Kids

AUSTIN:

I have to give him some credit - He is trying so hard lately. When he gets up in the morning, he gets dressed, makes his bed, and does his piano before school. He has been so diligent. At night, when I'm putting him to bed, I say, "Do you remember the three things to do in the morning?" He always says, "Mom...I don't need you to tell me." He's also been trying so hard at school. The other morning, he blessed his breakfast oatmeal, and in his prayer, he said, "Please help me to be good at school so I don't get sent to the office." Everything's not perfect (is it ever with any of us), but I am so proud of him for trying so hard. Great job, Bud!

He is also so thoughtful. He really has a gift for thinking of other people. We went to my grandparent's house for Sunday dinner, and we were celebrating my aunt's birthday. Austin didn't know that it was her birthday until we got there, so he asked for some paper and some markers and escaped into the other room. He created a birthday card for her. He drew a picture of my aunt with a bow in her hair (she turned 56) holding his hand. This was his message:

To Aunt Jeri

Frum Austin

Hapy Brthday

I Luv Yoo

Can I just tell you much I LOVE these phonetically correct notes that he is always writing. His teacher at school doesn't really stress "spelling words." Instead, she teaches "rules" of spelling. For example, this week they are working on "ck" words. She also encourages A LOT of independent writing. She doesn't want them to be stifled in their writing because they don't know how to spell something correctly. I know this goes against some people's fundamental beliefs, but I love it. It is going to be so boring when he can spell all of the words correctly. Again...he tries so hard, and I think it's wonderful!

Here is a book that Austin wrote for my mother for her birthday. He is constantly writing books (staples a bunch of papers together and then writes). It's funny because he chooses how long the book is going to be (10 pages, or 12 pages) before he writes it. He puts a lot of thought into it. (You have to follow the arrows which is why some words are spelled backward. It's kind of hard to read because the pages are back-to-back, and he used marker so it ran through. My scanner also cut off some of the sides of the paper, so all the writing didn't make it on the page. But I think you can get an idea. I've included a "translation" under each page. Enjoy!)

Cover Page: Written & Illustrated by Austin (picture of Nana and Austin - Don't you love my mom's hair!!!)

Once upon a time there lived a dragon. Lived in a cave. The cave was filled with bats. The bats were the dragon's food.

The Mommy dragon had a baby. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! The next day the baby was one and ready to hunt.

The Mom was not pleased with her baby.

The baby was breathing fire at a horse.

The dragon was eating the horse.

The dragon was having dinner.

The dragon was eating the lizard.

The End!

MACY

This girl is a constant crackup. I have more stories about her because I am with her ALL DAY, and she talks nonstop! Macy is my child with a couple of funny quirks. For example, she has an obsession with magnetic numbers (the colorful plastic ones that you stick on the fridge). She likes the ones with "holes" in them (like 6, 8, 9, even 3). She used to do this more, but we've since lost most of the numbers. At bedtime, she would cry for "her number." We would then search the house for one and she would suck her left thumb and put the "hole" of the number over her left pinkie. That's how she comforted herself. She also had a spoon quirk. She holds spoons under her chin and sucks her thumb. Like I said...a little quirky.

One of her quirks is that she has to touch things. When Paige gets up, Macy says, "I want to touch her." Then, Macy runs her hands over her face or rubs the back of Paige's hand. Once she's "touched her", she's fine and goes about her business. Yesterday, we drove by a house that had a ton of blow up Santa's, elves on a ferris wheel, etc. I pointed it out to her. In a very matter-of-fact voice, Macy said, "I want to touch everything at that house."

So, we started talking about Christmas. I asked her who Jesus's mother was. Without missing a beat, Macy said, "Moses." I started laughing hysterically. Knowing that she made mistake, Macy asked if Moses was a boy or a girl. When I told her that Moses was a boy, she said, "Well then he can't be a mother." We talked about it a little more, and how Mary is the mother. She said, "Why did Mary put baby Jesus on a stage?" I explained that it was a stable. She said, "I know...but why did she put baby Jesus on a stage after he was born?" I couldn't understand what she was talking about. When I got home, and looked at our nativity set, I realized what she meant. Our nativity set is from Jerusalem, and it kind of looks like a stage. Excellent question, Macy! I can see that we need focus on this again at Family Home Evening.

While we were in the car running errands, we drove by a T-Mobile store. There was a man outside dressed in a huge pink phone costume to advertise. Macy said, "Mom! I want to be that pink phone for Halloween next year!" Who knows, maybe she can get paid for advertising!

PAIGE

This girl cracks me up! She's figured out that we talk to her whenever we enter a room, and she starts talking right away. Whenever we get her up or get her out of the car, she lights up and starts "talking." "Da, da, da, da...Na, na, na, na...Ma, ma, ma, ma." She's also become a real Mama's girl the past few weeks. She cries whenever I leave or put her in her crib (this really only lasts a couple of minutes). She also "whines" for me when she sees me (she does this for Greg, Austin, and Macy, too). She also LOVES real food. I opened a banana for Macy today, and Paige came crawling from across the house as fast as she could. Then, she sat at my feet and whined until I fed her.

I took her in for her 9-month check up today. She weighs 15 pounds 2 ounces (2%). Incidentally, this is EXACTLY what Macy weighed at 9 months. Macy was a quarter of an inch taller and had a much bigger head (Paige's head size is 8%, Macy's was 40%). This is so unusual, because Paige eats A LOT more than Macy ever did. Macy refused to take a bottle until 10 months, so she was stuck with my watered down breast milk, whereas I quit nursing Paige at 6 months. Oh well...I guess it just proves that they will grow at their own rate.

I love you three little munchkins. I just know that I am going to desperately miss this stage of life! I sure do relish these great moments! Thank you so much!