May is almost over!

It has been a wild ride the past four months, this three littles thing. It is wild, unsettling, some times (okay, a lot) chaotic, noisy, crazy ride. That said, we are enjoying the the three little people that makes our family- so very much. Even on the days where if seems like some one is always (and I mean ALWAYS) talking, crying, whining, humming, saying my name over and over, wailing, grunting, laughing, screaming, howling, fighting, talking, talking, talking, talking...There is always always noise... commotion...Movement...and have I mentioned? NOISE!

Fun times.

I thought I would update us on life.

ROO:

4 Years and 5 months old: Some things she can do: write her entire name. And almost any word, if you tell her what order to write the letters (in other words, she knows all her letters!). She can skip with both feet, summersault head of heels over and over and over- sh e loves to tumble. She is learning to jump rope and throw a frisbee. She still loves to hula hoop and can keep it going for almost a minute! She can do 6 monkey bar rungs before falling. She can some times hit a ball with a bat when Daddy throws for her and she is determined to master it! She loves to run and dance-  she seems very athletic and loves to be active.

She is, as always, a sweet empathetic and thoughtful person. She feels every thing deeply.  But she is coming into her own more and more. She has new boundary lines that won't be crossed (with her younger sister especially). She has new concepts that she is exploring and boundaries she is pushing. In other words? This is a bit of a challenging stage. Four years old has been harder to parent in a lot of ways, than three was. On the flip side, she has an insatiable curiosity she has to figure every thing out, categorize every thing. I struggle to embrace her favorite word "WHY", to help her find answers (or give them to the best of my ability!). She likes to talk and often has a constant stream of information she seems to be processing.
A new side of Roo is also coming out, a quiet introspective side. She likes activities that allow her to sit and think. She prefers to be at home with her magnadoodle, markers, crayons and oodles of paper. She craves space from her noisy and in your face sister.

Art is one of her escapes, the girl could draw all day. She loves any thing "crafty" especially if it involves glue and paint and glitter! She seems to be the typical oldest child in that she struggles with perfectionism...So frustrating because she is sickeningly good at pretty much every thing she puts her hand to. I'm not just a proud Mama, she really is amazing. She focuses in and tries until she masters some thing. Whether it is learning to write a new letter or shape...Or figuring out how to copy and draw a character from a movie she watched. She is friendly and thoughtful, organized and intentional. She is still so enamored with Pip and her day hasn't really started until she gets to rub noses with her and talk to her "little goodie".  She amazes us, and it is so fun to see new angles of her personality.

Skills she is working on: jumping rope, her tone of voice, asking for help when her sister is bothering her, trying house hold jobs with out help.

Friendly: 2 years and 9 months (and change).

Oh this girl!!!! I wish I could add a few more !!!!! (there I did). This almost 3 year old is amazing. She defies words... Come to think of it, she defies every thing! This has been a big-time learning curve raising this strong girl! Parenting and guiding her this past year has taught us a lot...a lot of humility. Good gracious she is some thing else!

This picture sums it up better:

This Best...

Or perhaps this gives you a peek...

She is a character. She is exuberant. She is full of ideas ...And when she starts some thing she is going to FINISH it (so help her!). We have felt God's hand all over her since she was in the womb, and the biggest impression we have had from that time was: LEADER. She was destined to be a middle child (and boy, has she had those traits for a good long time!)...But she is also destined for some kind of leadership role. The grown up Friendly is going to take the world by storm. Whether we all get there in one piece? Living on a prayer. She is some thing else.

She is strong in every way... Loud in every way (sadness, anger, joy...she is ALL out there!),  Her physical skills, she can gallop, she loves to dance, crack jokes (she has an uncanny sense of humor for 2!), she is starting to draw different shapes, she knows all of the colors and recognizes many of her letters and numbers, she is starting she loves to dress up - if it is shiny or frilly, she is all into it!

The cookier the outfit, the better!

She marches around in these too-big "fancy" shoes with necklaces and bracelets galore. Gotta say, I love this stage! Even if I am the Mom in the grocery store with a fairy princess in tow (or the child in the orange plaid pants, purple short sleeved sweat shirt, and mis-matched shoes!)!

She is very gentle and loving with her baby sister. They both love to snuggle together after nap. They spend every afternoon after their nap snuggling together.

 Friendly loves to be out and about. She tends to be shy, but she loves playing with other children and being in new places. She has also recently really gotten into being read to (the whole book, not just a page...Very satisfying). She gets really into the stories. She likes stories especially about little children like her, learning new things. Both girls have recently discovered a love of "books on tape" - it has made nap time a cozy daily ritual of putting on their favorite story (Katie and the Big Snow).

They both also love to help around the house...Their favorite "chore" is hanging up the cloth diapers for me.

The also enjoy unloading the silverware out of the dishwasher and dusting (they do a better job with that). :0D They have gotten quite handy at picking up around the house (usually when it gets to bad to walk and they decide they want to dance and can't with out breaking a leg).

PiP
4 Months Old today!

What to say about our amazing baby? Of all our little Joys, hers bubbles over. Even though she is TEETHING sooo HARD she is just happy as a duck! Yes, at FOUR months she already has her front incisors and eye teething coming in and she is chewing on every thing furiously. And drooling, she is our first drooly baby and I gotta say, I now understand those big things. Good gracious she can soak you in 5 minutes flat!!!! The teething really has been making it very hard for her to fall asleep. Thankfully, she isn't fussy, just over-alert and frustrated. Once (and this is no small task!) she is asleep she usually sleeps very well only waking once or twice in the night for a quick drink of milk. But getting her down is hard. She doesn't want to miss a thing that her older sisters are doing, she will usually take an amazing 2-4 hour nap at some point in the day, but by bedtime she is a zinging over tired mess. She loves her sisters, and her Daddy. But *I* am her Mommy and the very most favorite person in the world. She loves to BE. She will snuggle contentedly in my lap.. She also loves to stand, she can stand for hours a day! She is rolling both ways really well ,and getting around "inch worm style" when left on the floor. She is also sitting independently (though topples easily, so needs to be on a soft surface!)

Four Month Birthday, sitting solo...She sat like that 3 or 4 minutes before she wanted to get down on her belly

She is a grinny, happy, deep little person

Some other favorite pictures from this month...

Fish Hatchery, feeding the fish.

Peeking through the fishes eye

We switched bedrooms! The girls have the larger bedroom, and more play space now!

Playing with baby sister!

Quiet Puzzle Play

 

baby in a bag

My First Mother's Day Card addressed by one my children (with real  letters)

Making Dirt Angels...Guess whose idea this was?

3 Months and 2 weeks

Sissy Love

She loves to play with toys!

Rainy Day Play

My Status update from that day: 

 A walk in the pouring rain, to "jump in puddles" with a 3 mos old (in carrier), 2 littles, and 3 umbrellas - during rush hour (lots of buses and cars): not my brightest idea ever. Like herding a bunch of blind and deaf ducks through a logging river.

We were safe...we were painfully slow...we got soaked...we had fun. Next time the umbrellas stay home #nervewracking

So... I think I am caught up!!