L School

 We've been holding a little school time for L.  We gather in the firepit room and sing, dance, do crafts and enjoy a snack served by one of the children.  Sometimes it is only once a week.  But they know the routine and it is a sweet time.

L loves to help in the kitchen.  He is so funny.  Here he is making his first pizza ever.

He would probably have learned to swim this summer but without access to pools he remains in a life jacket.

He was very interested in seeing fish at the beach.  I let him wear goggles and he would plop face down over and over.
 

band boy

 L is 5 and so we dressed him up in the band suit and went outside to get some great shots of his tenor horn skills.

something to remember him by

 L came to me yesterday and handed me this saying "This is a piece of asphault from a speed bump, so you will always remember me."

 L has some speech sounds that he can't make so sometimes it seems like he doesn't speak well, but he actually has really detailed and sweet observations about the world.

He had a birthday last month and grandma and grandpa gave him these cute PJ clothes.  They are reminiscent of the famous Catboy PJ suit that he loved for so long.

Decorating a cake

L had a good time decorating this cake with tiny stars.

Reign of the Judges

We are reading the Book of Mormon at night and have reached the book of Alma where the reign of the Judges begins.  We have a family tradition of saying "reign of the judges" in enthusiastic unison whenever the phrase comes up in the scriptures.  L doesn't really sit and pay attention but whenever we chorus the phrase, he comes running back into the front room yelling "REIGN OF THE JUDGES!"

Because L doesn't have any little siblings, his 4 year old speech sound so baby-like.  But I know from watching videos of the other children that most of them talked about the same when they were 4. 

Everyone loves to delight L.  L loves to torment everyone...  There are often conflicts with lP or G because L wants to jump on them.  M has a whole routine of encouraging phrases she uses to "race" L into doing whatever needs to be done.  B is L's best buddy and they are so adorable and hilarious even though they often are in conflict over toys. 

I assigned the children different chores for June and L has been assigned the bathroom.  The children each have done each zone and I like having L in charge of the bathroom because it doesn't bother me to spend 10 minutes cleaning it with him.  I'll have to remember to just accept spending 10 minutes cleaning it with the other children too.  I didn't teach them recently so I shouldn't expect them to know all that needs to be done in there. 

haircut

so stinking cute!

Blaze Robot

Today L was playing with Duplos in my room, where most of the toys live because I can't stand having them scattered around on the floor.  He created a robot body for his Blaze car.  He was very delighted by it and I'm glad he's such a creative boy.

Friday, L climbed a ladder and went up to the very top of the orange tree.  It was precarious because the tree is dying and so much of the tree is brittle, and jagged.  If he fell, it would be very sharp stick, kind of bad.  All of the other children were afraid for him.  He does that to us all, often.  I tell them, don't reach for him, it just makes it more likely he will fall.  And to never pull on him because he will pull back the other way and fall.

L is so endearing, and demanding.  He said he was hungry the other day and I asked if he would like an "envelope" our code name for fruit leather.  His eyes bulged and he said I could get a paper and make an envelope and put it on the table and he would see it and say "Oh an envelope, how nice." So that is what I did.  He has the capacity to generate multi-step plans, but does not follow multi-step instructions.  Oh no.

L is very particular about his hair and only likes to have it lay flat.  He calls it his L hair.  He also does not like being called little prince or super L.  He protests, "I'm just L, normal L!"

L and I go on outings often.  I am so grateful for this time.  I love my children so much.

L needed some boots.  The ones worn by G and passed down had worn out so we got L this pair of batman boots that hopefully he will wear for a year or so. 

L was sleeping in this bin for months.  It gave him a contained space and I was very glad he liked it so much.

Last week he decided he was done with it, for now.  He likes to go sleep with other children and often kicks them out of their beds, or sleeps on their heads.  M complained about this so I told her my trick of assigning him a nest.  When he comes into our room at night, about once a month, I give him a blanket and tell him he can sleep on the arm chair.  Tonight M built him a nest in the closet and that is where he went to sleep.