discoveries

Here are a few discoveries from the past weeks:

1. Both of my boys prefer to be left alone in their beds when sleeping. Every night, Sean and I go in to kiss Shannon goodnight just before we go to bed. He remains mostly sound asleep, but he will often respond to questions. Sometimes, we get quite humorous things out of him. And, he loves it when I make up stories for him to "dream" about. But, if I ask him if mama should snuggle with Shannon, he will generally shake his head no. And, sometimes, he will push us away and say, "leave" or "go away." So, after being shooed out of Shannon's room, I go feed Jack. Given his love of being by mama during his waking hours, one would think he would desire the same in his slumber. Such is not the case. He will eat his fill and then fuss and cry until he is laying in his bed with his blanket and thumb.
   
2. Shannon discovered computer games. About a week a half ago, I decided to let Shannon give computer games a try. There are a large number of computer games online for his favorite cartoon characters. While many of them are simpler for younger children, I honestly didn't really think he'd get it. I thought he would just randomly click and move and enjoy seeing some animations. I feel bad now that I underestimated him so. I gave him about 30 seconds of instruction with the mouse, and he figured it out. He figured out the games too. I was amazed. He played tic tac toe; he "painted" various Bob the Builder characters. And then I gave him another minute of instruction and he figured out the drag and drop function. Sean and I were both astounded.
   
3. Why?? Some time ago, a friend of mine who has a boy about a year older than Shannon told me that she thought three was harder than two. She said that as a two-year-old, he had pretty much done what she asked. Now, he was questioning her and challenging her, which made for more complex discipline issues. I could see how this would make things more difficult, and recently had a taste of it. Several days ago, I was in the kitchen with Jack. Shannon decided to join us and he rode his "truck" into the kitchen. Since my kitchen is microscopic, I said, "No, Shannon, you may not ride that in the kitchen." Shannon looked at me and said, "Why?" I had not previously been questioned by my almost-three-year-old, so I just looked at him dumbfounded, not sure how to respond. So, thinking it might be a fluke, I just repeated that he could not ride his truck into the kitchen. He again asked me "why." I did not respond and just looked at him. He tested me for a moment and then backed up into the dining room. Then, later at lunch, I sat down with my food and hit my knee on the table. I said, "Ow!" and Shannon said, "too hot?" thinking I had burned my mouth on the food. I said "No, I hit my knee on the table and got an ouwie." He said, "why?" I said, "because I hit my knee on the table." He asked, "why?" I told him it was an accident. The use of "why" has not been repeated since then, but I have a feeling it will return in full force very soon.
4. This one isn't so much a discovery as a recovery. Jack has been sick for about the last week and a half. He had a variety of the stomach flu, thrush, and general lack of appetite. He went from being mostly content playing to desiring mostly to be held. He went from eating like a horse, to refusing almost all solids. Thankfully, he appears to be returning to normal. Yesterday, he was quite a bit happier and more content. And, his appetite appears to have returned full force. This morning, he ate more than a cup of applesauce, mixed with some oatmeal cereal.
   

jack's baptism

I know there aren't any pictures at the church, but I promise, he was baptized at church. :) In some of these pictures, he's posing with the bowl that Sean used to propose. Sean proposed by washing my feet in this bowl. We've had both boys baptized with it.

Another important detail is the gown Jack is wearing. It is a gown that has been in Sean's family for many, many years. Sean and his brother wore it. And, I believe Sean's mother and her father and uncle wore it. It is really quite beautiful and intricate. We weren't sure Jack would be able to fit into it, but he did.



I nearly forgot the funny part of Jack's baptism. At our church, the practice is that after our pastor baptizes the baby, an elder takes the baby and prays for him/her. Ruth was the elder praying for Jack. I had my head bowed, and I start hearing this racket--like someone messing with a microphone. I'm thinking, "who is messing with the microphone?" Then, it dawns on me. My very tactile son has gotten hold of the microphone. I look up and, sure enough, he is trying to eat the microphone. Poor Ruth. She was saying such a nice prayer, and Jack eventually turned the microphone off. Everyone laughed at the end of the prayer.

all the love

Those of you outside my family might be surprised to know that I am very expressive when it comes to demonstrating/speaking love to my three boys. Shannon has gotten so used to my little pronouncements of love that he preempts them. I will often say, "Shannon, guess what?" And, since he now knows what I'm going to say, he says, "I you." (This is how he generally says "I love you.") Even if I just say, "Shannon Michael Charles!" in a happy way, he anticipates my response and says, "I you!"

So, tonight I was in the kitchen making supper. Shannon was playing with his legos in the living room. I said, "Shannon Michael Charles!!" I waited and heard nothing, so I said, "Shannon Michael!! I love you!!" Again, I hear nothing. So, I say, "Shannon!" He responds with, "Oh yeah, I love you!"

jack and his thumb

I have commented before how attached Jack is to his thumb (aside from the obvious fact that it is attached to his body). Those of us who regularly put Jack down for naps (Sean, my mom, and I) have noticed how his eyes roll back and close as soon as you place his blanket next to his right cheek, and he automatically puts his left thumb in his mouth.

We have also discovered that his thumb is to Jack as salt is to Sean. For Sean, salt makes every bite taste better. (Okay, maybe not every bite. I don't recall seeing him salt his ice cream.) For Jack, his thumb makes every bite taste better. We place a bite of food in Jack's mouth, and he immediately follows it with his thumb. Then, when that bite is sufficiently enjoyed, Jack will pull his thumb out, open his mouth expectantly and wait for the next bite. And, you cannot convince him to take another bite any sooner than he's ready. A spoonful of food hovering in front of his face will do nothing to motivate him to remove his thumb any sooner than he would have otherwise. In fact it is kind of funny, because at the beginning of a meal, he will look at that bite with wide and excited eyes and rock back and forth. Then, after sufficiently milking his thumb of the last bite, he will pull himself away to accept it. You can tell when he's satisfied when he just starts absent-mindedly chewing on his fingers.

the boys are playing together

In the last couple of weeks, Jack and Shannon have started playing together. I love it!! Shannon will talk to Jack and show him toys. Or, he will hide behind a chair and try to get Jack to follow him. Sometimes Shannon experiments a little with hurting Jack, but most of the time, he just plays with him. I would say that on some days, they play together for close to an hour over the course of the day. Of course, this may change when Jack is able to assert himself more. We'll see.

smart kid

In the space of about 15 minutes this morning, Shannon surprised me with something he had apparently learned.
--I purchased the LeapFrog Fridge phonics system for him to help him learn the alphabet. I just gave it to him this morning. You place a letter on the machine and it will sing a song for each letter. All that is included in each song is this: "E says eh, and E says ee. Every letter makes a sound, and E says eh and ee." (Of course, the letter and sounds change with each letter.) So, we're picking up all the letters. He picks up the lowercase letter "e." He says, "elephant" and makes the sound of an elephant. The LeapFrog system does not tell him this. So, I'm guessing he remembers it from about 2 or months ago when he spent a couple days at my friend Jennifer's house. She was spending a week on each letter with the kids, and I'm pretty sure they did the letter e. Anyway, I was still amazed that he knew it.
--I am currently borrowing Beethoven's Wig from the library. It takes several classical pieces and puts funny lyrics to them. The first 11 tracks are with the lyrics. The second 11 tracks are the same pieces without the lyrics. Anyway, he was listening to it during breakfast this morning, and we had gotten to the lyric-free tracks. We were listening to Mozart's Eine Kliene Nachtmusik and Shannon says "music at night!!" Then comes Offenbach's Can Can, and Shannon says "I can!"

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all from us!!

(Shannon translation: "Happy Thanksgiving, Turkey")

May God bless you in the year to come!