We were all sitting around the table having dinner and Grace says, “You know, the thing about babies…is that you never know when they are going to poop.” And there you have it, that is the thing about babies (well, at least one of them) – parenting insights from our 6 year old.

One of the many reasons we have our children in a Montessori school is to foster independence, and it is such a joy to see them when they achieve some new level of independence.

Eli was getting ready for his bath and got focussed in on undoing the buttons on his shirt. He was struggling with the top one, but I could see that he really wanted to try to get this right.

I often find it difficult to stop myself from helping, mostly because there is some agenda that needs to be completed (get to bed on time, get to school on time, other things that need to get done, etc.) but I have been trying to remind myself to foster their independence and to allow them time to complete what they are trying to achieve (easier said than done sometimes). I’m currently doing some more Montessori reading and thinking, so at least that helps to get onto the right wavelength.

I undid his top button, as it is just too high to easily get it undone, and then helped him by showing him how to hold the shirt while undoing the button. The next he was determined to do on his own but he struggled to figure out which way to push the button through. I showed him how to push the button through the right way. The next one was struggle, struggle, pull this way, push that way, struggle….undone!

Eli’s eye’s lit up with the excitement of undoing a button all on this own…then on to the last one which he managed to undo quite a bit faster. Then off to mom to show her his newly developed skill. He was really very happy with himself.

Adam, pooped after a busy night of pooping and getting us to change his nappy. At least he can sleep peacefully.

Adam is enjoying his “baby see” book, and Grace is enjoying making up stories about the pictures for him. Eli, well, he is just along for the ride and the love of the baby.

The 3 boys of the family

Calm

Happy

Coy

Excited

Shocked

Chuffed

Getting teeth brushed before bath time always feels like a much bigger effort than it needs to be, well, at least getting Eli’s teeth brushed – Grace sorts herself out nicely. One I finally get Eli to the bathroom it usually goes something along the lines of, “Drink water…need to go wee…need to give mommy a hug…need to drink water…” Eventually the planets align and we can brush teeth, but it really is a run-around every single night.

Adam has made a difference though. Donné said to Eli, “Come show Adam how you brush your teeth,” and off Eli went happily and brushed his teeth very nicely and all on his own. We managed to replicate that again tonight, so let’s hope that Adam is the catalyst needed to get Eli brushing his teeth independently and without any complaints.

Through last week Eli was waking up at night and needing some input to get back to sleep. We asked him what was waking him up and his answer was always the same, “The hoosters are waking me up,” (where hoosters are roosters), “Hoosters say cock-a-doodle and wake me up.”

This went on for a few days and then Donné says to Eli, “You must chase those silly roosters away if they come to wake you up. Say, ‘Shoo rooster, go away and leave me alone.'”

Sure enough, that night he slept through as he usually would and in the morning he says, “I chase those naught hoosters away, I say ‘Shoo, shoo, hooster!'” Now we’ve had a whole weekend of sleeping through again – let’s hope that continues on through the week ahead.

Meeting Aunty Keren last weekend

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