We have a Reader!

MATTHEW!

I started sitting down with Matthew (and Kayla) in November, once I learned that there were some kids in their kindergarten class that already knew how to read.  The book I chose was "Jack and Janet".  This book has been successfully used for a few generations: my Mom learned to read with this book and I (and all of my siblings) learned to read with this book.  It was worth a shot!


Although Matthew initially was not as quick as Kayla was to be able to sound out a word, once he figured out what the word was, he would remember it for all future occurrences.  It's really quite amazing to see how quickly he has picked up reading!  I haven't really even spent too much time reading with him (we're only halfway through the book) but he reads all of the pages with ease and now will read his own library books from school or other books on our bookshelf (granted they aren't too long!  A sentence or two per page is what he likes).  He seems to enjoy reading, and I hope that continues!

Olivia is 17 Months Old!

Olivia is at a fantastic age right now.  We had a rough couple of weeks over Christmas where she was super clingy (to me) and whiny, but I think she wasn't feeling the greatest those weeks and has now done a complete 180.  She seldom has her soother (unless she's in bed) and doesn't need to be with me 24-7.

She is growing up so quick.  Olivia now weighs 24.4lbs and these past couple of weeks her speaking has taken off!  She does a lot of incomprehensible babbling, but has mastered the following:
Baba (Bottle)
Boo (Boots)
Mom (Mom)
Mama (Grandma)
Bapa (Grandpa)
Uh (Up)
Na Na (Night Night)
Dada (Dad)
Sssss (Soother)
Ga (Go)
Caw (Car)
Caw (Cow)
Gog (Dog)
It's really cute when she comes up to you from another room in the house and starts rambling on and on, while looking at you waiting for the appropriate response.

Olivia consistently sleeps through the night.  What a relief!  She goes to bed at the same time as the "big kids" around 7:30pm, and sleeps until 7:00am.  She always has her soother when she goes to bed, and I'm not sure when I'm going to take it away from her.  The other three kids "gave it up" around 18 months old.  I find Olivia can be whinier/more demanding than what they were, so for my sanity, she might get to have it longer.

She still gets one bottle, just before bed.  This past month she has started asking for it, pointing to the sink where the clean bottles stand saying, "Baba".  As soon as I grab it and fill it she points to the microwave so I can put it in there, and then points to the sink where the clean nipples are.  I've reduced her bottle from 9oz to 8oz because she was leaking through her diapers as soon as she woke up in the morning.

She loves to sit on the counter while I'm preparing food.

She loves to run and then pretend to trip so she falls to her knees on the ground.  She thinks it's hilarious!  She also thinks it's funny when she crawls.

She loves to be outside, and gets really angry if someone goes outside without her.

Speaking of anger...boy, does this little girl know how to express her anger!  She can scream like you wouldn't believe.  I thought she was going to lose her voice after only a couple screams in the middle of the night the other night.  In addition to screaming, this little girl loves to throw herself on the floor and throw the stereotypical toddler-tantrum.

Olivia loves Nathan, and he loves her right back.  He likes to give her his blankie, baby, and puppy every morning when he wakes up, and she gladly takes it.  She has also discovered that he sleeps in the same room as her and has started talking to him from her crib.  Nathan has come downstairs a few times complaining that Olivia keeps talking to him and is keeping him up.

I can't believe it's only one more month until she is 18 months old.  Crazy!  My little baby girl is not at all a baby anymore. :(

Matthew, on Being Afraid

Nathan: "Sometimes when I see someone in my room at night I am afraid."

Matthew:  "Nathan, remember the angel Gabriel said, 'Do not be afraid!' to Mary and Joseph.  So you shouldn't be afraid at night."

Matthew, on the Trinity

As I was loading the kids into our vehicle after celebrating Auntie Candice's birthday last night, Kayla mentioned that she was scared to walk outside when it was dark and slippery, when I wasn't around.  I reminded her that even if I'm not there, someone else always is....God.  Matthew piped up and said, "Good thing we have room for three people in our hearts: God, Jesus, and....the dove." (They had just learned about Jesus' baptism and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove this past week in Children's Church).

New Year's Eve

This year for New Year's Eve we had my brother, David and his wife Laura and their five kids over.  We had appies for dinner and then the kids played.  Around 7:15 we realized how much snow had accumulated outside and how beautiful is was looking, and so I suggested that we go outside and play.  I managed to find four extra pairs of snow pants, boots, and gloves for the other older kids and outside we went.  It was SO MUCH FUN.

{Photo with our across-the-street neighbour's tree.  Kids, left to right: Emma, Liam, Nathan, Kayla, Matthew, Carly, Remy, Olivia and Brayden (in front).  Yes, there are nine kids under 6.  It's great because in this group, each child has a cousin their exact same age...except Brayden.  Poor guy, he didn't get a 2016 cousin from Jon and I!}

The snow was all practically untouched and there was absolutely no traffic around.  We started out by building a snowman in our front yard while some of the kids ran around in the street, and then we headed to our "little park" for some small hill sledding while David and Jon built an 8-foot tall snowman.  At around 8:30 we headed back home, get the kids changed into their pjs, and headed down to our basement to watch the movie "Storks".  When the movie ended at 10:30 the kids all went to bed and us adults watched the new movie "The Jungle Book".  It was a fun stay-at-home evening.