Ashley is doing great.
She's loving school (despite the occasional girl friends drama) and getting really good grades. She's not really doing any extra activities (sports, music, etc.) at the moment. Except she did go to one "Pony Days" and loved it.
This last weekend she and Emily were flowergirls. The wedding was on a farm and had an opportunity to ride a horse together after it was over. They looked absolutely adorable up on that horse. As hard as she tried, Emily could not stop smiling. I definitely see some more horseback riding in our future.
Oh and right now Ashley's also planning to be in the school talent show, singing a song she wrote while Emily dances. :)
Emily is doing great too. Really embracing neighborhood life, she begs me daily to play outside with the neighbors. And playing outside means more time on her bike. And now- she's riding a two wheeler! No more training wheels for Em!! I'm so proud of her.
She's not doing any extra stuff either, aside from some after school tutoring with her teacher a couple of times a week to help her catch up with some phonics stuff. I can't believe she's going to be in 2nd grade next year, she's such a little peanut. We took her to the eye doctor because she didn't do too well on the eye screening at school. But he said she looked great and didn't need glasses! I was so happy but I think she was slightly disappointed. So we're gonna go pick out some cool sunglasses to make up for it. ;)
Both Ashley and Emily are really becoming helpful around the house. They are regularly in charge of their own room, the bonus room, putting away their own laundry and sometimes their siblings', and each of them cleans one of the other little girl rooms. Occasionally they help with the little kids' playroom. Daily they each sweep the whole downstairs (one after school and the other after dinner) and unload the dishwasher together. And of course they set and clear the dinner table. Their weekly chores (or bi-weekly if we are busy) include vacuuming the stairs, scrubbing their shower (now that I use a homemade cleaner), wiping down their sink, and washing windows. One of them usually gives Kate her afternoon bottle, and Ashley is becoming a resident sippy-cup filler.
Micah. Oh Micah. I still need to contact that Speech, Language and Learning Center here in town. Meanwhile we're using some different cups and I think that's helping with the gurgly thing. We use one of sippy cups that my friends and I call "the starbucks ones". Where the lid is sort of round like a travel coffee cup. This keeps him from chugging the drink so quickly. Watching Micah drink a cup of water is like watching a guy at a bar who's being cheered on by friends, "Chug! Chug! Chug!" He'll drink the entire cup without stopping once. So this helps with that. :) But it has no stopper in it because they said anything with suction like that wasn't good because he was aspirating on it more. I forgot why. :P
He's also doing great at school! Sight reading with the best of 'em. ;) We so proud of our little man.
Abby's good. I just had her IEP meeting to discuss Kindergarten! Could it be? Is my Abby really big enough for Kindergarten?! Whew.
(I'm not sure why my voice sounds so deep in this one. Surely I don't always sound like this?!)
We were having some issues getting her on the bus. Not because she doesn't like school, she asks to go. But I think the big bus is just really overwhelming for her. But that is totally fixed now that I put her on the bus with a small piece of candy to eat on the way. ;) She used to throw her body down, limp in the driveway, doing what I can only describe as "that Abby noise" (somewhere between a grunt and a scream). Now, I hand her a piece of candy as we walk out the front door, she holds it, and walks happily... laughing even... to the bus and when I try to help her on, she smiles and says happily, "No Mommy! Abby do it!" :) Its amazing how a piece of candy can change things! Honestly, I think it just gets her mind off of that big, intimidating bus, and onto a little something to enjoy during the ride.
Aaaand there's Mabry Ruth.
She's the princess and she knows it, always batting those big blue eyes to get her way. She's talking so big now. She's definitely passed Abby up in her vocabulary, which is a little strange for me. Sometimes she can even interpret what Abby's trying to say. We held off the potty training til summer. But as soon as summer break hits, I really want to potty train her and Abby together. We'll see how that goes.
She's so cute and squishy. Between her and Kate, I'm squeezin and squishin and kissin those little rolls as much as I can. Hear me when I say: I'm completely content that we are not having any more babies. But you better bet I'm savoring every single last second of baby world.
Because daily, baby Kate is growing!!
She's officially my chubbiest baby, coming in at the 76th percentile at her last checkup! And certainly has the most hair; I've already trimmed it twice! She's 10 months old now and it won't be long before she's walking. She's cruising pretty good around the couches. She's all done with baby food and totally on table food. She's got 8 teeth and a 9th on its way. She's waving bye-bye. She says "Mama", "Dada" (her favorite word), "Uh-oh", "all done" (and signs it when she says it), "Nigh-night", and lots of babble. She puts everything in her mouth. Of all my babies, she puts stuff in her mouth the most, hands down. If there is a tiny speck of a crumb on the floor, she'll find it and eat it. And with so many people in this house, our floors are constantly dirty. But it helps that Ashley and Emily do it in the afternoon and after dinner.
Kate is another good sleeper, taking two naps (the first 2 hours, the second 2-3 hours) and sleeps from 8 to 8. She loves going to bed at night. She snuggles with me for a minute while I sing to her but then reaches for her bed. Once I lay her down, she rubs her face in her blankets, sucks on 2 fingers (the same 2 that Emily did) and waves at me like "you can leave now.". :) She's SO cute. My heart could just explode with love for that baby!!!
*sigh*
That's the latest with the Spencer half-dozen!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to leave me a kind comment or encouraging word! Thanks for reading!