Natalie is loving Kindergarten so much! She adores her teacher and is doing very well academically. I cannot get over how much Kindergartners learn: Natalie is reading at a basic level, writing, adding, subtracting, she's speaking {broken} spanish...! We couldn't be prouder. At her conference in the fall, we asked if she plays much at recess since we couldn't ever get a great answer out of Natalie when we'd ask. It turns out that on many days she would 'wait in line' BY HERSELF at the door! Natalie loves to play but she can be shy and when we asked her specifically about this, she said that she only wants to play with the boys and they're not always interested in playing with her (I'm thinking just because she's a girl!) This broke my heart a little so we really started to encourage her to play with some of the other girls. Finally I offered to pay her a dollar (what have I become?!) to play at every recess that day... and it worked. Like a charm. She's been playing with other girls ever since. I guess at one indoor recess she and her cousin, Ross, played 'animals' by themselves because according to Ross, 'the other kids don't 'get' it'!! One day before Natalie got off the bus, I got a phone call from a little boy (Blake) asking for Natalie and so I told him I'd have her call him back. She was all smiles when I told her and she called him back. She asked him how school was and if he'd done his homework yet. He hadn't and she told him that he probably hadn't gotten it done because he was on the phone with her! When she hung up, I asked her how he got her number. She had given it to him...duh! One morning when we dropped Natalie off at her classroom (me and the kids), Blake just marched up to Natalie and gave her a picture he had drawn. And without exchanging any words, she just took it like she was expecting it! Natalie is such a tremendous help around the house. She is very good at cleaning and organizing and helping out with her brother and sisters. But she is a perfectionist and somewhat of a control-freak so I'm trying to figure out the best ways to deal with that. She doesn't like it when she doesn't do things perfect and sometimes she gets angry when things don't go just right. So we're working on those areas!
Ruby has grown up so much lately! She has grown taller and has matured so much! A couple of months ago, she really started to critique her speech. She realized after watching 'Daniel Tiger' and hearing "Grrrr" that "grrr" is the way she would pronouce 'girl'! I didn't ever correct her on it because I loved it!! But she realized the err and corrected it! Between the ages of 2 and 4, she was such a sassy lil thing and many times in a rude way. It was always hard for me to know what to do about this especially when she was egged on because it was cute and fun! She's a debater like her dad! She is still all about princess barbies and polly pockets and we have a lot of fun playing together with them! She calls them all her 'honeys!' Almost everyday that Natalie is at school, Ruby insists that we must play school. But what that has turned into is us pretending that the barbies are at school. I really need to discipline myself and do more actual schoolwork! Ruby has learned how to write her name and she's really picking up on letters and sounds of letters. She knows many of her letters, just can't write them yet. Ruby adores Emmy and is also a huge help during the day. I've been busy with the 'bag business' but I am able to watch Ruby and Charlie play while I sew and Ruby mothers Emmy during those times as well. She is so passionate about all things 'girl'! Ruby and Charlie have been playing incredibly well with each other! They love to chase each other. Charlie chases Ruby with his gun and Ruby screams! And Ruby is really starting to fall in love with Jesus which is just awesome! She also has the most heartfelt prayers. She prays for daddy that he's not cold at work and that Natalie is enjoying her lunch and that Jesus won't die on the cross again. She has a huge heart for others.
Charlie is so different from his sisters.... he is all boy! When Ruby tries to play barbies with him, all he wants to do is run the barbies over with his truck. He's always running around, then halting, squatting, aiming, and firing his gun. He is so playful all the time. He is absolutely obsessed with airplanes! I love the way he pronounces words, too and talks in a gruff 'man voice'. Sometimes he'll ask if he can watch 'Star Trek' during the day because he knows it's Jordan's favorite. He's been in a big-boy bed for about 5 months now and he likes to join us in our bed usually a few times a week... but I like it! He naps just a couple of times a week but has been going to bed on time and without a fight so it's fine. But when he does nap, he's been staying dry! Charlie also loves his little sis. He frequently goes up to her and just strokes her and says a very dramatic 'Awwwww!' The two share a room and it works! Although, Emmy may be the reason that he gets up during the night to come lay with us. Last week, Charlie said, 'mom, wanna dance with me?' I heard him clearly but made him repeat it so he said again, 'dance with me?' So we did. In silence. With his head on my shoulder. And I'm not going to lie, it made me cry :) Charlie is such a great little boy. The few weeks before I had Emmy, he was a little terror... getting into everything and yelling at me! But I was really stern with him (which was easy since I really didn't like him on those days!) and I guess it paid off. He has been an angel ;) ever since!
Emmy is doing great. She is gaining plenty of weight! At her 2 month, she was at the 90th percentile at 12 pounds (I think?!) She usually gets up just once a night but we just had three nights in a row where she slept from 10p to 5:30a and since that's when I get up anyway, I'm considering it sleeping through the night! She is still so gassy! We do the gas drops and we've tried the gripe water. Both only really seem to distract her until the gas passes or she gives in to sleep. She was only pooping once a week (typical for my breast-fed babies) but suddenly it's back to everyday. Not sure why that is important to mention! She giggles, smiles, and seems to love us all! Since maybe the 5th week, she's been sleeping in Charlie's room and like I said, it goes really well. I still can't believe how easy this transition was for us! It's definately been a blessing!
Each of our kids is such a blessing to us in such a unique way. I've really been wanting to read 'The Five Love Languages for Kids' and figure out the different ways they want to recieve love and how to go about that. Just when I think I've got them figured out, I realize that I desperately need some extra parenting help! Knowing that I have a tendency towards being selfish, I'm hoping this book would help me be more intentional in showing my love to my kids in ways they can relate to.
Our house is frequently filled with music. And when it's blaring in the living room or kitchen, there's no escape from hearing it throughout the rest of the house. Currently our kids favorite songs are: 'Breakable' and 'It Snowed' and any other song of Meghan Smith, 'Always' by Switchfoot, 'Sail' by Awolnation, 'We Are Young' by Fun, anything from the Tangled Soundtrack, 'Days of Elijah' by Twila Paris, anything by Lady Gaga although we limit those :), 'Gangnam Style' by Psy.... just to name a few! Quite the variety!! I love it when the kids can sing along now! And the instant energy we get when we dance together! Music is so near and dear to me. From the time that I was young, we would have family sing-a-longs in the car and we always laughed in spite of our {cheesy} selves but we all so enjoyed it! I want music to be a part of the kids' interests and a form of worship for them. My niece, Hailee, sang in church for the first time on Christmas Eve. My sister has been a soloist since she was 6 so it was so special for all of us (Katie especially!). We were so proud of her!!
So that's the latest. The winter had been mostly dry and boring until this week when we got more than a foot of snow dumped on us. Now we need to get out and play in it while it's here. Always gotta be intentional with this life or the important things that need to happen don't happen.
You have such an adorable little family!
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