First Son with his St. Nicholas feast day cookie. His birth month is one of celebrations from beginning to end and we revel in them all.
Grammy took me and the kids to a local museum to make gingerbread houses (which the girls told us repeatedly were graham crackers, not gingerbread cookies). First Son was much more interested in the museum. He hurriedly put a few things on his house and moved on.
He only listens peripherally to the picture books for Christmas this year. (Sad mama.) But he likes the Jesse Tree readings and still likes opening the books on his days.
He's tremendously protective and helpful with Second Son, except when he's not.
First Son started fourth grade in August. We love fourth grade. His favorite subject is Latin (thanks entirely to Latin for Children which we all enjoy). He does the majority of his work independently. He's essentially teaching himself math using the book which just amazes me.
His least favorite subject is Writing with Ease, particularly on the dictation days. I think he's learning it's not too difficult if he just listens and writes without worrying about it so much. He often complains about narration in general. He doesn't like telling me what he's read or heard when he knows I know it already. He also doesn't like mental math, but he was pleased to hit the midpoint of his math book on his birthday. (I had put a sticky note in telling him to do a little dance in celebration, but he didn't dance, just smiled.) Even the mental math became less contentious after we watched Arthur Benjamin a few times.
First Son started seeing an orthodontist in April. He got braces in August on the first day of school. He doesn't like them, but he treats them well and is always careful about what he eats. We'll all be glad when he gets them off, just before First Daughter will have hers put on.
His favorite activity: screen time. He always chooses to play a game on the Wii when he has first choice.
For his birthday, he really wanted Super Mario Galaxy 2, which we found for him. For Christmas, he really wanted a Nintendo 3DS XL and not much else. Grammy and Paw Paw generously bought one for the whole family to share. It was his favorite choice while riding in the van to visit my parents in Illinois.
He has finally started reading chapter books (real chapter books) on his own. I read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz out loud to the family (oh, how everyone loved it!) and he promptly began reading all of the sequels. I think his favorite independent reading book so far this year is Theras and His Town which he's reading now. He's been surprisingly happy listening to A Christmas Carol.
My mom found this K'nex set at Goodwill for a bargain. We had to supplement with a few pieces, but First Son had a fabulous time putting it together. It lived on the kitchen counter for as long as I could stand it; then we made a video of it in action and took it apart.
He does not really like to go outside and play, but we have new neighbors now with boys near his age. Now they all go out and play happily and we parents let them.
He complains about his chores a lot, but he does them and almost always does what I ask the first time.
For his birthday, he requested enchiladas and homemade Oreo cookies. Of course, he started the day with a pancake as big as his head, which he polished off easily along with his eggs.
He wanted a Mario party for his birthday this year. I made a pinata like a question mark cube which turned out to be remarkably difficult to smash apart. First Daughter helped color the goody boxes yellow and filled them with coins. He invited a lot of kids - sixteen, including our four. I even made some cookies, but my friend made the cake again.
My mom and aunt surprised us during the party. They had driven to Oklahoma for my cousin's graduation and drove home through Kansas at just the right time.
For his baptismal anniversary, he received a copy of the Glory Story on Blessed John Paul II and I tried to make John Paul II's favorite dessert, a Polish pastry custard cake. I think my recipe wasn't quite right, though, as it was more like shortcake with custard. It was delicious, however.
May God bless you in the coming year, First Son!
