Smartie Pants!

We were sitting at the kitchen table in Strathroy this weekend, finishing up breakfast with devotions and some questions for the kids.  Peter was asked who the leader of God's people was after Moses, and without skipping a beat, he answered "Joshua".  I was so impressed!  He's definitely heard stories about Moses and Joshua before, but I don't think anything too specific or memorable about the leadership role switching over.  A few days later, we were sitting on the deck finishing up with supper and Peter asked, "Where's the cardinal, Mom?" It took me a moment to realize that there was a cardinal singing in the apricot tree in our backyard, and he had recognized what kind of bird it was by its song.  About two months ago, I had pointed out a cardinal singing in the neighbour's tree and told him about how each type of bird has its own specific songs, and I am SO impressed that he remembered!  What a smartie pants!  

Nate's Words

On this lovely spring day, I find myself inside at the computer writing a blog update.  Why?  Well, there are no rainy days in the forecast, and we've had some exciting progress with Nate and his talking.  No, he's not talking in sentences yet, but we've gotten a few words out of him in the last week or two and we're pretty pumped!  On Sunday night we were sitting on the front porch at Mom and Dad VD's, and through an open window we could hear our kids who had just been put to bed in one of the front bedrooms.  Nate was getting annoyed with bedtime, and started calling "Mama!  Mama!".  Even though he was a little upset, I heartily enjoyed listening to him calling me for the first time.  He is also saying "hi", occasionally "hi Dad", "amen" after we pray, and when he feels like it "night night".  Last night he also started filling in "go" after we said "ready, set...". 
It's not exactly remarkable news for anyone else, especially when there are a lot of 20 month-olds out there who have quite a repertoire of words, but we are excited to see him finally starting to repeat things and try new sounds.  Peter was probably at around the same point as Nate when he was 14 or 15 months, and Aaron slightly earlier at about 13 or 14 months.  Most of the noises Nate makes are from the back of the throat and don't require a lot of effort to make.  I have a feeling it has something to do with his refusal to drink when he was younger.  It makes sense to me that later development of his "suck and swallow" muscles would correspond with his delay in vocalization, as well as the persistent cough and difficulty in clearing his throat.  We've got an appointment at the end of June with a respirologist in Hamilton to see what they have to say, but I have a feeling it's going to just be a wait and see thing, and that he'll grow out of it as he practices his sounds and his swallowing, and strengthens those muscles.  In the meantime, keep those words coming, Nate!  

Show and Tell

Peter has show and tell this afternoon, and their task this month is to come up with three clues for their classmates to guess the item that they brought.  Peter and I had fun coming up with clues this morning for the kazoo he's bringing, and we managed to use mostly words from his "LIFE" words, a list of words that they have been learning to recognize by sight.  Usually if he has to write something lengthy, I'll write it in pencil and he'll copy over it, but he did all the writing himself this morning.  Fun!

1.  It is yellow and blue

2.  It makes a funny noise

3.  You can play with it

 

A Few Pics

The latest version of Three-Boys-On-A-Couch

Peter taking in Kindergarten Day

Daddy came to visit Peter in his new classroom.  He was pretty excited to be at Dad's work.

Taking a bus ride.  That's one happy kid!

My three sweeties outside on the porch

En Garde!

Protecting our home from bad men

Home-made Fruit Roll-Up

Every once in a while, I will peruse the time-sucking wonder of Pinterest.  I have recognized the dangers of the site and I haven't yet put any pins up of my own, but I do occasionally foray into the zone of danger when the kids are sleeping, and I stumble across ideas that I think I might actually be able to pull off.  The last thing I tried was this home-made fruit roll up stuff.  I had some fruit kicking around that was past its prime for straight eating, and I thought I'd give this a shot.  I quartered, cored, peeled, chopped, and cooked some apples, and threw them in the blender with strawberries, raspberries and some honey.  I spread this mixture out on parchment paper on four cookie sheets, and put them in the oven for about 5 hours at the lowest temp my oven will do, 170F.  When it was dry-ish to the touch, I took them out, cut them into 1" strips and fed them to my kids, and boy were they a hit!  

Edit:  Tips for Laura :)

I didn't use a specific recipe - I looked around on the internet a bit and it came down to what I had on hand for fruit. A few tips: I cooked the apples first b/c they would be too hard to throw straight in the blender with the berries. I added... maybe 3 tbsp of honey and a 1/4 cup white sugar to sweeten it. I did strain the whole mix before I spread it on the cookie sheets to get some of the seeds out. I used parchment paper, not plastic wrap b/c it seemed a little sketchy to put plastic wrap in the oven like some sites suggested. Try to get the puree as even as possible on the sheets so it will dry evenly. It was in the oven at 170 from 7-10:30, and again in the morning from 7:30-9 or so. I switched the trays around a few times, and dabbed the edges with a wet paper towel a few times to keep them from drying out too much and getting crispy. Hope this helps!  Also, I drained the extra juices out of the cooked apples, and the thawed strawberries and raspberries so the puree wouldn't be too liquidy.

 

In the Garden

Butterflies

It's a gorgeous day today, and so far we've spent pretty much all of it outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.  The lilacs are just starting to bloom, and the sky is filled with butterflies!  I caught one in a glass cup so the kids could get a close-up look

 Pretty intriguing! 

 I took this just as the butterfly was flying away

 

 

 Perching on the lilacs

 Sunning on the deck rail

A Few Photos

Aaron clearly remembered the digger cake that Peter had for his birthday back in November, and he was excited to have one of his own.  I told him he wouldn't get the same cake, but I would make sure to make him a different but equally exciting cake.  Here is my attempt at a fire-engine cake - it passed Aaron's inspection! 

We were in Hamilton on the Friday night before his Saturday birthday, so we slept over at Mom and Dad M's and celebrated Aaron's birthday with them there.  Mom made poffertjes for breakfast, which went over very well with the kids. 

Enjoying his birthday breakfast

After breakfast, we went to Big Al's aquarium and pet store in Stoney Creek to pick out a beta fish for Aaron's birthday present.  They sure were excited to check out all the fish and animals there.

 A busy morning makes for some tired boys on the way home again

 Aaron examining his new friend, Charlie

 He's pretty taken with his fish! 

When the weather outside is nice, the boys enjoy playing outside.  The older ones have some reservations about getting dirty, but not so with Nate.  He found some water under the deck and proceeded to soak himself splashing in the mud. 

 

 Reading together first thing in the morning

Not Yet, Aaron.

After lunch on school days, we usually walk to the school a little bit early so the kids have some time to play and run around.  As I've said before, Aaron can't wait to be able to join the class and go to school like his big brother, and he almost got his wish today.  When the substitute teacher rang the bell, Peter ran to line up and go into the classroom.  I went chasing after Nate in the playground, and when I had caught him and buckled him into the double stroller, I started looking for Aaron.  One of the other moms laughed as she told me that he had just traipsed into the classroom with the whole crowd of kids.  Apparently the teacher invited him in, thinking he was one of the kindergarten students.  Boy, was he ever disappointed when I called him out of the class and brought him back home again with me!  "But I'm in, Mom!  The teacher told me to come inside!"

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Dear Aaron,
You're finally three!  The last year has been a year of growth by leaps and bounds - physically, mentally, verbally, all over.  You've gained 5 lbs and 4.5" in the past year, compared to 6 lbs and 3.5" the previous year.  You're catching up to your older brother - only an inch and half or two to go!  You're a spunky, sweet boy with a great sense of humour, and you keep us laughing all the time.  You are finished with diapers, done with your soothie, you love to help out with work at home and you can't wait to go to school.  You've been trying to convince us that you were going to turn four on your birthday so you could go to school just like your big brother!  You won't be going to school quite yet, but you get to start attending Story Hour every week during Bible study season, and you've enjoyed your sneak peek into that for the last two weeks.  We love your wild, curly red hair and your bright blue eyes, and we are often impressed by your reasoning and knowledge - not much gets past you!  You are a very sweet boy with a tender and compassionate side.  You love animals, especially "Charlie", the fish you got for your birthday.  You talk often about being gentle with animals, and keeping them "comfany".  It makes you very sad if you think that someone/thing is lonely, and you become quite concerned that you need to be their friend!  If you have done something wrong, you are quick to apologize and promise that you won't do it again... and you are also the most likely of my kids to say "thank-you" for something.  I often hear comments from you about God, how He lives in your heart, how He has created everything around us, and how much you love Him because of what He has done for you through His son Jesus.  It is such a blessing to hear this from you, even at such a young age!  Another thing I must mention is that you've developed an impressive knack for pouting, with that lower lip sticking way out and a quick escalation to tears and, quite often, a claim of "but I don't have anything to [eat/play with/cuddle/draw with/etc]".  You can get pretty sad pretty quick!  We hope as you get older and mature a bit that these fits of emotional upheaval will calm down a bit, but in the meantime we do often get a bit of a chuckle (when you're not looking) over that lower lip of yours.  You love hugs and kisses, you love to sing with us and listen to music, and you can't get enough of reading books on our laps.  We look forward to another year of growth and blessing with you, Aaron!