A Glimpse

Here is an update on life for each of the kids lately:

Caleb: still plays with his imaginary friend George Jeorge David Romney all the time. He is constantly asking to go out in the front yard so he can look at the cars that drive past our house or park near us.  He also looks forward to talking to Bob, our next door neighbor, whenever he's in the front yard.  Caleb is especially into Hondas, Chevys, and GMCs currently.  He pays close attention to cars' headlights and tail lights-- so much that he can look at a Honda's or Toyota's headlights and know what type of tail lights it has.  Caleb is excited about starting kindergarten, but was sad to learn that his preschool friend Michael was assigned a different teacher. Caleb has an increased interest in spelling and reading. Yesterday I overheard him on the phone saying to Grandpa, "Yeah, I'm standing near a big box. And by 'big' I mean b-i-g. And by 'box' I mean b-o-x."

Hayden: After all of Caleb's pressure to have an imaginary friend, Hayden has decided that he has an imaginary friend named Hayden.  Hayden (the real one, that is) loves riding his two-wheeled bike to the park and around the neighborhood. He often talks about wanting to play ping-pong in Grandma and Grandpa's basement. He loves ping-pong! He also asks everyday to go to the park to play basketball. And he loves soccer and football and baseball. See the theme here? Bob, the aforementioned neighbor, has invited us to swim in his pool every weekend, and Hayden is making great progress with swimming.  The first time we went over Hayden just sat along the edge, but now he swims around by himself (with floaties) and even jumps in the pool letting his head go under the water.

Avery: has developed an interest in TV.  She's always asking to watch Nemo, "McQueen" (Cars movie), or "And Beyond" (Toy Story). Can you tell she's the third child? Caleb had never seen a real movie when he was her age, and Avery has seen these movies enough to ask for them by name.  Avery loves to rough house with Hayden, jumping and climbing on him.  She loves to hug and kiss both Hayden and Caleb. Avery also loves to color and read. I've started putting accessories in her hair more regularly. Initially she fought and cried as soon as I started touching her hair, but she is getting used to it slowly. My new strategy is to distract her by giving her a few chocolate chips in a cup and turning on the television while I do her hair.  Eventually I'll cut out the chocolate chips, and then later I hope to cut out the television.