Little Laney

Lane's vocabulary is extensive. I know it's not just me gloating as her mother because she scored high on her speech evaluation recently. Yesterday she told me that her appetite disappeared. I don't know why but when a three year old says words like appetite and disappeared, it makes me giggle. It's just so darn cute to me. Some other new words are guacamole and pirouette. Guacamole sounded like macaroni and she calmly explained, "No Mommy, the green dip."
Lane's brand new development is she can draw people that look like people! She has been doodling and coloring for as long as I can remember. She handed me a paper yesterday and explained that she drew a butterfly and humans. When I looked at the paper, there were litle butterflies and people. Today she drew her family. We all have faces, arms, and legs. Daddy is the biggest, Lane is in the middle, and Gabriel is on the end. I'll have to look up what it means when Alex and I are floating on the bottom of the family. She told me that she didn't include Brody and Eddie, our dogs, but she didn't give me a reason.

I foresee many fun craft projects now that she has an understanding for shapes and forms creating things. I'm excited for this new development in Lane's life.

He got a spoon!!!

When you have a child with developmental delays, you learn to look for the small things. The small changes that other people who don't know your child well might not notice. Things like getting a spoon when your child is 8 years old.
Gabriel turned 8 in November. He has poor fine motor skills. We recently bought a weighted spoon and fork for him.

I know, these are weird things that most parents don't have to even think about. The product is genius. Kids have smaller, less effective hands so it makes sense to make them more useable for a child.
He could not use a fork and spoon effectively and chooses to use his hands. I think the weight helped him feel where the utensils are in his hands because he could effectively use them. Still, he preferred his hands.
When we are at home, it isn't a problem if he uses his hands. Even if it's annoying to a guest, well, it's who he is and we accept it. At least he's eating on his own. I know children who have to be fed still at this age so I'm happy he will self-feed.
Tonight we had grits with vegetables for dinner. As we sat around the table, Gabriel began eating his food with his hands as usual. He quietly got up, walked to the other side of the kitchen, and pulled out a regular spoon. He sat down and started eating with his spoon.
Andrew and I stared at each other in amazement, our eyes darting to Gabriel and back to each other. We grinned and didn't say a word. I almost cried with delight! This was a huge moment for us. Not only did he use a regular spoon but he got it by himself!
Hooray for these incredible moments!

Showcase of Citrus

A few weeks ago we went to a citrus grove to pick oranges. We picked blueberies in May so why not oranges in January? Alex was less than enthused about going but he was a trooper about it.
Lane and I have been to Showcase of Citrus in Clermont but the boys hadn't been there yet. There is more to do than just pick citrus which is nice and makes the drive worth the trip. Otherwise I would go to the store and pick up three large bags of oranges and avoid the entire thing. Well, not really, I think it's a good hands-on learning experience for the kids.

The boys had to walk after a short distance. The wagon was too heavy to pull in the soft sand.

All three children helped pick oranges. They told us that it's all about team work!

After we picked oranges, we walked to the front of the grove. The kids saw goats. Then the kids played on a swingset and in a sandbox while we sipped on fresh orange juice and ate boiled peanuts.

Andrew made fresh orange juice for us for a couple weeks. It wonderful!

3 year old makeup

Lane has an adorable hand-me-down princess make up case. It holds plastic make up, a mirror, a comb, a brush, and the make up we allow her to wear.
I rarely take time to put on make up when I do, Lane is completely enthralled with the process. She is a girlie girl.
We allow Lane to have nail polish a few times a year but the polish is hidden in my bathroom. She is allowed to have little girl cologne and Chapstick.
Chapstick seemed harmless especially since she doesn't use it often and she doesn't eat it. Little did I know that when I was busy taking a shower, she would decide to get creative with her Chapstick. This is the cute face I met when I got out of the shower.

I miss sleep

As a friend and I joked about putting double baby gates on the kids rooms in order to get a full night of sleep, I remembered that parenting does not end just because it's bed time. But goodness, I wish it did. I wish parenting meant a time clock where I could get 8 hours of sleep. I'm pretty sure that's why I was a good preschool teacher and a darn good nanny. I got a full night of sleep unless I chose otherwise.
I haven't gotten a full night of sleep since our first son was born over 8 years ago. One of my three lovlies climbs into bed with us. Some nights all three of the kids crawl into our bed. On these nights, one of the adults in our home ends up sleeping in a child's bed. And really, that is the best sleep I get other than an occassional nap. Every professional or otherwise has a theory, thought, or belief on this topic. We spoil the kids. We did too much attachment parenting. We need to make the kids sleep in their own beds.
Whatever the thought process, Gabriel has needed someone sleeping with him since he was a baby. There are few nights when he sleeps in his own bed, alone, the entire night. I think it has to do with his sensory processing disorder. Alex is now 6 and most nights he can sleep on his own but Lane, our sweet 3 year old, has no interest in sleeping alone yet.
We move Lane to her own bed after she falls asleep and by 10:30, she is crying and climbing back in our bed. I dont know why but there she is every night, curled up in our bed.
Thankfully we are short people. We can fit in a queen bed but it isn't comfortable with five people.
Many nights, when a child is fighting going to sleep, I think of the video/book called "go the F^$& to sleep."

But tonight Lane is slumbering soundly on my chest as I write this and listen to a movie in the background.
It's these peaceful moments of parenting when I remember that it won't be long when these three children won't be children any more. I will long to hear their breathy snoring one more time. I will long for these moments when they were little. So, I want both... I want sweet children who need me in the nighttime because I am still a parent to little ones and I want a full night of sleep. I guess a girl can't have everything.

Yy is for yellow yarn

I took Gabriel to JoAnns to buy some craft items. He was very helpful but I had to explain that the pricey scrapbook cart wasn't a great piece of luggage. He talked me into buying yellow yarn. He adores yarn and it was in sale for under $3, so it was an affordable splurge.
Gabriel and Lane wanted to do something with the yarn after school. While they snipped pieces of yarn, I decided to make another "y" art project with Lane.
I printed a letter Y and cut it out for her. We glued it to yellow paper and Lane had fun adding yellow poms and her pieces of yellow yarn to her letter Y.

Playdough Mats

My kids love creating with playdough. Even at the ages of 8, 6, and 3, they get very excited when I pull the big bin of playdough items down for them. I have to admit that it is one of the toys I enjoy the least. I don't know why but I am perfectly fine with them creating without my help and I'm even more content when someone else offers to get out the playdough with them.
They like to have new ideas for their playdough, as do I so I was happy to print out playdough mats I found online. I laminated a ton of them and stuck them in the bin for later use. There is a lot of learning potential as well as fine motor experience.
The booklet can be printed for free here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10832845/Playdough_Mats_Booklet.pdf

Gabriel is making a pizza in the pan in the above photo.

Homemade Gnocchi

I like Andrews cooking. I really like that he is willing to try new things. Since we started eating GFCF a couple years ago, we have found pasta that is decent. However, I've missed the texture of tortellini and other fluffy pasta.
Andrew decided to make homemade gluten free gnocchi. It looked complicated to me. How in the world a bunch of yellow potatoes can be turned into light pasta like pillows is beyond me.
He did it and it was awesome. I hope Andrew is willing to make it again because it was a wonderful treat and I've found variations of the plain potato recipe since he made it for us.

Recipe from seriouseats.com

Ingredients

2 pounds russet potatoes, washed
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
2 large eggs
Kosher salt

Procedures

Adjust oven rack to center middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce potatoes a few times with a knife and place on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, about one hour. Remove potatoes from oven and allow to cool.

Whisk together white rice flour and sweet rice flour. Using the flour mixture, flour your counter. Peel the potatoes and pass through a potato ricer onto the counter. Whisk together eggs and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour over the potatoes. Work the egg mixture into the potatoes with a bench scrapper or fork until potatoes begin to hold together. Mixture will be sticky.

Work one cup of the flour mixture into the potato mixture. Start by working the flour into the potato mixture with a bench scrapper or fork. As soon as a dough begins to form, begin kneading the dough by hand until all the flour is incorporated. The dough should be firm and not sticky. If it is, add the remaining flour mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time. (You can test the gnocchi by boiling a small pot of water and cooking a small piece of dough. The gnocchi should hold together.)

Divide the dough into quarters. Then, as you work with it, cut each quarter in half. Cover remaining dough with a damp paper towel. Roll out each dough eighth into a log. Cut into bite-size pieces. Shape by either pressing a small indentation into each gnocchi or rolling the gnocchi over a fork or gnocchi board.

Transfer shaped gnocchi to a lightly white rice-floured baking sheet. Shaped gnocchi can either be frozen or cooked right away.

To Freeze: Place baking sheet filled with gnocchi in the freezer. Once the gnocchi are frozen, transfer to a plastic freezer bag. Gnocchi may be frozen for up to two months. Cook as directed below.

To Cook: Boil a large pot of salted water. Cook half the fresh or frozen gnocchi in the boiling water until they float, about four minutes. (Taste one gnocchi to ensure it is cooked through). Remove the gnocchi from the water with a skimmer and transfer to a bowl or pot of sauce. Repeat with remaining gnocchi. If gnocchi must be held for more than a moment, drizzle with oil and toss to prevent sticking.

Y is for yoyo

Lane wanted to create a project to share at school tomorrow. She transitions better to school when she has something to share with her friends. We looked through ideas and she picked "y is for yoyo"
We cut a circle out of a paper plate. Lane happily painted the circle purple. Then we glued the purple circle and yarn to a piece of paper. Easy peasy - we had a "y is for yoyo" project

Trees, Trees, Trees - 2012 Holiday Crafts

For some reason, the kids and I created several tree crafts. I'm not sure why the need for green evergreens hit me this year but we made a bunch of cute things that I hope will last for years to come. I never made salt dough ornaments with the kids before and thought that would be an easy thing to make. It turns out, it is easy but I messed up the first round in true "Jessica hates cooking" fashion. The idea came from: http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/christmas/christmas-tree-craft.asp

I combined 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water. I kneaded the dough for 20 minutes. It was the longest 20 minutes of my life. Soooo boring!

I rolled out the dough and had the kids put their hand prints in the dough. I cooked the mixture for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven and ended up with a disaster. I opened the oven to find three big puffy balls of dough that resembled small loaves of bread with little finger indents. The puffy balls found themselves in the garbage and I started round two.

Round two involved a thinner rolled out mixture. The kids cut trees out of the dough and we cooked the three evergreens. Success! Lane and Alex didn't believe me that the dough wasn't for cookies so they had to taste the mixture. They might not be so quick to try a dough next time. Yuck! The trees were a success and the kids were able to paint them.

A few weeks ago I bought a large piece of green felt and smaller pieces of colored felt. I drew a tree on the green piece and cut it out. It looked like a decent tree until I cut it out and it didn't look so great. Trust me, I know I need a template from now on. The kids didn't care and enjoyed "hanging" the felt cutouts I made for the tree. The idea came from this site: http://www.solandrachel.com/2011/12/pinterest-christmas.html

I printed trees on green paper and cut them out for the kids. I punched holes and the kids glued tissue paper squares to the back. The tissue paper looked like lights when the tree was turned over. It was an easy craft. The idea came from this site: http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/christmas/christmas-tree-craft.asp

Aren't they cute?

I'm thrilled with the way Lane can count and understands one-to-one coorespondence. She is doing a great job with her numbers and counting. When I saw a tree counting activity, I knew it would be a good idea for her. I found it on this site: http://www.baby.co.uk/life_and_home/20121127christmas-tree-counting/

Lane enjoyed the activity. I only wish it had lasted longer.