Tattling--A 6 Year Old Perspective

Other Tales From Sarah's World

I had an excellent Parent/Teacher Conference with Sarah's teacher.  Summary: Sarah is doing great in everything and the teacher has no concerns about her.  Wow!  Certainly a change from last year and one I'm really grateful for.  Sarah is putting in a lot of work and learning a lot.  For example, every week they have 4 1/2 minutes to do 100 addition problems.  The teacher had warned us the scores would be ugly at first so when she got high 30s/low 40s the first few weeks, I thought it wasn't too bad.  She has been improving steadily and last week got 65!  Her reading skills are taking off as well.  In fact, I found out that she is one of a handful of kids who know their phonograms so well that they get to read instead of doing phonogram practice sometimes at school.  Way to go Sarah!

When Matthew and I were in Las Vegas, Sarah, Megan and U did some fun things themselves.  These included going to McDonalds for dinner, having a milkshake at Chick-Fil-A and eating chips during a movie.  After all of this, Sarah asked U, "Daddy, why are we eating so much unhealthy food?"  Good to know she knows what is healthy and what is not!

Sarah loves being a big sister.  She likes coming up with new games to play with Megan and Matthew.  These often involve the little couches and carpet squares.  She continues to develop her photography skills by taking pictures of her sibilings.  Here are a couple recent ones:

And here are a few cute pictures of Sarah:

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We got three free tickets to the Diamondbacks game courtesy of the summer reading program.  Since Megan and Matthew let us hold them, that means we went to the game for free (plus parking).  It was a fun time.  Here are some highlights:

• Megan really got excited.  She liked watching the screens and seeing the people.  She waved a lot.  The crowd was clapping and so U helped her clap her hands.  Then she started clapping his.  She was pointing to all sorts of things, too.
• Matthew was very interested in what was in the cup holders behind us.  Once he even grabbed the straw out of the cup.  Oops!  He got upset and threw his sippy cup into the row in front of us when he didn't like a call the umpire made.
• Sarah thought the game was really fun.  She liked seeing all the players, both on the screen and on the field.  She also liked some of the crowd activities like the hot dog race and the legend players race.  I think her favorite part was the food.

• The game itself was pretty good.....if you're a D-backs fan.  Not so much if you were for the Giants.  The final score was 15-2.  The Giants actually switched out their starting pitcher in the bottom of the first inning.  That's what happens when the D-backs had 6 runs on 4 hits--yes, lots of walking going on!  When we left the game in the 7th inning, I think the Giants were on their 5th pitcher.  The D-backs pitcher was great at the plate--he was on base 4/4 times (one walk, two singles and one double with 2 RBIs).
• We left after the 7th inning stretch.  That's what we were planning on doing if we made it that long and it was certainly late enough for Megan and Matthew as the game was a bit long.  A lot of other people ended up leaving then, too, because the lights on the field went out with just emergency lighting on.  It was a nice change from the brightness of the normal lights.  They were out for 20-30 minutes before coming back on.

Not so bright

Kid Containment

We've found a new, cheap solution to child care:

 

Just plop them in with a few toys and I'm sure we're good to go for at least a few minutes or so.

Apparently it works well with adults too.

Not quite twins

When people look at Megan and Matthew now, they no longer say "not twins" right away and I can understand why. Although they are not the same size, they don't look so different, especially if you're looking at them in the stroller.When asked if they are twins, U usually replies "not quite." Here's some of the latest  from not-quite-twinville.

• Megan is our dominant twin. Not surprising since she is 4 months older (almost half again of Matthew's age), about 5 pounds heavier and can do more. She can usually get her way, although she's nice to Matthew most of the time. She will sometimes give Matthew his pacifier back, although her methods aren't always conventional--once she put it on top of his head. She also shows Matthew she likes him by holding his hand and by patting him. It's really cute!  

• Matthew is starting to stand up for himself. Megan may take his pacifier, but he will take hers back. He will sometimes grab toys from her as well. He is pretty agile and is a mover! He may be younger and smaller, but he sure thinks he should be able to do anything his sister does. And he often can! He's pretty determined and is lots of fun to watch crawling around. 

• Size: One thing that is funny to me is that when Matthew was born, Megan was huge (relatively speaking) and Matthew was little. Now, Megan is big and Matthew is still little, even though he weighs more now than Megan did when he was born. Some of this is because he is still littler than Megan. However, I think some of it is because of differences in build and how they hold themselves. Megan is solid whereas Matthew is more petite. You definitely feel Megan's weight more when carrying them and I think this would be the case even if they were the same weight just because of how they hold themselves.

• Sarah: They both love Sarah. She can get them to laugh almost all the time. They get very excited to see her when she gets home from school. She is really good at coming up with all sorts of neat things for them to do, often involving her and Megan's couches.
• Imitate: Megan and Matthew imitate the sounds that the other one makes. Matthew has been making "Megan noises" for quite awhile. Megan has started babbling a lot more thanks to Matthew. I especially love it that she now says "blah!"  
• Teach: They teach each other how to do things. It goes both ways--Megan teaches Matthew how to do something, Matthew teaches Megan how to do something. For example, Matthew started banging things together and then Megan started doing it. Of course there are times when Matthew tries to do something Megan just did and isn't quite so successful, like when he tried crawling over the center of our big kitchen table. Megan was able to do it, but he got stuck. Maybe in a few more months, bud. Here's an example of something he successfully learned:

A few weeks ago, I looked over to see Megan crawling into the toy cabinet (she's not in all the way here, but she did go in the whole way). Look who is watching....

A few minutes later, this is what happened:

And then this:

Gotta love it!

• Follow: Megan and Matthew follow each other around. It's usually Matthew following Megan although it occasionally goes the other way as well. They love exploring as far as we will let them go and are often found in the far corner of the kitchen as well as in the family room and everywhere in between. It really is cute to see one of them go crawling off with the other one following right behind.

In the family room--Megan was sharing her toys--how cute!

In the far corner of the kitchen together

• Playing: They play by each other a lot. This is a natural result of following each other around. It does make it a little easier since they are generally found in the same area. They often play with their toys--the Legos, the animal train, balls, books. However, they often play by getting into cabinets and drawers and pulling out everything very quickly. The other day, I found Megan with a crystal candy dish! Looks like maybe it's time for a few more child locks:) It is fun to see them playing by each other so much.

Playing (pay no attention to the woman in the background)

Reading

Helping with the dishes

I sure love these two!!!

If you're happy and you know it...

Tonight while we sang this song, Megan was happy. She stamped her feet at the appropriate time and spent a lot of the song waving. She had a huge smile on her face the whole time. What a cute kid!

All in white

This is a bit out of date, I wanted to post it around the time Megan was sealed to us. Ah well, here it is. There is something amazing about seeing all of your children dressed in white and in the temple. What an amazing day! I look forward to having them all there again someday.

Graduation Day!

Megan graduated from Physical Therapy today.  Hooray!

Bearfrog

I have to post this before it is out of date. Matthew is rapidly learning to crawl and getting faster and more consistent. In the beginning though, he would push up on all fours and go up on his toes like he was going to walk like a bear. Instead, he would go back down and then hop his legs forward. This would repeat a few times until he would decide speed was more critical and either roll or army crawl. I decided that this behavior merited a nick name and so I dubbed him "Bearfrog". His crawling skills are improving greatly every day.

Megan's 12th Month

Megan is now one year old.  Crazy to think that our sweet little baby girl is already one year!!!

Megan's 12 month check:
Weight: 21 lb 1 oz (70%)
Length: 30 inches (80%)
Head Circumference: 17.75 inches (55%)

The pediatrician agrees that she is doing great!  Yeah:)

Moving: Megan is still crawling everywhere.  She is a busy little girl!  She cruises around a lot and will move from one object to another (i.e., couch to stool, wall to gate, etc).  She pulls up on anything and everything and enjoys standing next to the couch or a stool while playing with toys.  We've made adjustments by putting everything above Megan level (or at least we think we have....until she shows us she can reach something new).

Explorer: Megan enjoys climbing over, under and through things--the little couch, daddy, toys. No obstacle is too great or too small.  For instance, in the bath the other night, she wanted a Littlest Pet Shop toy (I know, not exactly baby-approved, but she loves them) that was behind the bath seat Matthew was in.  She managed to work her way sideways and past the bath seat and adjusted the other Littlest Pet Shop toys she had in her hands so that she was able to get it.

Lounging in the bouncy seat (she's started crawling into it all by herself)

She loves sitting on Sarah's couch.  Great that she has one of her own now:)

She likes putting things in and dumping them out of the Lego bucket.  (It works well both right side up and upside down.)  It is fun to watch especially when the bucket is upside down and things fall off as much as they stay on.

Who you watching?

Playing with the Animal Train--also another great place to put toys

She enjoys getting into the toy cabinet all by herself.

Playing with things in the kids' kitchen drawer is lots of fun!  She also likes "helping" load the dishwasher (i.e., standing by it while we load it).

Eating: Megan is starting to be a bit of a picky eater.  Not too much, and it really is random.  For example, she'll throw one peach on the floor and then eat the one right next to it.  We joke that she has some sort of internal quality control system, if only we could tap into it....  It is pretty funny the things she'll eat, though. For instance, at one meal, she threw her pears on the ground but ate up the black beans. At another, she wouldn't eat peaches but ate the broccoli (maybe that's because we told her she was a dinosaur eating trees???).  She generally likes feeding herself everything--she'll even take the spoon we have with cereal on it and stick it in her mouth. Yes, we like messes!

Messy Megan

Eating a bottle from daddy--she generally lets us hold her for the first bit of a feeding and then wants to stand up for the rest.

Understanding: Megan understands, and sometimes follows, simple directions.  For example, "Give me your food" (instead of throwing it on the ground) and "There is your pacifier."  We've capitalized on this by having her help us with clean up. "See how many balls you can put in the bucket." It works and she even likes it!

Vocalizations: Megan has started whispering.  Sometimes she does it when she is talking to herself and other times when she is answering questions we ask her. It's clear she is trying to communicate with us when she does this. She still has her LOUD talking, too, when she wants to let us know something--she's not shy about giving her opinion.

Look what Megan pulled out of the laundry to play with--SOCKS!  Yes, she still loves them.

Dinner Conversation

Tonight at dinner, Sarah asked, "How tall will I be when I'm 73?"

Happy 1st Birthday Megan!

We celebrated Megan's birthday in grand one-year-old style. Festivities included decorations (which we quickly moved higher to avoid them being eaten by the birthday girl), presents and phone calls with well wishes.  To top it all off, Megan had a birthday cantaloupe because what could possibly be better than cantaloupe!

Megan celebrating with her birth mom a few days early

With mom fielding calls from well wishers

Matthew enjoying the presents (maybe he thinks he'll get to play with them, too)

Presents included a Tinker Bell couch, a few books, bath toys, clothes, a play phone, a Leap Frog table and blueberry puffs.

With the birthday cantaloupe

YUM!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  WE LOVE YOU MEGAN!!!

Mazes!

Last weekend we went to see the Mazes exhibit at the Arizona Science Center.  It was fun to try different types of mazes and to learn about their history.  The big maze wasn't very double stroller friendly but it was a good workout for U to navigate all those tight corners:)  They had an area where you could build your own maze.  We spent quite a bit of time there since it was baby-friendly. Definitely a fun morning!

Me and U doing the foot mazes--yes, we both were able to do it

Why build a maze when you can build a house?

U's idea of building a maze (ok, so he did build one before, but it was quickly used for house pieces)

Megan and Matthew playing in the mazes pieces