Rhys the problem solver

We got a new Luca the spider stuffy, and Rhys was so excited about it. He had been waiting for days and days, which felt like a million years for him. He opened it and shared with everyone that he finally got it! Bow came running over and immediately grabbed for it. Rhys will often try to reason with Bow, or get him distracted, before Rhys gives up and hands over what he was playing with to Bow. When I try to step in and get Bow to redirect, Rhys insists on giving his toy to Bow, because seeing and hearing Bow upset is harder for Rhys to handle.

Rhys gave Bow the stuffy, and then started coming up with ideas for how they could play together. First Rhys said he will only play with Bow if he gets to control the spider, which Bow objected to. There was a few more back and forth, and My attention got drawn to Finn for a bit. Soon Rhys was at the table crafting something out of puff balls and tape. After a while I realized that Rhys and Bow were happily playing together. I peeked into the living room and saw that Bow had the little puff ball creation Rhys was just making. He was buzzing around with it. Turns out Rhys had the idea to make Bow a fly stuffy to play with Luca! Luca has a fly friend in the show.

The gratitude for this lifestyle filled up my heart instantly. Our boys are learning so much just by living together. And loving each other. ❤️

Snapshots

Today had some little gems. This morning I was feeling hungry and Bo didn’t want me to make toast. He said “Please mommy please stay with me.” I said okay, I can okay I can play for five minutes, and then I’ll get some food?” He said okay, and then grabbed the clock of the shelf and put it in another room. When I said it had been 5 minutes he protested:”but there’s no clock in here!”

Later in the day I walk into our bathroom with a dozen stuffies on the floor and on the counter. Rhys said he made a “Beefy-town” complete with Slothy wearing a mouth guard for a mustache! 🦥

I love the little gems that our three hearts bring into our lives. ❤️❤️❤️

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2021. It blows my mind that Rhys turned 6, the age Finn was when we moved back into this house from the apartment. Wow!

I am so grateful to be here and see my kids grow up and into themselves.

This past year Bo came alive with this communication and his desire to pay Ruth Finn and Rhys. He now completes the trio. He still loves watching “cars” on YouTube, playing with cars and trains, building cars and trains…. Anything with wheels he gravitates to. He also loves to sing and play pretend on his own. He has a big heart for his family, often bringing everyone chocolate.

Rhys is the most enthusiastic about our new gerbils. He plays with them and keeps clean the cage…. He even planned out Christmas gifts for them! We made them almond flour biscuits. Rhys loves playing games and watching videos with Finn. He has learned how to be a friend to Bo, which was a rocky start at first. Bo is always asking to play with Rhys, and they will play everyday together. Rhys also continues to love getting his hands on materials and play around with them to see what he can make them do. This fall we got clay and he loves playing and making sculptures from it.

Finn has enjoyed all sorts of new games and YouTubers. Both Finn and Rhys were big into Mario for quite awhile, including Mario Maker 2, where they make their own levels and worlds. He was also into FNAF, a horror game whose appeal lasted most of the year. Right now he is into GMod, and finding trollge mod packs. He made a couple games on Scratch, and also made up his own franchise with stuffies as characters! The franchise is called Buns Burgers, and Finn and Rhys film commercials for Buns Burgers. It is so fun to watch them play!

Helpers

Bo has started playing Minecraft and he loves exploring! Yesterday Finn and Rhys joined him. They watched him for a while, and enthusiastically showed Bo how to build a small house and make a chicken farm. Finn went to inventory and sounded out and typed the beginning letters of the items he was looking for, a first for him, via spelling and word comprehension.

I was silently giddy with excitement, seeing him apply his new reading knowledge in the real world. As I watched from the sofa, a deeper, slower joy started taking hold: I saw the whole picture of all three brothers, excitedly working together. I saw Finn drop his beliefs about needing to play in survival mode, and enjoy the process of teaching Bo something new. I saw Rhys excitedly explain the details of why a chicken farm is so cool, and watched Bo soak in the shower of attention from his doting brothers.

These moments are always available, if we make the effort to see.

Reading

Finn and Rhys are interested in learning how to read lately. It is fascinating to see how they are going about their process in different ways.

Rhys likes to flip through picture and graphic novels, looking at pictures to have an idea of what the words on the pages say. He sounds out a word here and there, and shows us when he feels confident enough to see if he got it right. He often does!

Finn started by asking for reading practice time with a book. He has a hard time focusing for more than a minute. We tried a few reading games on the tablet, and he got into one that was very helpful at the basics. We started practice reading again and everyday he improves, with more stamina to stick it out. He’s gotten some sight words down in the process.

Vaccine day

Finn and Rhys were able to get their first covid shots Nov. 5th. They did great; Bo was the upset one. He started to cry after realizing he wasn’t going to have a turn. He said “When’s it my turn?!” It was bittersweet. The doctor brought over a syringe and dadoo gave him a syringe shot, complete with Band-Aid. He felt included and brave. What a momentous day.

Halloween

The festivities turned out better than I expected! Up until a couple days ago we hadn’t done much decorating. I tried to get the party going a couple times, but they weren’t interested, and neither was I if it meant I decorated alone.

Before our jog on Friday, Finn got inspired to decorate outside. He made our garden bed into a cemetery, and we made an plan to put the candy bowl in there, along with a scary witch that howls when you get close. Rhys came up with an idea for the sign:”Treats in cemetery… Take 1 or 2…if you dare!”

We gathered costumes around 5 pm, and Finn was so excited to be an Among Us crewmate! We played an impromptu round of Among Us in the house, with Rhys as Godzilla and Bo as a shark for a moment. It was hilarious.

We finally set out with masks on and candy bags in hand. Bo decided to go as the color “red” to match Finn. There were tables out, as well as people handing out candy. So many people were excited to see kids out and about. Finn wanted to stay out a little longer, so he and I did a couple more houses. He said he needed to get more candy so he could test them all. We both had the idea to write down and rank all the types of candy. When we got home he diligently got out paper and pen and we got to work. Finn and Rhys ranked them with percentages. After a big taste test, they went downstairs to watch Paddington Bear and eat mac and cheese. It was a really nice Halloween.

Runs with Finn

I’ve invited Finn the past few times to join me on my run. He’s accepted here and there and it turned into a slow walk talking about new Mario characters. Yesterday he was eager to join, and we actually ran for a good part of the time. We both were excited and bubbling with game ideas as we ran. When he got home he said “This was the best! Let’s do this everyday.” ❤️ Yes, please.