spiderman

 B was feeling sick on Halloween but he did get to go to the trunk-er-treat a few days before.

 

B had a few times that he didn't prepare the FHE lesson even with a lot of offers of help.  So now when it is his turn, I sit down with him before dinner and have him dictate his topic and lesson following a form like this one.  It's nice to develop a sense of competence in him.  He is pleased to give his lesson.  He knows it feels good to be prepared.  It's OK to need help, even if you don't like getting help, and B does not like getting help.

literally

I asked B to put this piece of granite in the hole at the bottom of the gutter.  I came out to find he had in fact put it in the hole at the bottom of the gutter.  I meant the divot in the dirt just below the spout.

B and L like to climb this tree with a ladder.  I didn't love that L was getting the ladder out and going up the tree all the time.  So we rigged up a rope so now they can scale the tree anytime they like but at least they won't fall off the ladder?

 

Drops

 The drops are going well.  B doesn't love them but he does like them better than wearing a patch in public daily.  He lays down on the floor to let the drop slowly seep into his eye.  

Improvement

We went to the eye Dr. and found that B's eye has improved from 50/20 to 30/20.  We only have 6 months before he turns 9 to get more improvement by patching.  Too bad we weren't patching for much of this year after loosing momentum and B feeling like it wasn't doing any good.  But we're also going to try some drops that make it so he doesn't have to use the patch, but it blurs the strong eye.  Yay? 

 A few weeks ago I took P, B and L on individual walks to get my steps in and keep them out of the house while G was in Seminary.  B has sweetly offered to go on night walks with me ever since.  When I put on my shoes, he put on his head light and said "I can help you with that mom."  A beautiful tradition of night walk.

L had me convinced to get a spiderman costume but I couldn't find one in his size.  I'm not the sort of mom to buy things that only one child will use either.  So we got one in B's size.  It's awesome.  I have done some extensive fixing to make it fit him better since he's a big 8 year old.  I took out the padding in the shoulders.  I replaced the velcro on the back with a zipper.  I added a few inches of red fabric to the head piece so it would allow the eye holes to be over his eyes...   So we get the best of both worlds!  Paying money for a store bought costume and then doing a lot of alterations to make it more durable.

Baptism and doing good

 

We were able to have B baptized with his friend Z.  I love having testimonies while the children are changing.  This was a beautiful day.

Our sweet friend L made these chocolate covered strawberries for him.

B gets to watch the Star Wars movies while L takes his nap.  Sometimes L is taking a nap and G is having a speech appointment so B finds a quiet place to watch.

We went to the butterfly museum with Grandma L.  B had this butterfly on his shoulder for over 10 minutes.

A neighbor introduced the boys to the idea of being the statue of liberty.

Birthday!

B designed this Roblox cake.  The inside is strawberry cake.  The bottom layer is frosted chocolate for earth.  The middle layer is frosted green for grass.  The top layer is frosted blue for sky with marshmallows on top.  He requested some sort of flat chocolate covered circles to be bombs with candle fuses.  Peppermint patties were accepted and he placed them on the sides using toothpicks.

Grandma gave him a Calvin and Hobbs book that he really loves.

He also got these sweet sunglasses that match dad's.  We sent him a picture and dad sent back a text of him wearing the same glasses.

Plan of Salvation Cookies

 

Today the missionaries discussed the plan of salvation and we decorated Plan of Salvation Cookies. 

These sisters are so fun and I'm very grateful for the time they are taking to help B feel ready for baptism.

getting ready for baptism

 

We moved at least 10 loads of leaves to the back yard at the "bridge".  The boys really enjoyed taking rides down the hill in the sled.  

We've begun meeting with the missionaries for B to take the discussions.  He has accepted the challenge of memorizing the articles of faith for a cup of skittles!  Tonight we read "How does the Holy Ghost make me feel?" and I ordered a copy of "What are the promises I make at baptism?" 

B is a delight and I'm grateful for him.

The Mo-Mo dance from Avatar: Last Airbender.

Piano happenings

 This year B has been learning some theme songs.  He learned Ninjago, Gravity Falls, and now he's learning Airbender.  He had a very specific song in mind for Airbender and I had to work with him to transcribe it.  He whistled it.  We looked up a big long youtube medly and picked out the thing closest to the whistling.  I typed it up and then the next week added some left hand action.  B can now play it.  I'm amazed looking back, that he had such a specific auditory memory and he was so stubborn, insisting on me getting it right.  He was very demanding!

He showed me a picture today that had drawings of a nightmare he had last year.  It was very detailed.  He's a kid with strong feelings.  I'm glad he's our boy.

non-plused

 

B has been selling Pez.  It's fun for the kids to be able to sell to each other. 

B likes to collect shells from the beach.  I suppose he needs a collection bag.  Today during the friend to friend broadcast, they featured someone who does rock art.  We really liked that idea and thought that B could do some cool stuff with his shells.

B lives in this shirt.  He likes to wear it as many days as he can, then he'll do laundry so he can wear it again.

I've been having B do his work at the table.  He is very cute doing his work.  He is very not cute sneaking off and not doing his work.

B makes this expression that makes him look more like the neighbor's little child.  It's interesting how unique his expressions are.

Independent

B carried this wood set of steps around the church so he could wash the high parts of the windows.

B brought his work along on the errands, and his big hair.  His hair is so thick, he doesn't like getting all of it cut, so he's growing out the top part.  He has more hair on the lower 2 inches than the other kids have on their whole head.

We found that B could still fit into this band uniform.  It's short of course, but you can't see that from these awesome pictures.

So cute.
 

B isn't big on hugs and kisses.  He likes to sneak up and give you a hug from behind.  He also loves to read together.  Last night we sat on the love seat and read our separate books.  It was great.  He knows he is loved and knows he doesn't have to show physical affection if he doesn't want to.  I'm grateful he can have boundaries. 

One of B's sunbeam teachers also cleans the church.  This older member likes to act like a monster to scare B as he presumably did when B was 3.  B does not play this game and just ignores the man when he is holding up the claw hand and calling his name.  I'm really impressed that B is able to act in a way that gets the man to stop.  He is very good at not reacting.