All pictures were taken Sunday, October 7, 2012, on Paul’s fifth birthday! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for joining us for General Conference and cake!
Happy birthday, my dear five-year-old boy!
For Paul’s birthday, we gave him the option of doing any fun family event together. He chose to take the train to Des Plaines — where there is a train restaurant. Here are some fun pictures of our family excursion. Excuse the bad quality, as I didn’t take my good camera with me and these were just taken with my phone.
All pictures were taken on the afternoon of October 6, 2012.
Five years ago, I awoke knowing I’d be meeting my baby soon. It was time for him to be born. When he was first put in my arms, I was in love. He was long and slippery. His eyes were open and he was looking around at everything. He did not make a sound but just looked. Today, Paul is a tall, skinny, cheerful boy. I look at him and I am amazed at how old he is. Here are some facts about him.
Paul is a morning person. He wakes in the morning and comes straight to see me with a great big smile. He usually has a dream to tell me about. He will get comfortable and begin telling his story. Paul has things to do in the mornings. He’s generally excited about everything, from starting school work to eating breakfast. Sometimes, he’s even excited to do chores in the morning time! Morning is a delightful place for Paul.
Paul has an active imagination. He is frequently telling me about his imaginary friends that are arriving, calling him, and having their own adventures. I already mentioned that Paul has dreams. Sometimes these dreams are scary and it’s amazing to me the things he thinks of. (One nightmare entailed a whale who came across North America to attack him while he was playing on the beach of the Mississippi River…) Paul finds mirrors to be an entrance into a new world (Some day, I’ll get him to read Lewis Carroll with me!). He frequently talks to himself as he washes his hands in the bathroom, as we pass mirrors in stores or in public restrooms. But then, he clarifies that he is not talking to himself, he’s talking to his friend in the mirror.
And as we learn things for school, he puts his own imagination in to what may have happened. Take this paragraph he narrated to me about Columbus, for example. He had to act out the native’s response with gusto.
How Columbus Knew About North America
Once upon a time, there were people who wanted to go to Asia. They wanted to go to Asia because they wanted to get spices. They were in Europe. They sailed in ships West. When they got to land, there were many people. They thought they were over in Asia in India. Then, they started calling those people Indians because that is who they thought they were. And then many people died. Then, Columbus said, “We have new land!” And the Indians said, “No! We live here. Ehhhhhh, I’m dying.” And then Columbus lived happily ever after. The End.
Paul gets distracted. The opposite side of an active imagination is the fact that always imagining new things means he frequently gets derailed from whatever he is doing (washing his hands, getting dressed, cleaning his bedroom, doing a math worksheet) to have a conversation, rescue a friend from a fire, or telephone a friend. He is frequently saying, “Oops, I got distracted!” when I ask if he’s ready to go. But he is generally happy in his own world.
Paul is excited and energetic.I almost feel like he changed in to a new person about a month ago. He’s always had energy, but now, out of the blue, he is running in circles, jumping, dancing, singing, yelling, and otherwise expressing excitement all day long. Apparently, this is normal for five-year-old kids. It creates a bit more chaos in my life than I like but it is delightful to observe. On the rare moments when we are cleaning the house in the morning (usually we do it in the afternoons when he’s a bit more whiny) he is extra excited to help. The other day he said to me with lots of excitement: “Hey, Mom! I have an idea! Let’s clean the bathrooms everyday!” The day before, on the other hand, he cried and had a fit when it came time to clean.
Paul is curious and interested. He bombards me with questions: How does the traffic light know when to change color? How did God create the earth? Why does the car need fuel? How does a fish breathe underwater? Why can I see the moon during the day? Together we find the answers. He loves it. He loves to learn, and he loves to question. He is learning multiplication as well as addition and subtraction and he loves to figure things out (most of the time). He also loves to tell other people what he’s learned.
For example, I overheard this while Paul was playing with another 4 or 5 year old child in the library. Paul: “Well, our block tower fell down because of grabity.” Other child: “This one didn’t fall because it doesn’t have grabity.” Paul: “There still is grabity. Grabity is a force pulling every thing down. See? [He picks up a block and drops it from shoulder height.] That’s grabity!”
Paul loves his sister. He is constantly helping her be happy, laugh with her, teach her things, share toys and books with her. He loves her so much that she is often the first person he looks for in the morning (if she’s awake). He loves to tell me what she’s doing, what she needs, and why he loves her. Sometimes he’s a bit rough, but that’s just the energetic stage of life he’s in.
Paul is emotional. Again, I think this is partly just being a five-year-old kid learning to navigate strong emotions. On the other hand, he tends to have melt-downs when he’s overtired. I think there is some anxiety going on to, probably inherited since I have similar issues. It hurts to see him struggle, but I hope we can learn to deal with it together.
Paul is five! He just walked in and he wants me to add that. Now that he is five, he can get his library card!!! (tomorrow) He can jump really high.
Happy birthday, Paul! I’m so proud of all you can do … and all that you will learn to do in the coming year now that you are five years old!
In January, we moved my desk in to the office with Ryan’s. We also set up a desk for Paul. This was nice because we were all together. But now Caroline is too big for a bouncer. And let’s face it: when Ryan’s working from home, it would be nicer to have more space for everyone! Ryan wanted to go downstairs into the unfinished portion of the basement. I think he loves it so far because he can play his music and all that. Anyway, it seems to be working for us too.
Here’s the school room now.
Mom and Paul do school every morning, starting right after breakfast. First we read two paragraphs in the Gospel Principles manual on my nook and talk about the concepts. Paul loves this. I let him click on the scriptures and we follow footnotes and scripture trails until he gets tired. We do this for about 20-30 minutes most mornings.
Then we go upstairs and do a math page. Sometimes we do a page in Miquon math, which is a mix of conceptually taught math concepts. We learn the concepts behind the operations using manipulatives like C-rods. So far, he’s already been introduced to addition, subtraction, and multiplication. He likes it, but we break it up with Singapore Math, which seems a little easier (he’s at the beginning of the book instead of halfway through it!). We’ll do a little of each each week.
Then we do a few spelling words, where Paul uses a magnetic board and tiles (with the phonograms on them, not just letters) to spell a fw words. We usually do five words. Then, if we have time, Paul gives me a spelling lesson and I do the same with tiles.
Paul and I also are going to learn about American history this year. Last week, it was basic U.S. geographical features (We read about Paul Bunyan and labeled his “formations” on the map) and this week we learned about different Native American houses in different parts of the country. I plan on taking this very easy and just covering what he’s interested in each week, within reason. Next week it’s about the Vikings.
We read The Magic School Bus, we watch science and history videos on Discovery Education every now and then (Thanks, Grandma!), we watch Sid the Science Kid, and we follow Paul’s lead at to what he’s interested in learning (this week he wanted to read about the seasons). He has a lined journal I ask him to write something (anything) in each week, and I plan on having him copy one sentence in to a History journal about American history so he’ll have a record of everything we learned. (For example, this week’s sentence is “Many people lived in America before 1492.”) We’ll see how that goes.
Paul loves to learn. So far, with school being finished by 9 or 9:30 every morning, he’s enjoyed it. There was one day in the seven we’ve had so far when he had a melt-down at 4+4 and he tends to react strongly against practicing his handwriting, but in general I think this year will be an enjoyable time at home! He also has a co-op three Fridays a month (he loved the first day last week!), storytime one day a week, and maybe another group play day on Wednesdays too. We’ll see if that is too much.
Hooray for homeschooling!
I feel like this second child of mine lives in her carseat!!
Love her smiles!!
Loving big brother.
My thumb-sucking pioneer girl!
I put Caroline in her crib for a short while so I could get the bathroom scrubbed. Paul had free time. I came back a few minutes later to see he’d brought his game in to her room. She had flipped over and was eagerly watching his every move. I love these cute kids!!
Paul and Caroline waiting for the Labor Day “Sunset Fest” Parade!
I am having a really hard time comprehending that Caroline is six months old already. How did that happen so fast?
In this video, see how excited she gets seeing her brother!!
She loves to roll around. The problem with a nice soft shag carpet is that she purposely tries to get off the blanket so she can play with it. She’s close to figuring out the coordination required to become mobile. Already.
She started having cereal about six weeks ago. I took a video but it was embarrassingly bad. Here’s another bad video of me trying to feed her some peaches. With all the technology we have, it amazes me how my pictures and videos turn out so poorly a good portion of the time.
She really loves to eat. She grabs for everything to put in her mouth, so the fact that food actually stays in her mouth (for the most part) gets her excited! But you’d never know from the video, huh. No reaction.
At the end of July, I got to meet a friend, Meredith, and her family, who I haven’t seen for many years! Paul and her her son Andre had a fun time playing together. It was so much fun to catch up on life!
I’ve been pondering a number of issues this month and some how I never got posts out. Here is a miscellany post about some of those issues on my mind.
Silence. I spent three days this month without a voice. At all. I could not speak above a whisper from Friday morning until Sunday night, even if I tried to force it. The effect of this on Paul was very interesting. Friday, he spent the day whispering back to me. The house was much calmer. I also noticed just how often I rely on a loud voice to get me point across. I yell up the stairs to Paul from downstairs to do something. I tell him in a loud voice how disappointed I am in something. I use my voice to lecture him. Without a voice, I found I had to rely a lot more on being close to him (obviously), to be more clear in my word choice (since tone of voice didn’t come through in a whisper), and to accept the fact that explaining something once has to be okay (because it hurts to repeat it). This is something I want to remember even when I do have a voice. Momma’s mood, tone of voice, and strength of voice impacts kid’s reactions (duh).
Babies. When Paul was newborn, I was very protective of him. I treasured the baby stages. I loved the newborn. I loved the infant. I did not want to share him with other moms. “Get your own baby!” I seriously thought. Then it took 18 months longer to have my second baby than I anticipated. Now, I understand. While I hope for at least one more baby of my own, every single time I pick up Caroline, I feel a sense of sadness at the thought that some day I won’t have a baby to treasure. And I do treasure every single moment. She’s getting old so fast, and now I know how quickly my baby will become a child. I don’t mind sharing my baby so much! And I’m taking extra care to cherish the cuddly moments with Caroline.
Sugar. When I was pregnant with Paul, I did not overdose on sugar. After he was born, I went a year without chocolates, candy, and extra cookies and ice cream (I did make cookies and eat ice cream, but I didn’t have too much). Sure, the severe abdominal attacks due to gall stones made a difference, but it also was not a part of the Australian culture to munch and snack all the time, especially not on high sugar foods. (Just eat an Australian “brownie.” I dare you.) It was not until I returned to the USA that I started eating candy again. I remember the first piece of candy: I was at a Relief Society meeting at the stake center and the tables were littered with small, bite-sized candy bars. Friends and I sat and chatted. I reach for a candy bar. I ate it, and then I ate another, and then another.
The last year has been the worst for my new addition to sugar. When I was pregnant, I bought birthday candy, Halloween candy, Thanksgiving treats, Christmas candy, candy for my birthday, Valentine’s day candy, and then Shamrock Shakes at McDonald’s. I’m now a bit out of control in my cravings for more sugar, more candy, and sweets in general.
To be honest, I feel it’s the church culture of food that makes it so hard to resist. I walk in Relief Society and the teacher says “I like treats,” and hands out chocolate mints. I go to an activity and there are cookies. I go to church on Mother’s Day and the Bishop hands me chocolate and Relief Society has cupcakes. Even my son comes home from church talking about his many treats, from chocolate (for answering questions! Really? For a four year old?!) to cheese sticks and crackers and fruit. I can’t go to church without being offered something to eat, most weeks.
Is my obsession with sweets and snacking the church’s fault? Obviously not. I choose to eat what is handed to me. I chose to buy an extra large bag of Halloween candy and then snack on it for the entire month of October. I obviously have a problem when I finish a meal and crave a desert. That is not only not necessary but it’s not healthy, and I know it. I felt fantastic the year I was in Australia, not snacking on sugar. I was not on anti-depressants and I still felt well.
I highly suspect that my sugar obsession is causing my depression to get worse. I have not read a lot about diet-controlled depression, but given how well (emotionally and mentally) I was during my low sugar time, I definitely see a connection. Further, the fact that I have gained weight since I came home from the hospital after childbirth is a big worry to me. Everyone said, “wow, you look fantastic!” to me in that first month. Yes, I pushed a baby out and weighed what I did before I got pregnant to begin with. I only gained about 10-15 pounds in that pregnancy. (I know, people “hate” me for this, but it’s beginning to catch up to me.) I now, five months later, weigh probably five pounds more than I did then. Paul asked me the other day if I have another baby in my tummy, something he did not ask me four months ago because I didn’t have such a little pouch.Truly, I’ve gained a pouch since I had my baby. It was not so pronounced the day I gave birth. (I was blessed that day, I get it. Still I’m a bit concerned at the direction this is going.)
I see a serious need for an exercise and for decreased sugar intake. I need to stop buying sweets and giving in to cravings. That first week last month when I told myself no more fast food was very hard. I could not believe how many times I found myself wishing for a shake. This month it’s a little better. Now I just need to learn to say “no” at church and other social events. I wish the church meetings (not to mention every thing else tempting me with sugar in this sugar-happy USA) would stop making it so hard!
The reasons behind the U.S.’s obesity epidemic is clear to me. It is so hard to resist.