they grew again

It's been a while since I've updated about the boys. It feels like they're completely different kids all of a sudden.

Andrew is still loving his home learning time. We're almost done working our way through the alphabet! I decided to try out some sight words to see if he'd be at all interested and he was totally into it! I did the first 5 words on the list and he learned them after one time going through them. And he still remembers them today - it's mind blowing to me! I also had him write letters from memory and he knew them all except 2. We've been working on the sounds of the letters along the way too. He can do many letter sounds if he really thinks about it, but it seems like that is a good thing to focus on next. He also really likes math and I'm looking into adding geography and the calendar just because he wants to learn more. This is way more than I planned to do with him but he eats it up! The bonus for me is it's helping me deal with kindergarten being right around the corner because it seems like he's going to love it!

Mason is going through the growth spurt that happens around 2 1/2 and is quickly turning into a big kid. He has enough words to say anything he needs to. He has a favorite show (Dinosaur Train ... one show Andrew has never really cared for) and a favorite book (Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? ... a book that Andrew never really cared for) and a favorite color (Blue). The other day Mason gave me a hug and said "I love you too much, mama". I sort of love him. : ) He also told on Andrew for the first time - which made Matt laugh out loud and then he told me to mark it down as a first! Ha. He has also shown an interest in learning letters and loves to point out the letter M. And he's also back on track with potty training. If he could work through his fear of normal sized toilets, we'd be done with pull-ups! His little toilet seat has been bothering him lately because it's so small. I assume he'll get tired of that eventually...

Another new thing... Andrew is reading his first chapter book! He likes it (I love it)! I hope we can keep it up. And Mason has all of a sudden fallen in love with books. As I mentioned above, he loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? He asks for it before nap and bedtime and sometimes randomly in the middle of the day, too. He tries to read along with me and loves to talk about the pictures and the colors.

I really do try to enjoy every day with my boys and soak in the precious time I have with them while they're young and willing to snuggle and tell me they love me. : ) But for some reason, lately it's been rubbed in my face how fast the time goes. A stranger, while watching me try to corral my boys through Fred Meyer, smiled and told me to make sure I enjoy this time (I love it when older people do that - love it!). Someone at the wedding introduced me to their 'grown up son' and told me they turn 18. And a blog I follow just quoted my favorite part of a sweet little poem: "The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, but 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". I get it! It's good advice. But enjoying it doesn't seem to be slowing it down any, so you can take your good advice and shove it! : )