Twenty Two Months

 This busy little boy is 22 months old.  He makes us laugh so much.  Right now he says "Merry Christmas trees".  His favorite things include salad tongs, flashlights, drills and magnets.  One just has to wonder what is going on inside his little mind.  He loves pickles, bologna, yogurt, bananas and whipped cream. He does not like being cold or sitting still.  He goes to sleep with "kitty" and holding 2 pacifiers (not to suck on, just to hold, mind you).  He loves reading books. He is fascinated by smells and after having a skunk spray in our yard he remarks "stinks like skunk" whenever he smells something he doesn't like.  Recently he's been enjoying cooking with mama but not as much as he enjoys helping Papa with tools and repairs. He is growing up so much and yet still happily cuddles up like a baby.  He is in size 24 month clothing and size 7 shoes.  His hair grows very fast and is still quite blond.  His favorite song now is Jesus loves me and he requests it at night "how aboup Jesus?" Indeed little man!!! Here's to just a little bit more of being one year old.  

Catching up

Our Autumn was full and overflowing with busy and good days. We had trio and ballet rehearsals, dressing up, hikes with friends, science experiments, painting and lots of canning of applesauce.  We've been meeting for nature journaling with friends and making candles and salves as we prepare to hibernate for the winter.  We also had to say goodbye to our beloved kitty Maggie (Marguerite) after an illness and we miss her terribly. Now we begin to prepare for Advent and quiet our hearts as we gravitate to sit by the warm fire and drink tea.  

 

Twenty One Months

This little monkey boy is flying his way towards being a two year old. But I love doing his monthly photos still because he is changing so much and I want to remember every little and sweet detail.  Here are things I want to remember:  Levi loves his "sleepers" (slippers) and wears them on top of his footy jammies.  He despises being cold but loves his tubby time and snuggly blankets and stories. He loves reading books with sisters at night and has a few favorite books such as "Little Blue Truck" and "Apple Pear Bear".  Levi is learning to sleep but still much prefers to be held during naps. Levi loves to fix things, especially with Lena's electric toothbrush. He finds screws and tries to be like Papa with his drill.  He loves things that make noises and is so happy when Papa brings in wood for the stove with his "tractor wagon" (wheelbarrow).  Trains are becoming increasingly interesting. Levi loves running laps around the house dancing to fiddle music with his drum.  He still struggles with his airway and a cold can knock him out for weeks, especially at night. But he is healing and growing and for that we praise God.  One of the silliest moments I've come across recently is Levi learning ballet moves from three big sisters. They think he will be a good Nutcracker someday.  As you can see below, Levi was born an old man baby.  He has a Winston Churchill expression. He loves to cook and taste and has discovered "Babypops" (Lollipops) which he tried for the first time when he had a sore throat. He knows his colors and has strong opinions about things. He also started making jokes, especially at bedtime.  How we love him.

 

Twenty Months

Levi is 20 month and is getting shockingly close to being a two year old!  This little boy is keeping us on our toes with near constant conversations and his pure delight in tractors, trucks and anything that goes.  He had his first haircut and is busy as a beaver taking things out of drawers, digging and hammering, scooping and running.  We lost Maggie our kitty last week and he has been searching for "Baggie" and though he isn't gentle yet, he loves well. His little personhood is emerging and he is the dearest mix of daredevil and tender soul. At bedtime he likes to list things he notices: "it's dark", "I see moon", "now a song" and then just for good laughs he makes a joke "Humpty Dumpty is stinky"!  This boy! He understands so much. He is delighted with the crunching leaves, with identifying colors, with tasting things like an acai bowl and whipped cream and with the sound of Papa's truck.  He is growing tall but is still my baby.  

 

Our Little Woman is Twelve

Emmeline, our darling little woman, is turning twelve.  She is our book girl through and through and is stout hearted and courageous. She is tender and gentle and was born an old soul.  She has a poet's heart and loves her music and painting. She has a wild imagination and can write stories like no other.  At the same time she is quite down to earth and can keep the home going when needed. She loves adventures and explorations, gardening, archery, biking, boating and quiet time to create paper dolls or pictures.  Emmie is not afraid of hard work and has quite the selfless heart.  She is also a second mother to her siblings, who love her ever so much.  At twelve Emmie remains consistent in her dislike of mushrooms and fish.  She does not like grammar or math too much, but history makes her come alive! She has beautiful blue eyes and long dark hair and enjoys tea and read-alouds in the evening.  She knows her herbs and wild plants and wants to drive the tractor.  She can do an oil change on the van and install wood flooring.  How blessed we are to have had our girlie all of these wonderful years.  She is a delight and a gift and we ask the Lord to bless her and keep her all the days of her life.  May they be many and joyous.

 

Nineteen Months

Levi is 19 months old! He is such a chatty little fellow and has so much to say, but his favorite phrases are:  "Not like it" or "I want it", usually in the grammatical equivalent of Yoda speech.  "Pet Wendell, I want it".   At the moment Levi really likes pumpkins, Papa's tools, cooking ("mix mix, cook, cook"), yogurt, firetrucks, and boo boos. He has a few boo boos that are really quite healed but at each diaper change he likes to remark quite mournfully "boo boo hurts".  Such high drama for such a wee little man.  He does not like getting messy or touching things that are sticky.  He likes tea with milk and the book Apple, Pear, Bear best of all right now.  He had such fun harvesting the last of our vegetable garden (everything is a tomato by the way) and biting one bite out of each bean and pepper plant.  The best of all was picking the long awaited pumpkin! Levi does not like it when someone leaves him at home or if he has to stay inside and big girls get to go outside. He carries shoes around hopefully asking "outside?" He says yes in the cutest way  "des" and "otay" for ok. We love our little fellow and are trying our best to keep up with him! 

 

The expansion of learning

We are five weeks in to our new school year.  Emmeline is in seventh grade and Lena fifth grade this year. Phoebe has begun kindergarten. We began gently with a few field trips to the shore and to the zoo with many a hike and backyard tent village.  This year our learning seems to be overflowing and the girls are excited to be studying Beethoven and Shakespeare's Cymbeline. We are studying Phocian in our Plutarch study, Chemistry, and Albrecht Dürer for our artist this term. History is the Industrial Revolution into the World Wars and the girls are already asking so many good and hard questions.  Map drills, Latin, German and French at dinnertime, narrations, archery, ballet and choir, cello, violin and piano, nature studies, handicrafts, math, grammar, spelling and geography round out our subjects. But the real learning comes in the in between moments where we learn to engage our minds and hearts, to be still and listen, to watch and wait and pray.  I've seen this already as these little women grow - they are growing in mindful habits and discipline, in prayerful awareness of a broken world and a suffering Savior. Phoebe begins her official schooling with a Beatrix Potter curriculum that focuses on a story each week. These match a character trait and Scripture passage she will learn and it is sweet to watch another beginner hungrily put letters together to read words.  Phoebe is also so excited to learn piano and recorder and to watercolor like her big sisters.  This is all quite new to the little man in our house, who seeks to undo most of what we set out to work on by dumping pencils and baskets of books.  We try to invite him into our learning and he is learning oh so quickly, working on his colors, his ABCs, his french and matching pitches.  (At 18 months no less!) The parents too begin again, as we do each day, to learn to trust in Jesus, for each day.  We learn to trust for the big things, and look expectantly for joy in the fringes of each day, because our Savior cares about those moments too.