Journey to our children: A snapshot in time

When Ian and Nadia were little I used to write a little synopsis of them every month, and then I went to every three months and now for awhile have been doing it twice a year - on their birthdays and half-birthdays. Today is none of the above for any of my kids, but I had the urge to just record some thoughts about each of them today. Kids change so quickly!

Nadia had a phase this summer where she wore a million bracelets on her right arm. I never said anything (as long as I was sure none of them were cutting off her circulation), but I was not a fan of that look so I'm grateful she has outgrown that for now anyhow. She has been painting her fingernails a lot more regularly lately. I'm thinking one of her Christmas gifts this year will be her first professional manicure and maybe for her 11th birthday next June her first professional pedicure. I can't remember the last time I had either of those myself. It sounds like a fun "girls only" outing. She prefers to be with kids who are her age or older, but she does play with Ian and also Adalayde

(neighbor) who is 2 years younger than her. Her favorite pastimes are listening to Adventures in Odyssey CDs, listening to Christian contemporary music, playing with paper dolls, playing with Legos with Ian, and adult coloring books. She really, really wants to be promoted to Level 3 in gymnastics. She practices her cartwheels and handstands every day. She has already mastered her headstand so she doesn't practice that very often these days.

I finally integrated poetry into our homeschool curriculum (long overdue!). She wasn't too thrilled at the outset, but I have seen her reading poetry lately on her own initiative. She likes doing 5th grade math via Teaching Textbooks (online) this year. She had a couple of assignments that her grade was far less than desirable, but in general she's been doing well. All of her math quiz grades have been very satisfactory. She's just finished step 6 of 30 of the 6th grade spelling textbook. Nadia loves being in the 5th grade art class on Fridays.

Nadia and Ian both enjoy chewing gum. Thus far I haven't discovered gum put in any wrong place. I wish I could say the same about Laffy Taffy, but some of that ended up in a load of clothes. I didn't discover it until I was taking the clothes from the dryer. Nadia often chooses a salty snack (chips) as her "dessert" at lunch. The type of chips which is currently her favorite are Sunchips. She has them at church on Sunday mornings sometimes. I have never bought any, but I am planning to buy her a bag as one of her Christmas gifts this year.

Nadia abhors the color pink and loves various shades of blue (including aqua/teal). The boys don't feel as strongly about their favorite color as Nadia, but they both like green the best. The eye doctor on Monday said that Ian needed a new pair of glasses (his pair is almost 3 years old), and said Oliver needs glasses for the first time. That means Nadia will soon be the only member of our family not wearing glasses. Ian and Oliver liked the same frame, but I insisted they pick two different ones as that would be very, very confusing!

Ian and Oliver love for me to give him a piggy back ride up to bed at night. Although Nadia's "lovey" has remained the same for more than 8 years (her Poland pillow), Ian's "lovey" is constantly changing. Right now it's a tiny little stuffed animal (fits in your hand) that he has named "Squeakers." He got blood on it two nights ago when he was pulling a tooth, and he was very distressed when I temporarily took it away from him (so I could clean it). Oliver currently has two "lovies." The green blanket has been a lovey for most of his life. The small orange fish (plush) was purchased this summer with money Aunt Janet gave him for his birthday. Ian spends money as SOON as he gets it. He doesn't ever save up his money. Oliver is the most prone to saving his money. We just counted his money yesterday. He had over $18. I suggested he use part of his money to buy a watch because in the last week or so he has gotten in the habit of asking me incessantly "what time is it?". He selected a green watch, and Amazon is supposed to deliver it on Sunday. I also decided to start teaching him how to read an analog clock since he's so interested in knowing what time it is. Thus far Oliver's schoolwork only consists of reading, math, and handwriting. Spelling will be added in the very near future! He participates in some of what Nadia and Ian do for social studies and science.

Oliver talks ALL the time. This caused a problem during the 30 minutes spent in the one room schoolhouse on Thursday. When he was younger, he used to listen to the chapter books I read. He rarely listens these days. He does listen when I read picture books. I want to start reading a few chapter books more geared for his age (ex. Ramona the Pest or Charlotte's Web) and also break him of the habit of talking while I'm reading chapter books (even if they are geared more for his older siblings).

When it comes to eating, Oliver is by far the least picky child in our family. He has a few idiosyncrasies such as preferring to eat his hot dog bun separate from his hot dog and almost always eating dry cereal for breakfast. Although there are a few things that Nadia likes which Ian doesn't (like lasagna), in general I would say Nadia is the pickiest eater. Some of the things she doesn't like to eat include soups, bacon, stews, chili, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and salads. She is also very particular about the temperature of her food. She will eat egg salad sandwiches, but otherwise she

prefers to have hot food for lunch such as a ham and cheese hot pocket. Nadia LOVES eggs, and her brothers LOVE bacon. She would eat an egg for breakfast every single day if her Daddy would let her. She will only eat Italian bread. Her brothers eat almost every kind of bread (one exception would be pumpernickel). They all like to drink apple juice or apple cider. The boys enjoy chocolate milk. The vast majority of the time they just drink water. Ian is the only child who enjoys soda. The other two are like me and don't like to drink anything that is carbonated.

All three of them like the iPad. They usually earn at least one 20 minute turn per day. Of the three kids Ian is the most prone to earning two or sometimes three turns in a day. Oliver rarely has more than one turn. Over the course of a year Ian goes back and forth between using the Wii or the iPad. The last several weeks he's just been using the iPad.

Ian does not like to wear socks. The minute he comes inside he sheds his socks, shoes, and coat.

Nadia still gets carsick if she reads. Lately even watching a dvd in the van has caused her to be nauseous. Ian doesn't enjoy having his face painted, but Nadia and Oliver do. Oliver doesn't like to wear jeans, but his siblings do.

The boys like to watch tv once a day. Nadia does watch tv some days, but other days she chooses to stay in her room and listen to something on the radio or her CD player while they are downstairs watching tv.

Nadia likes coloring the most, and Ian likes drawing the most. Nadia and Oliver spend far more time playing outside than Ian does. Ian chooses to go to the worship service with Paul and I rather than attending the 3rd-5th grade boys Sunday School class. Nadia and Oliver choose Sunday School over the worship service. Oliver pays almost no attention to the guinea pigs. Ian spends more time with Patches than Nadia does with Jenna. Well I could write and write and write some more about my three precious children, but I think I'll stop right here.