First Day of Spring

Last week was cold - so cold we had fires burning upstairs and down all week long.  We even moved the couch to the middle of the room so that we could snuggle up close to the radiant heat.  Yesterday was the first official day of Spring.  And today it was so hot I had to turn the AC on in the car.   Talk about a drastic change in weather!  Aside from the time change making us all tipsy tour you, we are ready for Spring.

A few weeks ago the three oldest started playing soccer.  It is every Thursday for 2 hours and they all play at the same time (on different fields).  Kilometer Kids also started, which means Thursdays are crazy full of athletic endeavors.  I've been cooking a roast in the crock pot on these days because the kids have used up so much energy and need a quick, calorie-rich meal when we get home.  On a side note - Bro ran his pace-night mile in 7.36, and Songbird was right behin him with 7.39.  They are both  significantly faster than me now!  Thankfully they still enjoy going on runs with me when I ask.

We just finished reading the book Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John.  I had the copy my mother used to read to me when I was a little girl, and It was fun to finally introduce it to the kids.   It's such a beautiful story of redemption and forgiveness. One scene from the book particularly stuck with my youngest girl.  She is fiercely imaginative and desperately wants to believe that fairies, the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, and any other imaginative figure is truly real. She hasn't lost a tooth yet, but she put something under her pillow one night "just in case the tooth fairy was going to come to visit."  Well in the story the children leave their shoes outside overnight, and in the morning a new snow-white kitten is keeping warm inside Dani's shoe.  Raindrop decided she would leave her shoes outside and see if anything came to them in the night.  After nothing happened the first night, she did it again another night.  This time Hubry left a chocolate egg and a toy soldier inside the shoe for her. You can imagine her sheer joy.  The past few nights she's been leaving out her box with a cozy blanket inside.  This time she is waiting for a snow-white kitten.  At night she asks me if I think a kitten will be in her box in the morning.  I say, "no, I really don't."  But she brings the box out anyway...

6 Months

Sweet Cuatro,

You are 6 months old now, and you are blowing energy and excitement into our lives daily.  Around 5 months and 2 weeks you started crawling.  One day you got up on all fours and started rocking back and forth.  The next day you walked your hands forward a step or two, and the next day you could slowly make your way across a small room.  After about a week of practicing this new skill, you moved on to sitting up.  You literally became obsessed with sitting up.  You would try sitting up from the side-lying position. then sitting up from the other side, then sitting up from your back, then sitting up form a crawl.

Then, to top off all these new skills, the week before you turned 6 months, you woke up from a nap, and when I came to get you you were standing up!!!  Your little legs were shaking, you were clutching on to the top rail of the crib with all your might, and you had a very nervous look on your face.  It was as if you were both utterly excited and totally terrified all at the same time.  We immediately lowered your crib (after saying a prayer of thankfulness that you had not flipped yourself over the edge).

Now life is honed in on finding a suitable surface to pull yourself up on, and then 70% of the time falling over.  This stage is full of bumps and bruises and frustrations.  But it is also full of little victories.  With each new accomplishment, your toothless grin can be seen stretching broadly across your face.

Most recently you have started practicing making new noises.  One of your favorites is saying, "A-da, A-da, A-da, da, da."  We joke that your first word is sister's name.  You also love making deep vocalizations and grunts that sound like a lion or bear.  They sound very manly and warrior-ish, whatever you are trying to communicate.

You have also started joining us at the table and eating food.  Your first taste was sweet potato - which you loved.  Then we moved on to peas, which you are not as sure about.  Next we tried applesauce, and then mango puree.  So far you are a very eager eater - grabbing at everything and sitting impatiently at table until we get the food in your mouth!!

Matchy matchy with Mama

Practicing push-ups with Sister

Practicing music with Papa

Worn out after a day of exertion!