It's been WAY too long since I've updated! May is crazy busy. Life is crazy busy. On top of that, something is wrong with the hard drive with most of the pictures (hopefully a plug just needs to be jiggled), which is what jogs my memory and makes the blog worth looking at, so...we're relying on my fantastic (HA!) memory. I'll do my best to break it up by child. Here goes...
My last post was while Buck was in Kenya. While we missed him dearly, he had an AMAZING time (he hasn't caught up on his blog either...just saying). Read about it
here. We, too, had a really fun time. We had plenty of heads-up, I scheduled lots of fun things we don't typically do, and we treated it sort of like a vacation, as bad as that sounds. One fun thing we did was go strawberry picking. I'll definitely have to post pictures of that! It's always fun. We went to Stewart Farms as always. Unfortunately the berries weren't quite sweet yet because we've had a really unseasonably cool spring, but we still had lots of fun, and they were yummy enough. I propped a baset in front of Jake so he could sit up and I could get some pictures. He immediately grabbed a strawberry (or a few) and started eating. The older ones thought that was the funniest thing ever, knowing that he's not supposed to eat strawberries yet. I just knew they'd tell on me when we went to the pediatrician, and what do you know, it was the first thing out of their mouth when we got there. Fortunately for Jake, he had no problem with them, so now I just let him eat them. Smart kid.
OK, I'll start with John. I think I've already covered his second lost tooth on the top. The first one has actually started coming back in. I keep saying we need to hurry and get family pictures while he still has that cute snaggle tooth smile.
John has started reading uncontrolably over the past few months. At school they have AR (accelerated reading) books to bring home and read. When they're finished they take a test on the computer. Books are worth a certain point value based on difficulty. His teacher finally had to cut him off and make him take a break on weekends. At the end of the school year his class had an awards ceremony. He won first place for AR points, with nearly twice as many points as the second place winner in his class! I'm so glad he enjoys it. We had read Treasure Island with him earlier. He decided he wanted to read it on his own. The day after school was out he sat for over an hour to finish it because I told him I had a prize for him when he finished. When he finished it, I gave him Peter Pan. He was so thrilled. It's amazing that he can both read that much and understand it all. I am so proud of him.
Just before school was out he wanted to go ahead and buzz his hair. We usually do that the last day of school, but whatever. We did a mohawk for a few days and it was AWESOME! The kids in his class loved it!
Funny stories about what he's said. Eve had a girly birthday party, so Buck and John had a boys night out. They took the top off the Jeep, had wings, and played video games. On the way home it was cold. Buck said, "If Mom were here she would've remembered to bring sweatshirts." John replied, "Dad, Mom forgets EVERYTHING." Buck's reply, "She remembers the important things." He told me he didn't want John to be disrespectful, but on the other hand... (Ha! That's so very true!) So that weekend was Freedom Weekend Aloft. We had a blast chasing balloons as always. The weather was amazing, and we left the top off the Jeep all weekend. The pool also opened. I drove the older ones to the pool one day while Jake napped with Buck at home. I hadn't driven the Jeep in a few years, so I was a bit rusty. John said, "I wish Daddy was with us. He knows how to drive the Jeep a lot better." Then on the way home he asked if I had ever driven it without Daddy's help. I thought this sort of thing didn't start until middle school!
The last day of school I met John at the bus stop with the camera, but did not come away with a picture. He quickly sulked past me. He was in such a bad mood because he was sad to say goodbye to his teachers and friends. He really did have a fantastic year with fantastic teachers. Mrs. Chapman and Ms. Floyd. Mrs. Chapman even called that afternoon to check on him because he seemed so down when he left. Now that's a good teacher. A cookie when we got home did just fine lifting his spirits, and he's rather enjoyed sleeping in.
John is doing Junior Swim Team this year. It's a step up from Guppies, which is basically one-on-one lessons with a swim team member. It's more like actual swim team, but not as intense. They practice 3-4 days a week, but only compete at the home meets. He is absolutely loving it! I think it's great. With 3 others in the pool at the same time, I don't really get to watch how he's doing during practice, but he's doing so well swimming. I know they've worked on freestyle and backstroke, and he's doing great with both. I'm excited about how much he enjoys it.
OK, Eve. Eve had a fun time with her field day at school, and a very cute "Kindergarten Here We Come" type program at the end of the year. She's very excited about Kindergarten, the big school, and riding the bus. She also had a great year with Mrs. Looper and Mrs. Medlen, but she didn't quite have the same sadness the last day of school. Eve celebrated her 5th birthday! She was so excited about celebrating Eve. It got a little out of control, but hopefully we'll reign that in sometime soon. She measured 43" (63 percentile) and 45 pounds (80 percentile). She's still a beautiful, volatile, sassy, helpful, loving, potty-mouthed, hilarious little girl. On the one hand, she has a tendency to fly off the handle because she doesn't want to share, or because something doesn't go exactly her way. On the other hand, she is always wanting to help people, and has a tender heart for how others feel. She tries to keep people's attention with shock value (potty words, yelling and such), but it works, so part of me can't fault her. On the other hand, she is just absolutely beautiful and has a smile and laugh that are contageous. This morning she came downstairs and just smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back and get up to give her a kiss, and she put aside what she was about to do to sit with me a minute and just spend some time with me. I absolutely adore one-on-one time with her. She is such a treat to just sit and talk to, and she is always ready and willing to do that. She is also becoming more and more creative with her drawing. She could sit all day and draw pictures and tell pictures about them. When she's drawing or cleaning/organizing, she is absolutely calm and in control. I think maybe she just gets bored easily. She loves loves loves to talk, though, and sing, and dance, and it all comes in stream of consciousness. She is such a whimsical delight.
Oh, and Eve is also swimming really well. She's in guppies, but is completely on her own in the water with no trouble. She's a pretty strong swimmer and probably could have hung with the junior swim team this year.
Ellie turned 3! She measured in at 36.5" (38 percentile) and 34 pounds (80 percentile). She was very confused about her birthday because we celebrated on her actual birthday with the family, then with a few friends on the weekend. She was thinking maybe every day was her birthday. Ellie is still our class clown. She loves to laugh, laughs easily, and makes us laugh all the time. She's so serious about some things, and still has the same stink eye she was born with, which is still hilarious. Her sweet little voice makes me still think she's a baby despite all she does and says. She's very matter of fact about a lot of things she says, which makes it even funnier. She's a bit volatile herself, but in a different way. She's in a stage where everything warrants a bit of a fit or scream of terror...everything. Everything is a big deal. That's a bit of a pain for the bad things, but so fun for the good things. She's finally doing a bit better with potty training, but it's not coming easily at all. Sometimes she's thirlled to go and runs right in, and gets through the day with no problem. Other times I ask her to go and she throws herself on the floor and refuses to go. The pool has presented some issues in that realm. She cracked me up the other day. She was able to catch herself before going, so I took her to the potty at the pool. She announced loudly (most everything she says is rather loud), "I did it! I pooped in the potty! It looks like a dolphin!" I told her she'd done great and chuckled. She very seriously replied, "You shouldn't laugh."
Ellie still mostly scribble scrabbles, but on her birthday she drew a face with recognizable features. She can write an "E", but the horizontal lines range from 3 to 5 or 6 depending on her mood. She gets really excited when she spots an "E". She's very excited about starting school in August and has mentioned it at least once or twice a day since we registered her.
Ellie finally got her first haircut! Poor thing, her hair grows so slowly. It's finally coming in thicker, but still has funky curls. Miss Heather barely cut any off, but we got a tiny bit and it looks a little cleaner now. She was so excited to get her hair cut, and had been asking for it a while, but when it came time to get into the chair, she put her head down to hide (her typical defense mechanism), and stayed that way the whole time. It's funny how quickly she goes from outgoing and silly to shy and hiding.
Ellie keeps us laughing and still gives the sweetest hugs and kisses.
Jake turned 6 months! At 6 months he was sort of sitting (now past 7 he still randomly falls, but hardly ever complains about a face plant, so that's good). He wasn't really wanting anything to do with solid food, although he really enjoyed those strawberries and quickly became a puff junkie. At 6 months he measured in at 27 3/4" (91 percentile) and 20 lb 12 oz. (94 percentile). I weighed him when the girls were in for their well check. Around 7 months he weighed in at 22 pounds! He's a roly poly boy! He's gone through the Stevie Wonder stage, waving his whole head back and forth. Now he's moved on to just putting his head to one side to play and see if you'll copy. He's doing much better with solid food and seems to like a lot of it now. Today I taught him to drink from a straw. It's funny because either the taste or just the drink itself comes as a shock to him every time, but he's figured it out, and still comes back for more. Right around the 7 month mark he popped up on his knees the first time, and quickly moved to rocking. Today I caught him on his hands and feet! He's getting close, but I think frustrated that he's not getting where he wants just yet. John keeps saying, "Uh oh, we're in trouble!" One of my favorite things he does is grab my face and act like he's going to eat my whole face. He's definitely a mouthy baby. It's like big smooches. He does that with my shoulder a lot, too, then usually gives raspberries. I'm always a bit nervous, though, because at 6 months his first tooth popped through, and a week later the other one appeared. It's the bottom middle two. They're so cute, but he's used them a time or two. He hasn't used them much, but it only takes once to be a little shy. He's really found his voice and is making lots of LOUD sounds! He's officially been moved out of the sink into the big tub. He really loves the swimming pool. His favorite way to play is sitting on the step with me and splashing. He's still very happy and gives the sweetest smiles and laughs. He's starting to have a little separation anxiety, though, in that if he sees me, he wants me to hold him. He's so darn sweet, though, I'm happy to oblige.
I'm sure there's so much more I've forgotten, but it's all more fun with pictures anyway, so I'll fill in later.
