The Little Mister

11 Jan The Little Mister

Corban’s figured out the best “warmers” of the house and how to get as close to the heat as possible. I can find him here or on his favorite floor vent in our room at any time of day, but especially in the mornings in his pjs. (We’ve surely suggested long sleeves and socks, but he insists he gets far too hot.)

A couple weeks ago, I had a huge chore list on the window board in the dining room. Corban was miffed. “But where are my chores?” he questioned. So I wrote a couple out for him (get dressed, make bed, brush teeth, etc). Next to the words, I drew little icons (James and Corban agree that when it comes to clip art, I’ve got skiiiiiillz!). Little did I know what had just started. He raced around the house, completing a task, crossing it off, studying the next icon, and stampeding to finish it. It was really precious. So we started keeping a little section just for things we want to do today, whether chores or just activities. In the picture below, our plan for the day was to: buy boots, play Legos, drive to…someone’s house (prolly Becca’s:)), clean the bathroom (a chore I avoid at all costs), wash the table, do our Jesse Tree, take the monthly sibling photo for the grandparents, read books, do the dishes,  clean the upstairs, and make the salt dough magnets. We’re not this detailed every day, but he just absolutely loves knowing what’s going to happen (no matter the order) and still asks almost daily for the day’s plan. Keeps me on task too, so I say it’s a win-win!

For Christmas, James got a new set of carving tools for his printmaking hobby. New set like top notch, cuts like butter, can’t wait to use them set. He decided to make us a set of thank-you cards for all the generous people in our lives. (This will pertain to Corban soon, hang with me.)

Apparently, carving words is one of the hardest things to do freehand, since you have to carve the reverse image. This was his first time trying to transfer a computer image to his linoleum block. After several tries, he finally got it to work!

Corban now loves printing as well. This time around, James’ little apprentice rolled his own ink (check out those focused faces!), placed the paper on top, pounded/rubbed the ink into the paper, flipped it, and gently peeled it off……alone! It was a real accomplishment for him, and MY, was he proud!

James’ handiwork.

Corban’s. Really quite good!

Ever since receiving his fruit letter game for his birthday, Corban’s identification of the alphabet (in any order) is nearly complete. Grandma Steele got him these little cards (that bind together, perfect for long car rides) for him to practice in another fun way. The picture is covered white, and you “paint” over it with this refillable water pen, dissolving the opaque white. You can also trace the letters for a similar effect. Let it dry for a few minutes, and it’s back to white!

His story-telling abilities have grown too! I heard him reading his Benjamin Bear this big long story about his best friend Emma while I was sitting on the ground folding laundry. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and absolutely had to record it! I kept the phone discreet so he could speak uninhibited. You’ll enjoy this…

We love watching him grow, learning to care more and more for his sister, take more interest in the new baby, learning to speak respectfully, being ohso helpful, and even losing games with grace. He’s a pretty cool kid; we’re glad to get a front view to his life!