Normal Life moments

Well, I am not sure if anything about our life can be considered "normal", but today was the first day since we've been home with Cameron that seemed relatively normal.

Today we started back to "school".  Tommy had his homeschool co-op classes and the older boys stayed home with Mom and Dad.

I got them started- Colin on Rosetta Stone and Cameron on Math.

It was interesting to me that Colin was so 'interested' in what Cameron was doing. For example, when he saw the easy Math lessons that I was preparing for Cameron, he was almost insulted on Cameron's behalf. He immediately began to argue with me that Cameron had his own Math book from China and that he shouldn't be doing that "easy stuff".

It became clear that I was going to have to get Colin busy with something else to avoid the constant interference.

(Well meaning though it was).

I did take a look at Cameron's math book, but decided that I wanted to take a progressive approach to determine his learning level. So, I typed into the translator for Cameron that I was intentionally going to give him some really easy Math at first and gradually give him more challenging problems. Unlike his protective big brother, HE seemed fine with that plan. LOL

So, we started with double digit addition and moved on to subtraction. Tomorrow we will assess his comfort/skill level with multiplication and division.  He was in third grade in China so we know approximately where to start and what to expect.  

After Math we moved on to Phonics. Apparently Cameron had some familiarity with the alphabet, but no real individual letter recognition.  We started with names and sounds and reviewed that a bit.  He seems to be very willing to learn. He is as sweet (so far) as he looks and smiles even more than I can actually capture with a camera.  

When it was time to leave and pick up Tommy, (and have coffee with a wonderful friend!), Tom took over the learning and then it was nap time!

This was the scene when I arrived home. How could I not grab the camera?  My sweet new boy snuggled up with Dad on the couch taking a much deserved nap.

Then, later in the evening as Tom prepared dinner, Colin jumped in to saute' the onions. He is such a great kid!

Yes, I caught him off guard, and yes, he immediately yelled, "Mama!" 

 (You'd think he'd be used to it by now...)

So, we just finished a wonderful meal prepared by the two oldest men in the family. Ok, you may say it...I AM spoiled!

All in all, a wonderful day and great way to start off the New Year!