- 1 -
Conrad
Don't let this sleeping cutie fool you, Conrad is becoming a crazy little boy! In just a matter of weeks he learned to: army crawl, real crawl, pull himself to standing, cruise along furniture, and Mowgli crawl! He's going to be walking before we know it.
Of course now that he can move around, he leaves a path of destruction in his wake. The kids have started calling him "The Tornado" or "Destroyer".
He sure is proud of all his new skills! He also recently gave up his swaddle and pacifier while he sleeps. We had to let him cry it out a few nights, but he's finally sleeping better. Before that he was still up several times a night.
Conrad hates baby food, but he loves to eat! So far we haven't found anything he doesn't like. He has two tiny teeth popping through on the bottom. He's just growing up so fast and it makes my heart ache.
- 2 -
Orson
Mr. Orson is a such a fun age. He's funny, sweet, and wild with a touch of naughty mixed in there. Actually, he's one of the most obedient, eager to please two-year-olds I've ever met.
His hair was getting so long (and with the summer humidity) it was starting to become curly but mostly crazy. I gave him a short hair cut for the first time and he looks so grown up. He still looks so, so, so much like Michael!
Orson is quite musical and loves to sing. I love hearing his sweet little songs!
- 3 -
Lenora
Sweet Lenora continues to surprise me with all she knows. Unlike the other girls who are very vocal about their thoughts, Lenora is often very quiet. Every once and a while she lets you catch a glimpse of her mind, and I'm always blown away. She recently had a preschool screening and pretty much aced it. She can even count backwards from 10. She's also wonderfully creative. She designed this ocean with playdough and we built it together.
Lenora is lucky to get the best of both worlds when it comes to playmates. She obediently follows the big girls around in their games, but then gets to turn around and lead the boys. She has a gift for fitting well with any personality which is incredibly like Michael.
I love Lenora's fashion sense. Not overly girly, but so, so cute!
And this was just too funny. One day she dumped a leftover bowl of popcorn on the floor of the kitchen and created this "popcorn trail". She's too cute and it was too creative for me to be upset by the mess.
- 4 -
Eliza
Little Eliza finished out first grade. I can't believe she's a 2nd grader now! She keeps working hard and doing great. We enjoyed an ice cream date this month where she got an ice cream cone the size of her whole head.
Eliza had a great year in first grade. She was blessed with one of those excellent teachers who come along just once or twice in a lifetime. Mrs. Gabbard helped keep Eliza challenged and engaged in school. If only all teachers were so wonderful! At the end of the year awards ceremony, each teacher awarded a boy and girl special awards in each of the schools focus areas (love learning, achieve my goals, encourage others, and do what is right). Eliza received an award for "Doing what is Right!" A wonderful recognition for a girl full of integrity!
Eliza continues to love art and is always creating. Here is the "brick family" she made recently. She's also been composing this song on the piano for a while. I finally took the time to record it, and it's beautiful!
- 5 -
Hazel
Sweet Hazel is off to fourth grade! It has been a tough year for her but she has handled it with such grace. The move from Iowa was hard for Hazel. She found herself in a new, large school trying to find her place among kids that had been together for years now. The math curriculum is extremely different from Iowa so while she was way ahead in some areas, she was also way behind in others. But Hazel never complained or gave up. She worked hard, and was patient, and above all kind.
We were working at home to help Hazel become more responsible for her own homework this year. I would remind her, but I wouldn't nag her or hold her hand through weekly math assignments and spelling. A week or two she didn't follow through, but as she got the hang of things, she was doing much better about getting her work done. One week she did her math homework, had me check one problem, and turned it in, but forgot to put her name on it. When the teacher called out for students to add to names to the few assignments that were missing names, Hazel didn't think to double check hers wasn't among them. It seemed to Hazel someone must have added his or her name to her work, because the teacher never could find hers and counted it as not turned in. For a consequence, she had to walk laps at recess instead of playing.
It was a lousy situation, but I was so proud of Hazel for how she handled it. She didn't argue with her teacher. She didn't lament how unfair it was. She didn't point a finger at who might have added their name to her work. She didn't come home and complain to me about what happened. In fact it was only after some questioning that she even opened up about what had happened. Life is hard and unfair sometimes, but Hazel has shown she can face challenges with grace. Way to go sweet girl!
Hazel also received an award from her teacher for "Loving Learning" and it is very true!
Here's her last day of third grade!
Hazel had a fun month with activity days. There was a Saturday day camp activity and they had a "Girlwood Derby!" Hazel carefully selected a broomstick as the shape for her car. She is obsessed with the Harry Potter books right now, so it was perfect for her.
I think it turned out awesome! It was pretty fast too. She was fourth overall out of the ten girls.
It was a fun, busy month! Other exciting things that happened this month:
-Michael finished his first year at EKU and did two weeks worth of summer work on their lab.
- Our AC broke (during a wave of 90 degree days of course) but with the help of our neighbor I was able to fix it and we didn't have to replace the whole system like the technician that came suggested. Yay!
- We met our awesome friends the Cliffords from Colorado Springs in Louisville for a day. They now live in Indianapolis. We picked up right where we left off like no time had even passed.
