Spiderman!

Nathan's present from Nana and Papa (Brad's parents) was a Spiderman costume. Ever since his birthday when he got a Spiderman car and Spiderman jammies, he's really had a thing for Spidey. At first, we couldn't get him to wear the mask, but today he had quite the time chasing the girls around in the full get-up. How funny that he's so into something like that at such a young age!

Easter

Our Resurrection Sunday started with Emilie finding all the Easter baskets without even looking, sunshine and snow (not falling, thankfully, but there was a pretty thick coat on the ground) and a candy breakfast (not really -- but they did have way more candy than they normally do in the morning!). After church, we headed over to my parents for Easter dinner and more Easter basket finding! Sam was the life of the party, entertaining us with his babbling at the table and his Peep-eating antics (yes, we gave him a Peep).

After dinner, we were all pretty tired and headed home for naps. Later that evening, we went out with Brad's parents to Pizza Hut and then took the girls to Wal-Mart to pick out a new toy for all the kids. That's a little dangerous. :)

Overall, we enjoyed the day, but I couldn't help but wonder what day Easter will fall on next year (please let it be the end of April instead of the end of March!). :)

Emilie's School

Well, we've been slowly but surely plugging along on Emilie's schoolwork. If we continue through most of the summer (doesn't that defeat the purpose of homeschooling?), we should be back on track for the fall. We got a bit of a slow start this year with Sam still being so young and not really on a good schedule yet.

Typically, Emilie stays up in the afternoon while the others nap and we do her schoolwork then. I'm realizing, however, that this is taking away the time I used to spend catching up (ha ha -- do we ever completely catch up?) on cleaning or getting supper ready for the evening -- but I wouldn't trade it for anything. She's really starting to get the reading thing and has read a few short, mostly 3-letter word books. Her least favorite part is handwriting and her most favorite is probably math.

He's So Big (and yet so little)!

At Sam's 9 month check-up, he finally topped 16lbs and weighed in at a whopping 16lbs 4oz (about the 5th percentile). And yet he's big enough to eat table food in a "big boy" high chair (he's really mastered the pincer grip in the last few times). It's been cute to see him do these things on his own that make him seem so big, but it's also requiring that extra level of attentiveness on my part since he can both get around and pick up small things to put in his mouth. Why do babies put everything in their mouth again? :)

I wonder how long...?

Within the last few weeks, I've had the sneaking suspicion that Nathan has been climbing into Sam's crib with him at night. Well, it's no longer a suspicion -- I have hard evidence. I just wonder how long it's been going on! Ever since we moved Nathan to a "big boy bed" he's done a couple of things to keep from actually having to sleep in that bed (including sleeping under it for the first few nights). And now, he's sleeping with Sam.

Who needs to crawl when you can do this?

Sam has become very proficient at getting around on his tummy by making a motion Brad's mom has likened to the worm. I don't even know how to describe it -- he does it so quickly, I haven't really sat there and analyzed the movements he was making -- but he definitely does it well! The cutest part is when he spies something across the floor he'd like to have, he lets out something like a grunt of determination as he makes his way to it.

Baby Bobble Head

Among the many nicknames Sam has, this one is the most descriptive. I have never seen a baby that nods his head up and down at such a young age like Sam does. It's almost as though his head is too heavy for his neck! These pictures don't do it justice since they're stills, but you can still get a pretty good idea of how humorous it is to watch in person!

I think he's doomed...

Doomed to wear dress up clothes, that is. But isn't he cute? I should post the pictures I have of Nathan wearing the girls' dress up "Cinderella" shoes. Those are pretty funny, too, but I can't find them...

Emilie's Glasses

So I'm finally posting some pictures of Emilie and her glasses. She's had them about a month now and has really adjusted to them very well (since the first night she got them and couldn't hold back the tears of disappointment -- which is part of why we didn't have pictures right away -- I didn't want to add insult to injury). We go back in a few months to see if her eyes have improved (she's slightly farsighted, but moreso in her right eye and this was causing her right eye to drift towards her nose when she would focus on something (see the Christmas post and you can kind of see this) -- a condition that could possibly be corrected to the point where she would not need glasses forever). I think I've gotten so used to it that she looks "funny" now when she doesn't have her glasses on!