Once again, Fuller’s flickr set has been updated. I’ll add today’s and tomorrow’s pictures to it tomorrow and then start a new one for February.

Last Saturday Damon took Fuller for an afternoon hike (it was soooo sunny!) and Fuller took his camera. He was really proud of this picture, because it is “our train” as he likes to call it.

Damon’s hiking stick can function as a monopod, so he showed Fuller how to make the timer work and they took a few Father-Son-dog shots.

Yesterday he and I took a nature walk, looking at trees, taking pictures, and collecting leaves/ needles for our botony lesson. He took more pictures than just trees and I love this one he got of me.

And as usual, Fuller captured a great self portrait:

As we move into February and the due date of the new baby grows closer, I’m getting more and more excited to see what he sees through the viewfinder.

So, the other day, I (D-Word) stumbled upon Important Trees of Eastern Forests – a booklet I borrowed back in Jr. High from a friend of mine and never returned (sorry Rob). Since we’re trying to assemble a well-rounded curriculum for Fuller (and that other kid we’re gonna raise someday), I figured we’d depart from the usual read’n, right’n, and rithm’tic and included a simple botany lesson.

So, I instructed Fuller that he and Mommy would go out and find 5 different trees, take their pictures and collect leaves from each one. Then, Mommy would print out each of his tree photos onto a sheet of paper. Then Fuller (with Mommy’s help) would look the trees up in the “tree book” and write down each one’s common and scientific names (yes, I know… I’m a task-master about my Boy’s education). Finally, Fuller would tape the leaves he’d collected to the appropriate pages.

Then it went and rained.

When I got home, Alli relayed how badly the day had gone and that Fuller’s big botany lesson had to be canceled. I told Fuller we’d learn about Drama and the Performing Arts instead of botany today, and pulled out one of Fullers books, Lambert the Sheepish Lion.

I started by reading the story, stopping every time a new character was introduced. I wrote each new character’s name down on a “cast list.” After the story was over, I read the cast list and had Fuller assign which of his action figures would play the different parts in the play. Here’s the cast list:

• Lambert…..Spider-Man
• Mr. Stork…..Captain America
• Sheep…..Thor, Superman, Iron Man
• Mama Sheep…..Hulk
• The Wolf…..Hobgoblin

After assigning the parts, I re-read the story while Fuller acted out the parts with the action figures. I had to tell him what to do a lot at first, but by the end, he was doing a pretty good job of replicating what was going on in the book’s pictures with his action figures.

At the end, I had Fuller walk each character out on stage (a plastic Ikea toy box) and take a bow to the audience (me). Finally, I introduced Fuller as the Director and had him take a bow as well.

All-in-all, it was a nice introduction into drama and the performing arts for a 4-year-old. I think he enjoyed it and learned a few things about communicating a story with actions. His Renaissance education is off to a good start.

The high today was 66, which was ten degrees more than the predicted high. I shoved Fuller out the door after his quiet time so we could enjoy the warmth and sunshine.

The playground was packed with kids and moms with the same idea, which pleased Fuller to no end. He tried really hard to play with some of the older kids, who didn’t seem to really understand him. I’m trying to balance protecting him and letting him figure out the rules of the playground on his own. The funniest outcome of letting him navigate the politics of the playground came when the older kids were trying to organized their playtime and told Fuller he was “it.” Fuller’s immediate response was “My name is not ‘it!’ My name is Fuller!” One of the kids said, “Seriously?” Fuller’s response, “My name is not ’seriously!’ My name is Fuller!” Yeah, we have to work on some things.

If you check out the picture above, you will notice Fuller is on top of the Big Tire. This was a big deal because Fuller has never climbed to the top of the Big Tire on his own. And he was able to navigate getting down on his own. Big steps for my little guy. And a lot of fun too!

Our family pictures are going to be changing soon.

Tomorrow my little sister will go in for a c-section and Genevieve will become a big sister. Fuller will get a new cousin. And in a few weeks, Fuller will be a big brother and Genevieve will get a new cousin (and so will Vivian, Nick, and Olivia).

In April, my sister Austina is getting married and Fuller will gain three older cousins and a new uncle (as will Genevieve, Seth, and Baby Two).

And sometime in July, Fuller will get another cousin! And Olivia will no longer be the youngest kid in her family.

This is a very exciting year for family growth. I’m looking forward to seeing how our new family pictures come out.

I’ve been thinking of ways we have had friends bless us lately.

~ My friends Esther and Heather took me out last night for a girls night out. It was a great way to catch up and not stress out about husbands and kids. It was just all about us girls. We went to P.F Changs for dinner, went to see Four Christmases at the cheap theater, and then finished up with desert and warm drinks at Starbucks.

~ Getting the new carpet in the boys room was actually a bit of an effort since we had to get the old carpet out of the room and off to the dump. Our friends the Nichols helped us out by swapping cars for a day so we would have a truck to take the trash to the dump. Allowing us to use their truck in the middle of the week was truly an act of kindness and made the project much easier.

~ Facebook has been a great way for me to catch up with friends from all over. I have reconnected with a lot of friends from my high school days, which is awesome since we all went to school overseas and then dispersed around the world. We were blessed when one of my high school classmates reconnected with me and offered to give us her infant car seat and stroller. She passed through Chattanooga on her way to her parents’ house around Christmas. We met up for a bit, catching up and getting the infant car seat we needed for baby two.

Fuller’s flickr set has been updated.

It was fun to look through his pictures and see that he decided to take some time with the camera during his quiet time. But I was laughing hysterically at these self portraits Fuller took this morning in the car.