Saturday, June 19, 2010

A Trip to the Ice Cream Shop

Mimi and Papa visited this weekend and tonight we took all eight kids to the ice cream shop in town! I'm sure we were such a sight, but it was a nice walk since it had cooled down this evening.


Anna is Crawling

Anna is crawling as of yesterday! It is sort of a jump off her knees and then she will move her arms. She also will drop to her stomach and launch herself forward. She isn't too quick yet, but she is getting to where she wants. It is fun to watch her. Today, I noticed she can get to sitting from her stomach--she is really strong! Here are some pictures from yesterday and today.
















Thursday, June 17, 2010

Remember When

I wanted to post a few things about the kids before I forget them. These days go by so fast!

Jack:
He is funny these days. He is all about imitation--especially of John or I. His latest is to retrieve socks from his drawer and put them on. Sounds normal enough, but we don't wear socks in the summer much at all. Jack usually is up quite early--say 6-6:30am. He will come into our room typically when John is finishing up getting ready for work. John always takes his socks from his drawer and puts them in his pocket and will take them downstairs to put them on (Not sure why he does this--but never-the-less he does). Jack will follow him downstairs after taking a pair of his own socks and putting them in his pocket.

Jack also likes to wear clip on ties. He has been clipping these on to his T-shirts and walking around the house. The ties have also made it to the park and summer camp (well, I made him leave it in the car). Trying to be daddy.

Jack has recently learned his name is John and thinks it is the coolest thing.

Jack has two bears that he adores--Bella and Bella's Brother. Lately, he has added another beanie baby bear to the mix and has been putting his "babies" down for naps upstairs. He puts one in Kate's crib, one in Anna's crib and one in Elizabeth's crib. He turns the fish tanks on, shuts the door and closes the gate at the top of the stairs. Then he tells me to be quiet because they are sleeping.

I have recently seen him "feeding Bella from his belly" and also helping Anna "feed Bella's Brother from her belly." (Nursing his bears).

Jack has an obsession with keys, locks and garage doors. He can't seem to get enough of them. He will ask to hold the keys, practice opening locked doors and he opens the garage door first thing in the morning (6am) and spends the rest of the day asking me when he can close it! If you see him or talk to him lately, he will most likely ask you 1. If your garage door is open or closed 2. If you have a little garage door (one car) or a big garage door (2 door). His cousins that live a few blocks from us have a 3 car garage (one small garage door and one big) and Jack will randomly ask me during the day if Aunt Sarah's little garage door is closed. Like I know? and 3. He will ask if he can unlock your car or hold your keys.

My favorite misspoken words right now: Ba-Sghetti (Spaghetti), Mapkin (Napkin) and "Can you Ma-tach(attach) these [keys]."

Anna:
She is literally days away from crawling! She gets up on all fours from her stomach, and launches herself forward to get places and will move backward. If I hold her legs and move them forward, she moves her arms and will do the traditional crawl. Otherwise, she is on her belly.

Her tongue is so long!

Elizabeth:
Actually, as of today, I noticed she has her second tooth coming in. Her left lower central incisor. So, now she has two and her sisters have none.

Has recently decided that only Madeleine or myself can feed her. For anyone else, she will scream.

Kate:
Claps!

When I pick up the girls out of cribs from naps or in the morning, I always take out their pacifiers and leave them in their beds. Today, I went to pick up Kate and she took her own paci out for me and placed it in her crib.

Rolls everywhere! She can most of the time get to where she wants by rolling and moving. But she also very content to sit and play in the same spot too.

Anna & Elizabeth:
Have recently decided to spit and blow raspberries during mealtimes. I put the spoon in their mouths, they immediately spit it at me. At first I thought it was the green beans, but it is with all fruits and vegetables. This started about a week ago and has gotten worse. In fact, Madeleine and I have an old shirt of John's that we put on to shield ourselves during feedings--not kidding at all about that. The girls like the food so they are not spitting it out because of taste. They laugh and think it is funny when we tell them "no no". Elizabeth laughed so hard the other day after being told no, that carrots came out her nose.

All three girls hold their bottles now by themselves.What a BIG help!

All four kids finished part one of the summer reading program at the library and we all ventured there today to pick up their prizes. This is the first trip to the library for the girls. Jack is loving the free ice cream cone coupon (and the fact that the girls all got a coupon too and they don't eat ice cream). Jack has pretty much claimed the girls' beach balls for himself and loves his turtle squirter and baseball ticket. We started part two of three tonight with the kids.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

First Time in a Park Swing

Today, I took all the kids to the park and met some friends. The girls have been to a park, but never in a swing. They loved it!




Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Fourth Pictures

I tried to get some pictures of the kids today. Easier said than done at their ages. I have posted some of the good ones.


Jack is always putting his arm around one of the girls. We don't tell him to do this, but it is pretty cute. This is classic Elizabeth...sitting holding one foot. A lot of times, she puts a foot in her mouth whilie sitting.

All three girls like to grab ears. Elizabeth was grabbing Kate's ear in this picture.
Love Anna's smile at Jack in this one. Kate likes to pull off her headband and her sisters.

Trying for a pose. The girls outfits are slightly big (story of their lives). I think it is cute that the strap is falling off each of their left shoulders.


Love Kate's hand on Elizabeth's back in this one.






They were looking at Jack playing in the yard. They ADORE their big brother.



Holding hands

Elizabeth--and all the girls for that matter--are so ticklish. She is laughing because Anna's head was on her belly tickling her!
I think Anna was eating Elizabeth's hand




Elizabeth is still cracking up and this is a classic Kate pose with her legs straight out.


Monday, June 14, 2010

Jack's Tee Ball

I have been waiting for this day for a while. Being a baseball fan, I have to admit, I was anxious for Jack to get started with this sport. I found a summer league for three year olds and so his baseball years have now begun. Today and next week, the boys practice and the week following, they will play an actual game. The league goes through the middle of August. Jack did really well with listening to his coaches, throwing and hitting the balls off the tee (even though he prefers to hit balls that I pitch to him). He needs to work on catching grounders.

He is the second one from the right

Throwing a ball to one of his coaches
Working on grounders
He is going to be a left hitter

We have also started a soccer class this summer, but the last two Tuesdays it has rained so it was moved indoors. I will get some pictures of his class once they start playing outside.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Cookie

It was so funny watching the girls tonight play with Jack's play cookie. Anna and Elizabeth kept taking this cookie from each other. Neither one got worked up over losing the cookie to their sister. Elizabeth got smart and would move the cookie out of Anna's reach because Anna is slightly stronger than her and once she got her hands on the little cookie, it was hers! This snatching of the toy went on for a while before bedtime.










So, who was the winner? Anna held the cookie the entire time I got her changed for bed, and through her whole bottle. I pried it away from her little hands before I took her up to bed.