Happy Birthday, Sweet Eliza Jane!

Eliza turned four years old. She has grown 1 3/4" in the last 5 months. She is getting so big. She is very observant. I know I have not given her the personal teaching that I did with Maren, but she has picked up so much on her own. She is a perfectionist and like everything to be a certain way. If it isn't the way she had planned she bags the whole thing. She is my girl that takes her time with everything. She doesn't notice peoples feelings as much as she just notices details. We will be sitting in a restaurant and she will point out the fly sitting on the wall across the room. She says things that seem so irrelevant, but under closer inspection can usually be related to what is being talked about. I love my sweet 4 year old girl!

For her birthday, we made a princess cake and had a pretty layed back day. We held preschool at our home Tuesday morning. She liked celebrating with school friends. She got to watch her favorite show "Diego". She got to choose what she wanted to eat for each meal. For breakfast she had Rice Krispies with milk, for lunch peanut butter and jelly, and for dinner she wanted meat and cheese sandwiches. I was a little surprised corn dogs or mac and cheese weren't in there somewhere with how much she likes those. Her favorite part of the day was helping to decorate the cake.

Hap is also getting big. He is so much fun to have around. He loves the rocking horse Papa and Grandma Sally got for the kids and has become quite the jockey (he likes to stand in a squatting position when he rides). He loves to do the things he notices the big kids are doing. Eliza likes to tease him and Maren smothers him with mini-mothering. His collar bone is all better. He says "me" and raises his hand before we eat (in an effort to volunteer for prayer), says "I do" when I say "who wants something to eat?", knows "hat", "ball", "baby", "cereal" (comes out "ya-yo", "outside" (it comes out "ow- sigh"), he calls dogs "uff-uff" and cats "me-o", can answer "do you want down?" or "do you want to go downstairs", knows "up", and "water" (comes out "wa"). He nods his head for yes and shakes his head for no with only a small amount of confusion. He likes baths and can find his own way into the tub, so I have to keep an eye on him or he will climb in with his clothes on. He has picked up on the girls whining and mimics that as well. He is a sympathy crier, but can't muster up real tears for others. He gives just about anyone that shows any attention to him a death glare, but he is one happy and fun boy.

Maren is doing well in first grade. She is super curious. The other day her teacher told me that Maren came up to her and asked her to teach her about the world. The teacher was a little taken back and said that she would teach her anything she wants to know, but was unsure what Maren wanted to learn about specifically. When Maren and I talked about it later she said "all of it", meaning lands, cultures, places /landmarks, space, and what the world is made of. We went to the library yesterday and I left Maren and Eliza in looking at books while I stepped out to give somethings to a friend. When I came back Maren was asking the librarian if they have any books on languages. This surprised the librarian, but she recovered quickly and said "I don't usually get those kind of questions from kids your age". She looked and could only find books written in Spanish. Maren was hoping for a book that would be able to teach her a few words in another language. Then she asked if they have any books about princesses that don't ask like princesses and we had better luck. She is a fun girl to have around.

Fractured Collar Bone

"Sit down, Henry" BOOM! "Waaaaah!" I have told that kid 100 times to not stand up in his booster at the table. He has fallen before, but sometimes it takes a couple falls before one learns.

Henry was having a snack yesterday mid morning, when he decided it might be fun to get a rise out of mom and dad. He stood up in his booster and looked over with his big "watch me" grin. Jon told him to sit down and that he was going to fall again. Next thing we knew he was crying, laying face down on the ground. I held him for a while, jon held himd for a while, we tried to distract him, but all the rest of the day he was unusually cranky and unwigglely. All his limbs seemed to move okay so we were pretty sure nothing was broken. When he woke up this morning still grumpy and un-adventursome we payed closer attention and pin pointed it to his left shoulder.

I decided to take him to the doctor. He said that Henry's collar bone was swollen and needed an x-ray. We soon got the results that it was fractured in two places near each other with no displacement. There is not much that can be done, but on monday they will be able to look and see if a brace can be found that is small enough for him so he wont hurt it while it heals. He said it will be 3-4 weeks to heal and be careful with him.

Boys! Oh well; I am sure it wont be the last.

My biggest girl

It is no surprise by now. Maren started Kindergarten this year. (The picture was her first day.) Her Aunt Suzie started teaching her piano, as well. She is getting so big.

This last May, I had the opportunity to watch my two nieces who were in Kindergarten at the time. They had a "skills book" that they were supposed to work on regularly with their parents throughout the year. I was able to go over this "skills book" with Maren to see where she was in preparation for beginning Kindergarten. She knew most, if not all, the skills the kindergartners work on learning all year. I knew she was ready for kindergarten, but I didn't realize she knew pretty much all they teach in kindergarten.

A few weeks before school started this fall, I e-mailed the principal of the elementary school she is attending to express my concerns. He simply said "lets put her in kindergarten and wait and see what happens." So, we did. Maren was put in a class with an excellent teacher who I was pretty sure would keep Maren's attention. I did e-mail the teacher one of the first days. I told her about where Maren is at educationally and expressed my concerns with her getting bored. I wanted her to be aware. This teacher told me that she needed two weeks to observe Maren and then we could meet and discuss her needs. A day or two before the meeting approached and I received a call from Maren's teacher. She said that Maren is very ready for first grade and would like to move the meeting to the following week when we could discuss with the counselor, the principal, some other individuals about advancing Maren to first grade or what type of things we can do to keep her learning this year. Jon planned to take the morning off so he could attend this meeting.

The meeting was this morning. Maren's teacher told the group about what she observed and backed up her conclusion with test scores. She said Maren is mature for her age, reading at a high second grade level, she was comprehending everything she was reading, knew the difference between and the concepts for addition and subtraction, knew punctuation and what they mean, and that socially/emotionally she would be just fine with older children. She summed up saying that Maren could "educationally" be fine in the second grade, but as her teacher she could give her individualized lessons and send her to a much older reading group to keep her learning. As a group, we discussed the state age guidelines (would need to be checked upon) and pros and cons for keeping her in kindergarten or advancing her to 1st or 2nd grades. Once we decided that the 1st grade is the best place for her, we discussed teachers and where she would best fit. They put her in a 1st grade class with a teacher that will help her to still be challenged and allow Maren to help other students to learn the things she knows. The said she will start first grade tomorrow and had no concerns of her being behind.

When I picked up Maren after school today her kindergarten teacher then walked us through where to drop Maren off in the morning and gave us any information we may need to help make Maren more comfortable. Maren is excited. We'll go ten minutes early tomorrow and see if we can again meet the 1st grade teacher and find Maren's new desk.

I was concerned with the possibility of Maren having personalized lessons. I didn't want her to be so separated from her peers even if it is because she is ahead. I didn't want her in second grade because that would make her very young and susceptible to being picked on. With her in first grade, I am concerned about the fact that she is being removed from what she is familiar with and put into a new classroom with a new teacher, new kids, and new rules. Maren has always done well with change, but is sensitive to people and their feelings. I think the best decision for her was reached. Maren said that she is excited and maybe a little scared. I know she will be fine even though the first few weeks will be challenging. I am so proud of this girl.

An update on Eliza: She started joyschool (a rotating mom taught preschool). I was worried about her being okay with the constant change. We are now two weeks into it. She likes it except the only boy in the class likes to give everyone hugs, and she doesn't like it when he hugs her.

I found a pretty nice bike with training wheels on it at a garage sale for a good price. This is what Eliza needed for her birthday coming up. We talked about it and decided she should have it now with the understanding she wont get anything for her birthday. Eliza gladly agreed. She Loves riding her bike. She has been riding it when we pick up Maren from school. She does a great job. I am proud of her. She says she wants to learn to read like Maren, but we may wait a little longer. I want her to want it bad enough to stick with it. We'll see...

A little update on Hap: He is walking everywhere and loves to be chased. He is still a little unsteady on his feet, mainly due to older children running around and not watching where they are going. He loves to climb, play with the neighbors dog, sweep my floor, play with balls, sing "Old McDonald had a Farm", dance, watch airplanes, and eat. In his own way he says "hat", "ball", "outside", "temple", "mom", "dad", "Maren", "Eliza", "dog", "I love you", "oops", "banana", and "more". He nods and shakes his head for yes and no, but sometimes confuses them. He does not like to sign and will just grunt for anything he can't say well enough for me to understand. He likes to do things he knows he is not supposed to do. As he goes to cause trouble, he'll look back at me and make a face (scrunch up his nose, squint his eyes, and smile a big toothy grin). Sometimes at dinner he will sit and jabber about something. He loves to talk. He seems to get more frustrated these days, but is still such a Happy Boy!

Update on the rest: Jon still seems to like his job and is adjusting to wood court (the new position he got in May). He is still a great dad and husband. He is always trying to improve at his calling - or ward building guy.

I am good. I am enjoying doing preschool with Eliza and helping Maren with her piano. I like watching Henry learn new things. This pregnancy is going well. I feel great at 22 weeks. This new baby girl will be a nice addition to the chaos. Three kids is hard. It has slowed me down some, but it is so much fun. I am sure four will be even more so. I got taken out of the CTR 4 class and put into the nursery. Henry won't be old enough to be in there until December, but is doing okay so far. I love nursery and am excited about this switch. It will be more interesting in January, but it will be fine.