

I have always wanted a daughter...I want it all - the tea sets, the matching outfits, the baking and sharing of chores, the stealing of make-up and clothes, and the mother-daughter talks...

I love Moni-moo-moo and I literally feel like she's been here all along. She fits right in and I can't imagine our life any other way.

I don't know if this is going to work! Here's a link to my flickr set of Monica's First Year! And a slideshow!

Love, Amanda & Cubs

Elijah is Sick

Elijah woke up the night before last with a cough and the sniffles. He started to get a fever before I gave him medicine.

It's so sad when kids are sick. They don't want to play as hard and they are constantly bothered by their stufffy nose or sore throat.

Only mine doesn't complain with words. Since he's not exactly talking yet, all he can do is look at me with his huge brown eyes and point sadly to whatever part is bothering him.

 

He needs so much rest and I get bored without him. He tosses and turns as he sleeps. It's so painful for him...

he has no idea how painful it is for me.

He Got That From YOU!

In the past few weeks, Elijah has picked up how to trick us! He'll do a few funny things everyday, but his favorite is to have Daddy follow along while he signs his letters, then sign the wrong letter to confuse Daddy, and then laugh at him!

 

I just had to share that because how bad is that?! How long do kids do that...?

Progress in Elijah's Speech Delay

Elijah has a speech delay for those of you who were not in the know. He'll be three in less than a month and he says about 20-30 words. So far, I've been able to accomplish with him:

~potty training (that was a research process - maybe some day I'll explain my method - it was genius - I should have it published) and he takes himself to the toilet and calls me
~entire alphabet in sign language (ASL)
~he can say all of the letter sounds and identify them when asked e.g. What makes the fff sound? He points to 'F'
~he signs about 20 other words including milk, gorilla, and airplane
~he traces all the letters and numbers 1-10 with his finger
~he knows the order of the alphabet and can type it on the computer
~he knows that 'big' letters are different from 'little' letters
~he understands a lot of words, probably between 300-500, and can point them out
~he can say each sound of a letter in a word, like p-puh, i-iii, g-guh (just can't put them together)
~he can follow commands without gestures e.g. go put that on the table, go get my water bottle


But what is better than all of that?
The love he shows his sister in wanting to share with her what he has learned...love is all that counts anyway.

Monica's Walking All About

Monica's is 11 months and walking everyday now! She cries when she falls and she can't run yet, as hard as she might try when Elijah is running his "laps" from the kitchen to the bedroom and back again!



I love this little dress that we got over Christmas! She is just my little precious!

Elijah Kneeling in Church

Elijah knelt in church for the first time yesterday. It was a little embarrassing to take the photo since those darn phones make that clicky obviously-a-camera kind of noise, but worth it. He didn't stay there very long after all.

FYI Update

It's 3:05 am. Am I having a major stress-fest? It's just that Coke I had at Midnight. Maybe I should stop doing that, ya think?

Two days ago, Monica took three steps! It was completely adorable and has prompted me to finally go and buy a tape for our camcorder. Why do the days fly by so fast? I wish I could just stop time and hold onto these baby stages a bit longer - they are just so fleeting!

Elijah is still is in his speech delay funk but he put two words together today, which is a good next step. He said, "No Bob!" as in he didn't want to watch Spongebob. I find that they times he comes our with new words is when he is mad or frustrated - why is that?!

Jeremy has been super busy putting together a kick-butt proposal to snag some schools in the Anchorage School District for fall pictures and such. Please pray we get this because it would be a huge boost in our income.

My huge feat was teaching Elijah how to sign his alphabet. He learned mostly by watching YouTube videos. There are some nice ones out there. We browsed through YouTube for awhile watching old Sesame Street videos and this one was soooo adorable I had to share! Made us laugh every time!

Click here!

Opening Presents Christmas Pictures

Christmas dinner and the opening of presents - Elijah scored some gift cards, a play table, a chalk/marker board, clothes and shoes, and bath toys. Monica got clothes, stacking blocks, a musical alligator and bath toys. Christmas 2009 definitely got an A+!

Elijah's Morning 'Do

I love Elijah's sweet morning look. He hardly ever wakes up cranky and I am very thankful for that! This morning his hair was all over the place and it stayed like that even when he stood up.

Christmas Shopping

Christmas shopping with the kids was a blast. We visited several stores in a few hours and the kids only had to stay in the car for the last one - they were passed out. Early and long naps and a lot of snacks and juice helped immensely! They were pretty entertained by all the things we were putting in the cart too though. Of course anything non-edible or fun like socks and shoes got thrown right out of the cart!

Monica's Baby Swing

Monica likes, not loves, her baby swing. Eh, what are you going to do. She recently gave up one of her naps too, which really is worse for me than it is for her. She's having fun, and that's the important thing.

My Sister's Cub

My sister is Rosanna and lives in freezing cold Fairbanks, AK. She gets mad at me because I refuse to go where it is regularly -2oF and at its coldest -60F. This is her first time meeting Monica, who was skiddish but eventually came around.


Leanna is my 7 year old neice whom I love! She was very sweet and helpful. I loved brushing her long, thick, black hair. Elijah gave her a kiss as soon as she came in. Here we are going into the 5th Avenue Mall for a little shopping.

Monica the Scavenger

Sometimes Elijah shares what he should not...either that or Monica just is picking up his leftovers.

At our studio it gets crazy. I think they pick up our weakness and take advantage by doing what they know they should not.

Happy Thanksgiving from Our Little Indian!!!

I made a craft with Elijah but he decided he was not going to wear it! Monica likes to wear hats and things and must know how cute she is because she's all smiles when they're on!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Slowday Sunday

We take Sundays off to rest after a long week and go to church. At the studio we took pics of Elijah just for fun. I love his smile!