Monday, May 09, 2016

Quick Updates

The twins are 14 months old today! They have both been walking, running, climbing, teething, and demonstrating their distinct personalities every day. It has been a busy start to spring for us, but it has been filled with things we love and celebrations for people we love even more. Happy birthday to Jonathan/Daddy, the leader of our gang and Happy Mother's Day to grandmothers, great-grandmother, aunts, great-aunts, great-great aunt, and godmothers that add so much to our family. We are blessed by you all.

And--here's a short update on each of our kiddos, just since it's been awhile.

Amalia is wrapping up fourth grade and is super-excited to start middle school next year. She misses the excitement of fall and winter sports, so she had the idea for the older girls to start swim lessons through our rec program this year.  She passed a new level in it this year and continues to work on the crawl stroke. SHe also discovered Pinterest (!) so plans for her daddy's birthday, party desserts, 10th birthday parties, and hairstyles have been now taken to a whole new level.

Brinnly just loves third grade and is usually found with her nose in a book. She has finished all of the Harry Potter series and is starting on the Percy Jackson ones. She's also been working hard on her piano lessons and learning some good songs. She's excited to bake more this summer and to sleep in.  Then read some more.

Carrigan is doing great in first grade and recently had a compliment from her teacher about how she has really worked on slowing down, double-checking her work, and her grades reflect that. She is the one most excited about our new garden and worked really hard at planting it. It's hardly spring-like weather here on a regular basis, so she still insists on wearing corduroy pants every day to school. She has been a terrific roommate to the babies and they love greeting her every morning.

Delaney has been busy in preschool with a field trip to a nature center AND watching baby duck eggs hatch. At our Mother's Day Tea there we were able to hold each of the eight baby ducklings and delight over them. Delaney's swim lessons are Parent/Child so she and her daddy have a date there each Tuesday night. She still loves riding her bike and teaching the babies how to play on the swingset.

Everly survived the first round of teething, but it was rough on her. She learned how to walk several weeks ago at my Moms' Group, but then didn't do it again for at least 10 days. When she did do it, she really appreciated people clapping for her and quickly learned it was the most efficient way to steal toys from her brother. (Too hard to crawl away with the desired toy in hand). Her words are coming quickly now and we just love her sweet voice. She's quite the fashionista and loves choosing pretty things out of her draw for us to put on her and admire. She's also drawn to baby dolls and likes to make sure they are properly taken care of

Grant learned to walk at the exact same time as his twin and we are amazed with how quickly they kept up with each other. It is so fun to see them toddle around!  His jackpot moment was when he sneaked an Oreo from the panty and walked to the living room window to watch the construction vehicles working on our neighbor's garage. He loves the outdoors and could spend all day with a ball in his hand. He loves typical boy things like buttons that make noise, tools, and his grandma's vacuum. It is so fun to see the world through our little dude's eyes!