Update: Seanin and Rhema

Our babies are changing so fast these days! I'm overwhelmed by a flood of adorability...

SEANIN:
This is one cute, chunky li'l dude. We aren't sure where the bulk comes from, since it seems he barely eats enough molecules to fuel his happy self, but the boy is a tank, especially compared to Rhema the Lightweight. He really wants to wear underpants and is agreeable about going potty, even telling me he needs to go #1, but so far we have had only a couple of random poo successes. He will wear any underwear he can find, so I had to hide Lucan and Zaden's briefs to emphasize to Seanin that until he poos in the potty, undies are off limits! (I cleaned up quite enough poo messes in his bedroom already, thankyouverymuch, so while in theory it might work to put him in big-boy underwear, I refuse until he produces consistently IN the potty.) He is independent enough that I hope this training phase will be over sooner rather than later! He prefers to dress himself, providing us with endless amusement at his fashion choices, and since he changes clothes multiple times a day, we are often treated to a variety of looks.

Seanin loves coloring at the table while I do schoolwork with Lucan (and sometimes Zaden), although he often patters away to find his big brothers Tobin and Arden, distracting the big boys by wanting them to play with him (they usually oblige willingly). He thrives on attention (no surprise there) and is well on his way to earning his Spoiled Youngest Brother stripes. He feels things deeply--crocodile-tears deeply--and he isn't terribly discriminatory about who holds and comforts/cuddles him. As his mama, it's both gratifying and a bit smothering that one of his phrases when he is feeling distressed is, "Mommy, I need you! Sob, sob!" His verbal skills have exploded recently. I wish I could capture all of the fun little phrases and pronunciations of this phase. One that is unique to him is running words together when he is asking for something. I believe he tries to say, "Oh, could I please ____," but it comes out, "Oh-ki-pease ____."

He sucks his thumb when he's tired and asks to be put down for his nap every day after lunch. (We seriously hit the Nap Jackpot with this child.) Once laid in his crib, he pops his thumb in his mouth and strokes the silky tag on the snap-on crib sheet. Then he has to have about 19 blankets piled on him, tells the person putting him down (usually me but sometimes Charis) "I love you," and all is quiet for 3 hours. (Thank you, God!! You knew I'd need that bit of a sanity saver!)

RHEMA:
Having hit 9 months now, our petitey-sweetie is a bit over 16 pounds, 27 inches. She started crawling almost a month ago, so we are having to be extra cautious now. I've slowly worked her into playpen time; she was a screaming mess the first few times I left her in her room in the playpen with toys, but now she fusses a minute or so after I close the door, then settles in and plays happily usually at least half an hour, which is enough time to get some table work done with Lucan and maybe Kenna. Then we (the youngest 5 plus myself) go up to the attic play room, move the trunk so that it blocks the stairs, verify there are no little anythings she could choke on, and do our core reading while Rhema and Seanin play. It's a routine that has worked fairly well, allowing me to keep an eye on her in a safe place. The only problem is when Zaden and Seanin fight over toys. Sigh.

We are finally in a more or less predictable routine with Rhema. Her sleeping-through-the-night skills have been hit and miss. It seemed she was finally getting to a consistent pattern when she learned to sit herself up...ever after that, she would wake, sit up, and cry, cry, cry until I nursed her and put her back to sleep. She simply WOULD NOT lie back down on her own. I don't even want to say it out loud, but the last 5 nights she has slept until the 4-5am time frame, and after nursing she sleeps another 3-4 hours. Since Ted's alarm goes off at 5, this has actually felt like sleeping through the night for us!! I can only hope and pray that this will be consistent! During the day she is awake about 2.5-3 hours, then naps maybe 1.5-2 hours. So I can count on a good morning nap and a good afternoon nap...unfortunately, at this time, that afternoon nap doesn't really overlap Seanin's nap much if any. Similar to Seanin's sucking his thumb when he's tired, Rhema has started sucking the first two fingers on her right hand when she's ready to sleep!

Rhema is eating well and seems to be enjoying new finger food opportunities (latest favorite: Daddy's pancakes). She moves her hands constantly, and it cracks us up how she uses her first two fingers to rake her food toward her. (Ted calls it "Grabby Sloth" fingers!) Her whole little self bursts with joy when a family member gives her attention; her legs kick, kick, kick, and her whole face lights up. Kenna especially loves to carry her around and hold her and also enjoys spoon-feeding her, which is a huge help. (It so reminds me of Charis with baby Lucan!) But there is no lack of willing volunteers when she wakes from her nap and I ask someone to go get her for me!

Update: Kenna, Lucan, Zaden

KENNA:
We had an ice-skating birthday party for Kenna at the end of February when she turned 9, a fun celebration with friends and cousins. While many remark about how much Kenna looks like Charis did at this age, their personalities are very different. Kenna is definitely a girly tomboy: you are likely to find her outside digging up and collecting worms for her dirt-filled birdhouse container, with toenail polish on the nails of her muddy feet. She loves to dress up but hates to shower (although a good long soak in the tub is always a treat). She plays hard and works capably, although her bedroom is more likely to be a disaster zone than to reflect the organizational skills of her big sister. She loves, loves, LOVES to read, and it doesn't bother her in the least to do schoolwork "later" when she'd rather finish the current book in her hands. Her math skills are coming along nicely after some struggles, and while she knows/feels she is "behind" (finishing up the Beta book instead of Gamma this year), she works steadily and is understanding the concepts well. Her sloppy handwriting is something she has a desire to change, so she is working more in earnest on learning cursive and practicing on various pieces of scrap paper. While the language arts writing assignments have never been her favorite, she has discovered that typing out a creative story can actually be fun...so last week's assignment is still a work in progress as she adds a little each day to her Story Starter. Kenna is a social being, thriving when she gets to play with friends or attend anything remotely social. She loves her siblings fiercely and carries Rhema around like a pro. Her current career choice is to be a missionary in Fiji...and I wouldn't put it past her to make that happen!

LUCAN:
Having received a number of art supplies for his recent 7th birthday (celebrated fireman style!), Lucan describes himself very seriously as an ARTIST. Some days it is an effort to pry him from the table and convince him that he really would enjoy going outside to run around! He has always loved working on his own little projects at the table by himself (yet with a constant stream of chatter about what he is creating to anyone who will even pretend to listen), and since he is not a typical rough-and-tumble boy, he usually responds to my requests for outside play time with reluctance...until he comes up with a creative play scenario that has him narrating his actions and traversing the yard in his own neverland. He and Zaden are--usually--best buddies in these scenarios. Lucan is very passionate about Jesus and wants to tell others about God's love for us. Almost every day he says something that reflects his tender heart, whether talking about being a missionary or praying for our sponsored kids in Africa. His prayers are wide-sweeping as he asks the Lord for there to be no more fighting or wars (before playing good-guys-fighting-bad-guys, lol). This post I left on Facebook awhile ago still makes me laugh:

Lucan has been showing such a tender heart to share the good news of salvation through Jesus with others. This sweetness does, however, end in a good giggle at times, as this conversation shows...you'll have to imagine my responses for brevity's sake.

"Mommy, when I grow up, I want to tell people in South America about Jesus. When I am 19, I will tell people in Peru. After I walk to all the cities, then I will go to Brazil. I will be 20 then. And then I will go to Argentina. I think I will be 24 then. And then I will tell people in Chile about Jesus when I am 25."

After listening to Lucan tell about his planned route, I ask him if he will learn Spanish.

"Spanish?!"

"Yes. Most people in South America speak Spanish. And most people in Brazil speak Portuguese."

Pause. "Um, never mind."

Quiet...

"Mommy, do people in Canada speak English?"

ZADEN:
While he loves to run around with his siblings and friends, Zaden is still a cuddler and usually prefers to sit on Ted's or my lap in church instead of joining the kids when they leave for their class. Though we are trying to remind him that sucking his thumb means it's (nap) bedtime, he still pops his thumb in his mouth when he's tired or feeling shy. I'm trying not to make a huge deal out of it; simply making him aware that big boys don't suck their thumbs (and if he's sucking his thumb, then it clearly means he needs a nap!) seems at least a step in the right direction. I'm enjoying this last year of not having to do much of anything "school-ish" with Zaden, although he sometimes REALLY wants to work on some kind of workbook, anything to make him feel like he's doing school also. We are lazily learning to write letters and finishing up random workbooks when we feel like it, and he sometimes listens in on Kenna's reading and almost always listens in on Lucan's reading. He is an AWANA Cubbies graduate now--hard to believe he will be a Sparkie next year! He is a passionate little boy, and by "passionate" I mean "still prone to insanely ridiculous temper tantrums." (He had a meltdown Sunday morning because Ted gave him the plate he asked for. Sigh.) He is also an excellent tattle-tale, which may or may not be helpful, depending on which sibling he feels the need to report about. I am trying to capitalize on his desire to help in the kitchen, even though having one little helper usually means I end up with 4 or 6 extra hands to keep gainfully occupied.  As cute as he is, Zaden probably often feels overlooked, with two cute baby sibs that need a lot of supervision and all his older sibs engaged in schoolwork that Mom needs to oversee. There are times when lesson plans need to rest awhile so I can snuggle and read with my thumb-sucking boy!

Update: Charis, Tobin, and Arden

I might as well face the fact that I will never be "caught up" or "on top of" ANYthing. Sigh. So, before things change yet again, here is a screen shot of life around here these days with our older set...

CHARIS

As we head into the final stretch of her sophomore year, Charis is taking on more and more responsibility both inside and outside the home. Beginning today she will babysit a little boy (one month younger than Rhema) one day a week for additional income. I'm sure she will actually find it easier to get her schoolwork done in a house with only one child, ha! Her biology co-op class has a few more sessions, and while it's not her favorite subject, she is totally rocking it. She's determined to "catch up" to where she thinks she needs to be with math, so she just started her Math-U-See Geometry book and hopes to do both that and Algebra II before 2016 finishes. She is about 3/4 of the way through Sonlight's American History core and is also doing an elective, "Understanding the Times." Her piano and violin skills are growing by leaps and bounds--what a difference a wonderful teacher can make! Charis is already gearing up for a busy summer with various camps, a missions trip, and teaching 5-day clubs. While she is already a huge help to our big family, caring for littles when needed (I try not to overload her!) and helping with meal prep, she looks forward to the day when she can help out by driving herself various places! I'm sure October will be here before we know it and I'll be watching her drive away...

TOBIN

Yesterday was Tobin's 14th birthday! It was a bacon-y sort of day...a middle-of-the-week birthday can be difficult to make special, especially when one's baby brother is sick with a raging fever, but we did our best to accommodate his food requests! Bacon and eggs for breakfast, BLTs on homemade bread for lunch, lasagna for dinner (store bought! I have a limit!!), and bacon-grease-drizzled popcorn for after-youth-group snack. The boy loves bacon! He also loves to stand as close as he can, grinning at how close he is getting to me in height. Since schoolwork doesn't seem to take him nearly as long as I might hope, he is on a quest to finish this book list on his own...yes, even the preschool selections (which I sometimes hear him reading to his little sibs). He continues to enjoy time on the online Khan Academy modules--I ask him (and Arden) to spend any morning Khan time on math, science, history, and/or art, while the afternoon is reserved for computer programming/tweaking. He continues to be involved in Boy Scouts and hopes to earn enough money to return to Camp Cedars. Along with Arden and Charis, he has applied to attend the Christian Youth in Action training camp in June with a commitment to teach four five-day clubs throughout the summer. While moving has never been easy on our boy, he has found his stride and enjoys our church and youth group activities with new friends.

ARDEN

Arden graciously allowed Tobin to move into his bedroom during a room overhaul, and though there was some good-natured groaning about giving up their private bedrooms, I honestly think the two are delighted to be back together. (Mom and Dad aren't too sure about that, since their room is across the hall from ours and we hear them much later at night than we want!) While the two brothers are often inseparable, they are each unique in personality even if they share a boatload of common interests, including Legos, library books, and lounging. Arden often wanders into the kitchen to ask what he can do to help, and one of the best ways he helps without even asking is simply playing with or reading to the younger boys, who adore playing with him. He loves eating and is so enthusiastic about my efforts! It's a delight to see him grin when he sees what's headed to the table for dinner, gasping, "Oh, thanks, Mom! This looks delicious!" As the weather turns nicer, he and Tobin have the opportunity to earn some money from our across-the-street neighbor who has asked them to mow her lawn. Arden took the first turn last week, braving the wind and taking Lucan and Zaden along to help pick up sticks. (The little boys are trying to earn money for more Legos! Lucan got the bug after getting some "real" Lego sets for his recent birthday!)

I'm so grateful to have these three amazing kids! As I still deal with potty training and nursing a baby at night, it's a blessing to be able to have mature conversations with Charis, Tobin, and Arden. And their sense of humor is also a blessing! I love how they can make me laugh! They all have tender hearts for the Lord and a love for the people He places in their lives. What a privilege and delight to watch them blossoming.