Sometimes I just get caught up in life, ya know?
*Warning: Body function talk*
Heidi potty trained. She decided that she was done with diapers (unless it looks like I'm going to put "her" diaper on Jason) and with hardly any effort from us, she started peeing on the potty. Pooping has been more of a struggle. This is new to us; usually we get #2 trained before #1. She even wakes up dry in the morning. I know there are families out there that experience this, but we have always had kids that are older when they are able to stay dry all night.
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| Lula sneaked off with Jason's binky and fell asleep. |
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| Regression |
Strangely enough, we've had a bit of regression too. Lula has gone back to needing binkies. But we won't give them to her; she steals them. She locks herself in her room (the lock is from when the room was the playroom and I would lock them away from their toys) and falls asleep. She did it tonight. Heidi regressed by wanting bottles of milk again and not sleeping through the night.
The kids have gotten interested in sewing. Genevieve designed and hand-sewed a little doll.complete with yarn hair. She figured out how Raggedy Ann's hair was made and she copied it. A friend of mine gave the kids a tote of fabric, so (or sew, haha) we've got a lot of projects going on. Ian has enlisted Genevieve's help putting together a stuffed Robox, a character he designed in one of his games. Shane wanted to help, but Ian said Evie was the only one careful and detailed enough to do it right. That's a pretty big compliment.
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| He'll be a great supervisor someday |
Guess what Jason can do?
He found his toes! He is also nursing a ton better and is only taking about ten ounces of formula a day. I just can't seem to keep my milk supply up, so I've doubled my fenugreek intake and maybe, by the time he starts solid food in a month or two, I'll make enough milk to exclusively breastfeed.
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| Lincoln Logs: Hands on History |
Our power went out for 12 hours on Saturday. We found ourselves not as prepared as we usually are. I had plenty of water and camp stove fuel, but I just didn't feel ready. The worst part was probably waking up three times with Heidi screaming in the dark and not having my emergency night light plugged in. I unplugged it so I could read out loud to the kids, but never put away. I found my flashlight and fell asleep with it turned on in my hand. Mark woke me up and asked me if I was going to keep it on all night, so I turned it off. When Heidi woke up
again and Mark asked me where the flashlight was, I snapped, "You made me turn it off! I can't see it in the dark!" Then when I got up for the rest of the day, the fire was stone cold and there was no kindling in the house. And Mark couldn't find the hose that connects the camp stove to the fuel to make coffee, so he just left to find out what caused the power outage (a tree knocked out a pole). After coffee and fire, I was happy to spend a few hours just sitting around knitting with my kids playing nearby.
Lincoln Logs have been the toy du jour. With as many kids as I have playing and building, there just aren't enough to go around!
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| Forget the cabin. This is a log mansion! |
I've cut back a bit on activities, so I have seen more sibling interaction (both positive and negative). Shane offered to watch all the younger kids so I could take just Ian (and Jason) to the YMCA today. The older girls have been so helpful running Heidi to the potty. We've had many lessons in revenge (Daniel's specialty) and potty talk/inappropriate language. Ian has been great about taking Daniel out on adventures in the woods. And I don't want to embarrass a certain older son of mine, but he has been the big brother that every 2, 3, and 5 year old loves.
One activity I've cut back in is MOPS. I was on the steering committee, but I don't have the extra time or brain power to help the group go. I was always showing up late without the forms I forgot to print. But today I went to the playgroup, which in the past is just moms drinking coffee while the little kids run around the room. Today, my kids ate several bags of junk food cereal that were set out for everyone (they missed breakfast because I didn't make any because I had to sit in the bathroom with Heidi until she pooped). Cereal like Cocoa Puffs, Trix, Frosted Cheerios, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. What do toddlers do with bags of cereal? Dump them on the ground, that's what. And what do they do next? They play in the water fountain and get soaking wet. Earlier in the meeting, I met a new mom. She was explaining a very detailed chore/allowance system she runs with her five kids where she "pays" them fifty cents to load the dishes (for example) and then "charges their account" for things like food for their pets or dance lessons. She sighed and rolled her eyes because she knows "five kids is sooo crazy." One of my friends turned to me and said, "How many kids do you have again?" When she found out I had eight and then found out I homeschool, she asked me if I had a back ground in education. Like, do I have
actual teaching credentials? Oh my gosh, no one in nine years has
ever asked me that! And then she asked with a real snotty voice, "So since you have no real education experience, do you just hand them a book or something?" She turned out to be a super duper control freak and ended our fun playgroup when the running boys, the cereal on the floor, and the wet kids finally got to her. She yelled at everyone to rein in the chaos and do a better job watching our kids. "You don't want to have to take your child home soaking wet, do you?" I stood up to her and informed her the wet kid was mine and I didn't care if she was wet. Then I pulled off her dress, zipped her up in her coat, and loaded my kids up in the van. I vacuumed up all the cereal (it looked like there had been a toddler rave in there!) and headed home while our head coordinator was having her ears talked off by Mrs. Fun Sucker. By the time I got here, there was a post on our Facebook page about how at the next meeting there needs to be more structure. Why do moms have to be so difficult?
Well, I'm off to go pop some popcorn while my
unsocialized creative kids make a gihungous mess in the school room with empty formula cans, making tapes, and hole punchers.
