"Lock" "Luck" "Lick"

A few days a week, Cecilia and I work on her reading. We use Teach Your Child How To Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann, Haddox, and Bruner.

She knows very well the sounds all the letters make and she is getting better at sounding out words. She also seemed to have memorized some words. For example, she spots the word "little" whenever it is there and she has no problem sounding out "and" or "sand" or many other small words. One thing that did help a little in trying to put the sounds together was slowly singing them.

At the same time, sometimes she comes across words that, even though she can sound out every letter perfectly, she simply cannot put together and then she begins guessing and I hear letters that aren't even on the page. She gets "lock" and "lick" with no problem but asking her to read "luck" is pure penance. I get every word except "luck." It can get a little frustrating. So I eventually have to tell her what it is and then we go over it and over it and over it. She is getting better, so I think the repetition is helping but for some words, it is slow-going.

Of course she can always spot the word "play."

We don't just use this book though. We always finish by reading some Biscuit books by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. We have almost all of them and almost all of them are "My First Reader" books. Of course some words like "come" and "time" I have to help her with, but Cecilia reads the majority of each book and she loves them. She gets to read a cute story with sweet pictures about a cute puppy. I confess I'm biased as I used to have a Golden Retriever named Biscuit (before I even knew of the books) but it makes learning to read not just a text book (which, let's face it, it shouldn't be) and it makes it more fun when she can see how reading opens books to her and how she can use what she is learning.

She is making progress but what is really wonderful is that when we sit down to "do schoolwork" she begs to do it. She loves to do it. She asks to do it. I admit when she asks on a Sunday morning, I inform her that it is mommy's day off, but otherwise we pull out the books and spend 20-30 minutes practicing reading per her request. Once she is tired of it, we stop.

She isn't there yet, but at least she is enjoying the journey.

Little White Bumps

Elizabeth has been a little grouchy and a little attention-needy lately. I hadn't thought a whole lot about it, but she has been demanding I hold her more than she had been.

Yesterday evening I was trying to keep Elizabeth away from a puzzle Felicity was doing. Elizabeth like to try to help by picking up the pieces and throwing them at the puzzle. So I distracted her by tickling her extensively.

While she was laughing hysterically, I caught a glimpse of bright white bumps on her gums. I tickled her again to get a better look and behold there were 4 first molars recently broken through. She seems to have skipped her canines for the moment and gone straight for the grinders. Considering she is getting 4 large teeth all at the same time, she has been handling it very well but that clearly accounts for her additional comfort needs of late.

Self Potty Training! Or Not.

A few days ago Felicity, completely on her own, said she wanted to wear underwear. I had some in her size and got one on for her. She was so excited she ran around showing off her underwear. Cecilia told her how proud she was and gave her a big hug. She has been ecstatic to wear underwear ever since.

However, ....

She hasn't really managed to wear the underwear without an accident. She does tell us when she is "leaking" and she tries to stop it, but I really don't think she is ready for the underwear yet. On the other hand, I really don't want to discourage her. She wants so much to wear underwear like her big sister but, after days of accidents, she still struggles.

I really appreciate her motivation and excitement about becoming a full-fledged potty-user, but I also can't have accidents half a dozen times a day all over the place. So, I have gently urged her back into the pull-ups and just told her we need to practice keeping the pull-up dry and once she can do that we will go back to underwear. She took it well but I do think she was a little disappointed. I'm hoping though, over time and with practice, it will help motivate her to become more familiar with what her body is doing when and maybe next time we pull out the underwear, they will stay dry.

Taking Back My Own Mind

Recently, Amy Welborn Dubruiel posted about what it means to be an introvert. (Hat tip to Melanie Bettinelli via Facebook.) Amy said

To be an introvert can mean any variety of solitude-seeking qualities, but in current pop-psychology (and perhaps real psychology) terms, it has most of all to do with your source of mental and emotional energy.  An extrovert’s energy comes from being around and interacting with others.   An introvert gets recharged by being alone.

I have always considered myself to be an introvert, but I hadn't put together the connection between that desire for solitude and a person's source of mental and emotional energy. I had never connected the need for solitude and my need for peace of mind, serenity, and, indeed, energy. I had just thought of it as a matter of preference and comfort. 


My husband, I remember before we were married, would always ask me what I was thinking because he knew I was always thinking about something. He would even tease me about it. I was always meditating or reflecting on something or other. 


Then I had children. 


And my opportunities for quiet personal reflection and meditation dwindled. Significantly. Almost completely. I couldn't get through reading a chapter or resting 10 minutes without requests for help with socks, or more water, or needing to change a tushie, or something. Always something. And that is simply the nature of small children.

But for over two years now, I've felt somehow drained. I've felt stretched and thin, like butter scraped across too much bread. (Lord of the Rings just came to mind.) I tried to find something non-exertive for myself to get some rest even during the day while the girls were awake. From Farmville to Kakuru to Facebook ... something that gave me a "break" without requiring much effort on my part. But I still felt drained. They are fun but do not meet my need to recharge.

So I was particularly interested when I read Amy's reflection on the needs of the introvert for alone time to recharge. I don't get much if any "alone" time. Most of my showers don't even fall in the "alone time" category. Felicity doesn't even usually nap anymore, and my girls like to get up at the crack of dawn. So from 6am until 7:30pm, I always have at least one, occasionally two and usually three little girls to look after.

And while they do sometimes play on their own or with each other, Cecilia is about as extrovert as a child can get and wants attention from as many people as possible as often as possible. People with whom to interact make her happy, make her feel alive. And she has the energy for it. Anyone who is at our house is there, as far as she is concerned, to play with her and she will give them a workout. Seriously, if you need exercise or want to exhaust your kids, come on over. She will keep them hopping, running, crawling, skipping, bouncing, building, destroying, dragging, pushing, pulling, jumping, chasing, following, and any other ing you can think of until she is red in the face and they can cancel their membership at the gym or are ready for bed. So it is difficult for her four-year-old interaction-craving nature to understand why I want to just sit and read or rest and think.

Certainly, there is some time after the girls are in bed, but, especially while I am pregnant, I can be too tired by then to exercise my brain much. Certainly my brain isn't devoid of all thought, but I know I used to think a heck of a lot more than I do now. So I am wondering if, for my own sanity and the recovering of my own mind, I should make some time each day when I simply tell Cecilia that it is "Mommy's Quiet Time" and insist she play on her own. Of course, with small children the only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability, so it won't be perfect, but maybe having a structured "Mommy Time" might help me recharge.

Do you have structured "Mommy time?" How do your kids (and husband) handle it?

Feeling Their Absence

I'm in the midst of morning sickness for baby #4. So I, expectedly, look forward to "quiet rest time" each afternoon when Elizabeth takes her glorious more-than-2-hour nap and Cecilia and Felicity rest quietly. I have been making a point of taking advantage of the opportunity to rest myself and enjoy the quiet-er environment.

About an hour or so into out quiet time, I felt like something was missing. Cecilia and Felicity were sitting quietly, but I missed Elizabeth. Even though she needed her nap and I needed that break, I missed her and I felt her absence.

It made me think to before we had Elizabeth. We still had two little girls, but we didn't know she was missing then. And this time next year, who will be that new little person who we don't know yet but who will fit so perfectly into our family and our lives that I will miss him or her then that little bundle is sleeping?

It made me think about all those women who abort their children. All those children who had a place to fill and never will. How can you explain to those women that they have lost a part of themselves even if they don't realize it. Sometimes you just can't know how much you would miss someone until you give them that chance to come into your life. Who in your life are you so thankful that you have and wouldn't choose your life to be without them if you could? Suppose you had never opened the door to them? How can these women begin to understand that what they are missing? You cannot know unless you trust and give life a chance.

Then, and only then, does God fill your life with people whom you never could imagine living without.

Can't Say She's Wrong.

James explained to Cecilia and Felicity how we get Maple Syrup from a tree. He then asked them where we get honey from.

As Cecilia gave a loud, "Bees!" Felicity gave her loud, "Winnie the Pooh!"

A Very Little Someone....

The day the lights went out in Maryland.....

that is, when James was in Italy.....

I learned a little something....

A very little someone....

Was on the way.

The girls are very excited about the new baby though they sometimes forget to be careful of "Mommy's tummy."

Morning sickness is in full swing, surprise, surprise, but! BLT sandwiches have hit the spot every time. I do have to make extra bacon every time to keep Felicity from stealing the pieces off my sandwich, but it is fabulous to have something I can always eat. And not something as mercilessly unhealthy as Twinkies or something.

When I ask Cecilia if she wants a baby brother or another baby sister she says, "It could be a boy or a girl." So it seems she is open to either possibility, but she has said she "likes the girls." Felicity is also rooting for a girl. I think Elizabeth is fairly neutral.

Our little one is not easy to see yet but he or she had a strong heartbeat of 150 beats per minute. All is looking well and we will be joyfully anticipating meeting our newest family member.