Learning and logic

We had a couple of interesting developments in our house today. For one, Joel counted to ten all by himself. He had gotten up to six correctly before, so this was a big jump. He's only done it once, so far. Evan counted up to 59 by himself today. He is interested in numbers and is working on reading the time on a digital clock, but this is the highest he had counted by himself so far.

Evan also demonstrated some amazing logic today. I was explaining that if he threw any of his toys again, I would take them away for a week. He smiled and said, "And then I get them back!" I decided that maybe the point wasn't being made, so I told him that I might just give the toys to other kids who don't have toys so they can play with them. He said, "But if they don't have toys, they can't play." Again, he seemed to miss the point, but he thought he got me!

The family that games together ...

We've never been the family to buy the latest in video game systems, but since we were given a Wii for Christmas, we are re-thinking that. J/K! We are enjoying the Wii very much and yesterday received our newest game - Madden '08. This one was more for me than anyone else, so I eagerly opened it and started reading the instructions. I lost some of my excitement when I saw the pages of operation controls. I decided this would take some time to figure out and put it aside for later.

When Steve got home he decided that he and Evan would see if they could figure it out. They "played" a couple of mini-games (not really knowing what they were controlling or how) and then Steve said it was time to put it up and move on to one of the "old" games, like tennis. Evan wanted to play football again, but Steve said, "The football game is ..." (pause while he is trying to set something up). Evan finished his sentence with, "too hard for you?" I had to laugh and Steve just smiled. Then they played tennis.

A disappointing playoff day

I had my new Packers shirt, Joel was in his Packers outfit, the boys and I had green and gold thundersticks ... but it wasn't enough to cheer our team on to victory. Unfortunately the weather was not the good omen that I had hoped it would be. I will still watch the Super Bowl and I will probably still wear my Packers shirt for it. I will be cheering for the Patriots, though.

On a happier note, Joel did much better at church yesterday. The first time at this church he cried for 30 minutes before they called me out of the service. The next few times after that, he had to start out with his paci and blankie (which he gave up within a few minutes). Then we progressed to just having the blankie one week, and yesterday we went into the class without the paci or blankie! He still asked for them as soon as we drove up, but we reminded him that he's a big boy and didn't need them (as we discussed before we left for church).

Speaking of church, the boys both went to a new class at the church last week and came home with a memory verse, Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Evan had it down pretty quickly, and we are getting Joel to say it, too. Joel just repeats after us for now, but he thinks that it is fun, especially if we "pound out" the rhythm as we say it. Hopefully Joel will enjoy staying in the class with Evan and he can learn more Bible stories and Bible verses as the year goes on, and get used to being in a class setting with other kids.

Today is a holiday for Evan, but not for Dad, so we are getting together with some friends! They are coming over to play, so we are getting ready for their arrival. Actually, the boys are very excited and ready for them to be here now, so we will watch a movie to help the time pass. Evan understands about waiting, but Joel doesn't understand about that yet. Blue's Clues is going to be very helpful for the next few minutes!

Raising an Ag?

Those of you who know Steve and know A&M probably know that he was a 2-percenter during his days there. (For those of you that don't know, that means that he wasn't in to all of the school spirit and tradition things.) I was there for grad school, so I wasn't a die-hard Ag, either, but I was more spirited than Steve. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when Joel busted out a "Gig 'em Aggies!" during a recent shopping trip. I had introduced it to him at some point, but it wasn't something I spent a lot of time training him to do. He obviously picked it up, though. I finally got him to do it for the camera, and that is what I have been wanting to add to the blog. We haven't uploaded video to the computer in a long time and I needed Steve's help to do it, so it took a while to get it done, but here it is!


We did survive Steve's business trip, but we were all glad to see Dad come home. In fact, Joel got very upset when we dropped Daddy off at a park today to play frisbee golf with Uncle Matt. I guess he thought Daddy was going to be gone for a long time again. But we were only apart for a couple of hours. Daddy got to have some "guy time" with Uncle Matt and a couple of his friends. The boys and I went shopping and got some clothes, since they are both outgrowing theirs all of a sudden. One day their clothes fit, and the next day they are wearing highwaters and baring midriffs! Anyway, we found some good deals and everyone had a pretty good time.

Making the most of it

Dad is away for his first business trip without us, and we are surviving! Last night the boys went to bed pretty well, but the "problems" started this morning. Evan got up and joined my bed before 6:30, and never went back to sleep. Joel woke up around 7:30. That's fairly early for them, and they were not in the best of the moods. They did get to talk to Dad this morning on the phone and that was a big treat.

We went to a new class for Evan at the church we are visiting and that went well. It is called Learn the Word and covers basic Bible stories. There will be more parts to it later that cover character traits and doctrine. They tried to incorporate the little kids, too, but it was a little hard because there were so many kids there. I was excited by the turnout today. Maybe this will be a good way for us to meet other kids and moms from the church.

Evan did well in the class, but Joel was a bit of a handful. Some of the kids brought their own snacks and those are the kids Joel wanted to hang out with, or at least their snacks. He charmed one little girl (about 5 years old) into giving him the rest of her Honey Nut Cheerios. He then tried to get Trix from her younger brother. That was all after he tried to get raisins from a 1-year-old. He saw the official class snacks, too, and wanted them before it was time. During snack time he found a basket of candy and eventually managed to get a miniature Reese's peanut butter cup crammed into his mouth before I saw him. He acts in public like he never gets food at home, but I promise that he does!

After we got home we all had lunch and then we all took a nap. We all really needed one! The plan is to order in pizza for tonight and maybe watch a movie, too. Tomorrow we are planning to go to a theater to see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, as long as everyone sleeps well tonight. I really pray that we get plenty of rest tonight!

Still figuring things out

I had been wanting to download a little video clip before I posted again, but that might take a while, so I am just writing today.

I was struck again by how quickly Joel seems to be growing up. I keep thinking of him as my baby, but he's already 2 now. Yesterday I was changing a diaper when he noticed a picture in his room of Curious George stuck on the top of a traffic light. He commented, "Curious George needs help." I am not sure that he made that connection all by himself, but if he had heard that phrase before it was a week or more ago. He has also started "helping" me with discipline. When he does something that he knows is wrong and I give him The Look, he will smile and say, "Joel Wyatt!" (It comes out kind of like "Jol White".)

Evan also likes to help with the discipline of Joel. We are working on that. We actually have quite a few things that we are trying to work on Evan with - speaking respectfully, not using "potty words", not hitting Joel, etc. I read a book recently that has given us some new ideas to try with him. I highly recommend Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel. It was a pleasant and humorous read, and has a toolbox of ideas at the end of each chapter. I have tried a few of these ideas over the weekend, and they seem to be helping. One of the biggest helps from the book was the reminder that our hearts are ultimately in God's hands, and the best thing we can do for our kids is pray that God would mold their hearts.

We are currently gearing up for Dad to go out of town for a couple of days. Some people have to deal with business travel all of the time, but this will be our first adventure. I am wondering how it will go, because both of the boys are quite attached to their dad. Thankfully it will be a short trip, and we will do some special things while Dad is away. I'll keep you posted on how they do.

First time for everything

This is my first entry in my own blog. I hope that it won't be my last. ;) Steve suggested that I start doing this other day, so I am using the boys' nap time today to try it out.

The boys are as energetic as always, which leaves me as tired as always. Today we went to the local McDonald's for a story time. Once a month the library holds a story time there, and today was our first day to try it out. We haven't been to story time in a over a year, so it was fun to be back. Joel did pretty well, but decided to start playing before it was over. I think Evan enjoyed it, especially since a girl from his class and one of his teachers was there. The boys also got to play in the "tubes" a lot before and after story time. Joel goes all the way up into the tubes now by himself. If there are a lot of kids he can get scared up there, but otherwise he just plays and has a great time. They got some energy out and had fun with other kids, so that made for a good morning.

Evan told us that he punched out one of the girls in his class yesterday while playing boxing. He had us going for a while with a very elaborate story, but then he said, "Well, maybe we didn't do that. Maybe we just played bowling, golf, tennis, and baseball." These are all Wii games, so as Steve put it, "He is living in Wii-land." In case you didn't know, Steve's brother got the family a Wii for Christmas and it has been a big hit. Thankfully no one has actually hit the tv yet, but the boys do get close. Joel likes it, but just in little bursts. Evan loves it, and is very good. Steve hasn't figured out how to beat him in boxing yet, but is working diligently on it.
We'll keep you posted on their progress. ;)