This is my life.: August 2010

8.12.2010

Song for a Fifth Child

I've read this poem by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton several times since having a baby, but sometimes I need to re-read it to remind myself of what's really important. Thought I would post it for all of you to enjoy as well.

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

8.10.2010

A Child's Environment....

Here is another excerpt from Michael Olaf's The Joyful Child: Montessori from Birth to Three....

General Environment Principles
Here are some things to keep in mind when organizing a child's environment.

(1) Participation in Family Life: Even from the very first days invite the child into the life of the family. In each room—the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, front hall, and so forth have a mobile for the infant, or a basket or shelves for the young child, to store the few carefully chosen belongings, and a special mat or rug for him to "work" on developing abilities.

(2) Independence: The child's message to us at any age is "Help me to do it myself." Supporting this need shows respect for and faith in the child. Think carefully about family activities in all areas of the home, and arrange each space to support independence. A twin mattress for the child's bed; clothing cubby, coat tree, or low clothing rod or hook wherever the child dresses or undresses (front hall, bathroom, bedroom, etc.); a stool or bench for removing shoes and boots; inviting shelves for books, dishes, toys.

(3) Belongings: This brings up a very important point. It is too much for anyone to care for or enjoy belongings when there are too many out at one time. In preparing the home environment for a child, have a place to keep clothing, toys, and books that are not being used. Rotate these when you see the child tiring of what is out on the shelf, in the book display, or toy basket. Have just a few pieces of clothing available to the child to choose what to wear each day, just a few toys that are enjoyed, and only a few favorite or new books to look at.

(4) Putting Away & The Sense of Order: "Discipline" comes from the same word as "disciple" and our children become disciplined only by imitating us; just as we teach manners such as saying "thank you" by modeling this for our children instead of reminding, we can teach them to put away their books and toys only by gracefully and cheerfully doing it over and over in their presence.

People are always amazed at how neat and beautiful a good Montessori class appears. This is not because the teacher is imposing her own order on the child, but because she is satisfying the strong sense of order of the child.

8.01.2010

Half a year later, continued....

OK, I promised an update after our well-baby check up and family photos, so here it is!! Sean is now 18 lbs. 15 oz. (75%) and 27.5 inches long (80%). Dr. Bailey has no concerns about him whatsoever- he says if my kid wants to continue eating 7-8 oz of solids plus 4-6 oz of formula at each meal then keep doing what we are doing LOL!! I was worried I was overfeeding him, haha! But this kid sure knows how to put some food away, so I guess it's a good thing.

His third tooth has started to show since the 29th, so unfortunately we have had a few rough nights over the last few days. He is usually very good about putting himself to sleep, especially at nighttime. But for the last few weeks he has been waking at odd hours (there is no real pattern to it, sometimes it's as early as 11:30pm, other nights it's at 1 or 2 am) and having a hard time going back to sleep. He still goes to bed about 8pm after our daily walk and bath time, and he is taking 2-4 naps a day. Usually it's 2 or 3 naps, 1.5-2.5 hours long each, but on days where he wakes up super early and doesn't nap longer than 1 hour at a time, he can take as many as 4 naps in one day. This is pretty rare though.

He loves the exersaucer still, and sometimes he enjoys his swing, but not as much for napping in anymore. I usually put him in it around 5 pm when he is starting to get grumpy but it's too late in the day for him to really nap before bedtime. It's nice because it mellows him out a little. We have pretty much retired the vibrating bouncer chair, and the bumbo. But they are nice to have because Sean has so many of his other baby friends who are right behind him, so they can use those things when they come over to our house! His favorite thing to do right now is rolling around on the living room floor, and practicing his "push ups." He really, really wants to be mobile, but can't quite figure out how to put it all together quite yet. He loves to hold his own bottle now, he really doesn't want me helping him anymore LOL. And I can tell that he understands a few of the signs we have been using with him, but doesn't show any interest in mimicking them yet. For example, when he is grumpy right after he wakes from a nap, I'll ask him if he wants some milk, and use the sign. He stops fussing right away, looks at my hands signing, and then looks into the kitchen, like "what are you waiting for?" It's pretty neat. The idea of "more" is a little more complex so I don't think he understands that one yet. And I am almost positive his first sign will be "dog" because he just loves watching our dogs so much!