Claire, James, Ethan and Daniel: April 2016

Daniel is on the move and into everything now. He crawled for the first time on March 3 and now there's no stopping him. He pulls up to standing when he has something to hold for support but doesn't cruise around the furniture yet. His first two teeth made their appearance during the week of February 15th (bottom front). The front top two teeth have come through in the last few days. He has learned how to do "so big" and clap his hands. He's beginning to point, not with a finger but with his whole arm. He has a little sound that he makes to say "cat" and "ball." It's reserved for these things, so we're calling it his first words, though it is hard to tell what he's saying. It's consistent though because in the produce section of the grocery store, he started making the "ball" sound and reaching for the oranges. He loves to play with balls and chase them all over the room. Daniel still doesn't sleep well at night. He's wearing some size 12 month clothes and some size 18 month clothes.

Ethan began climbing out of his crib, so we converted it into a toddler bed. He's fully potty-trained, day and night. He copies everything that James does and sounds like a little parrot. Sometimes he uses some really funny phrases such as "That's a great idea." and "That doesn't make any sense." He talks almost nonstop. He speaks in long run-on sentences as he describes things. For example, at bedtime tonight he was saying, "After we go to sleep...we wake up and we eat breakfast...and...we get dressed and Cwaire gets on the bus....after we eat breakfast...and we take James to preschool...where are we going?" He gets very frustrated when he's interrupted, often screaming "Hey! I was talking first!" Ethan loves the color red and working puzzles. He is able to play several board games now. He still loves his music class where he watches the teacher very closely to copy everything that she does. Ethan has dropped his nap, mostly. He insists on having quiet time in his room, but sometimes still falls asleep (and wakes up very grumpy). Ethan is wearing size 3T clothes.

James has really enjoyed getting to be on his first real soccer team this spring. He runs and plays hard. He does well at preschool and Bible study. He continues to have a goofy streak and enjoys making people laugh. He and Ethan fight often, but they also have started to really play together well. James is able to sound out words and knows several sight words. He loves to be read to, to play outside, and to go to a park. He has overcome a lot of fears such as tunnel sides and is much less clingy these days. He is very dramatic about injuries and insists that I kiss his boo-boos many, many times a day. (Although if he doesn't know I'm watching, he shakes it off and keeps going...) James wears size 4T clothes, sleeps well most nights, and is up early every morning.

It's hard to believe that Kindergarten will be over in a few short weeks. Claire has really thrived. When I think about how scared she was to get on the bus that first day, I realize just how far she's come. She gets up easily and happily goes to school every day. She is learning addition and subtraction and has improved her reading and writing skills. She doesn't like to tell me much about her days at school, so I've come up with a game we play at supper time where the kids ask each other questions about their days. This allows me to catch a few tidbits about kindergarten. Claire loves AWANA and has learned many verses this year. It comes easily for her and she enjoys it. She is doing a little better in soccer as far as actually running and trying to kick the ball. She enjoys being with her friends on the team more than she enjoys actually playing soccer. We have enjoyed reading the chapter books about her American Girl doll, Samantha. She has started reading herself her first chapter book. She loves to get her art box and create things during quiet time. Claire is wearing size 6 and 6x and has become very tall and slender.