Needless to say, life is busy. My monthly family updates have been few and far between these last few months. Here's a brief summary of how everyone is doing lately.
December was a magical month. Everything about Christmas is so exciting for the kids. We did something new this year and decorated the house for Christmas before we traveled to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. Coming home to a decorated house was a wonderful way to start the season. We have a large basket full of stuffed reindeer, Santas, elves, sleighs, and animals. The kids played hours and hours with these. I wrapped each Christmas children's book individually, and each night in December, the kids each selected a book to open from under the tree to read together. We did Advent reading and lit candles after dinner each night. (The kids were very excited when it was their turn to snuff out the candles at the end.) We listened to lots of Christmas music, and the kids quickly picked up on the lyrics. Ethan still requests "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" as his bedtime song each night. We attended the Walk Through Bethlehem and the Candy Cane Breakfast at church. We drove around one night looking at Christmas lights. We watched some Christmas specials on TV. It's fun to have our own traditions that the kids are starting to remember from year to year.
Of course Daniel has changed the most since I last wrote an update. We started him on solid food at six months. It seems to be taking him a longer time to catch on to eating. For several weeks it was as if he didn't know what to do with his tongue. It's still rare that he will open his mouth and I don't see him making a chewing motion when we feed him. He can purse his lips with a great amount of strength when he's not interested in eating anymore. He has gotten the hang of some simple finger foods like baby puffs and yogurt melts. Daniel is rolling all over the place now and scooting in a circle and backwards. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks. He sometimes even gets up on his hands and feet but hasn't started to crawl yet. He can sit up unassisted for very long stretches playing happily. He enjoys sitting in the bumbo seat on the kitchen counter while I cook and bouncing in the jumparoo in the kitchen. He still has a very happy, content personality. He doesn't really laugh but has an excited squeal and when he's really excited you can literally see his toes move in anticipation. He happily grabs any object held in front of him and starts to investigate and chew on it immediately. Speaking of chewing, no teeth yet! He babbles several sounds including "Baba", "Dada" and "Mama". Daniel usually takes three naps a day with the longest being about an hour in the afternoon. He doesn't sleep very well at night, often waking about every half hour for several hours. He will eventually calm himself down, but I usually end up nursing him once during the night. He is awake and ready to go by 6:00 every morning. Daniel is wearing 12 month size clothes and size 4 diapers. At his six month checkup in mid-November, he weighed 19 pounds, 16 ounces (90th percentile) and measured 27 inches long (75th percentile).
Ethan has really progressed in his communication skills. He speaks much more clearly and uses complex sentences. He does some pretend play with toys (a word that for some reason he can't pronounce properly, so he calls them "toes") giving them different voices as they talk to each other. He certainly has a stubborn two-year-old streak and often stomps his little foot and says "NO!" when asked to do something. He loves to go to Bible Study and his music class. He is thrilled to tag along with James and Claire and whatever they're doing. He doesn't have much patience for books these days except for a few Dr. Seuss or similar style rhyming books that we read over and over. Ethan likes to play with toy animals, trains, and anything James and Claire are interested in. He naps most (but not all) afternoons and sleeps wonderfully every night. He is wearing 2T and 3T clothes and has done great with potty training this month, so no more diapers during the day!
James can still be very whiny and completely melt down when things don't go his way, but in general he's a goofy little boy who likes to make people laugh. I think if they each had to pick a playmate for a day, Claire, Ethan, and Daniel would all pick James. Even Brooks prefers James' company. James is reading very well for his age. We have "Special Reading Time" every afternoon while we wait for the school bus and Ethan naps. James is reading the books that Claire brings home from her Kindergarten reading group. It takes awhile to get through them, but he does well and seems to really retain words we've worked on before. James is often running through the house making silly noises and then crashing (usually intentionally) and providing sound effects. James does well at preschool but doesn't provide me with much detail about his time there. He sleeps well at night but is an early riser and usually awake around 6:30. He doesn't nap but has a "Quiet Time" in Daniel's room every afternoon for about an hour. He likes to play with his castles, toys animals, trains, blocks, and his toy laptop. He loves to look at books and be read to and play outside. He wears sizes 3T and 4T (Yes, he and Ethan can share some clothes, though they fit them very differently. Makes sharing a closet convenient!). At his four-year checkup in November, James weighed 36.5 pounds and measured about 40 inches tall (both around the 50th percentile).
Claire continues to excel in Kindergarten and loves to go. She's been accepted into the TAG program and now spends one day a week away from her regular class. Claire enjoys ballet and AWANA. She memorized all the books of the New Testament and is well on her way to finishing the AWANA handbook and receiving all the jewels on this year's badge. Claire received her first Lego set for Christmas and worked hard over several days to follow the instructions to build Elsa's Ice Palace. Claire loves her American Girl Doll, Samantha. We've been reading the stories to go along with her (set in the early 1900's). Lately, Claire uses Samantha to play school. Claire is reading very well and has shown great improvement since starting school. We're having her read through a book of children's poetry at bedtime. These are difficult but she's sticking with it and having to sound out fewer and fewer words. I assembled an art box for Claire to have during her quiet time that contains pencils, pens, tape, scissors, and similar supplies. She has come up with some fun and creative projects. She usually chooses art or dolls for her daily quiet time. She enjoys playing pretend with James. Claire sleeps wonderfully every night and gets up with very little grumbling to catch the early bus to school.
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