Homeschool Convention

I went to the ENOCH homeschool convention this past weekend, and Greg came too on Saturday. It was fun to touch and read all of the different curriculum and we got some really cool books at the used curriculum sale. The seminars were so-so, but it didn't really matter. I think just sitting there and listening to a talk about a topic sometimes just gets me thinking. I've been so focused lately on the academic details that I forget what my primary responsibility is to my son.

Greg and I had a chance to talk in the car and during the conference, and I'm happy to say that we've decided to start doing some low-key family devotions. We also talked about having our own little family dinner together at least a couple of times a week (we tend to eat with my family a lot, and usually don't get any time to talk together.) I'm so relieved to be on the same page with Greg on this finally. It's not that we didn't want the same things, but we've just seriously been so busy or tired that we hadn't been able to articulate what we wanted.

It was so easy when we were first married, we spent so much time together and we lived in a very isolated little apartment, there was never a shortage of opportunities to communicate.
This year everything has changed, Greg is commuting over 4 hours a day, plus his working hours, and we are just so tired at night that we both want to just veg out. Next year he will be working close to home, but for now we just have to be intentional about making time for each other. Believe it or not, this convention was maybe the first time we spent a day together without Henry since we took the bar exam last summer.

Even though I did miss Henry on Sat, it was good to be reminded that Henry needs his parents to be in tune with one another too. If that means taking time away to reconnect and talk about our goals then that is what is best for him in the long run.

So what do we agree on, now that we've talked? It all boils down to this: It's not enough to teach Henry about God. He needs to see us relating to God. He needs to see Greg and me praying, reading the Bible, talking about what we've read. He needs to see the Holy Spirit change us, and feel God's love through our interactions with him. A great education will be completely meaningless if he grows up without knowing his Best Friend.

If I have the perfect house and cook the best meals, but have not love, I have nothing.

If I have the most energy and take my son out every day to explore, but have not love, I have done nothing.

If I provide the best education and opportunities, and send my son to an Ivy League college, but have not love, I have given him nothing.

If I work hard to provide for him and die leaving him a trust fund, but have not love, my work will have been in vain.

Growing

I feel a growth spurt coming on soon! Henry went back to two naps a day, although the first is very short now. His appetite has also taken off, and some days he eats more than me!

He is also saying more sentences, like "give me blanket" and "need help". He is also repeating new phrases every day. One of his favorite games involves answering questions, like what animal makes this sound? or what does this letter sound like?

He doesn't seem interested in the potty yet, but I am trying to talk about it more so he gets used to the idea. I'm debating whether or not to order another huge case of diapers, since I'm not sure how much he will grow or for how much longer he will need them.

My favorite new words: Gam-ma, purple, umbrella, honeybee. He still calls me mama, which melts my heart every time.

Starting "School"

This week was my first ever planned out "school" week for Henry. By school I mean purposeful play directed at acquiring certain skills.

I am loosely basing my plans on the ABC Jesus loves me curriculum for three year olds, with some significant differences. First of all there is no writing, because Henry is too little :) We read a Bible story (just a few verses long) and sing a song and say a memory verse every day. They also suggest books on the site, but since I didn't see the first book at the library and I'm trying to limit my book binging we just watched a reading of it on youtube. By the way, did you realize that every children's book is on youtube? Seriously, it's great. I wish I had known about it this winter when I kept losing my voice.

I also printed out some of the linked coloring pages of the creation story. At this point Henry will color over the objects on a page, but is more interested in looking at the crayons and talking about the colors. He knows red, yellow, brown, green, orange, pink, black, and white. If I ask where "the blue one is" he will point to the correct object but won't spontaneously say blue. The same with my favorite color, purple. Learning his colors happened almost as soon as I started making a habit of pointing them out to him.

I try to get him to use the triangle crayons because he is much more likely to hold these correctly, like a pencil. I don't even try to put the crayon in his hand the right way yet when he colors.

We also tried lacing beads, which he did very contentedly, although he liked playing with the wood beads by themselves more than the lacing. We played with a Mr. Potato Head and reviewed body parts, and with some Melissa and Doug animal magnets, talking about the sounds they make.

We watched Talking Words Factory whenever he begged for a "dee-dee-vee", I don't think he gets the linking of the letters yet, but he loves the video anyway.

Now that it's not so cold out we've been taking very long walks on the boardwalk together, which has helped us both so much. When I can get a little exercise I don't feel so couped up and crazy and Henry is happier when he gets to run. When we go on these walks Henry walks and runs nearly a mile of the way home. He sleeps and eats better and is so cheerful and loving when he's had a chance to work off some of his wiggles. In fact, this week my independent little guy has hugged me and his dad more than ever!

His pronunciation is getting better and he has started to say two word sentences. He still refused to eat anything that's not milk or a cracker or pretzel, but I did get him to eat some veggie baby food when his cousin was over. I'll have to remember that for the future, when Mercy gets something, Henry wants it too!

18 Months

Henry is a year and a half as of yesterday. I was planning on starting to do this ABC Jesus loves me curriculum with him starting at this age, but I think instead I might borrow some of those ideas but do more of a Montessori themed curriculum that I'm working on. Most of the plans for toddlers that I've seen focus on one letter or number at a time, doing one a week and centering the activities around that letter or number. I'm not sure that's the best plan for us, since Henry knows the letters and the numbers (non-sequentially) and the letter sounds already. We may just work on colors or shapes and I'll probably spend most of my baby-teaching energy on potty training and banishing the bottle. I love the tray-activity idea explained on this site, and I ordered some art trays to try it out. The problem for us is space - there is no way we have space to have multiple trays of activities out at a time, but maybe just one a day would be good?

Also our sand/water table came in the mail today and I can't wait to set it up. The days are getting warmer and I know Henry will love to play outside more!

Sleeping

We were playing a game with Henry where we pretended to sleep, (closed our eyes and made snoring sounds), until he would say "wake up" or "good morning", then we would pretend to wake up. Henry decided to play too and laid down. He made snoring sounds... with his eyes wide open! He also pretended to be upset when we "woke him up."

18 Month (approximately) check up

23.5 lbs (10th-25th percentile)
34 inches (90th-95th percentile)
Never cries for shots, just complains.
Dr. yelled at me about his bottle.

Henry Counts

Wan. Dos. Tree.