FHE, the angel, ring around the rosie

We had FHE last week and talked about how the angel appeared to Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah. After we read the scripture we acted out the angel appearing to them and telling them to stop being bad. We each took turns being the angel. When it was Emory's turn, he said, "Stop! Don't do that!" Jeremy and I were the sons of Mosiah and were being mean to McKelle by taking her toys or whatever. It was really cute and Emory really got into it.

After the lesson we played ring around the rosie and McKelle can finally walk on her own to play with us. She loved it. She would side step then wait for all of us to "fall down." Then, after several promptings, she'd put her head down on the ground and lay down. They were both really cute.

We also had the missionaries over for dinner this last week. Emory impressed Jeremy and I with his memory and story telling abilities. He told the missionaries about our trip to California and our visit to the ocean. He told them about how he did the boogie board and how he got an owies and how the water was cold. Then after his comments, he'd either say "yeah" or "that's funny." He thinks he's so cool already. Cute little boy.

Girls got moves

McKelle has been so funny lately whenever music is playing. She has learned how to head bang and will head bang while opening and closing her mouth, like she's singing, during a song. She'll also open and close her arms to clap really wide. If she's standing, she'll bounce up and down or kick one leg up and down. It's too cute. It's just so funny because she'll do it no matter what kind of music is playing. If she's crying, for whatever drama she's expressing at the time, she'll stop crying and start dancing. She loves music!

Adventures of the Imagination

The last week has been very special. Emory's imagination has been taking us on some fun adventures. We spent one morning at the park flying airplanes back and forth to Idaho and Arizona while singing songs like Paw Patrol, his favorite TV show, and making up songs about fire trucks. Once we arrived, he'd say, "Come on Momma! Let's go." He'd then tell me everything he could see from trees to dirt to animals. Then, we went underneath the playground and began our treasure hunt in the sand. We found different colored bee bees, nuts, sticks, random plastic pieces and bugs. We'd hid our treasures under rocks so the bugs couldn't get them.

McKelle would participate randomly but other times she'd venture on top of the play ground and drop sticks on us through the little holes. We'd push them back up the holes and repeat the process for a good 5 minutes or more.

We continued our adventures in the pool later that day by swimming on our noodle boat under waterfalls on our voyage. Our destination was either Idaho/the cabin or back home to Arizona. We'd encounter problems along the way like toys falling off of McKelle's boat or leaving something behind or, of course, a run in with the scary pool vacuum. We'd always solve the problem and arrive safely to our destination, which starts with "D," and Arizona, which stars with "A."

Emory has also loved playing grocery store in the bonus room. He'd bring toy blocks in his semi-trailer to the tree house fort/grocery store where I'd ring up his food item and then he'd pay me his block money. We'd repeat this many times. Sometimes McKelle would even play the cashier and take Emory's blocks from one hole then give them back to him through another. She thought it was the greatest thing ever. It has been so enjoyable to play with him. It's so fun to see him apply what he's learning from everyday life.

We've also started to learn some letters. He can now identify a momma "A" and momma "E" pretty much anywhere. We were at the mall yesterday ordering dinner and out of nowhere he said, "Hey, there's a 'A'!" He was really excited about finding one. It's fun to see him excited about learning and being so proud of himself.

I thought about putting him in a preschool this year twice a week for a few hours but I decided against it. He still has three years before he starts Kindergarden and I think that would be a lot of preschool! He's not at all behind academically so I don't think there's a need or reason to force him into a structured learning environment. I wasn't feeling very confident in my abilities to teach him his letters, shapes, and numbers but I think he's doing just fine right now. I'm focusing on teaching opportunities that come up naturally through play. He'll identify shapes of pillows, toys or things around the house during play or I'll ask him to count how many cars there are and so on. He's only two and I think he's doing great.

If anything, it would have been nice to expose him to the social aspect of things but Jeremy and I are going to sign him up for a soccer team in September so that will fulfill the social need plus help him get some energies out! I think he'll really enjoy it.

When it came down to it, I also got really sad to think about him beginning his career as a student. I know there will be plenty of time for him to go off to school so right now I'm trying really hard to focus on enjoying everyday I get to spend with him at home. I sure do love my little buddy!