Learning & Growing

I just had to take a moment to record (i.e. brag) about some fun things the boys are doing lately. I don't want to forget about the little things that I might forget if I didn't write them down somewhere. So here goes, for my own journaling purposes (sorry for the length):

SAM:

Sam is doing really well in preschool and he has such an amazing memory. Ever since he's been about two, we've read him books and he's been able to memorize them and recite the book back to us just flipping through the pictures. At the beginning of the month in preschool, he brought home a poem that the kids are supposed to memorize by the end of the month. I thought I would introduce the idea to him so while we were eating lunch, I told him about the poem. He asked to hear it so I recited it to him and he repeated after each line. Then I noticed he was remembering a lot of it so I added some hand motions to go with it. By the time we finished eating, he had completely memorized the poem!! (It probably helped that I told him his teacher was going to give him a sucker if he memorized it)!

It's so funny how kids learn so differently. Ben and I were just discussing this the other night. I think Sam gets it from Ben because they are both auditory learners. Ben enjoys listening to and learning from lectures and Sam learns from listening to songs, stories, etc. I think he learned to talk early and build a big vocabulary because of auditory learning. On the other hand, Sam still has issues with his colors and has difficulty recognizing written numbers and alphabet (he knows more now, but not all and not until somewhat recently). And it's not that he isn't smart, I just don't think it's the way he learns and it does not interest him as much...he's very hands-on and active. I am the opposite because I am a visual learner. I learn best from reading, visualizing, etc. And not that it's that clear-cut the way that we learn, but still very interesting.

Sam has also been very sweet with prayers. After a long spell of not being interested in saying them, he all of a sudden decided he wanted to. He will say a whole prayer by himself without any help and sometimes, they are the sweetest prayers ever! Just the other night we had Family Home Evening with a lesson on Testimony because we had just had a fast and testimony meeting in church. We told him what a testimony consisted of, then we each bore our testimonies, and allowed him to do the same. He bore the most touching and sweet testimony...and it was nothing like ours so he wasn't just copying what we had said!! This is somewhat of what he said, "I want to tell you that the Holy Ghost makes us feel in our heart. And a man and girl get married in the temple.... And Jesus helps us when we die so that we can live again. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." What a strong spirit!

Sam also loves getting dressed by himself. He goes into his room and picks out his clothes and puts them on (even doing the buttons--skewed as they might be), and comes out and says "Ta-Da!" It saves me a lot of work!

JARED:

Jared is our little sweetheart. He is very different...and I think more like Ben and I were when we were kids. He is not very verbal or mobile, but he is definitely aware of things around him...he's very observant. And he understands more than we give him credit for...especially feelings. The other day, we were at an indoor play area in the mall and Jared was sitting on one of the toys. A small child came over with his grandma to where Jared was and they were looking at each other. Jared looked at the grandma on the other side and started to smile. Then the other boy went out to touch Jared's eyes and the grandma reached out her hand and swatted the air and said "no no!" and Jared got this look on his face somewhere between shyness, shame, and unhappiness. He thought she was talking to him! And you could totally tell the difference in his demeanor!

He is also very obedient! After brushing his teeth, we let him hold the toothbrush and then we say, "Give daddy/mommy the toothbrush." And he'll hand it to us. Even though he might not want to. We know because sometimes he'll cry after handing it to us! Sometimes he'll hang on really tight to it, but if you say, "Let go," he will!

Jared is getting to be a good little eater. And he loves water and the bath. He loves to splash and play. He is also getting good at standing by himself. It is so funny how proud he gets of himself. After standing up without touching the furniture, we'll say, "Yay!" and he gets this big grin on his face. I don't think it'll be long before he is walking!

Sensory-wise, Jared jumps easily and gets upset easily. He loves to snuggle and give kisses and climb all over you. I don't know much about sensory learning, but he loves soft sensory...soft blankets and stuffed animals (Sam loves sensory but more like wrestling and stuff). We will definitely have to parent differently with Jared. And Jared, I'm sure, will continue to teach us more as he grows older.

We love our family and it is such a blessing to have each other and our children. We hope you've enjoyed sharing this time with us!

p.s. We're considering turning our blog private...haven't quite decided if I wanted to but stay tuned.