We had a gorgeous weekend last week and I only had one photo shoot so I took advantage of the time to (finally) take some portraits of my OWN kids. Imagine that!? I have several I like for each kid so this could be a long post but since I've been busy with the business lately and not posting as much anyway, I guess it's about time. So here they are....my beauties:
Corey continues to amaze us with how smart he is. I had his teacher conference recently and apparently he's in the top two in his grade in math and he's reading two levels beyond where he needs to be at the end of the year. Kinda makes you wonder what he's going to get out of first grade!? What was really nice to hear though was that he's a sort of leader in the class. Rob and I had discussed in the summer that we thought Corey was the kind of kid that could get picked on eventually....smart, not very athletic, sensitive. What do we know? His teacher assures me that the kids tend to gravitate towards him and look up to him. Last week Corey was star of the week and on Friday I went in to read a story to the class and then they asked me about 50 questions that all began with "What's your favorite...?" Really. You name it, it got asked. My favorite country, my favorite shape, my favorite thing to do with Corey, outside. It was very cute and the kids seemed genuinely interested! Go figure. I felt like a movie star for 30 minutes and when Corey gave me a huge hug and kiss goodbye, all I could wonder was: at what age to kids' moms go from being ultra-cool to being a huge embarrassment. If you know the answer to that question, don't tell me! I just want to revel in the moment a bit longer, thanks.
Lilly has struggled over the past couple of years with understanding that she is a year and a half younger than Corey and actually shouldn't be able to do all of the things that he does. She is very harsh on herself and quite insecure about her own abilities. So...school has been an interesting adjustment for her. When she started her daily journals, Lilly worried because she didn't know how to write as good as Corey. When they started talking about taking home books, Lilly worried because she didn't know how to read yet. I assured her that the reason she was going to Kindergarten was to learn all of these things and that it would all come in time. Lilly worried. Ok...I worried a bit too. Well, at her conference I was able to see the leaps and bounds she'd improved on her writing and last week, SHE READ A BOOK! Not a book we'd read a million times but one she'd never seen before. She needed help with a couple of words but overall she read that book the first time she picked it up!! It was rewarding for her and for me! I told Lilly to take it to school the next day to show to her teacher and tell her what she'd done. Not only did she show it to her...she read it to the whole class. And Lilly's teacher took a video of it and put it on their class blog. It's the second video down on November 8th posting. Check it out!
Clare is such a sweet little thing. She's really learned how to manipulate people (in other words, us) by using her tears, smiles, whatever it takes. The best thing about her is that no matter how sassy she's acting at any particular moment, she's always just a tickle or a cuddle away from a huge smile. The big news for Clare this week is that she's moved into her Big Girl Bed. We've had it in her room for several months now and she would nap in it but hadn't wanted to make the jump to nights there quite yet. Well, Tuesday she decided that she wanted Emma to move in the room with her so she's been sleeping in the BGB ever since and doing great! Clare's hair has gotten quite long. She's terrified of hair cuts so the best I've been able to muster is trims to the bangs (fringe) so far. Luckily it's not too raggedy though and she's as cute as can be!
Little Miss Emma is becoming a real toddler now. She's not walking yet (none of the kids did till 14 months) but the big change is that she can really express what she wants now and WHO she wants. She's still very social but she has her moments where the only one that can make her happy is Daddy and times where she only wants to be put down by Grandma, etc. Of course she wants me sometimes too but I actually really like this stage where she can start reaching out to others. I always find that around this point is when the best Daddy-Daughter bonding has occurred and I Love It!! Emma stopped nursing a week before her 1st birthday...right on track...and it was an easy transition for both of us which is always the best scenario. Emma's favorite thing to do is to head outside. I don't blame her...between nap times and the long process of meals, it feels we're pretty housebound most days. But she's easily appeased by a ride in the swing, a sit in the stroller while she watches the other's play or a drive around town to do errands. Emma's quite independent (for 13 months) and just as good as can be. All the kids fight over who's baby she is and I just can't imagine our house without her!
As for the rest of us, Grandma (aka Mom) will be leaving in another 9 days so it'll be a big adjustment around here. She's headed to California, then for a long trip to Vietnam, back to California for Christmas, and then off to Kim's in January. She's planning to be back here in April. We're going to miss her and the kids are already saying how they don't want her to go but I'm sure she's going to have an amazing adventure so I'm happy for her. Rob is adjusting to the end of golf season with grace. He played 17 yesterday so it's not totally over but almost. His soccer league started a couple of weeks ago but they play at an un-godly hour on a weeknight and he's not getting much play time so that may not last. We've been getting out as much as we can while my mom is still here and babysitting is free. Our days are numbered though. Rob has been a huge support to me as I've gotten my photography business going. I do a lot of sessions and work on the weekends and most of my editing at night so it's taken his help to make it happen and I'm so grateful for all the encouragement! I'm having a great time with it. It's funny that I hadn't missed working but I am really enjoying having something that's so occupying of my time/energy outside of the family. Ya know...because having 4 kids just wasn't occupying enough. :-)
