December 2009 Highlights

* I have to see this as a highlight because I think it is the beginning of skills that will prove to be very helpful in the future to Damian, his family and possibly many, many others. . .I'm talking about Damian's desire to take things apart and figure out how they work. This time, I took his desire to use a screwdriver and put it to work. He helped me repair the flickering dome lights (by replacing the door jam stop in the driver's side door) and replace a burnt out light in the rear lights (by taking off the panel, pulling out the bulb and replacing it and screwing the panel back in place). He enjoyed helping and I had to be a little proud of myself for taking it on instead of getting Lou to do it. He's so busy with work, I couldn't wait for his help, so I did the investigating and fixed my car problems (with Damian's help)! :)


* Isaiah melts my heart every time I try to lay him down for a nap or leave the house without him. He always says, "Don't leave me Mamma. I NEED you!"

* Another funny thing about Isaiah is his grown-up sense of humor. He usually says, "NOah for "NO!" and every time he does it, I sing, "Noah was a prophet." Well, lately when I sing that to him, he'll sing back, "Noah was a Mamma."

* Yesterday morning Isaiah wanted to say the blessing. He can really do it by himself, but he wanted help. So. . .Emma began helping him through the prayer. When she got near the end, she dropped out, so I had to step in and help him. I kept giving him a word and prompting him to finish the phrase, but he copied me exactly. So, when I got to Amen, I just mouthed it--assuming he'd say it out loud. Instead of saying it out loud, he mouthed it back to me. So, I mouthed it back to him and he mouthed it back to me. We did this about 3 times before I finally said it out loud and he finally said it out loud--leaving us all laughing at the end of the prayer. What a funny little guy!

* Those are just a couple of examples of the funny little sense of humor he has. You can tell a little bit about his sense of humor by these pictures.

* Gehrig is an AMAZING writer. We had so much fun over the Thanksgiving holiday reading his journal entries. I'm actually considering looking into getting his journal published (calling it something like Musings of an 8 Year Old Boy). It's hilarious, insightful and a bit incriminating!

* Emma loves to draw and write. She's been learning her name and writes the cutest E's with many lines coming out of it. She also wanted to learn how to draw a heart, so I spent a few minutes the other day teaching her how to draw it. It was hard for her and first, but she began to get it after some practice. So. . . a few days later, I found that she had drawn hearts all over several things in the house (walls, furniture, etc.) and I got after her for writing on things she shouldn't and she said, "YOU taught me how to draw hearts." I hope she remembers that I taught her how to draw hearts, but I can promise you, I never taught her how to draw on walls, furniture, etc.!