Updates for the Grandparents

I'm kinda sick of blogging.  The older my children get (and the more of them we have), the more private I want my life to be.  But for our extended family, this is a sad proposition.  Because our kids' grandparents live all the way across the country, and only really get to see their grandkids via technology like Skype and this here blog.

So to update the interested grandparents:

Shaelyn has started taking piano lessons.  She's had a grand total of 1 lesson so far.  She is so excited.  We set a goal for her to practice every day for 10 minutes, but she has probably practiced more like 30-40 minutes each day, because she feels the need to put on a performance each time she practices.  (Why didn't I see this coming?!)  She sets up little chairs, sends us invitations, and invites us all to come see her amazing skills at playing the high notes and the low notes.  She even emcee's for herself, and her intro is always the same: "Ladies and gentlemen.  For the first time ever, Shaelyn will play the piano for you!  Please clap for her!"

She still mixes up her right hand and left hand, and ends up singing "I play all the high notes" when she's playing with her left hand.  But I have been so impressed with what she has mastered in a week.  She can tell you, and in great detail, all about middle C, measures, quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes.  We put a sticker on middle C on our keyboard at home.  (She chose a watermelon sticker - it was so random it made me laugh.)  She prides herself in being able to find the right keys to play on the keyboard based on where middle C is, and she's right every time.

I'm interested to see if this level of excitement continues after next week's lesson.

Funny/cute story:
While driving in the car one day, Shaelyn was drawing pictures of different seasons and holding them up so I could see them.  I was praising her for her work when she announced, "Hold on, Mommy.  I'm going to draw a picture that you're going to love.  You're going to love it so much it will make you cry."  She then drew a picture of me and her doing ballet together.
Does that girl have my number or what?

Rachelle has blossomed recently and seems very old to me lately.  Her vocabulary has noticeably increased and her long hair makes her look more like her big sister.  I have stopped thinking people are stupid when they ask me in public if my girls are twins, because I have confused her for her big sister on a number of occasions.  She has mastered her ABC's visually this month and I am very proud of her.  She loves coloring and can keep herself occupied for an hour or more coloring in her coloring books.  Her coloring skills have also increased dramatically and I can barely distinguish her work from her big sister's.  She has also really stepped it up in ballet and is going to be in the recital this month - if she isn't too shy once the audience is all there watching.  She is definitely my shy kid.

She has become a big fan of Blue's Clues and likes to draw clues in her "notebook."  She sings along with the show and loves when they sit down in the thinking chair to "think, think, thi-i-i-i-nk."  I think the big draw for her to this show is the fact that Blue is a puppy.  She is still a big animal lover.  I took her to a pet store the other day while Shaelyn was in school and we spent 2 hours looking at all the puppies, kitties, bunnies, birds, and fishies.  She will probably be a vet or zookeeper when she grows up.

Funny/cute story:
While driving around, Rachelle has noticed that several people have Clemson Tiger paws on their cars.  But to Rachelle, these aren't Clemson paws, they are Blue's Clues paws.  So she will excitedly announce, "Mommy, there's a clue!" and then draw the car in her notebook.
Love that girl!

Christian is not yet walking, but is on the verge.  He has taken his first steps, but with his laid back personality, he just isn't tenaciously striving for walking (or any motor skill) the way his sisters did.  I am perfectly OK with this.  He can stand up in the middle of the room from a sitting position without holding on to anything, and can balance like this for days.  A few times now, he has stepped forward once or twice before deciding that crawling is much faster and will get him to the toy he wants.  And when you have two big sisters constantly hovering over you, speed is of the essence.

He is, however, a little chatterbox and loves to sing and talk to me.  He has 7 teeth and his smile is the cutest thing you've ever seen.  He loves to make animal noises, and his two favorites are howling at the moon, and braying like an elephant.  He also loves to say "uh-oh" and has that word on auto-repeat all day.  He loves blowing and giving kisses, and has to kiss each member of the family before bed.  His favorite thing to do is to read books - with me or by himself.  He loves to turn the pages and point at everything he knows on the page.  He can sit still for a very long time to hear his favorite book read over and over and over.  (His current favorite book is "This is the Way" - thanks Grandma!)  He will bring it to me to read to him and curl up in my lap with his head resting on my chest without any coaxing from me.

He is definitely a momma's boy.

Funny/cute story:
There is an elephant on the first page in his favorite book, and he loves it when I make an elephant sound.  Recently he has realized that there are elephants to be found all over the place in our house, and has delighted in constantly braying with spit flying everywhere.  So you can imagine his delight when he realized that his lovey blanket and his stuffed animal that he sleeps with are both elephants!  I love watching him sleepily bray at them before he decides to suck his thumb and drift to sleep.
He is the sweetest baby on the planet.