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It’s actually January now. I was about to go back and try to insert birthday letters where they should have been written, but it’s been 4 months since Josiah’s birthday, and so much changes in 4 months! So, I’m going to write you each a little New Year note instead.
Josiah, you’re seven and in first grade. You still had your two front teeth on your birthday. Now, there is a big gap where your little baby chompers used to be. For some reason this always seems like a major milestone. Your smile will never be the same. No more baby smiles in this house. It’s quite adorable, however, if I do say so. You keep getting cuter. And you have a temporary little lisp now which makes your sweet voice all the more endearing.
For your birthday, we decided to surprise you with a trip to Legoland. It’s a big joke that whenever we are taking you guys somewhere as a surprise, we tell you we’re going mushroom picking. The ruse has worked twice. You had no idea. Even better, 2 of your best friends from last year met us at the gate. Double Surprise! It was a fun day with friends.
You are, of course, obsessed with Legos. You always have at least a person in your hands. Every Lego set you acquire and build remains as designed for approximately 5 minutes before you start disassembling and rearranging it and using all the “special pieces” to create something of your own imagination. You often ask me to google pictures of things. I print pictures for you and you use them as inspiration to create your own Lego versions. I bought you a Lego table several months back. It hasn’t helped. There are still Legos on every surface of this home, including the floor. But I know if I yell I’m about to vacuum, you will get things cleared up in record time.
In October, we were still trying to find our footing in our new homeschool routine. We’re much more settled in at this point. A couple of months has made a big difference. Your reading is coming along. You are plugging along with your addition and subtraction facts. You are learning to be self-motivated and do what is put in front of you without constant reminders and direction. A big part of the schooling that happens with homeschooling is teaching oneself how to teach oneself. It’s a skill I believe I learned through my own homeschool experience, and it’s important to me that you both learn to be lifelong learners without external forces making you. It’s a process, and I see progress. One of my big goals this year is to get you reading independently enough that you are able to do your math sheets without me reading the instructions to you. I’d say we’re about 75% of the way there. You really have come a long way! You still don’t read independently by choice, but your Daddy found an amazing set of Lego Ideas books at Costco that you religiously flip through at night. Daddy is also really good about making you read for yourself things like instructions for things you really want to build. You, of course, would rather he read it all to you, but I’ve been impressed with the creative ways he finds to insert reading into everyday activities apart from official school.
You continue to be particular about foods, but even in that area, you’re growing up. You have decided that you like potatoes sometimes. What? Potatoes, in the past, have been gag-inspiring, literally, so this one is a big deal. You like them as french fries, hashbrowns, and sometimes in soup. Still no-go on mashed or baked. You eat cheese pizza all the time now, even when it strings. This is huge. But you still won’t eat grilled cheese sandwiches and never choose to have things, like scrambled eggs, topped with melted cheese. Your favorite foods continue to be sausages and noodles. Those two things are pretty sure bets. You love Pho. And Chicken noodle soups of all kinds. You love spaghetti. You love breakfast links. Feeding you has gotten easier, though you’d still choose to eat Z-bars all day if I let you.
For Christmas, you received several more Nerf Guns and so now, in addition to Lego pieces, I am constantly bending over to pick up darts. We’re working on a way to store them hanging on a wall in your room, the next evolution of your boyhood on display.
You’re also taking Piano lessons and are learning slowly. We’re working on getting in the habit of practicing daily. You’re about to participate in your first recital as part of an AcroDance class. I think you’ve enjoyed it. You have been in Taekwondo since the beginning of the school year. We’re still working on all the white belt skills. You’re currently a bit stuck on the front snap kick. You are finding your center of gravity. It’s been good for you in many ways. You are learning to respect others, to watch when others are in front, to cheer the successes of others and encourage them in their failures. You are learning to look people in the eye when you’re talked to, and to not talk when others are talking, to follow instruction, and that it takes perseverance to accomplish the things you set out to do. It’s been really good for you. You tend to walk around at home, chopping and kicking (soft, non-people) things randomly. You are such a boy.
You continue to antagonize your sister in all things, but especially in the bathroom, at night, when the two of you are brushing your teeth. There is not an evening that goes by without shrieks of annoyance proceeding from the bathroom as you jockey for sink position, steal the tube of toothpaste, turn the water on too high, bump, poke, splash, spit on or otherwise behave little-brotherly in a way that makes your sister make noise. Even with the moments of discord, you two are best friends and play together exceptionally well. I continue to be a stickler about TV and video games. And the more I say no to easy entertainment, the more creative you become in your make-believe. You argue as much as you play, but in so doing, I believe you are both learning the fine art of compromise. You also continue to insist on sleeping in Adela’s room. For the past year, you have been sleeping in her bed. When her birthday party rolled around in December, she has a sleepover with her friends and you haven’t put away your sleeping bag yet. For the past 6 weeks you have been sleeping in it on the floor of your sister’s room in that sack, an eternal camp out. You fall asleep chatting and listening to Jonathan Park CDs. Your relationship makes me happy.
You still call me Momma. Please don’t ever stop. Well, maybe I’ll change my mind about that, but I do love it. You wear your emotions in the tones of your voice and in the looks on your face… just like me. I can tell what you’re going to ask me by the inflection with which you say your “Mommas” and by the way the muscles in your face are moving. You are expressive and delightful and so full of life and ideas. We are continuing to learn how to manage our big emotions, me and you both. The butting of heads happens more between you and I than any other relationship in either one of our lives. But I think we have a unique bond in our expressiveness as well. Our love runs deep. Your hugs and cuddles heal my soul.
It’s beautiful to see you getting older and developing more of a manly relationship with your Daddy. I love when he takes you to Home Depot with him or has you watch how he’s fixing a toilet. Your attention span is still short, but it’s the beginning of a process I’m going to enjoy watching. If you pay attention to half the stuff he tries to teach you, you’ll be a very smart and capable man because your Daddy is brilliant and can fix anything, in addition to being kind and loving. Keep looking at him as you grow up. He’s a great example of what it means to be a good man.
Here are some of your favorites according to you. Colors – Red and Blue. Animal – Baby Foxes. Food – McDonalds and Panda Express. Dessert – Chocolate Cake. TV show – Ninjago. Movie – Polar Express. Favorite Passtime – Legos and Eating Z-bars. Subject in School – Art. About Homeschooling – No Homework. Least Favorite About Homeschooling – Missing Friends. Go Anywhere? – LegoLand. Visit a Foreign Country? – New York. Be When You Grow up? – Preacher or Army man or Police. Want to Learn More? – The Bible. Loves you Most? – Jesus. Get Married/What Age? Yes, 17. How many Kids? 2.
My hopes for you this year are that you continue to learn how to stop and think before you react in the heat of emotion, to reduce whining (we are trying to remember that we are seven, not two), and to become more aware of the goodness of life and all the reasons we have to be grateful. (My goals for myself are similar. We are on the journey together.) You have natural persuasiveness about you with your big grin and penetrating gazes. I believe you will learn to influence others in a positive way. Once you know where you’re going, I believe you will be a good leader and motivator. You bring so much happiness and entertainment and excitement to my life. I love being your Mom, Bear.
Adela, you are 10 and in fourth grade. This is our first year homeschooling, and you took to it like a hippo to a mud bath. I’m not surprised. You tend to be a bit of a homebody. You’d rather sit on the couch and read or crochet than go play outside (unless pushed), and you are excellent at following instructions with minimal interventions. You rarely complain (except about math) and even when you don’t want to do something, you don’t resist it. You accept your fate and set your mind to it. These are some of your beautiful strengths.
You claim math is your least favorite subject, though you are good at it as you are at most everything else. You love books and have a gifting with words. You memorize vocabulary word definitions with ease and writing assignments come to you naturally. Your words flow. You have no problem picking out main points and putting your thoughts to paper. You enjoy creative writing and have come up with some cute stories. We’re working on the idea of having a plot, but it’s not a struggle for you to think as a storyteller because you read so many stories. Lately, you’ve been reading the Marguerite Henry horse books. We just created an email account for you so that you can start your own Goodreads book lists. It’s getting hard to keep track of what you’ve already read.
One of the benefits of homeschooling is the extra time we have for bonus learning. This was my hope and my plan. You’re currently working on a baby blanket for the new baby coming soon into our family. Tia Kristy is having another little boy, and we found a fun pattern for you to crochet. It was your idea, and it’s coming along beautifully. I’m glad you find joy in creating gifts for others. It’s productive, and I admire it. You made Auntie Steph and Mimi cotton dishcloths for Christmas as well. You enjoy your yarn-work. You also received a Raddish Cooking Club membership for Christmas from Mimi, and so you’ve been cooking, learning new techniques and how to read and execute a recipe. So far you’ve made and decorated Gingerbread Men and prepared Chicken Tamale Cups from December’s Holiday Box. And you recently also made Swedish meatballs. We’re going to work on another pastry tomorrow. You enjoy the kitchen. With this membership you also get to iron a new patch onto your special apron with every box received. You’re currently downstairs making scrambled eggs for yourself and your brother for lunch. My next goal is to teach you to do all your own dishes.
We’ve also been taking the time to do a bit of art history on the side, overviewing famous painters throughout the course of history and becoming familiar with some of their most famous works. So when the opportunity arose to go see Sistine Chapel artwork at an exhibit at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, we took it. You are less than impressed with all the “nakedness.” But it was a fun girl date for you and I, and we ended it with ramen and rolled taco ice creams. I want to expose you to all the beauty and adventure in the world and I always feel like there is never enough time. But we are chipping away at it. You’ve lived a lot of life for a 10-year-old, and have seen a lot of things.
Your birthday party was a spa sleep-over with some of your best friends from school last year. You all did face masks, ate tacos, played Guesstures, watched Elf on a giant screen we set up in the living room, ate junk, and a couple of the girls slept over. It was your first official sleepover, and it was a great success.
Unfortunately, you are currently injured. We don’t know how or why, but the official diagnosis after multiple doctor appointments, X-rays, MRI, and blood work is toxic synovitis. Your hip joint is angry and it’s difficult for you to walk or move normally. We’ve put all your physical activities on hold including Taekwondo and AcroDance. You are in a significant amount of pain when you bear weight or move in certain directions. I’m going to start feeding you anti-inflammatory foods. According to the doctors there is not much to do but wait it out. It’s a frustrating thing to hear as it’s been going on for about 6 weeks now. But we’re also relieved to know that they believe they’ve ruled out all the serious conditions that could be causing it. Hopefully you will be back to normal soon as the issue resolves itself as we’ve been told it should.
Here are some of your favorites according to you. Colors – Pink, Purple, Red and Green. Animal – Horses. Food – Daddy’s Chicken. Dessert – Ice Cream. TV show – Ninjago. Movie – Frozen 2. Favorite Passtime – Luigi’s Mansion. Subject in School – Cooking. About Homeschooling – Seeing Me and Daddy all day long. Least Favorite about Homeschooling – Math. Go Anywhere? – Universal Studios. Visit a Foreign Country? – Italy. Be When You Grow up? – Mom. Learn More About? – Science. Loves you Most? – Jesus. Get Married/What Age? Yes at 18. How many Kids?Three.
You continue to struggle most with a kind of perfectionism that doesn’t like to not know how to do things perfectly and immediately. It is my hope for you to become teachable in the moments where you need help, and to choose to be brave in the moments where you want to give in to fear. You are growing in these areas and I’m very proud of the young lady you are becoming. You continue to be kind to and perceptive about people. You see when people are hurting and have a natural desire to minister to and serve them with compassion. You are a great help to me in so many ways. Many of these have become more clear as you you’ve been injured and I’m less able to rely on your assistance. You are a blessing and a joy and the most special girl I know. You have a soul as beautiful as your face. I love being your Mom, Lane.
