The Monkey Is Three

M turned 3 on Sunday. He was in denial, but will now proudly proclaim his threedom when asked. He's an interesting little boy. I've often described him as a chihuahua....you know, the dog breed that is the size of a coffee cup but thinks they're a pit bull?

As I walked downstairs Sunday morning, I heard his three older brothers singing him Happy Birthday. I entered the room to see M thoroughly enjoying this verbal display of affection from his brothers. However, instead of singing "dear M", L, Z, and J sung "dear Peanut". In a split second, M's expression changed from pure delight to extreme irritation and he rose up (in all his chihuahua-ness) and shoved his oldest brother as hard as he could in the chest while loudly proclaiming "I NOT the Peanut! I AM (insert first and middle name here)!!!".

This pretty much sums up how M approaches life. He's full of emotions and thoughts and he's not afraid to express them. He's a constant source of entertainment and joy (um, and frustration...although that part isn't as constant as it once was). He's an amazing little boy, and I only hope we're able to teach him to use his powers for good and not evil as he takes over the world.

The 'F' Word

Z: "Mommy, I'm gonna use the 'F' word again."

Mommy (trying not to look too concerned): "What? What word is that?"

Z: "Food! When is dinner???? I'm starving to death here!"

*whew*

Biting

Last night L was bitten on the arm by a friend's little girl at Judo. This led to Z recounting a time when M bit him (M used to bite like crazy, and hard. I happy to report he's mostly cured of this now).

Z: M bit me on the eye once.
Mommy: Really? On the eye?
Z: Yeah. All I could see was the back of his throat.

An Odd Tradition

I took my test in Judo for my yellow belt on Monday and passed. Last night was the "ceremony". It is tradition (at least in our club) that with every belt color change, the entire class gets to throw you...adults, kids, lower belts, higher belts--everyone. Sensei claims this is a legitimate tradition, although I wonder if that's true. It was a big class last night, and we were on the bad mats. I didn't count, but if I remember there were at least 6 adults and 15 kids who got to throw me, with the first being Sensei (he was kind enough to drop to his knees before he finished the throw in the picture so I really didn't have that far to fall). Overall it wasn't too bad; L, Z, & J each got a chance to throw me. What little boy wouldn't like the opportunity to throw their Mom once in a while?

Impulse Control

J has cut his hair twice since June. The same spot. He also has had Z cut it once in a different spot because he knew he'd get in trouble if he did it. These 3 episodes of hair-cutting have happened in the school room.

J has been banned from scissors for quite awhile now. He's not even supposed to look at them.

So today, the other boys were cutting up paper in the living room and J asked for scissors. He promised me he wouldn't cut his hair. He promised me he wouldn't even think about cutting his hair.

I gave him his scissors, and true to his word he didn't cut his hair.

It came time to clean up and I told the boys to go put their scissors away in the school room.

J looked at me, with those big blue eyes, and said "I don't think I should put mine away, Mommy. Once I get in that room I might cut my hair".

As Cr said...at least he knows his limitations.

Just In Case You Were Wondering

The boys did indeed wake up, and we had a wonderful Christmas. They enjoyed their gifts which included a play kitchen, a RC helicopter, marble run, Knex, superhero pjs, books, Narnia movie, and an RC Lego car. It was an uneventful and peaceful Christmas day.

We're back at school and it's going well. I'm working on being more patient, and the boys seem to be appreciating that. I have found that we need to stick to a schedule and start early to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time.

In case anyone is curious about what we do, here is a rundown. L is 2nd grade, Z is 1st grade, and J is K4.

We all start off the morning together with Memory Review. This includes any poems, Bible verses, etc. that we are trying to memorize. Then we all move onto Latin ( Prima Latina ). While L, Z, & J are the only 3 officially enrolled in the Larson Boys Academy, M thinks he's enrolled and will try to say Latin and Memory Review with us.

After Latin, J works on his handwriting (A Reason for Handwriting K), Z works on his handwriting (A Reason for Handwriting A) and typing (Typing Instructor Deluxe), and I teach L his math lesson (Saxon 3).

Once J finishes his handwriting, he & M go down the hall to play in the playroom. After I give L his math lesson, he works on his math fact sheets and worksheet while I give Z his math lesson (Saxon 2).

Then, while Z works on his math fact sheets and worksheet, L and I work on his writing and grammar (Creative Writing Aesop). Once we've gone through his lesson together, L works on either copywork (he copies sections of the fables we read using cursive) or finishes up any loose ends on his assignment that he can do on his own.

While L is finishing his Language Arts, I give Z his grammar lesson (First Language Lessons).

This is usually where we take our lunch break (Cr comes home most days and has lunch with the boys) and quiet time (an hour where the boys, in theory, play quietly in the playroom and I regroup).

After quiet time we have a read-aloud time. L, Z, & I take turns reading aloud from a book while J & M listen.

This is followed by L doing his typing while I give Z his spelling test (Spelling Power). Then I give L his spelling test while Z either plays or practices piano. After spelling L takes his turn practicing piano while I give J his math (Saxon K) and phonics (Phonics Pathways and Get Ready for the Code) lessons.

Then we gather together to end our school day with either History (Story of the World 2) or Science (Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Level 1 Chemistry). We started the year with a quarter of history, now we're in our quarter of science, next we'll do a quarter of history, and the fourth quarter will probably be dedicated to art and music.

Of course this looks seamless when written down. All of this is interrupted by all the usual mom things....dirty diapers, laundry, crying (usually by the boys), filling sippy cups, and so on.