Jamie graduated from kindergarten on Friday. He did his assessment testing for first grade a
t his new school and sailed through it (no surprise there). Overnight it seems, Jamie is reading. He reads everything he can get his hands on (even things I wish he wouldn't know how to read - such as bumper stickers on other people's cars). He loves to read to Clare and Simon, which is so sweet to see. Shawn and I are both huge readers, so I hope Jamie always loves to read. He gets to go in one day next week to spend the day with his new class (since they are not done with kindergarten yet), and he is so excited to do this! I think it's adorable that he is thrilled about packing a lunch and wearing a uniform. I won't hold my breath that he will be thrilled about this in a couple years! We are sad to say good-bye to St. Mark's Nursery School. It has been a fabulous experience for Jamie and us - a great introduction to the world of education. I am already looking forward to starting Simon there in a couple years. Jamie and Shawn are in the middle of their t-ball season (Shawn is coaching again). This will be Jamie's last year in t-ball before he moves up to the instructional baseball league. I am enjoying being a Saturday morning baseball mom again, which basically means I run after Clare and Simon as they play near the field and only get to actually watch the game whenever Jamie is at bat. It's been a tough couple of weeks medically for Jamie with two tooth extractions and starting allergy shots. Let's get all this out of the way so we can have a good summer!
t his new school and sailed through it (no surprise there). Overnight it seems, Jamie is reading. He reads everything he can get his hands on (even things I wish he wouldn't know how to read - such as bumper stickers on other people's cars). He loves to read to Clare and Simon, which is so sweet to see. Shawn and I are both huge readers, so I hope Jamie always loves to read. He gets to go in one day next week to spend the day with his new class (since they are not done with kindergarten yet), and he is so excited to do this! I think it's adorable that he is thrilled about packing a lunch and wearing a uniform. I won't hold my breath that he will be thrilled about this in a couple years! We are sad to say good-bye to St. Mark's Nursery School. It has been a fabulous experience for Jamie and us - a great introduction to the world of education. I am already looking forward to starting Simon there in a couple years. Jamie and Shawn are in the middle of their t-ball season (Shawn is coaching again). This will be Jamie's last year in t-ball before he moves up to the instructional baseball league. I am enjoying being a Saturday morning baseball mom again, which basically means I run after Clare and Simon as they play near the field and only get to actually watch the game whenever Jamie is at bat. It's been a tough couple of weeks medically for Jamie with two tooth extractions and starting allergy shots. Let's get all this out of the way so we can have a good summer!Clare, being in the public school system, still has a month of school left. We continue to wait for the call from Children's Hospital about scheduling her wrist procedure. The fistula/aneurysm thrums all the time 
now, and she frequently complains that it hurts. Hopefully it will only be two more months max before it is repaired. Her speech therapist is still "on us" about having her tongue released, so as soon as we hear from Children's, we are going to look into getting that procedure scheduled for the third time! I know the therapist feels the tongue-tie is really impeding Clare's articulation, so she is currently concentrating more on sentence structure, grammar, and cognitive speech (such as recognizing shapes, colors, numbers - Clare can now count to ten and identifies a few colors). I am so proud of how hard Clare works with Judy. I can really see that her attention span and focus are increasing in length. She can make it through the entire one-hour speech therapy session and continue pretty much on task. Of course, we usually have a meltdown at the end from exhaustion! Clare has been asking when she gets to play t-ball. Our city has a league for kids with special needs, which she can begin when she is five. She has sat through many t-ball and soccer games (and is Jamie's number one cheerleader), so we are definitely going to get her involved in something next year. We also have received notices from her preschool about Special Olympics, so I am going to look into that as well. We have hit a "sad" phase where Simon is starting to pass Clare developmentally (sad for me, at least). Clare and Simon are unaware of this, but Jamie has noticed and is starting to question why Clare, at 4, does not know and cannot do many of the things that 2-year old Simon can. I am still formulating my answers to these questions.
now, and she frequently complains that it hurts. Hopefully it will only be two more months max before it is repaired. Her speech therapist is still "on us" about having her tongue released, so as soon as we hear from Children's, we are going to look into getting that procedure scheduled for the third time! I know the therapist feels the tongue-tie is really impeding Clare's articulation, so she is currently concentrating more on sentence structure, grammar, and cognitive speech (such as recognizing shapes, colors, numbers - Clare can now count to ten and identifies a few colors). I am so proud of how hard Clare works with Judy. I can really see that her attention span and focus are increasing in length. She can make it through the entire one-hour speech therapy session and continue pretty much on task. Of course, we usually have a meltdown at the end from exhaustion! Clare has been asking when she gets to play t-ball. Our city has a league for kids with special needs, which she can begin when she is five. She has sat through many t-ball and soccer games (and is Jamie's number one cheerleader), so we are definitely going to get her involved in something next year. We also have received notices from her preschool about Special Olympics, so I am going to look into that as well. We have hit a "sad" phase where Simon is starting to pass Clare developmentally (sad for me, at least). Clare and Simon are unaware of this, but Jamie has noticed and is starting to question why Clare, at 4, does not know and cannot do many of the things that 2-year old Simon can. I am still formulating my answers to these questions.Simon is a whirlwind these days! A very, very busy 2-year old. He and Clare have fallen in love with playing outside, and the two of them beg to go out all the time. They enjo
y playing on our swingset or just exploring the great outdoors. I find them collecting buckets of rocks to throw into the sewer grates or rearranging Daddy's box of firewood or picking flowers (aka dandelions). Simon has started to develop cognitively by leaps and bounds. Now that Simon has mastered numbers (he can count to twenty and recognizes all his numbers) and letters (seriously, the kid is scary smart), he is working on shapes and colors. Actually, he has shapes fairly down pat as well now. It is such a dichotomy to watch Clare versus Simon develop. It amazes me how easy everything seems to be for Simon. I can read a book to him just a couple of times, and he has it memorized. I catch him multiple times a day sitting on the floor near the bookshelf or on the couch looking at books. He loves to read and be read to (a boy after my own heart!).
y playing on our swingset or just exploring the great outdoors. I find them collecting buckets of rocks to throw into the sewer grates or rearranging Daddy's box of firewood or picking flowers (aka dandelions). Simon has started to develop cognitively by leaps and bounds. Now that Simon has mastered numbers (he can count to twenty and recognizes all his numbers) and letters (seriously, the kid is scary smart), he is working on shapes and colors. Actually, he has shapes fairly down pat as well now. It is such a dichotomy to watch Clare versus Simon develop. It amazes me how easy everything seems to be for Simon. I can read a book to him just a couple of times, and he has it memorized. I catch him multiple times a day sitting on the floor near the bookshelf or on the couch looking at books. He loves to read and be read to (a boy after my own heart!).Violet turned four months today. In the last couple of
weeks, her personality has blossomed. She can roll over, smiles all the time, and we have started hearing little giggles out of her. She always has a bright smile for us. Violet loves to just sit on my lap and watch the entertainment that having two older brothers and an older sister provide. She loves to play with her activity gym, and I started putting her in the exersaucer, which she loves as well. All kids seem to grow so fast, but I find that the more I have, the faster they seem to grow! We recently moved Violet out of our room and into the nursery. That event is always bittersweet because it means I don't have a newborn anymore, but it is nice to have my bedroom back!
