What’s New: Holiday Cheer
I’m not sure who had more fun with our holiday celebrations this week: me, or Annabelle. I knew the holidays would be more exciting as she grew, but exciting hardly covers it. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves this week.
What’s New: Standing and Reaching
Annabelle wasn’t ready to walk again until Monday, more than a full week after her ankle injury. Although she became quite good at getting around by crawling again toward the end, this meant quite a lot of seated activity and being carried around, so she got pretty creative. At left, you can see her reaping the benefits of having a crafty grandma. Unable to walk, she joined her little people as they traveled through a massive forest of crocheted pinecones to arrive at the not so stately in comparison Christmas tree.
Now that she’s standing tall and feeling herself again, we’re busily preparing for the upcoming holidays. She has been a pretty passive participant in previous years, and I’m enjoying things even more than I ever imagined now that she’s eager to take an active role. I think we have finally settled on a way of celebrating that feels authentic for us, too, which makes things that much more enjoyable. More on that later, though.
One thing that has really struck me this week with Annabelle is her politeness. It’s hard to trust in the effectiveness of modeling vs. prompting sometimes, but she is a constant reminder to let go. Completely on her own, she has learned so much more than “please” and “thank you.” At dinner one night, the daddy offered her something or another, and she answered him with, “No, thank you, dad. I don’t want any of that, but thanks for offering!” She frequently says very specific thank yous, like, “Mom, thank you for giving me my yum-o, nutritious soup for dinner. That was really helpful.” If only I could adequately describe the intonation and the faces that accompany those things, too. She told me yesterday, “I’m a cup of cheer, mom!” and she could not have been more right. Continue reading
What’s New: Why are you happy?
At our town’s tree lighting on Friday. This was Annabelle’s first bonfire, and she was in awe!
Annabelle has officially reached the stage of constant questioning. “Mom, what would happen if…” is uttered countless times each day. She’s also turning outward, noticing, and taking an interest in people so much more, so the questions revolve around others often, too. Like a very small guru, she forces me to stop and think about my thoughts and feelings several times each day, “Mom, are you happy?” “Mom, are you upset?” “Why are you happy?” “Why are you upset?” It’s a reminder of how aware my children are of my moods, too – a huge responsibility.
This week, we finally got into the holiday spirit. I had been thrilled to learn some weeks ago that we would be able to pick up a tree from a nearby farm, just down the road at our local market. I jumped right on pre ordering one, completely underestimating what a bummer it would be to wait all the way until market day on December 8th to pick it up. I have always looked forward to putting the tree up Thanksgiving weekend, once everything is cleaned up from the festivities, and I am not a patient woman. Finally, on Saturday morning we picked the tree up – literally, as Andrew insisted it would be easier to carry it the half mile home on his shoulder than to put it on top of our car. Continue reading
What’s New: City Girl and Nature Boy
Whew! It has been a busy and exciting week, so much so that I’m just finding time to sit down and add the text to my weekly photo post after the children have gone to bed.We had a meeting to iron out the final details of our plan for the Children’s House and all of that has kept me busy, busy, busy in the most wonderful of ways. Speaking of the classroom plans, my order from Nienhuis arrived this afternoon and I am in awe. The beauty and perfection of these materials seriously takes my breath away, and no I do not have an affiliate relationship with them. I feel like I’ve been living a lie all these years, and like the rough and smooth boards in particular are at least ten times more amazing than I ever knew. I sort of want to set a classroom up in my house now, just so that I can sit among all of these beautiful things any time I want. Moving on.
Elliot started sitting up unsupported for a short while at a time this week, and he appears to be outrageously happy about it. When I put him on his back, he immediately turns over onto his stomach, then proceeds to fuss until someone comes to his aid because he strongly dislikes being on his stomach. When I sit him up, however, he smiles and plays with his toes … until he topples over. Having read up on RIE and found that it made a whole lot of sense, I had in mind to skip tummy time with Elliot in favor of plenty of uninterrupted time on his back, until he could turn himself over at will, at which point he’d have plenty of time to move freely before the day when he decided to sit up, and later to stand. He laughs at my plans, or rather screams to help me understand his. Just after I took the adorable photo to the left, he toppled over and Annabelle began rolling on the ground with laughter. She has asked me to put Elliot down so he can flop over every time we have gone outside since. Unlike our hard floors inside, the grass is a pretty alright place to “flop” over.
Continue reading
What’s New: Reacquainted with the Sunrise
There’s a wiggle and a whine, but in my sleepy state it doesn’t register at first. Another, and without opening my eyes, I respond with an offer to nurse. Denied. The wiggling continues, and the whining gets louder as I finally open one eye to check the time. Five am. Can it be? Awake already? I make my offer one last time, then shine a light on my sweet boy’s face to see that his eyes are indeed wide open. As he catches my eye, his whining turns to a giggle. I scoop him up and downstairs, quietly we creep. On the couch, we chat and play and, just like that, I realize that the early hours of the morning aren’t so bad after all. He stretches his legs while I read, I take him into the kitchen to make coffee with me, he finally settles in to nurse, and soon it’s naptime. I savor just a few quiet moments alone with my cup before hearing the sound of a door thrust open, and a voice at the top of the stairs calling cheerfully, “Mo-om, it’s morning!” Continue reading
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