Catherine: At the park, Catherine ran right up to the other girls, introduced herself and asked their names, introduced her sister, and pointed out her two brothers. I've noticed that she tends to gravitate towards girls who are older than her. She is the oldest in our family and among the friends we see on a regular basis, so playing with "big" girls is something special. The 6 year old at the park, Hope, could swing by herself. I pushed Catherine to get her started and she imitated her "new friend" and kept herself going for quite a while. She also successfully walked the length of the balance beam by herself and can do so many more things on her own that she was previously unable or afraid to do. I'm learning how important for me to encourage her, even if it takes longer and to praise her when she succeeds. We're having fun baking and gardening together. She loves to crack the eggs, scoop, measure, pour and mix the ingredients, water the plants in the garden and in the house, and even though these things take twice as long when she helps, it makes me happy to see how much enjoyment and pride she takes in doing them by herself.
Teresa: Teresa also enjoys helping mommy in the kitchen and the garden. She was proud that she smashed the bananas and mixed the batter for the banana bread that we brought to a friend who just had a baby. When we were visiting with them, Teresa brought me
this book to read. It was very simple: one color/object per page. I showed her that the word over the picture was the name of the color and the word under the picture was the name of the object. She proceeded to point at each word in the book and "read" it correctly. Red Ladybug. Yellow Banana. What a smart girl! She will "read" stories from books - new and old - by looking at the pictures. She can pick up a new book and tell me the story she sees, and she does a pretty good job "reading" books that I've read to her. It is always interesting to see which details she recalls or what kinds of stories she makes up. She is also quite the artist with a great eye for color. I think she's going to have a lot of fun writing and illustrating books like I did and I'm looking forward to sharing them, here.
Anthony: He is stringing more words together and I am learning to listen patiently in order to hear everything he wants to say because not only does his draaaaaag out his words, he leaves big pauses between them. He has also learned to say sorry, please, thank you, and you're welcome. One of the sweetest things in life is a polite 2 year old. The love Anthony has for his baby brother is becoming more apparent each day. He likes to hold, hug, and kiss Stephen. The sweetest thing he does is hold his hand when we're riding in the van. He is so proud to be a big brother, informing everyone that this is his "Baaaaybeeee. Bruuudduuuur. Steeeeeven." He also loves his daddy. He gets so excited when daddy comes home and wants to do everything with him. He especially loves rides in the Jacobsen, on the tractor, and daddy's truck. If we're outside, he runs down the driveway to get even a short ride to the garage in daddy's car. He stands at the window and cries if daddy goes anywhere without him. Lately, however, he has made me feel special since he has been asking mommy to rock him after bedtime prayers at night.
Stephen: My sweet baby boy is growing up so fast. When we went to visit a friend and her newborn (3-week old) girl I realized just how much Stephen has grown and was astounded that this baby of mine will be 6 months old at the end of the month! They don't stay little for very long. I also realized that even though I haven't "worked" with Stephen doing things like "tummy time", he can roll from his back to his tummy just fine and can hold up his head while he's lying on his stomach and can scoot forward by drawing up his legs and pushing himself forward. He's also into grabbing everything in sight, including fists full of his mommy and sisters hair, my glasses, anything I'm reading, food off of plates or the whole plate off the table. I am really enjoying every bit of this baby's smiles, laughs, squeals, coos, and even his sad little cries. In fact, I probably spend too much time marveling at him as he discovers his voice, his hands, his toes, and this big, big world all around him.
Catherine: At the park, Catherine ran right up to the other girls, introduced herself and asked their names, introduced her sister, and pointed out her two brothers. I've noticed that she tends to gravitate towards girls who are older than her. She is the oldest in our family and among the friends we see on a regular basis, so playing with "big" girls is something special. The 6 year old at the park, Hope, could swing by herself. I pushed Catherine to get her started and she imitated her "new friend" and kept herself going for quite a while. She also successfully walked the length of the balance beam by herself and can do so many more things on her own that she was previously unable or afraid to do. I'm learning how important for me to encourage her, even if it takes longer and to praise her when she succeeds. We're having fun baking and gardening together. She loves to crack the eggs, scoop, measure, pour and mix the ingredients, water the plants in the garden and in the house, and even though these things take twice as long when she helps, it makes me happy to see how much enjoyment and pride she takes in doing them by herself.
Teresa: Teresa also enjoys helping mommy in the kitchen and the garden. She was proud that she smashed the bananas and mixed the batter for the banana bread that we brought to a friend who just had a baby. When we were visiting with them, Teresa brought me this book to read. It was very simple: one color/object per page. I showed her that the word over the picture was the name of the color and the word under the picture was the name of the object. She proceeded to point at each word in the book and "read" it correctly. Red Ladybug. Yellow Banana. What a smart girl! She will "read" stories from books - new and old - by looking at the pictures. She can pick up a new book and tell me the story she sees, and she does a pretty good job "reading" books that I've read to her. It is always interesting to see which details she recalls or what kinds of stories she makes up. She is also quite the artist with a great eye for color. I think she's going to have a lot of fun writing and illustrating books like I did and I'm looking forward to sharing them, here.
Anthony: He is stringing more words together and I am learning to listen patiently in order to hear everything he wants to say because not only does his draaaaaag out his words, he leaves big pauses between them. He has also learned to say sorry, please, thank you, and you're welcome. One of the sweetest things in life is a polite 2 year old. The love Anthony has for his baby brother is becoming more apparent each day. He likes to hold, hug, and kiss Stephen. The sweetest thing he does is hold his hand when we're riding in the van. He is so proud to be a big brother, informing everyone that this is his "Baaaaybeeee. Bruuudduuuur. Steeeeeven." He also loves his daddy. He gets so excited when daddy comes home and wants to do everything with him. He especially loves rides in the Jacobsen, on the tractor, and daddy's truck. If we're outside, he runs down the driveway to get even a short ride to the garage in daddy's car. He stands at the window and cries if daddy goes anywhere without him. Lately, however, he has made me feel special since he has been asking mommy to rock him after bedtime prayers at night.
Stephen: My sweet baby boy is growing up so fast. When we went to visit a friend and her newborn (3-week old) girl I realized just how much Stephen has grown and was astounded that this baby of mine will be 6 months old at the end of the month! They don't stay little for very long. I also realized that even though I haven't "worked" with Stephen doing things like "tummy time", he can roll from his back to his tummy just fine and can hold up his head while he's lying on his stomach and can scoot forward by drawing up his legs and pushing himself forward. He's also into grabbing everything in sight, including fists full of his mommy and sisters hair, my glasses, anything I'm reading, food off of plates or the whole plate off the table. I am really enjoying every bit of this baby's smiles, laughs, squeals, coos, and even his sad little cries. In fact, I probably spend too much time marveling at him as he discovers his voice, his hands, his toes, and this big, big world all around him.
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