Kid Tidbits

CHARIS

• Her role as The Mouse in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been way fun.  It's been amazing to see the confidence that she is exuding as a result of this experience!  While we haven't actually seen a performance yet, we've heard wonderful things and are thankful she has had this opportunity.
• Piano remains a favorite activity, and since Tobin recently began lessons, she has helped him get off to a great start, teaching him a few songs (one of which became his recital piece) and giving sisterly advice.  She has progressed very well and definitely has natural talent.
• Science has become a favorite part of the school day for her.  Now that we're heavily involved with experiments and activities (all related to plant growth), she is really taking an active role in her own learning process.  She is very detail-oriented and does a fantastic job with her charts and record keeping.
• As usual, she continues to enjoy reading and crafting, although those activities have slowed a bit with the heavy rehearsal and now performance schedule with the play.  I'm sure we'll return to normal after the play is over, and I'll have to hunt her down when she has her nose in a book or is buried in the craft room!
• The above picture is from our field trip to the Dayton Art Institute.  Her class did a sculpture tour, then an art workshop where she created the piece she's holding.

TOBIN

• As mentioned above, Tobin began piano lessons on March 1 and performed in his first piano recital today!  Mrs. D, the teacher, asked me if it would be all right to put him on the recital schedule, even though he had just started, because he was doing so well.  This is due in large part to Charis helping him learn a couple of songs right off the bat, some of his favorites that she used to play.  Now, he sits at the piano a good majority of his free time and teaches himself!  I am really quite amazed at what he has accomplished in such a short amount of time.  It's evidence of self-motivation, that is for sure!
• Having been told that he will soon be the "man of the house," Tobin is trying to make sure that also entitles him to Daddy-sized portions of food (particularly dessert) and extra computer time.  Mom's not buying it.
• Tobin's picture is from our field trip to the aquarium.  It's just so TOBIN!

ARDEN

• The biggest news for Arden is that he was baptized at our church on March 27!  It was very special timing, as our Colorado family was able to be here to witness the event, and Ted was here to baptize his son.
• He has finished his last Sparks book at AWANA along with the review patch and is now coasting through the book 1 review, which is the only Sparks text he hasn't completed.  The reason he didn't do it when we were in Las Vegas is the only book they had available was REALLY old...this was during the transition stuff, I guess.  Anyway, he is flying through it!
• At 7 1/2 years old, he has conquered multiple-digit multiplication.  Is it wrong for me to be proud?!  I'm still fairly amazed at his math abilities--they are much more advanced than his handwriting abilities, LOL, which sometimes causes difficulties in reading his math work, but on a typical day, he can whip out 346 X 79 with no problems!
• Arden's picture is from our trip to the Air Force Museum with our Colorado family.

KENNA

• An obsession that may not disappear anytime soon is the fact that she wants a baby in her belly just like Mommy!  She first informed her brothers that there IS a baby in her belly, and now she just keeps asking me when she'll get a baby.  Charis is very careful to always explain to her that first she has to get married and have a husband!!  One of my favorite quotes related to this is, "When I'm a mommy, I'LL have a baby in MY tummy!"  Yep, that's kind of what makes you a mommy!!
• Related to this is her fascination with my growing belly.  At the beginning of the pregnancy, when I was trying to explain how the baby would grow inside of me, I made the mistake of telling her that my belly would get bigger and bigger, and soon it would look like a beach ball.  Well, Kenna thinks that is just a hilarious description, so she will often giggle and tell me, "Soon your belly will be a beach ball!"  Note to self:  You have no right to be offended by the words of a 4-year-old when you're the one who taught her what to say!!
• One thing I've noticed about Kenna is her wonderful manners.  She consistently thanks me for things that I wouldn't even necessarily expect to be thanked for, and I love it!  Don't get me wrong--we still need to remind her to stay please or other such things, but overall, she is very good with this, and it warms my heart to hear her say something like, "Mangoes!  Mommy, you bought mangoes!  They're my favorite!  Thank you for getting mangoes, Mommy!"  (It's also cute how so many things are her "favorite.")
• Kenna still works very hard to pronounce her "Ls," and it's cute to hear her carefully saying words with them.
• Her picture is from last Sunday...she recently got this dress from her cousin Tabitha, and of COURSE she had to wear it to church!  And of COURSE we had to take a picture!

LUCAN

• Our baby is TWO years old now!  We had a little family party when Ted's family was in town visiting.  Since Ted's birthday is 5 days before, they shared a very yummy cake with very yummy frosting that was completely legal on our current diet!
• One of Lucan's favorite possessions is his stuffed cat, which he calls "Yow."  (This is how he says "meow.")  He actually has lots of stuffed buddies that he adores, but Yow follows us into the Suburban for many an adventure.
• One of Lucan's favorite words is BUS.  He very precisely says every sound in this word, and he says it as frequently as he possibly can, such as when spotting school buses, semis, RVs, SUVs, or anytime the fancy strikes him.  In fact, today he had a fit because he was LOOKING at a church bus in the parking lot after the piano recital and Ted needed to buckle him up so that he was NOT facing the BUS!  Daddy promised to drive by the bus, which got the buckling process complete, and we drove very s-l-o-w-l-y beside the bus, which made him happy again.
• Apparently people are amazed at Lucan's puzzle-putting-together skills.  What...don't most 2-year-olds do 48-piece puzzles by themselves?!  OK, maybe not, LOL!  Kenna didn't even get interested in her 12-piece puzzles until she was 3 1/2!  But it is one more way Lucan is like his big brother Arden, who was doing 100-piece puzzles by himself at 2 1/2 years of age.  Lucan will spend hours working on various puzzles throughout the house, leaving behind quite the mess.  ("Mess" is another fun word to say.  He knows what it is, and he often points to the girls' room and says "Mess," which is entirely appropriate.)
• Lucan's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds as he now tries to repeat everything we say.  One of the family favorites is after his bath, when he runs out to the family room trying to repeat Daddy's phrase, "NAKED BABY!!!"  
• He likes order and actually seems to enjoy cleaning up when it's time.  "Neen up, neen up!"  Maybe, finally, one of the kids got my organizing gene!  (This, Ted notes, is one way he does NOT resemble Arden.  Sigh.)
• Currently we are in a phase where Lucan prefers for US to spoon feed him.  Mommy especially hopes this phase comes to an end very soon.

 BABY J

• In case you missed the Facebook announcement, we are having another boy!  The ultrasound was last Friday, and the picture seems quite clear.  So at least we're following the pattern:  girl, boy, boy...girl, boy, boy.
• Baby is quite active, as evidenced by the extremely difficult time the tech had in getting certain measurements.  Movements are getting strong enough that other people can feel them...IF they happen to land on my belly at the right moment!
• No picture to share yet...they gave us printouts on base, and we don't have a scanner.  But he has all his fingers and toes and looks to be very healthy!