Proud

After we read Amelia the instructions, she came back to us after solving each word and reading it out loud to us without any help at all.  I'm so proud of well she is doing with her reading, her writing, and apparently her ability to do little word puzzles...

Hanging Out

Dealing with the plight of the dual income family, I've been working late all week and now tonight was Meggan's turn.  So, I had to step up my parenting and make sure the kids got a healthy dinner....of pancakes, bacon, and sausage.... at least I stopped Amelia after I heard the words "can I drink this?" and looked up to see her leaned back, holding the strawberry syrup over her mouth...

Helper

I've been working a lot of long hours this week, so Meggan has had the kids all to herself.  That said, we've had to call in the big guns to help.....Nanny Ipad - the best babysitter on the planet...

Fear Factor

After several months and many, many swim lessons that consisted of me spending money to watch Amelia cling to the instructor for dear life, she finally got brave. Somewhere between watching her literally shiver with fear and hearing her scream so loudly when I tried to get her to float that the lifeguards came to check on her, I almost gave up hope that this day would come. However, this weekend while at a birthday pool party, I guess watching all her friends have fun was finally too much to handle.  My brave little girl climbed in the pool to take her swim test. She stared at the lifeguard she had to swim to in order to pass the test. She slowly let go of the wall for the first time in her life releasing almost two years of fear along with it...and then she promptly sank like a rock.

Oh well, she tried...and Meggan and I showered her with praise like she just beat Micheal Phelps.

Sweet Style

There's getting ice cream ...and then there's getting ice cream while rocking your Woody hat and boots...


A small bite...

 Now he has to go get his boots cleaned....

Take Two

One of my favorite things about doing this blog is that it forces me to take notice of the life's little memories. Each night when I sit down to post, I'm really just running through a short catalog of the day.  It also serves as a storage space for these little snapshots so that I can return to them years later as moments with Everett act as replays for moments we had with Amelia....


Everett tonight...

 Amelia in 2010...

Memory

HE IS!
HE CAN'T RESIST!
He scrambles on the tips of his super-grip toes.
He clambers with his knees, his tail, and his nose.
He's up on the bridge without hesitation.
He's a clickety-clackety climbing sensation.

These are the words Amelia rattled off tonight from memory since Everett tore this page out of our new book. Sure, we've read the book a few times, but I can't recite the entire thing from memory. She can...just as she can recite all the words to basically every book we own...and just about every movie we've watched...and half the songs on pop radio...and she's not afraid to correct you when you get it wrong. I used to pride myself on my memory, but even I have to admit when I'm beat. It is just a clear reminder that little kids are always watching, always listening, and always soaking up everything.