Anna - I don't know if I mentioned this or not yet on this blog, but sometime during the past couple of months, Anna has really hit some kind of plateau. Her whole mind and body has just settled a bit. She seems to have finally adjusted to the all day everyday kindergarten routine and is simply a really cool kid right now. She's not as tired or overwhelmed at the end of the day and is usually a very kind, pleasant, responsible and funny kid. All of the work we've done with her during the past few years has finally seemed to pay off!
We had her parent-teacher conference last week and everything sounds good from that end, too. According to her teacher, Anna is a kind, responsible kid who works hard to do her best. She can be very particular about some things, but is a great kid who is learning a lot in kindergarten :)
Kate - Kate is definitely the middle child right now. I've been being conscious about making sure she has a few playdates each week with kids her age because I'm certainly not the best playmate for her these days. If we're at home, I'm usually trying to get something done ... food prep, dishes, laundry, picking up, etc. She's actually been very upset when I come to pick her up from a playdate because she says "but who will I play with at home?" Granted, we have our special time together, too, but I know she likes kid playmates more than momma as a playmate right now.
The time change seems to have been good for Kate. She was finally able to sleep in for a few mornings and got over some of the crankiness that was creeping up last week. Though she can dig her heels in sometimes about certain things, Kate still has a pretty laid back personality and just likes to have fun.
She's officially signed up for preschool for next year, the same preK class that Anna did, but with a different teacher. We opted out of 4K for several reasons, 5 days a week and large classes being a couple of them.
Ethan - Ethan falls into the "third child" category pretty accurately. He gets dragged around a lot of places and has just had to learn how to be flexible. He loves places that provide him with lots of stimulation and seems to prefer being around others. If he's left in a room by himself for more than a minute or two, he lets us know :) I can't wait to get this boy outside. I think he's just going to love all of the different sights, sounds, and smells that the out of doors has to offer.
Ethan has been trying to suck on his hands or fingers or thumb pretty consciously the last week or so, but hasn't had much success. At this point we'd rather have a pacifier kid than another thumb sucker, but whatever will be will be.
Ethan has also discovered this week that he can reach for and grab things with his hands. It's funny to watch the concentration on his face when he's really trying to touch something.
He's also started laughing :) I love baby giggles. We can usually get some good laughs out of him a few times a day; Matt and Anna finally got to hear some good ones last night. The best way to get him to laugh right now is to sing songs or say rhymes that involve his hands and arms and then be really over-the-top with his movements.
Like our other children, Ethan is also very strong. He can handle 10-15 minutes at a time in the excersaucer these days and also enjoys the upright position of the Bumbo. However, both of these activities usually produce lots of nasty spit-ups so we don't do them right after he's eaten.
Matt - He got to ride his bike to work once last week and once this week ... hooray! Maybe we can get a good routine going where he gets to do it twice a week again. Work is okay these days for him - some good and some not so good. We're just very thankful for his job.
Me - I'm ready for some more normal sleep and some warmer weather. I think those two things may go hand in hand. Some days I feel a bit overwhelmed with the daily tasks while other days Kate and I have too much time on our hands. Overall, I'm doing my best to enjoy little moments each day :)
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