I Can Hardly Stand It

She's just TOO cute!

And her face isn't the half of it--the way she toddles and tiptoes; the looks she gives beneath her brow; the inquiring sound she makes as she points at sky and birds and trees; her delighted giggle when I catch her finger between my teeth; her two deep dimples; her emphatic shaking or nodding of her head in answer to questions; her plaintive "eh" and pointed gesture toward her diaper when she needs a change; her gleeful whisk down the slide and bump on her bum at the end; her helpfulness in unloading groceries and dishwasher; her pretend play of being a doggie by crawling and barking; her outstretched hand and kisses goodnight like a blessing on each family member . . . oh the joys of Clara!

Clara Is the Cutiest

It's hard to believe our baby is 15 months old--or that she can get any cuter--but here she is, getting older and cuter by the day! Abby often likes to say, "Clara is the cutiest!" and I agree: we all love the littlest sister around here.

She trails her siblings all over the house and back yard and loves imitating them. One day I peeked around the corner to see all four of them in a knot, brandishing sticks and PVC pipes--and Clara wielded hers like the best of them.

A few weeks ago Clara figured out how to climb the ladder up the big fort. Boy, was she ever proud and pleased! Since then she's perfected her climbing skills and is sure-footed and fast in climbing the ladder. Usually she turns herself around up top and slides down the big slide feet-first, flying off the end with a big grin as she sits down hard in the sand.

In the last month Clara's attention span has expanded enough that she'll sit still for a full book reading, and sometimes even a few readings (usually the same book repeated). When I sit in one of our small arm chairs, she takes it as a cue to pick a book and clamber up on my lap, begging to be read to with her "Uh? uh? uh?" Her first favorites were I Am a Bunny and Baby Animals. Now that those two books have sort of hit the dust (after three other kids, they were pretty beat up to start with!), she currently prefers Goodnight Moon, The Mitten, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, as well as a dinky picture-and-number book that's devoid of story but has a page of doggies that is quite attractive to Clara.

Clara's newest word is "book," though she leaves off the "k" when she says it. She's not very verbal, though she is quite communicative! Her repertoire of words is short: "mama," "dada," "hi" (sounds more like "ah") and "book." She makes animals noises--mainly growling (for lions, tigers, bears, dogs, etc.), but some sniffing (for bunnies), high-pitched little noises for kitties, and a nasal attempt at hissing for snakes. She pretends sometimes to be a puppy or kitty, crawling on all fours and making little barks or meows.

She really likes the little mower and the red coupe car--though she can only propel the latter backwards

She has attempted to say other words and sounds, I think, but so far they're not consistent. She does some sign language: more, please, all done, eat, nurse. Sometimes the more sign is an all-purpose effort to beg/demand whatever she wants.

While she can't say much, Clara can certainly make plenty of noise! She screeches at her siblings when they bug her and yells in protest when something doesn't go her way. Her tantrums involve her whole body: crying, hollering, thrashing, whipping her head around, writhing on the floor. It's hard sometimes not to laugh at the burgeoning self-will. Clara has also started biting as a means of retaliation or coercion when the big kids block her way, take her seat, snatch her stuff, etc.

Protesting ill treatment

Although she's not the mellow baby she was, Clara is often sweet and tenderhearted. She seeks out anyone who is crying to lay her head against him or her in a "hug" and gives lots of loud kisses. When she hears wails from her siblings, she makes concerned and questioning noises. She loves to hug baby dolls and stuffed animals tight and give them kisses, and she often comes up to hug my legs or cuddles on my shoulder when I pick her up. I love it! She spontaneously kisses and "hugs" characters in books, too, especially when they're going to bed in the story.

Clara's teeth are coming in hard and fast. She has one bottom molar through and the other bulging in the gum and nearly through, and she's also gotten canines and her last incisor (after the canine next to it) recently. All the teething sometimes results in hard, tearful, clingy days; but these are not the norm for Clara, who is still quite a pleasant child normally.

I love her dimples!

We're transitioning Clara from two naps to one, which has been a bit difficult. I persisted in putting her down for two for awhile, but she'd often stay awake for the first or sleep for a short while and then resist the second. Probably a longer midday nap would be best, but it's so hard to get her down around noon with everything else we have going on--outings, schoolwork, meals, etc. So lately she's been going down between 1 and 2 p.m. and waking sometime between 3 and 5 p.m. She does become a bit emotionally fragile mid-morning, wanting to be held and nursed. So maybe I should still try to push the morning nap. I don't know! The other kids took two naps till about 18 months, albeit with some struggles. So Clara is the youngest to give up the morning nap.

Clara seems to be developing a substantial appetite, and I hope she's overcoming her pickiness. She no longer rejects scrambled eggs, so that's improvement! She wouldn't taste asparagus tonight, though, and still refuses avocado. She likes frozen mango pieces and flaked coconut, but not in her yogurt--no, sir! She prefers her yogurt plain, or perhaps with chia seeds, but definitely not with chunks of fruit. She picks the fruit out of Dutch baby pancake, too, oddly enough. But she does like most fruit (though not pear).

 
She'll eat green beans, sweet potato, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts but draws the line at bell peppers, peas, and corn. She still loves cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, and cashews. Her recent attempts at using a spoon have been messy but satisfactory--at least for her. She knows she's one of the "big kids" with that spoon in hand! Her hummus ended up all over her tray, face, bib, and hair yesterday, though.

That shock of straight hair in front is getting long and refusing to curl, despite her cute little curls in back. I think she might end up with hair more like Josiah's than the twins'. She pulls out hair bands and barrettes, so I'm not sure what I'll do with the long bits over her forehead . . . I'm hesitant to cut bangs.

 

Clara's delight in being included in her siblings' games is so fun to see. Abby encourages Clara to follow her around the house, crawling along the floor in some sort of pretend-animal/chase game involving much squealing and laughter. Josiah tickles her and elicits laughs or initiates a tag/chase/hide-and-seek game in which Clara is always [happily] "it." Lydia seems to have a bit more of an antagonistic relationship with Clara lately, but she does eagerly share her hoard of baby dolls and stuffed animals with Clara and sometimes plays nicely side-by-side with her as they build Duplo. Unfortunately Lydia has a propensity for disobeying Mama and taking matters in her own hands with Clara: she picks her up to haul her away from their games and possessions, sometimes sits on her or pushes her or drags at her leg, etc. (Abby does these things too, but to a lesser extent these days.)

I just love this toddler stage and am enjoying Clara so much. She certainly prefers Mama, but she's a happy girl who warms up pretty quickly to others. She's eager to welcome Daddy home each evening with hugs and kisses and raised arms, ready to be picked up and held. She plays happily in nursery at church, although the last couple weeks she's cried when I dropped her off. She's possessive of Mama and Daddy, protesting and pushing at anyone else on our laps or in our arms! If I try to sit on the couch and read to the older kids when she's awake, she asserts her rights to my lap and usually is "desperate" to nurse. She seeks kisses for bumps and owies and "sings" in a lilting, sing-song voice when we sing--or if she wants me to sing to her. She dances with a funny, rhythmic squatting to any music she hears. If I ask her if she wants a snack, she makes a bee-line for my chair and climbs right up to sit at the table (and hates when anyone else sits there!). She loves to be in the midst of the activity and grabs any chance to get into the big kids' stuff--markers, Lego, puzzles, etc. Though she spoons dirt and sand right into her mouth, she remarkably hasn't swallowed Lego or other small toys.

I love to see her interest in everything around her as she figures out her world here at home!

11-Month-Old Clara

How time has flown! (Like always, right?) With our summer of trips and car trouble, I've missed several months of milestone posts for Clara. So let's play catch-up.


Mobility

Clara turned eight months old at Pa and Grandma's house in Flagstaff. She loved roaming their expansive rooms and following her siblings around. She experimented with stairs for the first time and managed to climb up a few at a time by the end of our stay. She started cruising a bit there, too.

Though she was a pro at army-crawling at a surprising pace, Clara had only gotten on hands and knees and rocked a bit--not actually crawled that way--till she was nearly nine months old. At the beginning of August she took off crawling and only had about a week where the army crawl and regular crawl overlapped. After that, it's all been hands and knees--and she's a fast one!

Her cruising got steadier and faster, too. She often preferred to crawl rather than hold people's fingers and walk, but she'd do some of the latter. When walked around, she often used tip-toes and took big steps with her left leg, toes pointed primly.

She's my latest walker thus far. She took her first steps on September 22nd, lunging to me in the kitchen. Since then she lurched a few steps here and there without attempting to really walk. This past week, though, she has started to put more steps together and seem more interested and confident in doing so: her record is around eight or ten steps as of now (October 20th). She can balance well and stands alone for lengthier stints, and she can stand up from the floor (vs. needing a piece of furniture to aid her in getting to her feet).

She likes to do a funny "crawl" with hands and feet. I think she started doing this outside when she didn't like the feel of grass on her knees one day. But often she resorts to this awkward crab-walk when she's fallen after taking a few steps, but apparently doesn't want to concede entirely and actually crawl.

Clara climbed a full flight of stairs at the Baynes' house in August. And when we were in Flagstaff last week, she loved climbing Grandma and Pa's stairs. She can quickly make it to the top! She liked practicing going down their set of two stairs from kitchen to family room. Unfortunately she launched herself face-first a couple times. We tried to teach her to turn around and go down backwards, and by the end of the weekend, she seemed to begin to understand the concept.

Eating

Like her siblings before her, Clara has a healthy appetite for real food (and nursing), but her interest in new foods has slackened, and she outright refuses foods she previously liked. She used to gobble down avocado, but now she spits it out in disgust. She loves fruit, especially strawberries and watermelon, but she's not always a fan of banana. These days she regularly throws scrambled eggs right off her tray without even a taste--but she used to eat them happily!

Clara likes to gnaw on a carrot stick and loves cucumbers. She likes brussels sprouts pretty well, but disdains some vegetables I used to be able to feed her--zucchini, for instance. She'll chew on a broccoli spear but end up spitting most of it out. I think some of her trouble with certain vegetables is texture and her inability to properly chew (no molars yet). But with only seven teeth (and one more on its way, i think), she loves to eat partially crushed cashews and pine nuts! She never refuses cheese, yogurt, peaches, and kefir smoothies, either. She generally tolerates oatmeal. She shares her siblings' love of butternut squash pasta, and she often likes our main meal, but prefers to feed herself if at all possible. I think I remember the twins disliking chicken at this age, but Clara usually likes it pretty well. Beef is harder to chew.


Talking/Communicating

What fun it is to watch Clara learn to communicate! I've loved it--from her coos and calls in earlier months to today's eager little voice chiming, "Dada! Dada?" with her sisters' and brother's clamor when Daddy comes home.

She started babbling a little on the later end of normal, but was doing lots of "babababa" by July. She added "dadadada" and some "mamamama," and these days knows who Dada and Mama are and uses our names appropriate (at least sometimes--she's stingy with Mama!). She adores Dada, and whenever I talk about him during the day or tell her he's coming home, she does kisses for him.

Even back in May, she'd "call" to her siblings when she woke up from naps or heard them in another room. She added an interrogative lilt to her sounds by June/July, as if asking about them. She has long liked to imitate sounds and respond to us when we speak to her. She started screeching when she heard her sisters do so long ago. Nowadays she'll make whispering noises if I whisper to her, growl back at us if we growl, imitate a "mooo" for a cow and a "grrrr" for a lion, and repeat some sounds.

Lately Clara has started expanding her linguistic repertoire and uses more word-like sounds. Often she holds something out to me and seems to ask, "This?" or "What's this?"--not clearly, but the "s" sound and intent are there. Occasionally she has imitated us well in saying "night-night" or "Abby" or "'Siah," but these aren't regular words for her yet.

I've used some baby sign language with Clara as I did with the others. She sporadically did signs starting back in July, putting her hands together for "more" and a couple times putting her hand to her mouth for "eat/food." She would move her fingers a bit for the "milking" sign meaning she wanted to nurse. In the last week she has clearly and accurately done the "more" sign, and she's so proud of herself (and delighted in her siblings' praise). She waves her hands for "all done," too, but doesn't really initiate "please" or "thank you" yet.

Just after our return from Michigan in August, she started waving hi and bye. She loves to play peek-a-boo, and it's the best distraction from touching diaper contents on the changing table! I just say, "Where's Clara?" and she pulls her shirt over her face.

When I finish nursing her at night and sing her a song before bed, I often pat her on the back. She likes to reciprocate, and oh, it's the sweetest thing! She rests her head on my shoulder and pats me on the back. Unfortunately it's only momentary! She's usually too interested in her siblings' bedtime activities across the hall to cuddle with me very long.


Family Interaction & Skills

Clara is strong and squirmy these days. She likes to be held when tired, cranky, teething, or just up from a nap--or in an unfamiliar place--but mostly she likes to be independent and on the move. She cruises all over, crawls very fast, and wants to be in the thick of her siblings' play (usually destroying what they've built). Often when they congregate at the table to draw, she crawls underneath and gnaws on stray markers or finds leftover snacks.

Josiah, Lydia, and Abby are so entertaining to Clara. She loves to watch them! We bought a swing for her to attach to the kids' fort, and she enjoys swinging there and watching the kids' games as they chase each other around, fight bad guys, climb rigging, shoot canons, dig ditches, make mud pies, etc. If they occasionally give her a push on their way by, she's content for awhile.

But she hates to be left out, and she jealously guards my lap! She protests loudly every time I try to read a book to the older three before nap/rest time. Usually Lydia or Abby sits in my lap, and Clara notices right away. She crawls over and yells, determined to reclaim her spot and assert her rights! This is typically one of the few times she wants to nurse with everyone around. Clara was not pleased when I held her baby cousin Cedar in Flagstaff, either.

Interestingly, Clara already shows an interest in "helping." One day a couple weeks ago, I sat on the floor to pick up toys in the living room. When she saw me putting Duplos in the container, she started doing so as well. Now whenever I clean up, she likes to join me and methodically puts toy after toy into their tubs.

She has long been interested in the washer and dryer, and lately she "helps" me unload them. Now when I ask her, "Clara, do you want to help Mama with laundry?" she follows me with a quick, purposeful crawl and pulls herself to standing at the dryer. I open the door for her, and she pulls the clothes out one at a time and hands them to me, stooping to pick up anything she drops. She loves it!

Clara also likes to try to build towers of blocks, though she isn't coordinated enough to do it on her own. She loves to put things in and out of containers, and she knows to look under blankets, buckets, tubs, couches, etc. for toys underneath. I like seeing her curiosity unfold. She picks up on lots of what she sees!

Stats

At her ten-month appointment, Clara was 30 inches long (95th percentile) and 20 lbs (somewhere around 70th percentile, I think). She appears to take after her tall sisters! Our last doctor's appointment was difficult, since Clara did not want to be held (she wanted to crawl all over the floor or crinkle, rip, and eat the paper on the table), and she showed more stranger anxiety than is usual with her when the doctor and nurse checked her. She didn't cry on the first vaccine's poke, but she hollered with the second one (which, admittedly, they warned us would sting more).

Nursing and Sleep

While she loves using her sippy cup (or, even better, getting a drink out of my cup or stealing a sibling's cup!), she's still a devoted nurser . . . especially at night. She still sleeps in our room and knows we're just a few feet from her on our bed, and I can't sleep through her yelling/crying . . . so I still nurse her a couple times a night. We plan to move her crib into the computer room in the near future, but we need to rearrange furniture, and it's just a big enough task that we haven't done it yet.

She nurses before naps and typically goes down happily, chatting to herself awhile before falling asleep. I hope to keep her on a two-nap schedule till about 18 months (as I did with the others). We use her morning nap to do school and are typically finishing up by the time she awakes. Then she plays with or around the other kids as I prepare lunch.

Eventually we plan to move her crib into the big kids' room, but I think we'll wait for awhile. She usually goes to bed around 7 p.m. and wakes at about 6:15-6:45, depending on the day.


Personality

Our fourth child has been such a joy, and we love her so much! I think number four is definitely easier than number one (or two or three). While she's not as mellow as she seemed for her first few months, she's overall a content and easily entertained baby. Having "big kids" who like her and (mostly) don't endanger her life helps. She loves to play with and watch them.

She also does a pretty good job playing on her own: I often let her pull out the measuring cups and mixing bowls when I'm cooking in the kitchen, and she likes banging them, stacking them, etc. She pulls apart and attempts to build Duplo, puts toy food in the toy kitchen sink, tries to page through picture books (and loves to be read to, though only momentarily), and chews on everything. Her daily goal is to get into the Lego room.

Clara is feisty and asserts her will--and complains loudly when siblings snatch toys, barricade her entry, sit on her (oh, Abby), bug her, etc. She makes a beeline for the open dishwasher or fridge. She likes to pull the big kids' books off the shelves and rip pages when she gets a chance, though she's been transgressing in this way less often recently. She looks Daddy straight in the eye and throws food off her tray at dinnertime when she dislikes it or is through with eating . . . but she also wails in heartbroken sorrow when he reprimands her.

I've been surprised at how little stranger anxiety Clara has exhibited. She shows some insecurity around strange men--my cousin Donal and my brother Andrew were clearly suspicious characters to Clara! She was even unsure about Uncle Justin this weekend when he tried to play with her by crawling toward her, though she sees him often enough to be familiar with him. In larger crowds or new places she often likes to be held by Mama or Daddy and just watch the action. But she's always eager to get down and play in the church nursery! In fact, she doesn't care a fig for me when we get in that room--she's off to get a hold of all the interesting toys.

Kindergarten!

We started this year's homeschooling on September 12th. Last year's pre-school was laissez-faire, mostly reading Sonlight's Pre-K 4/5 book list and memorizing catechism questions and answers. This year we're going about schooling a little more seriously: I have some concrete academic goals, we do at least some schoolwork daily, and we're adding more subjects.

But this doesn't mean I force the kids to spend the day seated, workbook in hand! On the contrary, I want them to have lots of time to play, especially outdoors. I've read lots about the negative impact of pushing academics too early, of forcing little boys to read too soon, etc. So this year is primarily about establishing some good habits; feeding the children's curiosity about the world; cultivating a love of learning; and furnishing their minds with interesting and beautiful words and ideas. How's that for high aims?

We do plenty of this on school days!

When she was here a few weeks ago, my mom gave me a blessed few hours to read and prepare all by myself. I took my Bible and Ruth Beechick's The Three R's and Language and Thinking for Young Children over to the library. These gave me the proverbial kick in the backside I needed to get over my perfectionism and just plan, schedule, and do--especially daily math activities.

Beechick is clear, down-to-earth, inspiring, practical, and empowering. I won't follow every idea she proffers, but I do appreciate her emphasis on my ability to teach my children lots without relying on formal curriculum. Despite being homeschooled myself, I felt a bit lost in the sea of good choices. There is so much I could be doing with the kids, so much they could be learning! Beechick's books helped me set some goals and figure out ways to meet them without overloading myself or the children. 

While this is technically Josiah's kindergarten year, and my goals are for him to learn certain concepts, the girls are eager to be part of everything, so they may end up about where he is academically. 

Abby

So what are we doing this year? 

1. Sonlight Core A - We found this discounted on eBay last year, when we were doing Sonlight's Pre-K 4/5. It's an introduction to "world cultures," primarily through read-alouds. The Egemeier's Bible Story Book is a step up in depth and difficulty from last year's simple, one-page summary stories. It's closer to scripture and lengthier, but the children love it and ask me to keep reading more each morning! 

I like Sonlight's use of Usborne books--Living Long Ago and The Usborne Children's Encyclopedia have captured the children's interest. So far we've read about the beginning of civilization, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and a bit about ancient Rome. (This is a broad introduction to world cultures--we're not going very deep yet!) Last night as we drove somewhere, Josiah told Jeremy, "The Egyptians shaved off one of their eyebrows when their cats died!" Apparently even the little details have stuck with him from these books!

The "fun" read-alouds are mostly chapter books, but the girls seem to handle them just fine. They loved The Boxcar Children, though I think Sonlight should switch it out for a better-quality book. Jeremy took on some of the reading as bedtime stories. He read them My Father's Dragon (a re-read for us) and is currently doing James Herriot's Treasury for Children. 

All of us enjoy Sonlight's selection of poetry! We're reading Mary Ann Hoberman's collection of poems The Llama Who Had No Pajama (that title poem Abby begs me to read every single day) and Arnold Lobel's Book of Mother Goose. What fun!

Josiah checks out a poetry book

2. Scripture and poetry memorization - We finished up Psalm 1 last week. I had the kids "present" it one at a time to the rest of us as audience--they were so cute! Now we're beginning 1 Cor. 13:4-8. Then I hope to do another psalm and probably Luke 2 near Christmastime. I haven't planned for the winter/spring yet.

The children can almost recite Christina Rosetti's "Who has seen the wind." Maybe we'll do Joyce Kilmer's "Trees" next--but I'm not sure.

Josiah and Lydia

3. Math - I looked over my mom's old Saxon 1 teacher's manual and nixed it for this year. Josiah needs a better grasp of counting, comparing, grouping, measuring, etc. before we launch into that, if we decide to use it. So for now I'm making up math curriculum as we go, based on Ruth Beechick's summary of first grade math skills. A friend gave me a bunch of colored plastic frogs to use as counting manipulatives. They've worked nicely in lots of homemade games to reinforce counting and work on some basic addition and subtraction. (Josiah always claims the green ones.) 

Lydia counting frogs

 Josiah likes to play "battle" between different colors of frogs

I purchased a set of dominoes on eBay, and I think they'll be worthwhile! Even with our short use of them, the kids can identify numbers of dots quickly and do some easy addition without really thinking.

We found pattern blocks at Goodwill awhile ago, and I found a book of pattern block puzzles on eBay, so we'll use those some, too. Our initial foray into the puzzle book proved more difficult than I anticipated. But I think the pattern blocks will add variety to our math activities and help teach shapes, even if the kids can't complete all the puzzles yet. 

Abby

Ruth Beechick emphasizes the importance of everyday activities in teaching a child math. I'm working to be more intentional about this: allowing a child to divvy up apple slices or cashews for snacks, letting everyone measure ingredients when baking, counting how many plates we need to set the table, etc. 

4. Reading - We haven't started this yet, but I plan to begin Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with Josiah sometime in the next couple weeks. This instruction I'll probably limit to him for now, taking about 15-20 minutes a day and seeing how he does. We can stop if it's frustrating him or clearly beyond him.

I am working on letter/sound recognition with all three of them, and I'm using the Developing the Early Learner set of workbooks (quite different from your typical workbook). So the girls are getting some pre-reading instruction. They're eager to identify letter sounds and write their own names. They've been regularly asking me what various words would sound like if they began with a different letter. Lately they've latched onto "Peter Pan" as their key word: "Mama, what if it started with Z?" "Zeter Zan," I respond, and they giggle and repeat it. Now they'll say iterations of it to each other and laugh.

5. Botany - I bought A Beka's flower identification cards to teach some basic parts and names of flowers. I hope to do some "nature walks" a la Charlotte Mason when the weather cools off enough. 

6. Chores - When better to work at habit training than when they're still little and academics aren't much of a concern? I want to get a good handle on regular chores this year. Currently I have a breakfast helper, a housekeeping helper, and a dinner helper, each with specific jobs. Each child will keep that particular helper job for a week, and then switch. The girls are much more eager to help with chores than Josiah is! They often ask, "What else can I do, Mama?" Lydia even begged Abby to let her help with Abby's chore of emptying the small trash cans the other day.

Lydia

7. Manners - How to teach a plethora of mealtime niceties and polite societal conventions when some days all I seem to do is mediate one brawl after another? I want manner training to be positive vs. negative (encouraging and fun vs. lots of "don't do that"). I have yet to formulate a good plan for this.

8. Art and Music - I liked Sonlight's A Child's Book of Art in the pre-k curriculum, and I might use that again for some basic art appreciation. I plan to do some art projects scattered throughout the year (a daunting prospect for me . . . oh, the mess!), and I'd like to do some basic drawing instruction. All three have developed a real interest in drawing, especially Josiah, who spends hours on his detailed pictures, which are typically either Star Wars or Robin Hood themed.

I hope to find a good and reasonably priced Suzuki teacher with whom to start piano lessons. So far I haven't had much luck. 

I'd also like to do some music activities at home. We have a box of scarves, sticks, egg shakers, bells, etc., so ideally we could use those and learn some folk songs or work on rhythm with our Music Together CDs, Wee Sing books, and others. We sing before each meal, and I'm using that time to introduce new hymns. 

9. Extras - Josiah, Lydia, and Abby started swimming lessons in July, and we picked back up with them a couple weeks ago. Lydia especially really took off with her water skills--she seemed entirely fearless this summer and eager to dive deeper and swim further on her own. She regressed a little during our break and was fearful on our first swim lesson in September. But she seems to have recovered her confidence. "I'll be brave, Mama!" she tells me. And now she aims to be a swim teacher when she grows up. 

Abby started saying she didn't want to do swim lessons anymore while we were on vacation in August. This aversion turned into hours of wailing and passionate declarations of "I won't go! I wanna stay home and sleep! My belly hurts! I'm tired! I won't buckle my seat belt! I won't get out of the car!" on the day of our first swim lesson after the break. She got through it, but not without tears and some tantrums. 

I dreaded the next one, and sure enough, she launched into the whole shebang again. Thankfully--and in answer to prayer--the lesson ended happily! Even though she spent about 20 minutes of it crying on the teacher's back and resisting each activity, she cheered up and even jumped in by herself (no hand-holding) a couple times by the end. Hopefully we can finish out the next few (we'll end in mid-October when it gets too cold) with minimal resistance!

Josiah started speech therapy in July and will continue that indefinitely. He's reached the therapist's goals for saying "g" and "k" sounds correctly about 80% of the time, mostly without prompting. Now we're working on "s," "y," and final "r." 

That about sums it up for now! I wonder what I'll think of my plans and goals come May?