I blog in my head all the time, probably daily. There are so many things that I want to record, to remember, and be able to look back on and laugh, or sometimes shake my head. But these boys, they keep us busy! Of course wouldn't trade our active days for anything but there is certainly less room for other things.
So much has happened since my last entry right after Christmas. Luke has two more monthly progress photos, though by his 10-month I had given up trying to get him to stay still on the bed for a posed shot. He is in constant motion, crawling on all fours and pulling up on just about anything.
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| Just past 8 months in his little Christmas outfit |
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| 9 months |
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| 10 months |
He is still such a jolly, content little guy, and we're so grateful for that. He loves, loves music - he began "dancing" by shaking his head months ago, later added a little sideways bob to the shake, then recently learned to clap his hands. He figured out where the guitar is kept and will sometimes go missing during the day, usually ending up hidden away in the closet, batting away at his favorite instrument. One evening Daniel was practicing for church and Luke made his way down the hall into the playroom to join his dad. Conveniently, one of his brothers had emptied their "music toy" box onto the floor so he made a beeline for the tambourine and snatched it up, tapping it and clearly feeling very much a part of the band.
Luke also has quite an adventurous spirit outside. He crawls all around the backyard on his own, usually making his way first to the sandbox. For a while he would just rest his belly on the top of the wall and lean in to scratch at the sand with his hands, but now he heaves himself over and in, crawls all around, and makes his exit whenever there is more interesting action in a different part of the yard. He doesn't really try to eat the sand anymore, just enjoys experiencing it.
We broke up a new square of the yard to use as a vegetable garden and he loves getting to crawl through that freshly turned dirt. We dumped several bags of compost to work into that soil and he was eager to crawl up one of the piles, have a seat, and rake the compost into his lap with his hands until his legs were completely covered. He picked it up and let it fall through his hands, sometimes even on his head. Ahh...what more could a little bitty boy ask for?
Though playing in dirt would likely be his first choice, our Luke does enjoy checking out plants and leaves too. He has inspected our just-emerging daylilies and vinca, as well as irises and grass. For some reason, the dianthus in one of my flower pots seem to beckon to him and he feels a strong need to free them from their terra cotta enclosure. I let the boys each choose a new flower this week when we went to the nursery for vegetable seeds and put Caedmon's pretty orange-blossomed plant in one of the beds in the backyard. Luke saw the large, showy petals and headed right over to check it out. From thirty feet away where I was hanging up diapers, I watched him get really close, then look at me to see what I'd say. "No, sir, we don't touch the flowers." He shook his head "no" as he looked at me, then back at the flowers. He sat for a moment and I could see the wheels spinning in his little mind. He shook his head again as he looked at the plant. Then he looked back at me one more time - would he get the same response? "No sir, we don't touch. Good job, Luke." He shook his head again. Looked at the flowers, shook his head. Then he turned and crawled off to the sandbox without touching. Sweet boy!
Isaac has also shown me lately what a sweet-hearted helper he can be! We've been working so hard on having good attitudes and learning how they can take care of themselves as well as contribute to our household. Just in the last week, I have caught Isaac in the act of picking up Caedmon's clothes off the floor and putting them in his dresser, starting to unload the dishwasher by himself, and making my bed. He has always been generous with his things and seems to truly take joy in sharing, even when asked to share something that would be a special treat for him.
He has such a delightful sense of humor and imagination. We are constantly hearing about what his friend, "Big John," is doing - which could be anything from playing in a baseball game to feeding his cows to traveling around the world (which he referred to recently as a "continent ball." A globe.) His favorite stuffed toy, a polar bear named Poley, also has all sorts of needs that require his attention, from being hungry to having frequent birthday celebrations to needing a new home (usually blocks or a cardboard box).
Isaac also has a lion costume that makes regular appearances, often outside and sometimes even to friends' homes. The brown suit usually transforms him into a ferocious big cat but it occasionally doubles as a wetsuit for scuba diving or coveralls for other sorts of "work." One day the furry "paw" gloves that came with the costume went with us on a shopping trip to Costco - the other shoppers were quite amused.
This child is probably the first of the three to want to be outdoors and seems to mind cold weather the least. He has loved digging up earthworms and catching grasshoppers and putting them in containers to watch, and hunting for snails or any other creature he can capture. We will frequently have rolly-pollies accompany us on walks and if they happen to fall out of his hand, he insists on stopping and searching for them. They almost always have a name right away.
Isaac also loves playing his toy guitar. He will sing praise songs over the prerecorded music on his instrument and dance his little heart out. His favorite bedtime songs are "The Lord Reigns," "Silent Night," and "Jesus Loves Me, Hallelujah."
Caedmon seems to have gone through such a major period of growth and maturity - maybe it was turning 5 years old. He loves laying out plans for the day, often drawing them out on paper so we can check throughout the day and cross things off once they're completed. He's such a social little guy and has no hesitation in interacting with other kids; kindergarten is going to be such a great time for him. And he is registered - I can't believe we're already preparing to send him to big-kid school! Isaac is trying hard to remember which school Caedmon will attend next year - "Is it the Mama-sori school?" Caedmon is quick to correct, "No, MONTEssori!"
Like his younger brother, he can also be quite a hard little worker, especially outside. I always know I can count on him when a job calls for a rake, shovel, hoe, yard bag, or nippers, and he really makes a significant dent in whatever we're trying to accomplish. When the job is done, though, he still loves his diggers and lately has preferred dirt to the sandbox, so there's a good patch on the side of our front yard that has been totally crumbled and "worked."
Caedmon has a wonderful imagination and loves creating scenarios and stories, but he also is quick to memorize facts and figures. He learned a song at school that lists the 50 states alphabetically, and is going through a phase of particular interest in ocean animals, which has been really fun. He and Isaac both ask a lot of questions about life and heaven, and one day while talking about the latter, he very poetically stated that he thinks "it will be even sparklier than a polished bowling ball. Or princess dress."
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