Papa's Visit

Patience, Patterns and Performances

1.) Avery's preschool work.

2.) Our character jar.  At the times that we catch him displaying certain character traits, we allow him to place a pom pom in his jar.  Once he fills the jar with pom pom's, he can pick out a treat at the store.

3.) Learning about patterns (pattern chart) and using that knowledge to paint a pattern on his flowerpot.  Avery later helped plant sunflower seeds in it, and we have it on our windowsill watching/waiting for the seeds to grow.

4.)  Avery can construct his alphabet letters out of various shapes.  He is learning how rectangles, diagonals, "bumps" and "hooks" can form alphabet letters.

5.) Avery's preschool performance of "I'm In the Lord's Army".

6.) Avery created a shape book at preschool, as well as shape puppets.  He is narrating and performing the story for Aileen and I.

Aileen at 7 months old

Aileen is not a pillow

"Wook mommy!  Awweeeen is my piwooh!" (Avery)
"Aileen is not a pillow, honey.  You need to be soft and gentle with her." (Mom)
"Wook, she doesn't mind..." (Avery)

....and she doesn't.  Actually, she loves her brother being playful with her.  : )

My Kiddos

Brain Rock

Avery's preschool teacher saved this rock for us.  It's a reminder to keep feeding that active and imaginative mind of his.  He found it on the playground and told his teacher that it looks like a "brain".  How does a four year old know what a brain looks like?!

Ogre Feet

Avery

We have been working with him in learning to tie his shoes.  Our first idea was to cover a box with paper, punch holes in the top, and then we strung a shoe lace though the holes to resemble the top of a shoe.  Similarly, we tried the same thing with a paper plate.  Avery figured out how to tie his first knot by chanting “criss, cross, applesauce, around and through the hole”.  However, the “bunny ear” loops were hard for his little hands to coordinate.  Next, we tried slipping the bunny ear loops through hex nuts to keep them in place so that he could simply repeat the process of tying a knot using the bunny ears.  After he caught on using the hex nuts, he surprised us one morning by tying his shoe all by himself without them – (9/13/12)!

Avery’s sense of humor is developing.  He shows a great interest in making people laugh and telling jokes (that make sense to him anyways).

“It blinks my eyes!” – phrase Avery uses to describe something sour

Avery’s preschool teacher let us know that he made her laugh one day.  They were coloring a picture of Father Abraham, and Avery told her that he gave him “ogre feet”.

(criticized my driving) – “Ahhhhh!  Mom!  When you turn, it’s like a merry-go-round!”

He tells me that he makes “tunnels” in his whipped yogurt.

Clint and Avery have several similarities.  Clint has a competitive nature, and he has told me that he was extremely competitive as a kid.  Avery seems to show signs of this as well.  For example, at breakfast, he was talking about his flashlight that he takes to bed with him.  He was comparing his flashlight to his daddy’s and asked if his was bigger.   Clint humored him and told him yes.  Avery persisted by asking “Daddy, do you think my flashlight can win?”

“ice bolts” – icicles

“Did you know that you got juice in your nose?” – Avery, being sick, was describing a running nose.

Aileen

Our family was having our photo taken for the church directory, and Aileen spit up all over the black drop cloth the photographer was using.  Luckily, the bathroom had paper towels we could use to clean most of it up.

She loves being outside!  Oftentimes, it is the best trick we try to calm her down.  Sometimes, if we walk by a window, she will fuss if we don’t take her outdoors.

Ever since she was born, Aileen is (as her birth nurse first put it) “an aggressive eater”.

She is showing a more active, playful side.  Although she cannot crawl yet, she will roll all around the living room.  If we sit her up, she can stay upright for a short while until toppling over to reach something.

Her curiosity has certainly blossomed motivating her to grab at anything within her reach.  The pincher grasp is not quite fully developed, but she is using it somewhat to pick up small yogurt melts.  By now, Aileen easily transfers a toy (or two!) from one hand to the other.  If we try to take a toy away from her, she vocally objects.

Avery must help her learn how to interact with others.  He is her constant source of entertainment, and she loves to respond and be his ever captive audience!  Besides grunting, she coos, smiles, gurgles and playfully interacts with us a lot of the day.  When Aileen was first born, I thought she was going to have a more reserved and quiet temperament.  Now, I’m not so sure.  She is still teaching us who she is and revealing more of her sweet personality as she is more developed to express it.  Aileen doesn’t mind receiving attention from others, but she does get upset if she is away from her mommy for too long.