Camian Academy

Fritz is one year old today. Hard to believe just one year ago he was only 7 pounds 13 ounces and 20″ long and looked like this:

And today he is 20 pounds 14 ounces and 30 1/4″ long and looks like this:

By the time Fritz was born 10 days past his due date I was convinced he was never going to be born. My midwife Tammi assured me that would not be the case but I didn’t really believe her. I had joked that I would go into labor at 10:02 pm on July 10th because that was the apex of the full moon last year. When the first strong contraction hit I looked at the clock and burst out laughing. It was 10:02 pm!

At some point we called Tammi and my parents. At some point Tammi and her assistant and my parents and my aunt arrived. Time really is meaningless when you are in labor. Memories of my labor with Fritz are forever intertwined with the theme song of Jake Long: American Dragon. Jamie bought the first season of that cartoon on iTunes the morning of July 10th and my big kids watched it all day long and a bit during the night as well after they woke up.

Fritz’s labor hurt. He had his head cocked to the left and he was face up. Back labor is something I would not wish on my worst enemy. Apparently when my mom was in labor with me I was face up as well. For that I am very sorry now that I know how much pain it causes the mom. When he entered the birth canal he rotated to be face down and so he was born the proper way. I really thought that was a pretty cruel trick at the time.

At some point in the morning I got in the shower. It didn’t really help. I’m a land birther. Water does not need to be around me when I am in labor. I got out of the shower at some point and soon after I decided it was time to push. I didn’t feel the urge to push but his head had entered the birth canal and I knew if I pushed the pain would be over sooner. So I pushed. I think I pushed for about 20 minutes.

I pushed sitting up. Then I pushed on my hands and knees. I think he made the most progress toward getting out in that position but it also hurt the worst. Finally, I pushed on my side and at 8:34 am on July 11, 2006 Fritz entered the world. Someone put him in my arms and I checked to be sure I was right that I had a second little girl. I was quite surprised to discover this baby was not a girl, but another little boy. I must say that the very best part of his birth was checking to see what sex he was. With Ani the doctor announced she was a girl. With Cameron the ultrasound tech at 30 weeks told us. Finding out for myself was definitely the best.

Upon thinking about it, it really was ridiculous how the bedroom was set up when he was born. There were chairs around two sides of the bed and my father, mother, daughter, son, and aunt were sitting like spectators at a ball game watching. By the time Fritz actually came out, Ani had left the room, my mother had followed her to be sure she was okay, and Cameron had gotten bored and wandered off. They were all back as soon as the baby was born. In labor, however, the spectators were not absurd at all. I barely knew they were there.

And so a year has gone by and Fritz has blessed and enriched our lives in so many ways. I just love this little guy!

Cameron has decided what he thinks heaven is like. On Saturday he spent one on one time with his father and got his haircut, then went to see Ratatouille, and then went swimming with his parents, siblings, and friends. After we got out of the pool he sat down in a chair on the pool deck and happily said “This is just like heaven!”

We do art twice a week. One day is art appreciation. We are using the Come Look With Me books Enjoying Art With Children and Animals in Art. We are finding it very interesting to learn a little bit about an artist while looking at a beautiful picture of his or her artwork. The questions listed are good, too, and we have some interesting discussions about why the artists made it the way they did and sometimes how my children would change the way it looks if they were the artist.

The second day of art is hands-on. We are using Art Adventures at Home. Another book I cannot say enough good things about. There are 35 lessons per year (3 years per book) that go through various units such as drawing, sculpture, and crafts. Even Cameron enjoys our art sessions now. Usually he refuses to do any assigned art. The lessons are easy to follow even for the artistically challenged like me.

Fritz went to see his first movie in a theater today. We took the kids to see Ratatouille. It was really cute. Cameron said it was his favorite movie ever. At first Fritz was a big surprised by the loudness but quickly got used to it. He spent some time babbling to the cute little rats on the screen while eating some toddler cookies and part of a teething biscuit. Then he drank some water and nursed a little, and then fell asleep for an hour and a half, three-quarters of the movie.

For PE we are using Home School Family Fitness. We also have the companion Excellence in Sport Skills DVD. I have found it hard to set up our lessons, but that may totally be my fault since I have not read the book but instead went right to the activities. The kids love their weekly PE time. They have learned how to hula hoop and are improving in their ball handling skills. I’ll be interested to see how the juggling unit goes!

In addition, the kids take gymnastics for an hour a week. They get lots of exercise and lots of social time in that hour. In the fall Cameron will be moving up to level 2+3 and Ani will be moving up to level 3+4. Luckily they’ll still be able to go at the same time.

Currently we have five kids at our house. A friend from church had to go to her brother’s wedding and only could take their youngest, so we agreed to watch their 5 year old son and 7 year old daughter. It works out nicely since we have a 5 year old son and a 7 year old daughter, too.

As it turns out having two extra kids is no big deal at all. The kids have been playing rather nicely together since the others arrived Wednesday morning. I’m actually surprised at how little girly drama there has been since both my daughter and my friend’s daughter have very strong personalities. Fritz absolutely adores my friend’s son.

The biggest thing about having two extra kids is the amount of food they eat. Or rather the amount of food they put on their plates to push around on their plates and pretend to eat. It just so happens that my friend’s kids are like my older two kids in that they eat very little at meal times and graze most of the day. Fritz is turning out to be the biggest eater of the whole lot of them.

For music we are using Music Today and Everyday. This is another one of those really great books that I just can’t say enough good things about. It makes music really fun and slowly introduces concepts in ways that make total sense to the kids. The lessons cover everything from composers to famous operas to reading music to instruments. The book covers grades K-6. We spread out each lesson over several weeks doing music class once a week and it is working great. We all have lots of fun. My sister, a professional musician, paged through the book and said it looked like a really good introduction to music.

I do have one complaint about the book and that is that it doesn’t come with a CD of the songs. I don’t really play the piano and I especially don’t if I don’t already know the tune. So we end up making up a lot of the tunes for most of the songs and sing them a cappella. It’s not a big deal, but it would be nice to have a CD. Some songs (like the Birdcatcher’s Song from the Magic Flute and the William Tell Overture) I am able to download from iTunes. Overall, though, that’s really a small complaint. The kids cheer when I say it is time for music because they love the lessons so much.

Happy Fourth of July! This is one of my favorite holidays mainly because I just love history. I’m rather disturbed, though, because we were at AC Moore yesterday and they had big signs that they’d be open tomorrow (now today) and there would be sales and they had coupons out. It’s sad that the day set aside to celebrate our country’s independence is going the way of Memorial Day, Labor Day, and President’s Day. Just another day to stay home from work and go shopping.

In honor of the holiday, here is a test to see if you could pass the US citizenship test. I got them all right, but history, and particularly US history, is one of my favorite subjects and I absolutely love learning all about the government and how it works (or doesn’t work as the case may be). A political science course was my absolute favorite in college. (Hmmm… just why did I become a nurse…?)