Kid Update

It is always my intention to use my blog in place of baby books to journal the kiddos' milestones and clever sayings. The days and months are passing so fast, I'd better get to work and hope I can remember everything.

I'll start with June. She's really growing up. Her little face has matured and I think she looks more like me. She turned 8 in March and is, as always, going on 25. She was baptized last week. It was so special. I cried a lot. She's really working to develop her own testimony. She's always determined to figure things out for herself.
She's always been my most independent and opinionated child and she hasn't let up in that department. We still frequently go the rounds over which boots she is refusing to wear to school, which way is best to carry numbers in her addition homework, or why she should have to wear a swim suit with sleeves. We've decided she's well-suited for a career in law. Her arguments are usually sound and convincing.
Her little brain is always hard at work. I have noticed, however, that her temper has cooled a bit and she can usually calm herself down before things escalate into a full blown explosion. That makes me happy - she's learning. She's continually teaching me patience as I struggle to relinquish some control and let her make many of her own choices.
She is a star student in second grade. Today she dressed "old fashioned" with braids and a country dress for her role in a play about Benjamin Franklin. She loves everything about school. I pray I can keep her busy and stimulated this summer when she's at home all day. I'd better get started on some crafts and activities.

Now to Winnie. She's five and a half. Everyone's noticed that her baby chub up and vanished. She's tall and skinny, but that big, beautiful face is still all smiles and her eyes still sparkle like her Aunt Rylee's. She missed the kindergarten deadline by a week this year. I suppose she was totally ready for school, but I just couldn't let her go, so I didn't fight the system. Every day, we drop June off at school, work on reading and writing for about an hour while she sighs and rolls her eyes at the monotony, and then she's got to play a little Wii to relax. She's got mad gaming skills, just like her dad. She must be growing, because she eats non-stop. She's usually begging for lunch by 10:30.
She still puts her imagination to good use when she plays outside with the rollie pollie bugs or downstairs with the barbies. Today her barbie had to wear a Mexican skirt/dress because she was expecting some "extra-special company" (a pink unicorn) on it's way in a "magical vehicle." When June comes home, she's totally excited to show her something cool she did that day, but it's not long before the sisterly rivalry kicks in and they are doing battle.
Winn's still got a bit of a sarcastic sense of humor. She's hit that age where she's using big words, but completely in the wrong context. She's also not as shy as she used to be and trying more and more to be cool, like June. We had to have a little chat about her obnoxious behavior in primary the other day. It made me a little sad. She's always been my little sweet heart. I'm hoping it's just a feisty stage.

Two little aliens.

Now, on to the reason for the gray in my hair and the bags under my eyes - Klive. He's 20 months. From the minute I plop him out of bed in the morning, I have to tail him. He bops around every inch of the house just looking for trouble - climbs all the furniture, eats all crap off the floor, plays in the toilet and destroys all electronics. His favorite snacks are found in the spice cabinet - he licks the top of every salt shaker and yesterday he emptied an entire bottle of peppermint extract - we're hoping it's not in his belly, but now he perpetually smells like a pack of gum.

When I'm not chasing him down to scold him for his naughtiness, I'm laughing hard at him. Every day, he watches the Ellen show and mimics her to a tee - right down to tossing a mint and catching it in his mouth before he heads out onto stage. Sadly, the sign language we taught him just slows him down. He's just combined all of the signs into one big gesture which covers all his bases to get what he wants. Smart or lazy, we're not quite sure.
He worships the mail man, garbage man, recycling man, UPS driver, pretty much anyone that drives a big truck and brings stuff to the door. When I change his bum, he likes me to pretend like I'm calling Nana on his bare feet. He laughs and laughs.
This boy also loves to dance and his vocabulary continues to grow. He says "Nana, Papa, Yaya, Bampa, uh-oh, all done, and bye-bye." He's started on his animal sounds, but most of them growl. And the girls are teaching him lots of great words like "poop, bum, and yeah baby." He loves to discipline his sisters and gets his pointer finger going when he tells them "no-no."
My favorite thing about Klive are his goofy teeth. His gap is even bigger than Winnie's - I didn't think that was possible. He's also got a pretty good sized over-bite. Fairly certain we are in for years of orthodontic bills.
I take that back, my very favorite thing about Klive is that he likes to sit on the potty and try to poop. He pushes with all his might. He's even dropped a couple of loads. Keep it up big boy!