B is for Bacuum

For a few weeks now I've been trying to build a foundation for teaching the boys to read. They've been able to read the letters of the alphabet for quite a while now, so I decided it was time for them to learn what sounds each letter makes. During their everyday play I've been drilling them with questions like, "What sound does 'A' make?" and, "What letter does apple begin with?" and they have thereby learned how to sound out the first letter of various words: ah apple, buh banana, and so forth. They caught on quickly and were soon sounding out everything in sight. My favorite was the time Caleb glanced over at the vacuum and proudly proclaimed, "buh bacuum!" Mimi said that is correct as far as she is concerned (since 'B' and 'V' are indistinguishable in the Korean language). :)

Anyway, while the boys have easily learned to associate the sound of the letter with the word, associating the actual letter with the word is obviously a little trickier. Today Caleb was playing with his Curious George stuffed animal, propping him up on the couch. "Hey, look Mommy, Curious George is sitting on the couch!" he told me. "Oh wow! What letter does couch begin with?" I replied. Instead of just blurting out, "cuh couch" as he usually does, I could tell that he was really putting his brain to work. After giving it some thought, he hesitantly replied, "'C' couch!" I was so excited, knowing that he had come to that conclusion entirely on his own, especially since "couch" isn't a word we've been using during our alphabet drills. Caleb was beaming with pride, too. He then found a stick lying around. "How about stick?" he suggested. "What letter does stick begin with?" I asked him. He paused pensively, then replied, "'T' stick!" I proceeded to explain that he was very close, and that 'T' is the second letter in the word stick, but that the first letter is 'S'. A few minutes later Caleb was playing with a ball and once again prompted me to drill him, saying, "how about ball?" I asked him, "what letter does ball begin with?" He paused briefly to think before concluding, "'B' ball!" A while later I found him examining the stripes on his shirt. Curious to see whether or not he'd been listening when I corrected the mistake he made with 'stick,' I asked him, "what letter does 'stripes' begin with?" Grinning confidently, he exclaimed, "Stripes begins with 'S'!" I'm so happy that Caleb has finally caught on. I know it will only be a matter of time before Joshua catches on, too.

Moses Rolled Over

12-week-old Moses rolled over from his back onto his tummy this evening at Mimi and Papa's house. He had previously rolled over onto his side, but this was the first time he did a full 180. I just checked our blog archives, and it looks like Moses got rollin' just a little earlier than his older brothers Joshua and Caleb, who first rolled over at 13 and 14 weeks respectively.

A Job Well Done

This afternoon Caleb pooped on the potty for the 4th time, the first time in a week. I rewarded him with ten m&m's. He tried to sit at the table and eat them, but was unable to do so in peace because Joshua--whose refusal to use the potty has excluded him from partaking in sugary rewards--encroached covetously, pestering his twin to share some of the spoil. Caleb ran around the house seeking refuge, carefully balancing his jam jar lid-full of m&ms while Joshua pursued. Finally, Caleb came to a halt and selected an m&m to give to Joshua. "Here, here's an m&m," he said. Joshua grinned happily as he savored the fruit of Caleb's labor, then lingered to see if Caleb would share more. "Here's one more," said Caleb, as he selected a second m&m to give to his brother. Two additional "one more's" were offered. Joshua heartily congratulated Caleb on his job well done (no pun intended), saying "Good job pooping on the potty, Caleb!" in between bites of candy. They concluded the snack session with a big bear hug and several exchanges of "I love you" and "that's so sweet". And to think that yesterday at the doctor's office they were practically trying to gouge each other's eyes out. I guess it's true what they say about twins- one moment they are the bitterest enemies, the next they are the best of friends. I'm thankful that in our case, the latter seems to be the case more often!

3 Month Check-up

Moses will be 3 months old on Sunday, so today we took him to see Dr. Irwin for his 3-month check-up. Moses let his good nature shine through during the visit, smiling happily at Dr. Irwin while he was being examined. His big brothers, on the other hand, started fighting with each other and Joe had to escort Joshua off the premises half-way through the check-up. I mentioned to the doctor that Moses is so much more easy-going than the twins were, even at this early age. Dr. Irwin said that's often the case with younger siblings, and he's likely to maintain his good nature as he grows older. Thank God for that, because I don't know what I'd do with three wild boys!

While Moses is no longer the off-the-charts jumbo baby he was when he was born, he is still pretty darn big. He is still above the 95th percentile for weight at 16 and a half pounds. He is right at the 95th percentile for length at 25.5 inches, and is in the 90-95th percentile for head circumference at 17 inches. Brains, brawn, and a great personality to boot... who could ask for more? ;)

Sayonara, Swaddlers

We've been on a cloth diaper hiatus ever since Wal-Mart and Target both stopped carrying Sun, the enzyme-free, optical brightener-free detergent I have always used to wash them. And since I've yet to research and procure a suitable alternative, Moses has been wearing Pampers full-time. Within the past week, Moses has outgrown Size 2 Pampers. I suppose this shouldn't be surprising coming from the baby who no longer fit in Newborn diapers when he left the hospital. We've been lamenting the fact that Swaddlers don't come in a Size 3, since at 11 weeks of age, Moses is still a newborn whose tender skin is worthy of swaddling. I guess I should really get to work finding a new detergent for our cloth stash.

Lights Trains, Lights Trains!

When Joshua was first learning to put words together to form mini-sentences, before he even learned to say "want" or "please," he used to say "lights trains, lights trains!" as soon as we came home, meaning he wanted us to turn on the lights in his bedroom so he could play with his Thomas trains. But somewhere along the way he grew tall enough to reach the light switch by himself, his interests broadened to include things other than trains, and now that the twins actually have a bed in their bedroom, there is significantly less space for them to play with trains. And so Joshua stopped saying, "lights trains, lights trains!"

Well, the other evening we once again came home to a dark house and out of the blue, Joshua said in his former fashion, "lights trains, lights trains!" Until then, we had forgotten that he used to say this all the time, and it hadn't occurred to us that he'd ever stopped. We playfully chided him as we reminisced about the boys' younger days, and Joshua's face broke out into a mischeivous grin, knowing full well that he'd said something cute that had stirred our nostalgia.

And so here I sit at half past midnight when I should be sleeping, creating a written record of "lights trains, lights trains!" before it escapes my memory yet again, mourning the loss of a plethora of other quirky little things that the boys have said and done on a regular basis which we have since taken for granted and forgotten.