A Little Behind

Wow, so I guess it's been a while! I didn't realize it had been that long since I posted a post! Well, let's see, I guess it's been pretty low key around here, which is nice! I know this sounds a little crazy, but honestly from about August to January it is such a whirlwind of activity, parties, sports, holidays...you name it, that I relish in the non-activity of February! But alas, with spring now sprung, our activity level will increase once again and thankfully we'll be able to get out and about and enjoy the weather!

Here are some general highlights and other useful information, okay useful may be questionable, but interesting? Okay, well here's just some other information... :)

Sophia: Sophia is winding down her first year of preschool and she has really enjoyed it! Next year she is only doing 4 y/o preschool as opposed to Pre-K, which she qualifies for because of her September birthday. Charlie and I really went back and forth as to which program we wanted her in but decided that 3 days a week is fine because we are going to want to continue her in other activities like gymnastics, swimming lessons and soccer and there is no need to over schedule the 4 year old! ;)

She loves gymnastics and tries her hardest. She has really improved her backwards roll and can even flip herself over the uneven bar. She doesn't always land on her feet, but she's learning! I think her favorite part is the sparkly leotards, though! She just finished up private swimming lessons and her instructor was impressed with her abilities thus far. We are considering keeping her in lessons and possibly encouraging her to do swim team in another year or two. She is excited about soccer this summer too! She is very willing to try anything and loves being involved in different activities and going new and fun places.

She's working on writing her letters and is doing pretty well. She still loves to read books and will often "read" to Leo too. She is beginning to recognize a few (and I really do mean only a very few!) sight words and is now asking what we're talking about when the adults spell words in front of her...darn it! ;) She likes to try and figure out how to spell words and write them down, especially people's names. She loves drawing and playing with her dolls, stuffed animals and Little People sized toys. She is also really into puzzles right now.

Leo: Leo's greatest accomplishment of late is his increased talking skills! He gets better and better! His increased communication has really helped to curb his hitting problem. (knock on wood!!!) Admittedly, he sort of goes through phases with hitting but it obviously stemmed from his lack of communication skills and he's really working hard. If he hits his sister he will usually just put himself in time out, it is kind of hilarious! Leo also loves books. It's not unusual for him to immediately insist on sitting in his chair or in our bed to read books when he wakes up. I think this really helps his talking too.

We are looking into getting him involved in some activities of his own. He is very sad when Sophia gets to go to her things and he just has to watch. We told him that when he gets bigger he'll go too and he responded by telling me, "but I big now!" It was just so cute and he accomplished suckering me into finding something for him too! Most likely we will put him in a beginning soccer this summer and possibly a gymnastics class. He seems really interested in that and it would be an excellent way for him to burn off some of his energy! He likes to play with friends but really loves being outside and at playgrounds. We went to the zoo recently and he was in seventh heaven being able to run around, be outside and ride the train!

Leo is really good about playing by himself and loves vehicles of any kind. He really enjoys trains, fire trucks, motorcycles, and cars. He also really likes to play with the Little People farm and can keep himself entertained, which is awesome. This is such a strength of Sophia that I truly think he learned it from watching and playing with her.

He loves going to "school" just like Sophia as he does one day of week of Parents' Day Out. Next year he will do the same since he, like Soph, has that late birthday and doesn't quite qualify for pre-school.

Tori and Charlie: We're just plugging along! Charlie is in rugby season again and I'm trying to be supportive of this huge time commitment :)...some days are better than others! I still enjoy my two "clubs"...I do book club and a dinner club where we pick a new restaurant each month and check it out for some good food and girl talk. Charlie's work schedule continues to be quite busy and he works long hours, but I make sure that at least we eat dinner as a family every night. We are hoping to do some sort of vacation with the kids this spring or summer, just not sure what! We did do both the Great Wolf Lodge and Branson this past year, but I'm ready for something that's maybe a little further from town, but then again, they absolutely LOVED each of those, so maybe I'm thinking about this too much!

The kids has Spring Break this week, which doesn't mean too much for kids that only go to school 1-2 days/week, but at least we were out and about a little more! So, stay tuned because I will post pictures very soon!!