Nova Wind

I've been trying to write this post for months. But, as Nova Wind is an imaginary place, it is also fluid and evolutionary, thus making it difficult to describe. It seems I am getting ahead of myself.

Nova Wind is a place in the Arctic Ocean. It is also in Nova Scotia and occasionally Saskatchewan. It has even been in space. Nova Wind has a King, a prince and a princess. The princess is named Princess so we call her "Princess Princess". 

The other day was a very special day in Nova Wind- it was a day to give the Princess flowers. We can buy flowers from a man wearing all black. He grows flowers and then the bees come and pollinate them and then we can buy them. We give her flowers so she knows it's a holiday. 

The King of Nova Wind is fair and kind and quite eccentric. He requires baths of soup, monkey butlers and that everyone wear socks with grips on the soles. The only vegetable permitted in his kingdom is red peppers. That's it. Every day they eat red peppers. Except for the days when they have broccoli. But they never have carrots. 

There is a museum in Nova Wind. The soldiers like to go there and look at their horses. It also has big snakes. The soldiers are knights that protect Princess Princess from bad guys. Don't worry- the castle has a moat with crocodiles so the royal family is quite safe. 

The King of Nova Wind goes to school. He loves school and his teacher. The King makes friends easily and is very good at sharing. Except for when the King is actually a soldier. He's not very good at sharing then. Sometimes the King is not the King or a soldier, but an astronaut. The astronaut flies a space ship that looks like a tent way up high into the sky to get aliens. Sometimes the aliens are nice and other times the astronaut has to use his knight skills to fight them. If Nova Wind is in space, the aliens are even farther away, or sometimes the people of earth are the aliens.

The King/soldier/astronaut is a good hunter. He can fight and kill and eat everything in "one big chomp". Except for when the King is the tiger. Then he could still fight and kill and eat everything in one big chomp, including any hunter. 

Nova Wind has a very challenging language. It occasionally sounds exactly like English but at other times it's intricacies are so complex there is only one person on earth with the ability to translate. I'm glad I don't have such a heavy burden to carry. 

The shapes and sizes of various items in Nova Wind are quite intriguing. For instance, houses in Nova Wind are much bigger than you've ever seen anywhere else, but the graham crackers are tiny. People always sleep in bunk beds in Nova Wind and they all share one big bedroom. If you're ever wondering how so much stuff fits inside a room, or space ship in Nova Wind, you can rest easy: it's bigger on the inside. 

They have firemen and police in Nova Wind (the forces of which the King also belongs to) and- thank goodness- they also have an ice cream store. A huge one- taller than the giant houses. Princess Princess gets the giant cone with raspberrys and chocolate sauce. The King picked it out for her. It's lactose free, of course, as all food in Nova Wind is. 

We go to Nova Wind several times a day. We talk about it incessantly, and it changes almost every minute of the day. And I love it; I embrace it and ask questions and marvel at my son's creation. For he is truly a wonder, and the rightful King of Nova Wind, his Majesty, Silas the First. 

Lactose

Silas has officially been declare lactose intolerant. Not surprising considering all the trouble with dairy we had when he was an infant. He is doing incredibly well with having different milk and not having any cheese, etc. He takes it very seriously and even reminds me when I forget :). 

"Holiday" concert 2014

Ezra had his first school Christmas concert this week and he did really well. Unfourtunately, the school only allows for two tickets per child (due to firecode) so Rob went to the rehearsal in the afternoon and Silas and I went for the evening performance. Silas was bored waiting for it to begin and then got tired of "so many songs" but for the large part, he was enraptured. Ezra's class sang two songs, and he even got to introduce the French one. He spoke clear and well and I was very proud. Getting pictures was a challenge but this is what I got! 

Silas's Haircut.

The other night, against my better judgement, I cut Silas's hair. He has been asking me to cut it because it is in his eyes, so I relented. He wanted it shorter than daddies hair. So I gave him a nice cut and he was very good and happy about the whole thing. 

Then, after he'd been sleeping for an hour, he was wailing in his bed because "I miss my curls and I want them back!" 

I tried the whole "your hair will grow back" bit but he kept crying "No it won't! It takes long time!" He was inconsolable so I left him to cry- he calmed down after a few minutes alone. 

Then, half hour later, he calls me back to tell me "It still hasn't grown and Jesus won't help [him] sleep because he has no curls anymore"

I tried to console him. I tried not to laugh. I reminded him he asked for the haircut. 

He told me "I was about to say I didn't want my haircut anymore before you cut it because I learned how to fold my hair so it wasn't in my eyes but you cut it anyway" 

Oh the lesson of regret he has learned. 

The upside to all of this is that he seemed just hunky dory and he was fine with his haircut. All that drama for nothing. 

School Progress

I haven't been happy with Ezra's school since the beginning. 

Maybe I've had a bad attitude because I know I can do it better. 

Or maybe, it just really sucks. 

We chose to put Ezra in French immersion because we didn't want him to be bored. He's bored anyway.

At least he's social and loves his friends. 

This is his report card: 

See how all the objectives have been reached? He has more than a month until "holiday break" and he has no more goals to reach or learning to be had. 

We've had two meetings with his teacher. She thinks we are crazy for expecting her to do anything above and beyond the basics for Ezra. She even told us she wants the other kids in his class to catch up to him.

I have a feeling we will be fighting for this kids education for his whole life. 

Ugh. Homeschooling is looking pretty good about now. 

Excited.

I needed to post and tell you that our upcoming trip out west takes up probably at least 50% of what we talk about these days. 

They can barely wait! 

Philip walks for Real

I got a much better video of the walking today. He's really taken off the last two days or so. Won't be long before he's running! 

Philip walks.

Reading with Pip

Silas Says

Silas is doing really well. He loves preschool and being at home with Philip and I. His behaviour has been a bit rough in the past, but recently he has been very compliant. Silas feels deeply and reacts deeply, but as he matures he is better able to understand his world and process his emotions. He loves hugging and kidding and saying, "I love you so much" on a regular basis.

Silas has also not had a bathroom accident in recent memory. Yay! We are going through testing to determine if he continues to have issues with dairy, the first step removing all lactose from his diet. If this doesn't help we will remove all forms of dairy and if that doesn't help we will do a blood test. For some reason they like to avoid blood tests as long as possible in three year olds ;). 

I've had some very interesting conversations with Silas recently. Here are some examples: 

Silas, "I want grandma to read me a bedtime story today."

Me "Awe, sorry Silas but grandma lives in __________ and she can't read you a story right now"

Silas, "Yes she can! And there's music!" 

Me "What do you mean?"

Silas, "I'll show ya."

And he brings me Twas The Night Before Christmas, a recordable story my mother gave Ezra (three or four years ago). 

Silas, "See mommy? She CAN read me a story. And after our airplane ride, she can read one for real life." 

"I think the rain cloud lives by hisself Mommy."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he's sad all the time."

"Will Caroline be at preschool today?"

"I don't know, sweetheart, I guess we'll have to wait and see when we get there."

"Because I love Caroline."

"Awe that's sweet. What do you love about her?"

"I love Caroline when we sit in the saddle and ride the toys together." (Haha!) 

"I love holding your hand Mommy" 

"I love holding your hand too Silas."

"Know why I love to hold your hand?"

"No, I don't. Tell me!"

"Because I love you so much. And holding hands tells me you love me too. And also, sometimes it tickles!" 

Overheard while the boys were heading up to bed: 

S (in a taunting tone) "Ezra! You don't have a penis!" 

E "Yes I do! I'm a boy. That means I have a penis!" 

S "No way Ezra! You just have a pee hole on your bum! That means you are a girl!"

Halloween Twenty Fourteen

This year our family tried to have a cohesive costume idea. It worked quite well except for our middle child asserting his uniqueness. Rob went as a pirate, as well as Ezra, I was a mermaid (modled after Ariel) and Philip a parrot. Silas wanted to be an astronaut. 

Ezra and Silas both had a costume party at school (Silas does preschool Fridays), we had a party at Rob's work in the afternoon, we went trick-or-treating with Ezra's school friends, then Rob and I had a costume and games party with friends after the boys went to bed. The trick or treating was crazy. There were about a dozen children, +3 strollers and a whole lot of parents. Rob and I seem to be the only parents who cared that the children were running crazy across the streets without paying attention. I even had a mother tell me she didn't mind because "drivers know it's Halloween and kids just do that". For me the best part was the party after the boys bedtime with our friends.

We and the boys had a lot of fun dressing up. The boys got a great haul (or bounty or loot) of candy (that we've been secretly eating) and it was a fun day for all. Plus it was quite warm out to so that made it all the better. 

Long day. We even forgot to let the boys eat some candy before they went to bed and they didn't remember either! 

Photos!

Nine Months!

Philip is officially nine months old! He has four teeth and currently cutting four more (I expect one today or tomorrow). He is our pickiest eater but still does quite well. His favourite foods are yogurt and raisins.  For all the pushing and struggling we did to get him to breastfeed I think he will be our longest nurser. Philip does NOT take milk in a cup. He loves water in the cup and takes milk in a bottle no trouble but he won't take the milk in a cup. Like I said, he's picky. 

I'm not sure on Philip's height and weight but he is wearing size 12-18 month clothing so he's certainly bigger than the older two. He says Mama and Dada and waves Byebye. He is very persistent and charming and plays really well by himself or with his brothers. 

Philip sleeps 7-6:30 at night and has his first nap around 8:30. This is just a 45 min nap and he goes down again around 11:30 or 12. This second nap is generally 1.5-2 hours before he naps again for 45 mins around 4PM. So far, he has been breastfeeding 4 times a day with a bottle just before 7PM. He eats every meal and snack with the rest of us. 

So there you have it! Your update on Pip :) 

We Made Some Great Boys

Smiling through his cold

Little Charmer

Growing up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Friday (Oct 10) Philip took his first unassisted step! He's only taken one more since then so he is far from what I would consider "walking". But he is well on his way and he is continuing to prove his strength. 

Cute Pip shots

Our boys

Three boys at 8 months! 

Playing together :)

The Many Talents of Silas

Today, as Silas, Philip and I walked to Ezra's school to pick him up, I asked Silas, "What do you think you are good at?"

This is the list he gave me, in this order. The only prompt I gave home was, "Anything else?"

Blinking

Pooping

Sleeping

Building roads

Having a dragon party

Walking on tip toes

I'm very encouraged to know that he is aware of his many talents. 

Market Me!

I sold some art at a market on Saturday. It was a ton of work but also lots of fun. Handed out a LOT of business cards and spoke to a LOT of people. The things I learned were immeasurably valuable.

Thanks for all the help Rob! 

www.etsy.com/shop/kimprintpaintings07

Here's my booth! 

Preschool

Silas started preschool last week and so far it's going great! He does English on Thursdays and French on Fridays. It's the same program Ezra did when he was three so we know the program and the teachers well. He is very proud of himself for being able to go to school and really likes it. On his first day he came home at lunch and said, "I have two girlfriends- no! They are just two girls that are friends with me. Not my girlfriends." So funny that he knew that meant something different! Each day his class has put on a little concert for the parents at pickup time, which is adorable. It is very strange for me to just have Pip by himself for two and a half hours but also lovely. 

I asked him to give me thumbs up but he wanted to do "peace" instead (something he learned from his caretakers while we were in Italy). 

Philip Climbs

So...this is the second time this has happened (to my knowledge). As soon as I was done taking the video he fell and I barely caught him. He is a busy boy!

School!

Ezra's first day of school was Wednesday. He has made a few friends and seems to really be enjoying it so far. The first day drop off and pick up was a mess of chaos and he did get emotional when it was time for us to go but he is great overall (although he said he was nervous for the practice fire drill today...). He also seems to be a Grumpy Gus when he gets home but I am attributing that to change in routine and exhaustion from a long day of learning. He'll get used to it.  

Silas keeps asking me, "Where is Ezra?" And I have to keep reminding him he's at school. He'll get used to it too. 

So far, I love not having the bickering and noise until 2:30. It is really a different dynamic at home without him. It's very weird not to have Ezra during the day but it's not bad either.  Change for us all. 

I also met a neighbour, and mother of a classmate, and we've been walking together. I'm hoping to see if she'll take one direction and I'll take the other. We'll see.

Our lives have changed! 18 more years of life with kids in school. Craziness. 

The Wisdom of Silas

Two weeks ago on Sunday morning I was fighting with Silas about his clothing. Rob had already fought with him about what he was wearing and had given up, so I decided to give it a go. 

He was wearing a Dr. Seuss Tshirt and plaid shorts. Nothing inherently wrong with the outfit, but our family likes to dress up a bit for church. It's partially to be respectful of God's house, partially because we like to, and, partially tradition. Our church is really quite casual in general, and we are some of the most dressed up people there. 

Anyway, Silas would not put on a church shirt. He refused. I tried all sorts of reasons why he should (look nice, match our family, because I said so, etc) and he just cried and cried. 

So I asked him, exasperated, "Silas why won't you just wear a nicer shirt to church!?!?!" 

And he answered me, "Because that is not how God knows I love Him!!"

And I was put to shame by my three year old. And he wore his Yertle the Turtle shirt to church. And he will wear whatever he wants from now on. 

Because he is so right. 

My Little Stander

A weekend away!

Our family has barely spent any time away from our home together as a family this summer. I've been away a lot and Rob hasn't been able to take any more days off since Italy. Last weekend we went up to a cottage a few hours away to have some family R & R. It was so necessary and important and good. 

Mom and the boys, hammocking together. 

Two little boys, proud of their sand castle. 

This little one loved the beach!

Digging with Mama.

Merboys!

Digging with Dad!

Snuggles on the couch. 

Soccer, year one

He's done soccer for the season! 

Rope Swing

I made the boys a rope swing. They love it. Particularily Ezra. 

Crawling

I've been trying to capture this feat for a while but he always crawls when I don't have my phone handy, or he quits as soon as I've got it turned on, or something, so I haven't captured it yet. The video is terrible (we are doing the dishes with company, so excuse the background noise) but you get the idea. The boys crawls. He's good at it. 

As of late

Ezra

Ezra has been wanting to do "school work" every single day for the last while, in order to prepare himself for school. As much as I encourage him he is ready he insists he needs to keep practicing. He can now count by 2's, 5's and 10's, tell time to the half hour on an analog clock, add and subtract numbers to 20 and write each letter in upper and lower case. He can read chapter books to himself, count way past 100 and understands rhyming and basic parts of speech. He also knows life cycles, food chains an habitats. Like I said, the kid is READY for school. Ezra may as well begin school in grade four. He's also been doing really well at soccer but is definitely exhausted at the end of each practice. He recently asked me for a very hipster haircut and wears it well. Ezra also recently started having showers instead of baths. So grown up!

Silas

Silas has only had two bathroom accidents in the last month, and they were both during his nap. He is both day and night trained. Silas still likes having a "pee teacher" but can go independently. He has recently started showing interest in learning his letters and numbers and he can recognize a few of them. He is definitely left handed and I am struggling with teaching him how to hold a pencil and scissors properly, but he's only 3 so I'm not worrying about it too much. Silas has a made up city called, "Novawind" in which all of his pretend play occurs. Usually someone needs rescuing from a catastrophe or bad guy, but occasionally things are just fine in Novawind. Starting mid-September Silas will begin preschool- he is enrolled in the same program Ezra was in when he was 3. 

Philip

Philip has crawled and can walk along furniture. He can get to sitting from laying down but cannot pull to standing (no matter how hard he tries but he's getting close). He has tried all sorts of food but has been refusing anything off the spoon. The only thing he's hated so far is rice cereal and oatmeal. His favourite thing is water; he goes crazy for the cup. When he is hungry for breast milk, he cries "mumumum". It's the only time he says that, and he says it every time. 

Pip's been sleeping in the crib in the boys' room since we came home from our trip and it's been going great. He nurses and has his only bottle for the day at 7, listens to the bed time story and goes to sleep sometime around 7:30. He wakes around 5:30-6 for another nurse and goes back to sleep until 8-8:30. He has also finally been having one long nap a day. Normally he has a 45 min nap in the morning, a 1.5hr nap after lunch and another 45 min nap close to supper time (either before or after he eats). He is basically a dream child. 

Photo bomb. Not the regular kind.

Prepare for a post explosion.

A plosion, if you will. 

First, a photo journey that takes you to visit many important loved ones that I have had the pleasure of visiting recently. 

Pip and Auntie P

Luka Lu 

Auntie Ally (she hasn't seen him since he was just a few days old)

Girls night!

Papa

Nana

Uncle Matty

Auntie Lenni

Baby Kastle

Grandma 

Meeting uncle Jonnie 

Breakfast with Auntie Kay

Playing with cousin Caleb 

Meeting Seth and Asher!

Auntie Robin- We missed a photo with Tim! Sorry! 

Supper with Brooklyn