Firsts

We've had a few momentous firsts in our house in the last few days.

This weekend, Teeny, Bud-Jack, and M&M went to their first concert. Andrew Peterson was playing at Lancaster Bible College, and the college was letting people come -- *for free*!!! J and I have been big fans ever since J brought home our first Andrew Peterson CD back in, oh, 2000? We went to another free concert of his in the Appalachians of Virginia/West Virginia back before we had kids, but hadn't gotten to see him since; so this was a real treat and a trip down memory lane. The kids did -- okay. M&M had a problem with the dark and music mixed together. Bud-Jack seemed to be on a bit of a high; but I was pleased to see that Andrew Peterson, a young father of three who always has at least one song on each album dedicated to his wife and kids and who has written two songs for a Veggie Tale DVD and put out his own children's album, attracts young families. So, I was not the only one chasing a two-year old around the foyer of the building. G and Teeny did pretty well, and were more than a little impressed that this guy wrote "If It Doesn't Have a Tail, It's Not a Monkey" on "The Wizard of Has". Of course we bought a couple CDs which J has been hogging. Oh, well.

G had his first go at the push mower on Sunday. It is self-propelling, so he did pretty well. One day he'll be a real help in the yard-maintenance department.

G also started his "first day of school" on Monday. He was looking forward to it with great anticipation, and I think he's enjoying the formallity (though it's far from formal) of it. It wasn't that he wasn't learning before. I firmly believe that kids of this age are largely self-taught and soak up information when we don't even realize they are truly learning. But knowing so many kids in school, he was desperate to "go to school" himself. So, we started working on some basic lower-case letter recognition and formation and lots and lots of reading. He doesn't know it, but tomorrow he will be doing an archaeological dig in the sand in the back. Again, not that he doesn't do this sort of thing on his own. . . he just wants to be "schooled".

Bud-Jack has done his first pee and poop in a potty!!! Of his own free will!!! I'm hesitant to start rigorously potty-training as he doesn't say many words at this point, and I'm not sure he understands all the words that I say; but as long as he is wanting to get up there and go, I'm not going to argue. So, for now, I just ask him excitedly if he'd like to go on the potty. If he says no, I don't push it. But usually he says yes.

I made French bread for the first time. It turned out quite well, actually. We ate about half a loaf -- *before* dinner. I got the recipe in The More with Less Cookbook. This is also where I get my recipe for honey wheat bread. I'll share that recipe in a later post.

Firsts are so exciting -- a little sad sometimes -- but exciting. And I am looking forward to seeing where all the firsts lead my little ones and our family. Hope you all are enjoying all the firsts in your lives as well.