Learning Outside

After playing with caterpillars it was time for school.  Since it was beautiful outside and probably one of the last nice days we hauled our school stuff outside. 

It was a Friday and on Fridays it is usually just Mallory who has school.  Typically it is just a half day, because we have a Mom’s group Friday mornings.  Max tagged along with his gun to keep the bears away. 

Melanie is never far either. 

Mallory working hard. 

Drawing a map on the dry ease board.

Her stack of work.

Max was feeling left out so Mallory passed off her worksheet for him to finish.  They love these bingo markers when doing searches.  Mallory is searching for her sight word of the week.  (She gets two sight words a week.)

Then she had to build sentences and draw a picture to go with the sentences.  Followed by writing the sentences.

School was so exciting that Melanie fell asleep. 

Lastly a math worksheet.  In Math right now she is learning how to count pennies and dimes (counting by 10s), shapes, colors, writing numbers, calendars, and reading clocks.

Look who else brought her gun.  You never know when you are going to need to fire off a nurf bullet at an incoming animal.

It was kind of fun to switch up our school routine.  The kids enjoyed it also.

Season of Caterpillars

The late summer had so many caterpillars!  The kids were constantly finding them and catching them and begging to keep them.  I lost count of how many they captured.

The kids are not very good caterpillar owners.  They are not good at keeping fresh food and water for them.  They got so bad that Jesse started opening up their bug cages at night after the kids went to bed and letting their caterpillars go free. 

We had a beautiful late summer (almost fall) afternoon that we were outside and the kids had a ton of caterpillars again and they were letting them crawl all over.

It was grossing me out.  But the kids loved it.

No caterpillars for Melanie!

I thought this caterpillar was going to go right up his sleeve.

But it didn’t.  Went onto his shirt and onto his back.

Mallory also had them crawling all over her.  She lost one and went and got another one.  We found the missing one – it was crawling up her skirt.

Melanie Mae– 3 Months

Melanie Mae.  She has been the easiest baby thus far.  Jesse has said if we were guaranteed that all babies would be like her – he would have more!  I reminded him of that one time and he said… he was just blowing smoke.  But… I am not so sure she is our last.  But… If I go back and remember her birth – I could maybe make that call!  But…I have horrible memory and could easily forget in a few more months!

She is becoming very social – as in babbling and smiling at us.  Most of the time she will wait to babble until someone goes to talk to her and she will wait until you are done talking before she babbles.  So polite already. 

She is very content just being by herself too.  Doesn’t need to be held all the time.  She has her moments – but they are few and far between.  She can jump in the jumper.  Lay on the counter and watch me cook supper.  Sit in the bumbo on the counter and watch us eat. 

Can not get her to giggle though.  I try so hard and I can get huge big ‘ol smiles but nothing comes out!  Sometimes a teeny tiny little one will come but that is it.

Chewing and drooling!  Big time hand chewer!  Sucks on her two fingers (pointer and middle).  Slimy mess she usually is!

This look (below) is usually the look Max gets.  She yells at him.

Then (below) she gives him the one-two-punch!  He is just so wild and aggressive and in your face sometimes that she has to defend herself. 

She has created a routine by herself.  And I have created a bedtime for her!  She goes to bed at 9pm… sleeping all night long!  She is a hard sleeper too!  I rarely hear her grunting and or wiggling or wanting a nuk!  Then I am waking her up (yes – waking her up) between 8 and 8:30 in the morning to get her going so we can start school at 9.  She goes back down for a nap about 10.  Eats at 11:30.  Back down at 1.  Up between 3 and 4.  Eats at 4.  Now she stays up for a long time.  Eats about 7.  Takes a power nap and then to bed at 9. 

When Melanie sleeps she pulls her blanket up OVER her head.  At first it really bothered me that she slept like that.  So when I would see it I would go pull her blanket down off her face.  Which she would pull it back over her face.  She constantly has a grip on her blanket too.  And it has to be the fuzzy side on her face. 

If I really stop and think about how fast she is growing already – I get tears.  Now that she sleeps all night – before putting her to bed I give her extra snuggle time and have to force myself to put her to bed.  With the first baby – you don’t have a clue how fast it is going to go.  The second baby – cried so much you just couldn’t wait for him to get bigger.  The third baby – don’t grow up fast!  Soak up every moment just in case she is the last! 

She is also still sleeping in our room in her little bed.  Can’t move her yet!  I have her napping in her crib and she does great… I just don’t want her that “far” away yet.  The other two the first few times they started sleeping all night off they went.  Something about if this is the last… I am going to try to make it last longer. 

I still hear a lot that she looks like Max.  They do have the exact same mouths.  Lately though I have been seeing a lot of Baby Mallory in her.  Especially when she wears some of Mallory’s old clothes and hats. 

She has stayed a few hours with my Mom and she refused to eat and became poor sad Melanie.  Then Jesse kept her a few hours while I went to photography club and she did the same to him.  She turns into this sad baby and nothing will make her happy until her Mommy comes back. 

All the pictures were taken by my Mom.  The knitted dress and hat were made by my Aunt DiAnn. 

Are those not the cutest ears you ever did see?!!