Well, the kids are growing up. I guess that's just the way it works!! It's so hard to believe that Ashton will be five in less than a month. He is such a big boy! He is doing great with his reading. We started a few weeks ago and he is already reading some 3 letter words and is really getting the hang of sounding them out.
Landon is getting so big. He's only 4 lbs. less than Ashton! His big accomplishment has been that he quit sucking his thumb. Hooray!!! Dan promised that he could go on the roof and throw oatmeal at his brothers if he quit. Well, that was the right bribe, because his brothers constantly reminded him to get that thumb out of his mouth. That encouragement along with our taping his hands at bedtime led to a pretty quick end to that habit! I will have to post pics later of the oatmeal throwing. It was hilarious.
Thea is a big girl, too. She is such a joy. That little girl constantly keeps us laughing...and she has daddy wrapped around her little finger...really tight! She was weaned last month and the transition was so smooth. For a couple of nights she would cry and ask in sign language to nurse, but after that she's been fine. I'll rock her to sleep and she'll say "ni-ni" and get all excited to get in her bed. She just loves books now and loves for me to put a stack of board books in her crib for her to read before she falls asleep.
Quintin has been cooking! After a lesson on how to use the bread maker, he can now make our breakfast "oatmeal/cranberry" loaf. He also has made the cornbread muffins for dinner recently. I still put them in the oven and take them out, but it's soooo nice to have some help in the kitchen. The little boys have also been helping me there. Ashton will toast the bread and Landon will help me put the eggs in to boil (before I've put the water on the stove of course).
I'm starting to really try to get them to be helpers so that when the new baby comes they can help out! My big concerns are laundry, cooking and cleaning. Q can do laundry, but he will be at school. Ashton did a great job sorting the laundry for me today and if I put it in a certain basket he can even get it down to the laundry room. Dan may have to help me with that one.
I plan to have about 30 freezer meals ready by the time baby comes, which will really help out with cooking. I will probably make them big enough to last for lunch the next day, too.
Cleaning...hmm...maybe the house will just be dirty for awhile. It about kills me to vacuum now and I'm only 6.5 months preggy! Maybe I will teach Ashton how to wipe down the bathrooms so that they will at least be somewhat clean. All the kids are pretty good about helping me to pick up toys and they take care of their own rooms. I also hope to do some decluttering and pack things away that we're not using to help with the pick up process.
I have also started using some Montessori activities with the boys at home. It's a very organized method which teaches the children to do things for themselves, clean up after themselves and respect others. Everything has it's place and the children learn that. I love to see them playing independently and quietly.
That's about it for now. Pics of oatmeal throwing to come later...
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