The Days Are Long...

But, the years are so very short!

It's official.

I am the mother of a kindergartner.  I have a kid who is school-aged.  What?!  It's especially jarring because I don't feel a day over 22.  Too bad my driver's license begs to differ!

Tiny Greek Goddess ISD is officially in session as of last Monday.  Cora was so very excited for school that I really don't think I could have held her off any longer.  So, we jumped in.

When John and I were trying to first figure out this whole home school business, I got together with some friends from church who were part of a program called Classical Conversations.  I wasn't necessarily interested in the program at the time, but more so, just wanted to get some information about what homeschooling looks like.  However, after hearing my friend's 6 year old daughter tell me the history of the world from Creation to present day, I was sold on the program and the philosophy behind it.  It is a lot of memorization during the first few years, but it is carefully designed to give families the opportunity to learn and grow together.  I honestly think that I may learn as much or more than Cora.

We started our first day with a special breakfast.  I likened it to "Muffins with Mom."

Coincidentally, it was also "Meet the Teacher" and "School Supply Drop Off."  (Notice Carys' 'cheese' face! Silly little pickle!)

I decided to fashion our school day in a similar fashion to the schedule I read about in the Foundations guide for this program.  This means, that on an ideal day, we will have some devotional time, then periods of work followed by activity breaks.  During each work period, Cora will first work on her skills independently before we will work together on any new skills or activities for the day.  I love the idea that she should learn to not have to rely on me (or any other teacher) to begin learning.  In each subject area, she is able to begin the learning process on her own.  Fortunately for me, Cora has easily adapted to this format.  Though she sometimes resists the independent work, she knows that she works for the allotted time, but then gets a break.  On most days, we have finished our tasks by noon.

Today was our first day of Classical Conversations.

(Notice two 'cheese' faces! Crazy girls!)

In this program, we meet once a week in a group setting with a tutor.  On our CC day, we work on new memory work, present an informal presentation and also do a fine arts activity and science experiment. This is the basis for the memory work that Cora and I will practice for the next week.

Cora and Carys were both excited to wear new dresses - who doesn't feel special in a brand new 'first day of school' outfit - and to carry their backpacks.  It was a bit of a frenetic day for Cora who is accustomed to a more leisurely pace, but it was fun for her to learn the material and to socialize with some new friends.  I know her stamina will increase the more we participate in the program.  But, the nice thing is that if it doesn't, we can come home at 1 and take a nice long nap - a luxury that wouldn't be afforded to her at our neighborhood school.

The bottom line is that as of two weeks in, I am feeling more and more confident in our decision to home school.  I know not every week/day/hour of this adventure is going to be sunshine and butterflies, but it's nice to see Cora adjust well to this new educational process.  To be continued...

Stats

The little mister had his four month appointment last week.  All you mamas out there know what this means...shots!  And, because this is just the way the cookie crumbles, our pediatrician's office was out of the combo vaccines.  The little mister endured 4 rather than 2 shots, plus the oh-so delicious rotavirus concoction.  He was a bit peeved at me for about a second.  But, he refuses to stay mad at me for long.  This boy loves his mama! (She pretty much is head over heals for him, too!)

That being said, I was not surprised at all to find out that he weighs 15 lbs, 2 oz.  Let's review the girls at 4 months.  Carys weighed 13 lbs, 6 oz; Cora weighed a whopping 9 lbs, 9 oz.  My biceps definitely could testify that he is the biggest of my babies.  Surprisingly to me, this only placed him at the 40th percentile.   Ironically, being 24.25 inches tall, places him in the 12th percentile for height.  To make all this percentile talk even more funny, his head circumference is 17.05 inches or 88th percentile.  In other words, his head circumference is almost equal to 75% of his length! He definitely has his daddy's head.  Let's hope he has his daddy's brains, too!

In other news, I am continually being reminded that just because you have three kiddos doesn't mean you know everything about children.  The little mister has been drooling and gumming things for about a month now.  Everyone has been asking me if he's teething to which I responded, "Naw!" or something equally as eloquent.  Well, shut my mouth!  Guess who cut a tooth last week?  Yup! And, he's rewarding my incredulity by reminding me that there's a tiny little dagger in his mouth at every feeding.  Youch!  Makes me tempted to get little mister a steak to chomp on.  I'm fairly certain he would not refuse it.  Needless to say, we are thrilled with our strapping young man!

Four

I blinked, and you're four months old, little man!  What's happening with you now?

You are in an excellent and predictable day time schedule.  You wake up some time between 7 and 8.  You're up for a couple of hours, and then you go down for a 2 hour nap.  Then, you're up for another couple of hours before your 2 to 3 hour nap.  After that you're up for the evening.  You will usually go to bed around 8 pm.

Your nights, well, let's just say you're a bit unpredictable.  Sometimes you get a nice 6 hour stretch in.  You'll wake once to eat and then sleep through until day time.  But, sometimes, you prefer to seek my company more often at night.  Last night, I had the, ahem, pleasure of your company 4 times.  Perhaps this is your '4 month sleep regression' or perhaps you're just lonely.  Either way, we'll just ride it out; I have confidence that you will become an excellent sleeper like your big sisters.

You remain one of the most social babies I've ever encountered.  You do not need much encouragement to chatter with someone.  Often, as soon as someone glances your way, you will begin to coo and giggle.  Once while skyping with Daddy, you chirped and immediately giggled at some private joke you had made.  You did this several times in a row.  It was wonderfully precious and adorable.

Physically, you are a very strong little guy.  You don't require any encouragement to practice your squats.  If someone supports you under your arms, you will gladly use your strong leg muscles to bounce up and down, up and down.  If it weren't for your terrible (wink) lack of balance, you would be standing on your own.  You certainly have the strength for it.

During tummy time, you are very good at holding your head up high.  You can also roll from tummy to back, but not yet from back to tummy.  You get one poor arm lodged under you like a kick stand and get pretty well stuck.  However, you do get those legs going under you like you want to crawl.  If you had stronger arms and better trunk control, I fear you'd be mobile.

You are almost to the point of being able to grasp a toy.  Though you haven't quite mastered opening and closing your hand around an object, you are an expert at sticking your hands in your mouth.  You love to chomp on your fingers.  We thought for a little while that you might be a thumb sucker, but we haven't seen you single out your thumb as of late.  Now you prefer your entire fist.  I don't think you're teething, but also would not be surprised if I found a pearly white poking through soon.

Your eyes remain blue, but if I'm not mistaken, they have taken a slightly green tinge.  I am anxious to see what color they will become.  Your hair is a very pale strawberry blonde.  Seems like Sissy's hair was also this color as a wee babe.  I wonder if it will change as you grow up.

You continue to be our sweet and precious little man.  We are thankful for you every day!

Camp Mema

About a week or two ago, we headed on down to my parents house for a little family reunion of sorts. Scott and Celeste were coming down with my sweet nieces, and Pa and Gamma were going to come up for the day that Saturday.  This was their first opportunity to meet the little mister.  Pa had a special surprise for the little man - his first cap.  Naturally, it is a cap from the local cotton gin.  I love it!

Here is Farmer Jack in his overalls and cap.

Forgive the quality; I took this picture with my webcam.  But, yes; you're right.  With all that precious cuteness, it IS a wonder that I get anything done.  Thanks for noticing.  

Anyway, that little weekend getaway had another purpose, too.  It was the kick-off weekend for Camp Mema/Gulag P-pa.  On Sunday, John and I left the big girls at my parents house for an entire week.  Now, what's that word I'm thinking of?  That word that describes how it feels to only have one kiddo at the house for 5 days?  Oh yeah, a.w.e.s.o.m.e!  It feels awesome!  I remember the first time I let Cora go to the grandparents for a couple of days.  I cried.  Then, I let both the girls go overnight for the first time about a year ago.  I cried again.  But the next morning, I slept in.  Sweet mercy, it was heavenly.  

As you can imagine, I was looking forward to those 5 days.  The girls were pretty pumped as well.  The plans for Camp Mema sounded pretty outstanding.  It was impressively planned and coordinated and for good reason!  4 kids ranging from age 8 down to 2 1/2 will keep you on your toes.  Gulag P-pa was a little more tongue in cheek.  Where Camp Mema would have water day involving playing in the pool, water day at Gulag P-pa involved water boarding.  As he said, it's "all the fun with only a fraction of the water."  The facebook posts were pretty entertaining as written through the eyes of the Gulag Commandant .  Some of the mayhem included the following:

"Cora K. did a magic trick and made Mema disappear. Now, no one can find her. The panic is setting in. We’ll starve to death. Finally, Hannah L. found her, cowering in fear behind a bedroom door. What have we gotten into?

The inmates are thinking the same thing. Hannah L. said to Cora, “Don’t make Mema disappear again or we’ll all go to Gulag P-Pa. I have a plan to overthrow the condamant.” (Her pronunciation)"

and

"Gulag P-Pa, Day 4: The terror continues. Condamant P-Pa awoke at 5 a.m. Carys K. was standing by his bed, blanky in hand, apparently planning to smother him. He asked what was wrong. “Can’t find Dita,” she said. Nice recovery! “Dita” is short for “Perdita,” a stuffed Dalmatian from the Disney movie. The Condamant got up with flashlight and slipped among the other three sleeping inmates, finally spotting a Dalmatian on the floor. “There’s Dita,” he said. “No, that’s Pongo,” she replied indignantly. One stuffed Dalmatian looks like another to Condamant P-Pa. Eventually, the Condamant found the actual Dita under the covers on Carys K.’s bed, making him suspicious of The Mischief Maker’s true motives."

Meanwhile, I was at home doing pretty much whatever I wanted, including sleeping in to an hour of the morning that seems positively sinful when you have small children.  Heaven!  I also managed to be a bit productive.  I got the girls closet cleaned out and organized.  I sorted and stored toys.  And, I got the house cleaned.  The best part about that last statement is that it stayed clean...all week...I had forgotten what that's like.  What's that word again?  Yup, it, too is AWESOME!

Nevertheless, I was excited to see my girls again that Friday.  Scott and Celeste so kindly offered to bring them back since they would be passing through anyway.  It was pure bliss hearing my sweet Cora yell out "MOMMY!" when she saw me. Carys was a little more subtle with her affections although she did insist on sitting in my lap and cuddling throughout most of lunch.   All four of the cousins were nice and tired out after their week.  The early bedtime for the girls made for an easier transition back to reality.  Sure enough, the next day, my world was back to normal - teetering on the edge of controlled chaos.  We're looking forward to Camp Mema 2014!