So, how goes being a mama of 4, 6 years old and under? It is going really great!
We have fallen into our groove with routines, baby is sleeping great *most* days for her naps, which helps with our learning time as a family. The kids are enjoying their school time; we have finally gotten pretty comfortable with Mister doing more activities while I teach Lexie. Ila walks around with her ABC flash cards (I laminated them and put on a ring for her) during most of learning time. She likes to come sit in my lap through out the morning and “read” to me. =)
Lexie (6 years old)
The Lady is just flying through everything I give her or introduce her to. She enjoys reading; we are still going over the rules as we work through All About Reading, because I don’t want her to have gaps down the road. However, she is reading on a 4-6th grade level. Next we are going to start working to build her vocabulary, because when reading at a higher level, she is coming across many words she doesn’t know yet.
She is learning her math facts in math and really enjoys challenging herself with those. She does her math sheets independently and we do calendar most days (sometimes I just forget ..). Whenever we do hands on math with manipulatives Max likes to join in. He can do math on her level, but his writing skills aren’t there yet so we don’t focus on a math curriculum at all for him- just hands on fun! (like it should be).
We have started using the CD that came with our science (Apologia’s Astronomy 2nd Edition)- that way I don’t have to read, but I can listen along and pause it to go more in depth or explain something a little better. The kids follow along in the book, and then Lexie does the science journal.
Handwriting and math are part of her “clip board work,” that she does independently; I check over these after she has completed them to be sure she did her best, or understood everything. She loves watching herself improve, and I enjoy the discipline she is learning in completing her work on her own.
Max (4 years old)
Mister is just reading like crazy. He does not like to read formally, off a piece of paper yet. He likes me to write words on the board for him to read, and I am 100% okay with that! He is only 4, after all.
He is working through Reading the Alphabet by ThisReadingMama.com- I used that with Lexie and she *loved* it, so he is enjoying it now. Each week we go on to a new letter/site word. His favorite activities are the mazes (he is constantly asking me to find mazes for him to do), and he enjoys syllable counting. Max is also very interested in counting to 100 .. every. single. day. Which is great so I go with it; he likes to get out his number chart for that (check our Rainbow Resources for those!).
Mister is still obsessed with puzzles and anything he can do with his hands. We try to make sure he gets plenty of movement, hands on learning, and has lots of play time so he continues to grow a love for learning.
Ila (2 years old)
Ila is tagging along with us in everything we do. Right now she enjoys puzzles, dolls, coloring, and practicing her letter sounds. She doesn’t actually know the letters that correspond with the sound, but she likes to try and I like encouraging her. She is going to follow Lexie in her eagerness to learn and read, I think.
Our Routine For Now {baby #4 is 4 months old}
- 7am baby up, nurse
- 7:15-7:20ish I get Max up for mama and baby time while I give baby a bottle
- Mister gets “the sisters” up =)
- I cook breakfast, baby hangs out in bumbo or bouncer, older 3 do morning chores/get ready for day
- everyone eats breakfast and we do our morning basket “stuff”
- 8:25 baby down for nap
- all 3 bigger kids go outside or downstairs to play until 9am
- 9am we begin school
- 10:30- it is time to get baby up and fed. We are usually done with school by this point, Lexie may have some clipboard work to finish on her own for the rest of the week
- 11:15 everyone has lunch
- 12:00 baby takes nap, then I put Ila down for nap, bigs go outside to play
- 12:45 Mister goes down for nap, Lexie has rest time reading books, mama writes blog posts, does chores, or rests
- 2:00 time to get baby up for feeding- Lexie usually comes in to spend time with me and baby
- 3:00 everyone up from naps, outside or downstairs to play or we run errands
- 3:30 baby down for last nap, I prep dinner if not yet done
- 5:00 Baby up, nurse
- 5:30 everyone eats dinner, baby gets solids
- bath, wind down, sometimes we watch a show like Mister Rogers, Bob the Builder, Boxcar Children, etc
- 6:30 baby gets bottle and goes right to bed
- 7:00 everyone in bed, unless Mister napped good then he and Lexie get to stay up a little later (but they’re always ready for bed-that’s what happens when you spend most of your day running around a farm!)
- Mama and Daddy time- this is my favorite part about keeping a good routine while our kids are young~I get 1:1 time with my husband and we can unwind from our days together without little people needing us non stop. It’s nice!
Not everything is set to a specific time, but naps and feedings are. Everything else works around that, and just sort of falls into place; it is simple and flows well because I don’t have to force anything.
Coralie {4 months old}
Baby #4- wow. She is already 4 months old (19 weeks) and SO happy. The best thing I could have ever done for this baby is getting a good sleep schedule down- without it she would still be crying, fussy, unhappy, and unpredicatable.
Because of her eating and sleep routines I am able to pinpoint what she needs, she rarely cries (and if she does it is because something is wrong), and she sleeps very well as long as I hit her wake time right (too short results in a short nap, too long results in crying).
But the BEST part of her routine-she went from HATING going to sleep in her crib, to *loving* it. Before about 15 weeks old, she cried every time I laid her down on the changing table to put on her sleep blanket (we use THIS ONE). Now, the girl is happy, kicking, and ready to go to bed as soon as I zip her up! We talks and babbles while I sing Jesus Loves Me, sucks/gnaws on her hand (teething), and when I lay her down she goes to sleep within 20 minutes. Sometimes she fusses after talking for a bit, but never cries for me to get her. IF she is crying-crying, I will go rub some oil on her gums or try to burp her and then lay her back down. Then she usually drifts off to sleep.
She is still a very social girl, loves talking and playing. She got a jumper from her grandparents for Christmas, which I had to let her play in early because A) babies outgrow things fast and it seemed silly to waste a whole month of having it but not using it and B) she is all about kicking these days. She loves it. This way she can see everyone and know what is going on, which is right up her alley.
She is eating every 3.5 hours, her wake time is anywhere from 85-95 minutes (lengthens as we go through the day), and she is experimenting with solids. We have done soft boiled egg yolk, green beans, squash, carrots, and peaches. She devoured all of them, and stares at us while we eat. I think she is ready for more in her day, but honestly I am not ready to have to tote around baby food, spoons, bibs, etc every time we leave the house. I already have to pack formula and hot water, so Im good for now. I am going to try to get by without daytime solids until 6+ months. She is only having them at our dinner time (5:30) now.
That is pretty much it for our weekly wrap up and summary. We are just trucking through everything, enjoying it as we go.
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