Abigail @ 11 months

 

I cannot explain just how mischievous this little girl is becoming. She must have spent the last 11 months observing and learning from her older brother & sister because she is into more than both of them put together at her age! She pulls up on furniture easily now and is cruising some, so no drinks or breakable items on tables are safe. Books are apparently made for the floor, not for shelves or end tables. Any crumbs left on the floor (or other non-food items, even) are fair game for her mouth. And she knows when she’s getting into trouble, because most often she will do something, then look up at me and grin.

 

She had a doctor visit on the 11th of this month, where she weighed 16 lbs., 6 oz. (12th%) and was 29 inches long (75th%). She wears 9 month-sized pants but usually 12 months in dresses or shirts, simply for the length.  

 

She is nursing 4 times a day now and eating a whole jar of baby food each meal. She’s expanding her finger food repertoire as well, and will now eat macaroni & cheese, diced soft apples, Cheerios, and teething cookies—anything that can be gummed, as she still has not a single tooth!

I’d still consider her a great sleeper, although on days when we’re out and she falls asleep in the car or if her morning nap runs later than 11, the afternoon nap time is often difficult, and many times she won’t go to sleep until after Andrew’s awake from his nap. She’s also still very social and often has a hard time falling asleep until its dark and quiet and she’s in her own room. The past few nights she’s been screaming a little while before bed, fighting sleep, but it could be teeth coming in or allergies.

 

She loves all kinds of toys—things that she can drive around or roll (much to Andrew’s hatred), small things (like Princess dolls) that she can hold in her hand, anything with music or moving parts. She also loves the standard electrical cords, paper that’s on the floor, coasters, etc. If she wasn’t so cute, she would be in trouble all the time! She is developing a fun sense of humor and a personality that makes anyone smile. She is adored by her big sister and annoys her big brother. She loves her daddy, but only as long as Mommy’s nearby. (Same with nurseries—she does fine as long as I’m not there but gets upset if she sees me.)

I couldn’t get her to lay still for her picture this month, but she was just too funny to not keep what I had.

Family Fun in Fayetteville

 

Saturday our family took a short trip to a nearby town where I had gotten a free ticket to a small Children’s play Museum. We’ve been to a couple museums like this before, but this one was smaller and not at all crowded. It was easy for the kids to run around on their own but we could still see them. There were tons of different occupations they could explore!

Leah got to be a judge.

Andrew of course loved being a firefighter best. I even got him to go down the fire pole.

Leah the Dentist cleaned her Daddy’s teeth.

Abigail was not too happy about her new role as a—lounge singer?

Naturally, Leah’s favorite part was the dress-up clothes, shoes, purses, etc. & the stage.

Andrew & Daddy hid in the army fort.

I spent a little time with Abigail in the Tot Room just for kids her size. She destroyed a huge tower of blocks. And climbed around on everything!

 

Andrew did a little construction work.

The downtown area was really pretty, as was the weather. We didn’t realize there was an International Cultures Festival going on that day, and there just so happened to be a parade within walking distance of the museum, so we went to see that for awhile. There were people dressed in native garb from tons of different countries. Leah & I have been studying different countries as part of our school, so it was great for her to see!

Then we got some family pictures by the pretty water fountain and a cute little church door.

 

Don’t worry, we stopped her before she got any closer to the water!

This one of the three of them is my new absolute favorite!

 

  

 

 

 

We had a lot of fun together as a family!!

Day of Firsts

 

Where, oh where has the time gone, and when did this little girl get so big? Though we’ve been doing school at home for several weeks now, we officially started our homeschool group Classical Conversations Monday. Leah was so excited—she had so many questions leading up to the big day about what school would be like. Her class had 8 four-and-five-year-olds in it. Andrew & Abigail went to the nursery, where I was later told they were some of the easiest kids in there—Andrew found a train to play with when we first walked in and didn’t even tell me goodbye. Abigail was giggling when I picked her up, so I was happy to know that I could easily focus on Leah & what she was learning for the few hours we were there.

    

 

The first thing they did (after a short whole-group assembly for announcements & the Pledge) was a couple quick, easy science experiments. Then they came inside and did new grammar. Each week they learn a short sentence or “list” from 7 different subjects: geography (this week was the 7 continents, and they spent some time identifying them on a big map), history & timeline events (they go through a timeline of something like 170 events from history each year—they memorize the event & a short sentence about what happened), Latin, math (skip counting), English grammar (the 8 parts of speech this week), and science (this year is ecology & astronomy).

 

I was really worried that she would never be able to memorize so much. However, it is amazing what they can learn at that age, plus, there are songs for everything. Leah learns very well through music and is already singing some of the songs she learned. They did little games for each subject—for example, here they used a fly swatter to hit the numbers as they called them out as a group. So by the time each of the kids had a turn, they’d said them 8 times. The tutor is also very lenient with them at this age, and I don’t think they’re expected to be able to say every fact from memory on their own—she helped them quite a bit with everything.

After new grammar, they got a snack and did presentations. Usually this will be like show and tell. This week the tutor just asked a few quick questions to help them get comfortable standing in front of the class. Leah had no problem with this and in fact seemed to be the least shy out of the whole class. She is a little chatterbox and not afraid to speak up during class. She also gets very upset if she doesn’t get a turn to do something as quickly as she wants—which is why doing a class like this will be great for her.

 

They also did a short art lesson—this week was drawing different shapes, and then they reviewed again. They were up and moving almost the whole class—no worksheets or sitting still long amounts of time. Afterward, we have a picnic lunch with all the classes together (goes up to 6th grade). Leah said she had a lot of fun and I think she is looking forward to going back again!

 

Later in the day Monday she had her first dance class of the year. She’s going to the same studio she went to last year, and I think she even has the same teacher and many of the same classmates, so it wasn’t really a new adventure, but it was still a first, and made for a long, busy day.

   

5-Year-Old Princess Party

 

Our house is overflowing with Princess goodies! A certain 5-year-old girl has had her obsession fed this past weekend.

For her actual birthday on Thursday, we had our traditional cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I took her to McDonald’s for lunch (she’s easy to please) and then after dinner she got to open a couple presents we got her.

 

 

 

 

 

We got her a Princess Sofia dress-up costume, and she said it’s the best thing I ever wanted for my birthday! She wore it the rest of the night. She got new shoes and gloves from Nana which she had to use for accessories!

    

Andrew didn’t get a nap that day since we played at McDonald’s until 2:30. So by 4:30 I went into his room and found this. He had been watching a movie.

 

Saturday we had her birthday party with friends at our church’s playground. We have a new shelter being built that was perfect for setting up tables and enjoying a few snacks.

 

The kids all enjoyed playing and it made for a really easy party. Abigail fell asleep while one of the older girls was holding her.

  

She loved her beautiful hot pink cupcakes and told everyone they had to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. We had quite a few friends come! Leah was in heaven.

 

Of course the gifts all had a common theme. Princesses.

 

We played “Pin the Tail on the Lion.” (It was the only game we could find at Dollar General.) The kids thought it was funny.

 

And they got Princess masks in their treat bags.

 

We had a great time with our friends and it was such a nice day for a party. Leah was exhausted when we got home and so emotional. She’ll be playing with all her new Princess toys for days!

Here is a little video all about Leah @ age 5: