This and that. . .

Max has been picking out his own clothes. 'Nuff said.

Ruby can sit up on her own for short periods of time!

Cooper: "Wooby is my best fwend. I yuv her so so muthch!"

Cooper: "I bit my yip"

(Yes, Cooper uses the "y" sound for his l's and the "t" sound for c's, and it's really cute. What's also cute is when Max tries to be his speech therapist and attempts to get him to pronounce his words correctly.)

The boys idolize cousin Jackson. Max got an awesome poster with a bunch of pictures of Jackson playing basketball. They both say goodnight to it every night.

Speaking of that family. When Max is Jackson, he always calls Ruby, Baby Gina. Usually, Cooper is pretending to be Noah.

Cooper pooped on the potty on Monday.

Max is sounding out/writing out his own words:
HAPE : happy
BRFTH : birth
MATAR : monster
THANC : thank
[this is fun!]

Ruby likes to chew on things. This is so different from the boys. I wonder if she'll actually use the mesh feeder that we bought to use 4 years ago!

Hooray!

Just found out that Max was accepted into the International School for Kindergarten next year! So happy about that.


As I took an opportunity this morning to have a quick conversation with Max about "armies" it became crystal clear that I have to snatch up these opportunities as they come. I would much rather he have the conversation with me than with a potentially mis-informed 5 year-old. What was also interesting was the fact that after the discussion, he went on to do something completely different. Maybe the fascination is just of the unknown and now that I've defined it for him it's just not as fun.

Swirling thoughts. . .

Pardon the journal-esque post.

I want to stop time.

This past weekend at my parents house we were talking about my high school Alma Mater playing in the state high school basketball tournament. Mom was talking about how some of the players were kids she taught in 3rd grade. She started rattling off names. The second one she said kind of made my neck snap and I immediately barked it back out, startling both Peg and Ruby who were sitting close to me. "Adam [lastname]?"

Adam happens to be the child of my high school English teacher. She was pregnant with him while I was in school. I remember seeing him as a baby and toddler. . . . .and now, he's a senior in high school.

I literally cannot believe this. How could that happen? Why does everyone always talk about how fast time goes? How can we slow it down? I need to slow it down. I want to savor the time I have with my young children. I think about how Max will be entering Kindergarten in the fall. His world will be rocked. Our world will be rocked. We've got six months. I say that like it's a life expectancy. . .it's not, I know. It's more like the end of a chapter, pre-school. I think about how mean the world might be for him. Have we protected him too much? Max doesn't have a real grasp of the bad in the world. No. We've protected him just enough. Why should he have to know about the yuck of the world any sooner than necessary? But, I kind of feel that I'd like for us to ease him into this potentially shocking experience.

Maybe I'm totally off on this, maybe Kindergarten will not be the BIG adjustment I'm thinking it will be. Maybe the kids and staff won't have any issues with our family. But, maybe they will. Just thinking about Max and what he might have to endure puts a rock in my stomach.

It doesn't help I tend to over-analyze just about everything.

I think we're on to something. . .

I've been waiting for today to come. Waiting to find out what Ruby weighed before I started talking about a therapy we've been trying with her to encourage weight gain. Two weeks ago today, Ruby had her first cranio-sacral therapy session. As our osteopathic doctor said, "it's not a spectator sport," as it looks like he's not doing all that much. But, one can argue that this treatment has had a positive affect on Ruby's weight. In the three weeks previous to the appointment, Ruby had a net weight gain of 1 ounce. One week after CST she gained 4.5 ounces, and today she had gained another 4.2 on top of that. Is it related? Maybe, maybe not, but she hasn't gained weight like this for two consecutive weeks FOR. EVER.

So, what do I have to say?

THANK YOU BRITT!!!!

The end. .

Of the Birthday celebrations! We traveled to Grandma and Grandpa's this past weekend to celebrate (again) Max and cousin Bennett's birthday. Highlights from the weekend:

~Max having "pillow talk" with Grandma every morning.

~Ruby. I think she might have cried a total of 3 minutes the entire weekend(including 6 hours in the vehicle). She is a rockstar.

~Speaking of rockstars, we brought along Max's-now-Cooper's guitar and he would strap it on and either rock out or play shy, but all the while never wanting me to sing with him. This kid is independent.

~Cooper hiding under the table with the quart of strawberries.

~Max seeing cousin Cole at his wrestling tournament.

~Visiting with my Aunt, cousins and Nicki's new baby Annabelle

~Food. My parents can cook!!

~Spending time with my siblings and their families.

~Max seeing cousin Jackson, his idol--who is now 14 years old and 6'2"--wow.

~Cooper hiding under the table eating a care package(not ours) of cake.

~Dad sharing his mini-greenhouse with me.

~All kids playing soccer outside. The 4 young boys against Jackson.

Super Cooper

On the way home from school last night, I was made aware that we did not name our kids properly. "Jackson" and "Noah" were in the backseat, calling each other by their respective names.

Cooper likes to talk in the third person when he is in character. I think because he is trying to reinforce to all of us who he is. As he was sitting on the couch, "Noah going potty right now."
Hmm, wonder if you're ready to use the bathroom?!

Last night, as we've been doing lately, the three kids and I lay on their bed when it's bed time. It's kind of funny that two twin beds pushed together can give so much space, yet all four of us are packed in like it's only one twin mattress we're laying on. So, Cooper was laying his head on my belly and my stomach growled.
Cooper: You tooterpants?
Me: No honey, that was my stomach.
Cooper: You t(h)rowing up?
Me: No, I'm not going to throw up, my belly just made that noise.
Cooper: You tooterpants.


Cooper likes to refer to his baseball hat as "my baseball helmet."

You have been taking reqests. You wear and strum the guitar. Your favorites I talked about in your update. You'll say, "What you want? You want ABC's? You want Bingo?"

Be careful what you wish for. . .

So, I've talked about how Max has begun reading a bit. Last night we were reading a Bible story(sidenote: Man some of those Bible stories are tough to get through, very violent!). It is common for Max to ask what the title is to the next story. Last night we had the story about Deborah and the walls of Jericho. I kind of fudged my way through the battle part of it--even though the pictures depicted armies of people and weapons. After the story, Max again asked for the next title. "Gideon's . . . . . . .Time" After some serious studying, "MaMa, this word starts with a B, time doesn't start with a B."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunch on Sunday, I served the boys a sandwich and some grapes. When Mommy came downstairs she sat down and had a sandwich. "MaMa, Mommy didn't get any grapes!" I responded that I was saving the grapes for the kids. After a moment to ponder, Max replies, "But Mommy's a Child of God!! So, she's a kid too."

This kid will give us a run for our money!

Tooper

No, that's not a typo. That's how Cooper pronounces his name. In fact, he likes to use his full name "Tooper Paul Ban-ee," which, if you knew our last name is pretty cute too.

It seems that it's been a while since I've documented where Cooper's at. So, here goes.

Communication. You talk a bunch! I've noticed that other people have been mentioning how well (and how much!) you are talking. You're the type of kid who likes to be repeated. So, you often will repeat your phrases until some one acknowledges your comments, or repeats the message back to you. You've been saying your ABC's forever, and now they're getting clearer. Sometimes, you skip T U V. You LOVE to sing, but usually you don't want me to sing with you. You say, "I'nt (I want) to do it by mysulf!" Your repertoire? Twinkle, Twinkle, Old McDonald, Bingo, Baby Beluga, Firetruck, and our favorite, The Baobab Tree--it's pretty amazing to hear you spit this one out! You also really like to adorn the guitar and rock out while you sing. Up until a couple of weeks ago, your most frequent word was poopyhead. Thankfully, you've eased up on that.

Elimination. You have done it on the potty, but are not anywhere close to being in underwear. Just not a priority for you or us at the moment. I would imagine we all will become more serious about it this spring.

Play. More and more you are role playing. Your favorite things to "be" are Noah or a puppy. You have really enjoyed playing with our collection of animals. You enjoy looking at books and being read to. You like to play N.erf basketball. You like to do a lot of what Max does. One day, quietly, you went and got the T.rouble game out, put it on the dining room table, climbed up on the table and started popping the dice(this is when I entered the room). You said, "awhh, four, I no go. one, no go." I was certainly impressed! Then as I played with you, you called a couple of the other numbers four also. . . You also have learned to use a mouse. I was both impressed and a little melancholy about that. You are exposed to a lot of things sooner than Max was. Maybe that shouldn't make me feel sad, but it does a little. I mean, you're closing in on being 3!!

Sibling Relationships. You LOVE your siblings. You have nothing but love for Ruby, or as you insist, Baby Wooby/Baby Ruby. We still have to keep a good eye on you as you have no fear to pick her up by yourself. Max, well you mostly really love Maxth. You were very sweet to him on his birthday. You frequently ask Max to wait for you, whether it's to begin eating, or leaving the house. Actually, you're just a pretty sweet kid. There are times, though that you know just how to push his buttons, and you do.

Food. You are all about fruit and yogurt, well and lately snack mixes. You eat spicy foods. In fact, you are kind of a jokester and will tell me that the spicy crackers are not spicy. . ."Nooo Mom, dose are not spicy!" You'll even try to eat them with a straight face. But at somepoint, you'll get that look on your face or you'll start to touch your tongue and request a drink. You are somewhat of a food ninja. When it is quiet, we know to look in the kitchen for you. Sometimes, all we can see is the top of your head in the refrigerator--you're forraging for yogurt. Another time, I came across you standing on the stool, with a scissors (oh, you've been able to use scissors since you were 2). You cut open a bag of mini-marshmallows and were eating them. When I came it, you looked at me with a smiling smirk and said "Yeave me ayone!!"

Gross/Fine Motor Skills: You excel at both. You have been able to hook up the small wagon to your small tractor since you were just over 2 (which amazed us) and gross motor, yeah, you are very coordinated. You even tried to sneak onto Max's new bike he got for his birthday. We were shocked to see you could reach the pedals. . .who knows, maybe there's a bike in your future!!

You've been calling me Mom since you were around 2 1/2. You'll say, "You my Mom, Mommy is my Mommy." Unless of course, you are wanting one of us to be Noah's Mom!

Max-isms

The night before Max's birthday, we were reading books at bedtime. This time, I asked Max to read his book. He went through, page by page from memory telling the story of The Three Trees . After each page he would check with me, "Is that right Mama?" I would confirm his accuracy everytime. Once he was about halfway through the book out came this, "Wow, I'm quite the reader!"


Most of you reading this know that our kids lead a rather sheltered life. They do know who some charaters in the mainstream are, and watch occasional TV. But it's not a part of everyday life. Case and point: last night, Max had a date with our friends Mark and Deb. They wanted to have a little birthday outing with him. Ruby and I were at a meeting last night and didn't get to talk about his night until this morning. I asked him where they went, "Old McDonald's!" It made me chuckle a bit, but it also made me glad that we don't overexpose them because last night was a huge treat.

Max at 5

Here's the big update.

You are five, and definitely ready for Kindergarten. In the past three months you have begun to write lots of words, read some words, and really show your readiness to read a lot more. Although, you like to use the pictures and will sometimes just start guessing the words instead of sounding them out. (Kind of reminds me of when I was young like you and would ask my piano instructor to play the song first so I could hear it and repeat it.)

You are a crafting maniac! You love to make decorations for the house or at school. You share your creations with friends and family. You occasionally express frustration because you can't always execute your plan.

When you're at home having play time, you are either writing lists, or words, making crafts or decorations, pretending to be in a basketball game, reading books, wanting computer time, wanting to play T.rouble, but you are really anxious for spring weather.

At school you enjoy all areas: block area, dramatic play, library, manipulatives or the sensory table. You have just recently passed to the next level (Ray) of swimming lessons. At our last conference with your teachers, they felt you were really ready in every way for Kindergarten. We are always so impressed with the way you come home with memorized songs and often wonder if this is typical or maybe just a lit bit exceptional! One thing we still struggle with is the whole "going home" process. I hope your 5-year-old self is more cooperative.

You are a passionate kid. And we love you for that. You still like to dictate the rules to your younger brother, but play with him is getting better and better. You now understand that Cooper has a voice and can speak up when things aren't going well. We know this because we can hear you quickly say, "sorry Cooper, sorry Cooper!" hoping that he won't come in to us and bust you on whatever it was that you did.

You are an affectionate kid. And I especially love that! You love snuggling, and still like me to do "nightime things" as you drift off to sleep (usually includes gently rubbing your back, stroking your face or hair)

You are a sensitive kid. And we try to keep this in mind. Transitions have been hard for you in the past. Dealing with conflict at school is also hard on you, and usually manifests itself by you having accidents at night. Thankfully, this has not been an issue lately.

We love, love, love you Maxwell Theodore. This next year is going to be a grand one as you enter Kindergarten, and learn to ride a bike, and, and, and!! We look forward to sharing this year and all the experiences it will hold for you!

Love,
MaMa and Mommy

Five!