October update

AUSTIN
Austin's creativity has fairly exploded recently. I can't quite put my finger on why, but I really think kindergarten has a lot to do with it. He does art every day (or nearly so), practices his letters every day, and has some sort of "special" activity (music, art, P.E.) every day. His brain is just bursting with creativity. In just the last few weeks he's begun to draw at home almost every day. Detailed, complex drawings too, like cats and trees and clouds and people. There is amazing attention to detail. He also loves to build things whether with blocks, tinkertoys, legos, or what have you. He can look at a schematic and build it. (He still needs help with lego instructions, but is improving.) His imagination is incredible, and he thinks in 3-D. This is something I've always had trouble with, which is ironic because lefties are supposed to be spatially-oriented. I am, and very much so, in my head; but I can't usually translate it to a physical object. Austin can, though (and he's a leftie too). My youngest brother Travis (also a leftie) has this gift too, it's something I've always envied. When I play with legos or tinkertoys, everything I build from scratch comes out very flat and two-dimensional.

Austin is also learning to recognize and write sight words. He wrote "like", "my", and "the" last night with absolutely no prompting or assistance from anyone...shocked the heck out of me. He's also getting better at sounding out words.

Truly, Austin is blossoming. It is so rewarding to watch it happen. This really is what I've been waiting for, this awakening of his mind and talents. It fills me with immense joy. Kindergarten is really helping to move him forward and I am so thankful. I think he's going to be a really good student.

Austin also has his first loose tooth and the adult tooth coming in behind it. Should only be a few weeks before it really starts to get wiggly. Exciting!


JONAS
Jonas....*sigh* Jonas is brilliant, but he uses his intelligence for evil. :) He is full of life and energy. His spirit burns brightly, I like to say. But he's also full on into the Terrible Twos and boy, are they terrible. He has quite a temper and a hair trigger on it. He will scream for an hour if he doesn't get his way. He has learned how to defeat much of the childproofing in the house--only the locks that are physically too strong for him to unlock are still working. He knows how to reach things in high places (he moves a chair) so nothing is safe. He resists punishment and doesn't really understand it yet, so timeouts and other diversionary discipline are largely ineffective. He doesn't like to eat dinner most days, so if it's something he doesn't immediately recognize/like he will pick at it at best, maybe eating 2 bites if we're lucky. Going to restaurants with him is pure misery...he wants to stand up, play under the table, wander, scream, switch seats, etc. Oh, it's awful. We don't go out nearly as much as we used to.

He still gets up around 5:30 to 6:00 every morning, and now he doesn't even come to get one of us. The other morning Amy found him awake at 5:45, chair pulled up to the counter in front of the coffeemaker, calmly mixing together coffee grinds and sugar from the sugar bowl. With the biggest smile on his face.

And he's Mr. Destructo. He will knock over, color, step on, vandalize, shred, bite, or rip apart anything in his path. Ripping up books seems to be a favorite lately, as does coloring over pictures Austin's already drawn (Cory used to do this to me--drove me crazy).

And (yes, there's more) he likes to hit, and occasionally he'll bite. He hits Austin for the tiniest perceived infratction...he'll also try to hit Amy and me. He'll hurt Devon if you give him half a chance. I don't think he's intentionally trying to hurt the baby--he just plays really, really rough. But we can't convince him what he's doing is harmful. Yesterday he slammed the door while Devon was bouncing from a bouncy seat hanging in the opening, and almost smashed Devon's face.

Jonas knows how to push our limits and push our buttons, and does so with reckless abandon. He is learning independence and his place in the family, though, so we try not to lose it with him. There are times, though, when I want to smack the everloving mess out of him.

Despite all that, he is still such a sweet boy. He's very outgoing, loves to flirt, loves to play games. He has a great sense of humor and loves to cuddle. His emotions are turbocharged, basically....like I said, his spirit burns brightly. I'm just hoping once he starts to talk more that he starts to *understand* more too, and all this misbehavior starts to mellow.


DEVON
Devon's still pretty immobile...but not for long. The floor is one of his favorite places to be. He can roll himself pretty much anywhere, and is starting to figure out he can propel himself forward. It's not quite crawling, more like a one-shot lunge. But he's getting the mechanics down. He gets up on all fours and rocks quite frequently. He's also sitting up more and more...sometimes he'll go a couple minutes. He grabs at *everything* and is insatiably curious. He's starting to make babbly noises and is very interested in watching your mouth when you make sounds at him.

Devon has one tooth already through the gum (lower right) and another one is just days, if not less, from rupturing too. It makes him a little bit miserable sometimes, but overall he's dealing exceptionally well with teething. He might even be a better teether than Austin...I didn't even know his first tooth was coming through, he was so nonchalant about it.

He still spits up a lot, but it's just something we have to deal with. It doesn't seem to bother him (just us, because he always seems to miss the burp cloth...and it smells terrible). He is eating "people food" more now and likes it a lot, especially fruits.

He still sleeps great--normally goes down between 5 and 6:30, sleeps till Amy wakes him up the next morning (or 7:30, whichever comes first). Almost never wakes up at night and when he does, usually some pats on the back is all he needs. Usually takes one nap a day, sometimes for an hour, sometimes for three.

Overall Devon is a VERY happy baby and is almost always in a good mood. He loves both his brothers tremendously, especially Austin. He likes Jonas better and better each day, especially when Jonas lies down next to him, and puts up with Jonas's wrestling with great patience. Usually he just waits patiently for Mommy or Daddy to rescue him. :) Austin can make him laugh at any time, and Jonas is getting better at it.


I think that's it for this time! The kids are excited about Halloween coming up...will be sure to post pictures. Hope everyone's having a great October.

September 2009 photos up

New photos for September 2009 are up! Strangely, Austin's in hardly any of them. Part of that's because he takes some of the photos, and part of it is because he won't pose anymore - he's always got to make obnoxious faces or move around so much that none of the photos come out well. It's annoying, but hopefully it'll pass. Anyway...some favorites: