Family Update

WHEW! Things have been so busy over here and it's really hard to finish a post of significant length or depth. It's been quite awhile since I've done a proper update on the kids, so here we go!

H turned 7! She is growing up so fast we can hardly believe it! One of her new favorite things is riding her two-wheeler. We tried ditching the training wheels last summer, but she didn't get a lot of practice and was still a little unsure. We took them off earlier this summer and she took off and hasn't looked back! She asks every day if she can go outside to ride her bike. She also took some summer school classes in computers, art, and science and she loved every minute of it! She will be starting second grade in the fall. She really enjoys reading, especially mystery books, and has been reading all sorts of series, like The Boxcar Children, The Three Cousins Detective Club, A to Z Mysteries, and The Cul-De-Sac Kids. We recently found out that she needs glasses, so we will be ordering those soon (as soon as she decides which ones she wants!) H also loves to draw and play with her sisters, and especially takes care of F, holding her on her lap, helping her down the stairs, helping her wash her hands, etc. She'll be a great babysitter and mom someday!

G is 5 1/2 and also went to summer school, taking a fun Kindergarten class. She was very proud that the other kids were surprised that she could read all by herself. She is a VERY good reader, in fact she reads so fast it's like her tongue can't keep up with her brain and she slurs the words together sometimes, so we have to tell her to slow down! She enjoys reading short chapter books to herself, and almost any books to anyone who will listen (like her parents, sisters, or kids at summer school). Some books she has enjoyed are the Young Cousins Mysteries, Narnia easy readers, Henry and Mudge, and Mr. Putter and Tabby. G has been practicing on her two-wheeler and is so excited that she JUST got the hang of it! She also loves drawing and making up stories, which she can now write down. She started piano lessons in the spring, but she and H are taking a break from piano for the summer. We recently had to adjust her epilepsy medication because she is still having some seizures, though they are hard to see if they are short because of the type (absence seizures). G is especially attentive to baby J and runs to her whenever she cries. G has always been an emotional one, feeling very deeply, and some of her thoughts and prayers are deep and poignant, too.

M is now 4 and has started her reading practice! I decided to get a head-start on school, so we started going through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". She's on lesson 19 and is already reading some words and has read a few short sentences! I usually only have to go through about 25 or 30 lessons before they can start reading some of the "Bob Books". She is having a ball riding fast on her bike with the big girls and wishes she could lose the training wheels, but we're not there yet. Some of the things she says just crack me up with the phrases she uses. Her speech has really improved, so much so that she no longer qualifies for the special speech preschool she had been attending. Last year she had a low profound speech delay, and this year she tested at only a mild delay! Praise the Lord! She will still have speech, but it will be at our local school a couple of times a week instead of the intensive preschool she was in. We are so thankful for the teachers she had, who did a wonderful job. M is also a great big sister and has a very helpful attitude. She says that cleaning is one of her talents! I hope she feels that way for a long time! ;-)

F turned 2 and is no longer the baby of the family. She is growing up! She wishes she could ride a big girl bike, especially since we've been spending more time outside doing that lately, but she has figured out how to use the scooter. Thanks to some friends, she now has a tiny bike and is practicing with the pedals. She RUNS everywhere, leaning forward like she can't get there quite fast enough! She also really likes picking tomatoes and raspberries from the garden, even when they aren't ripe. She really enjoys looking at books (I guess she takes after her sisters!) and can sit for long periods of time. One of her favorites is "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" which she has completely memorized--it's so cute to hear her recite it! She also likes to sing songs, especially "Lida Rose" from The Music Man. Our family likes musicals, and that's one of several that we often sing to the girls at bedtime or when J is crying. :-) She is very gentle with baby J and loves being a big sister, though she still relishes the role of little sister, wanting to be held or sit on someone's lap (usually H's or Mommy's).

J is now 2 1/2 months old and is getting so big (though she did start out big)! She's in the 93rd percentile for height (23.8 inches) and the 67th percentile for weight (11 lb 8 oz). She is not quite on a schedule (she prefers to eat every 2 1/2 hours, but we're working on stretching that) and doesn't consistently sleep through the night, but she is full of smiles, which is fun. She even has a little dimple on her right cheek! She spits up a lot, just like ALL of her sisters did (and her mama!). The very first night in the hospital they said she was spitting up quite a bit, so I said, "yup, she's one of ours, then!" I guess it runs in the family. Good thing we have a lot of bibs!