Month 35 - Recap

Well, my sweet bear, just like Natalie survived her first full month of homeschool, so did you. And you did it with all the grace an almost-three-year-old can muster (ie: not a lot). You were pretty grumpy the first week.

"Why you sit at da table so much?"
"Why I gotta be quiet if I sit by Natawee?"
"I don't wike school. I go pway wiff my twucks now."

But by the second week, you had come around.

"I want to dwaw, too!"
"I want to wite my wetters, too! How you wite a A?"
"Here, Nattie, I put my dinos on your school paper to help you wearn."

I bought this super-cool cart from IKEA that I've filled with homeschool supplies. It's got three shelves on it, and the bottom shelf is full of things just for you to use while we do school stuff: crayons, paper, stickers, some flashcards, and the aforementioned plastic dinosaurs. You switch activities every three seconds, so by 00:00:15 of our homeschool day, you're done with us and run off to the playroom.

We take enough breaks to keep you from getting antsy and/or lonely. Natalie loves taking her breaks with you. You two either chase each other around the living room or climb into your bed and pretend you're in a boat. Your fellow passengers (ie: the stuffed animals) are a pretty unruly bunch from what I can gather. They keep jumping overboard and you and Natalie have the daunting job of rescuing them.

So besides this being the first month of you as a homeschool sibling, it's also the first month of you using the toilet (the word 'potty' makes me want to throw up). Natalie was a bit older than the average kid when she decided she was ready. And just one accident later, she was golden. You, however, haven't been so easy. I don't know if accidents mean you're really not ready, or it's just normal, but we're pressing on. You're usually fine if we're at home and you can be in all your clothes-less glory. It's when you wear clothes that problems sometimes arise. I will say though that you did really awesome when we went grocery shopping the other day. Hopefully the trend continues, because my summary of potty training you? Boys are way gross.

You are obsessed with jeans. Like, ob-sessed. When I was leaving to get you and Natalie some winter clothes at a local consignment store, you hollered to me "Don't forget my jeeeeeeeeeans! Wots and wots of jeeeeeeeeeeans!" (And Natalie hollered "Please forget jeans for me! They're terrible and awful and I don't like them!"). So I did. I got you lots and lots of jeans. Probably more than a two-year-old needs ... but really, at $2 and $3 a pair, why not? The look on your face when you saw them was priceless. It was the same look that the winners of the Publishers Clearing House have. So you wear them everywhere. We've had a few days of cooer weather, so it was totally appropriate. But on the days that it's sweltering? Yep, still jeans. You show your jeans to everybody. Friends, family, people at the grocery store, waiters and waitresses, people we see in the bathroom, you don't discriminate. You're excited about your britches and you want the world to know. And if you can learn to keep your beloved jeans free of anything that belongs in a toilet, we'll all be golden.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for October 9, 2014:

• Ebola Death Toll Rises to 4,033
• The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Indian Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani Malala Yousafzay
• Boy, 3, Falls Into Jaguar Exhibit at Zoo in Little Rock, Arkansas
• 'Saturday Night Live' Star Jan Hooks Dies at 57
• Obama Declares Part of "Magnificent" San Gabriel Mountains National Monument