Michael - Schoolwork

This is Michael's first time copying sentences... not tracing.  :)  He works very hard making his letters correctly. I am super proud of him!  He's also memorizing the verses he copies; so far he's learning one each week.

Stuff that's been happening...

Here's an update for you guys.  :)

Michael has been working very diligently on his school work (Kindergarten for those who don't know yet!).  He really enjoys the work, for the most part, and is doing wonderfully.  He read his first sentences last week... I almost cried, haha.  His handwriting has improved dramatically and he is quite excited about learning to read and write.  He is also working on memorizing various information, from Bible verses to his address, facts about the alphabet (vowels, consonants, sounds, etc) to capitalization rules.  :)  So far our biggest struggle has been getting him to focus on his work rather than trying to help/correct Meredith.  Other than school, Michael is growing up so fast and is a great help to me on a daily basis.  He is always willing to get something I need or to play with and take care of Jonathan.  He is fascinated with computers and other technology... I know, not really surprising, lol.  He enjoys playing his computer games and loves to watch Daddy play his tank game.

Meredith is working on pre-writing skills... tracing shapes, lines, letters, etc.  She also is working on identifying letters and numbers.  She knows almost all upper/lowercase letters and some single-digit numbers.  She can count almost to 20 and knows all of the letter sounds.  She enjoys listening to Michael's lessons and participates in most of the lessons as well.  She likes having her worksheets and activities to complete while Michael works.  The biggest struggle we've had with school has been having enough activities for her to work on individually while I work with Michael.  Since her work doesn't take nearly so long to complete, she starts getting antsy while waiting for Michael to finish.  Fortunately, she will play with her toys in her room by herself for awhile.  Meredith is a great helper as well!  She loves Jonathan and is always willing to help entertain him.  She is getting increasingly independent and wants to do so much by herself.  She can usually buckle herself into the car seat, which is a great help to me!  She loves to sing, dance, and color, and is almost constantly talking.  :)

Jonathan is crawling like a maniac now!  He loves being able to go places by himself.  :)  He is also working on pulling up on the furniture.  He can pull up on shorter surfaces, like the kids' chairs and the ottoman, but can't quite reach the couches and tables.  He stands for a long time, occasionally moving his feet, but not cruising yet, before plopping back down on the floor.  He cut his first tooth on the 1st and is working diligently on the second tooth now.  He still is an awesomely laid-back baby.  He is so easy-going and fun!  He rarely cries, except when he needs something; even then, he stops crying as soon as someone gets him.  I am so blessed with all three of these wonderful kiddos!

New baby... Not much to talk about there.  :)  S/he's growing well, wiggling around great, not making me too sick.  I am exhausted, but not sure how much is the baby's fault and how much is just having 3 little ones already, lol.  My next appt is the 12th, just a check-up, so probably not much to tell about then.  Hopefully we will have the anatomy ultrasound somewhere around the second week of November.  Fingers crossed for a cooperative baby!   Then the fun of name-choosing begins.  :P  Maybe this one will be named before the records people get grumpy again, haha.

Okay, I'm done.  I'll work on getting some pictures online this week!
<3

Jonathan's 6 Month Update

Jonathan had his 6 month check-up yesterday.  He is doing great!  Took his 3 shots like a champ... cried while being poked, but as soon as I picked him up, he sniffled twice and stopped crying... even smiled at the nurse!

Weight: 17 lbs, 6 oz. (50th %ile).  

Height: 27 inches (90th %ile).  

Head circumference: 45 cm (75-90th %ile).  

So, let's see... he is crawling now!  Woohoo!  He's not very fast or efficient yet, but it shouldn't be much longer.  He can also roll all around the room and go from stomach to sitting up.  :)  Very exciting times around here, haha.  He loves to eat pretty much everything.  He's not a huge fan of purees, but he will eat them if that's all there is, so we've basically skipped those and just went straight to regular food.  I think his favorites are pancakes, fish (so far, just has had cod), bread, and anything mom is eating.  Talking is next on his list... he's been saying dadadadadada for a week or so.  Last night he spit out his pacifier (was supposed to be going to sleep, lol), looked straight at Chris, and said, "Da-da."  Then smiled, took back his pacifier, and went back to sleep.  Very cute and sweet.  

I think that's it for now.  Maybe more later.  :)  So sorry this has been so sparse lately... as you can imagine, I'm pretty tired most days and this doesn't usually make the list.  I'll try to be better, but don't hold your breath!  

<3

This is just awesome...

JZ 4 Month Appt

Jonathan had his 4 month checkup today... wow, how did that happen?!?!

Stats:
Weight - 15 lbs, 12 oz = 75th percentile
Length - 26 inches = 90th percentile
Head Size - 44.5 cm = 95th percentile

Sooooo... we really do have a giant baby!  :)

Jonathan is a great baby on top of being giant!  He loves to laugh and interact with people.  He is really enjoying his exersaucer and playmat.  He can sit up for a little while now in the tripod position and tries to sit up all the way, but quickly topples!  He really likes to be upright now so that he can see all the activity.  :)  The best part is how awesome of a sleeper he is... he's now sleeping from around 8-8:30 pm until at least 6 am!!!!!  A few times he's slept until 8 am!  It is truly a blessing that allows me to keep up with all of the kiddos during the day!  I am so excited to see how he keeps growing and changing.  <3

4th of July

Meredith

I'm going to announce it officially, and hope it doesn't come back to haunt me! Meredith is FINALLY potty-trained!!!! Turns out, all I had to do was to sit down with her and have a serious conversation about how she's a big girl now and she will wear underpants and she will use the potty and will not potty in her pants anymore. So, she's done with pull-ups (except for bedtime). It's been almost 2 weeks now and she's only had one pee-pee half accident (caught herself going while distracted by playing). I don't/haven't reminded her to go; she just does everything by herself... most of the time she'll tell me she's going or ask for help getting undressed/dressed, but she does everything else on her own. :)

Meredith also is learning her letters with Michael... she asks him all the time what a letter is or how to write one. She knows almost all of the letters and what all of the letters "say." Her favorite letter is "D." I don't know why she likes this one, but she really does!

She is having a Princess Party for her birthday - just ask her! So, if you're interested, just let me know you're coming... maybe August 20? Everything will be pink, and sparkly. Just so you know. If you want to know what to get her, just go with those things ^^^; you can't go wrong. Ooh, especially if you have a book about princesses that are pink and sparkly, or maybe even ballerinas, or fairies, or pink princess ballerina fairies.

Meredith loves Jonathan. I don't think that needs much explaining, haha. She is a great big sister, unless she's smothering him trying to give him kisses. Her best way of helping is to sing "The Jonathan Song" to calm him down... this song mostly consists of saying "Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan;" repeat until the poor guy gives up and stops crying. Actually, it really does work and makes him smile most of the time!

That's it for now. I'll try to get some pics up on Picasa in the next few days. We've been crazy busy around here lately and I've hardly had any time online in the past few days. :)

Jonathan

So, last night Jonathan was playing on his play mat and started to roll over. We were very excited, since he hasn't even appeared to be interested in that yet. He got most of the way over before getting stuck on his arm, haha. He tried a few more times before getting too frustrated and having a snack before bed. :)

Then, this morning he got on his mat and pretty much immediately rolled all the way over! He looked both surprised and proud, like he had been thinking about it all night, but wasn't sure if it would work. Anyway, he rolled a few more times back and forth before being done with it.

He can also sit up a little bit while holding himself up like a tripod. He doesn't last very long before folding though. If we prop him up on pillows or on the couch, he can sit for quite a while. He likes that very much since it lets him see what everyone is doing!

Basically he is an awesome baby; rarely crying except when hungry or bored/lonely, and calming quickly when we fix his problem. He's even in his own bed/room now and sleeping from 9ish to 5ish... no complaints here!

We're still calling him Giant Baby. He's getting ready to outgrow his 3-6 month feeties! He's doing okay with the onesies, but his legs are right to the end of the feeties. :) Of course, this giant size does help him hold up well against all the loving he gets from his siblings!