I was just in the kitchen cooking when Allie, who had been eating a snack in the other room, walked in without a word, got a washcloth from a drawer in the kitchen, and began cleaning her hands. I asked her if her hands were dirty. "Mmm hmm", she said, and went back to her business. Man is she growing up. I remember not that long ago when I pretty much held her all day. Not such a little baby anymore! At least not on the inside...on the outside, she's still pretty tiny. We had a checkup this week and she's not gaining much weight...2 pounds since Christmas. But she is happy and healthy so we'll take it. We avoided having to get vaccinations this visit but did have a finger prick. However the only big cry from Allie was getting measured. :) Our doctor said we actually don't need to come back till her 3 year check up (!!) till she saw we need a vaccination next month, so never mind! I think we have seen her 4 or 5 times since March!! We still have a cardiology check in a couple weeks as well and some dreaded blood drawing for genetic testing whenever we can work up the courage to go over to the hospital. So many doctors, but it's getting easier. When Joshua was a baby, I'd be nervous and sweating for each appointment. Now it's much more commonplace and I even took all the kids to the last appointment and didn't break a sweat.
Allie's happy as ever and talking up a storm. This week she started shouting "Wat?!" in a cranky voice if someone called her name. She also loves to tell her siblings, "Ssh! Daddy night-night sleep!" if she doesn't like what they are saying. She's up to 4 word sentences such as "Julia fall down cry" or "Ja Ja help you stairs" or "Morning Julia eat bowl." She's also parroting everything, identifying tons of stuff in books, and loving going up and down the stairs with help. She's got hilarious dance moves and loves Raven. We can't get enough of her!
This past week was pretty uneventful but Matt was working and on a trip the whole time, so the kids and I had to get creative with spending our time. We went to the Museum of Life and Science two days in a row! Thankful to have the Mussers in the same boat, particularly with a toddler-like situation going on in their new son. We both can get a little stir crazy with no plans but also can't do anything too crazy with our newest children. So playdates and sleepovers and museum trips and the library kept us going this week and overall, it was pretty pleasant.
One of the best mornings was when I had assigned the kids to each play a game of each of their siblings' choice. They had a great time, were busy, and didn't really argue. We will definitely be doing that more often! Speaking of their "assignments", my list has been a smashing success this summer. Every summer for years, I have made a list of what the kids have to do before getting their little bit of screen time for the day. The more I read, the more entrenched I am in the belief that we all need to get off our screens! Matt just came across a study the other day that links unhappiness of teenagers, among other negative things, to time spent on their screens. So anyway, we don't let the kids have free reign and make them work for it. This year instead of putting specific things on the list like exercise or reading, I make a custom one for each kid every day. The first half of the summer there was a lot of cleaning out type jobs, but we did so much of that we ran out! I also have put bathroom cleaning, dishes, bathing Raven (yes!!! Joshua can do that now...whereas before she just didn't get a bath because I couldn't manage her and Allie since Raven hates the bath and is kind of a lot of trouble with it), playing a "thinking" game, reading their Bibles, reading a "quality" book (for those that prefer something about poop, sports fluff, or superheroes), practicing lacrosse, reading to Allie, washing sheets, checking Nanny's mail, cooking dinner, pulling weeds, writing to our sponsored kids, practicing cursive, etc. etc. The big three can do just about anything around the house, so it's been hugely helpful to just look around each morning and split up whatever needs to be done between the three of them...and me too of course. I highly recommend it! They don't fuss at all about their jobs either. They know they'll get "paid" in the end with their precious screen time.
We have one more week of not much of anything. Highlights- Joshua spends a day at the Middle School for orientation and Matt and I have our anniversary date...first date since China!!!
Then the following week we have a couple days at home, off to New York, and come back to school starting. We just got the first call from school. I have a special "classic telephone ring" ringtone on my phone for the school and it felt so weird to hear it again. I can hardly believe summer's over and don't really want to. As much as the noise of the kids all at home all day can drive me crazy...especially when trying to keep them quiet for Matt to sleep...I really enjoy summer.
