Sleepyheads

The short bus

Brooklyn started school yesterday. She is attending a special preschool at a nearby elementary school. It is designed to help 3 and 4 year olds that have developmental problems. Though she's super smart, Brooklyn lacks in social skills. She is extremely shy. For all of you who know Abram, she would have to be Abram x 1000 (or perhaps x 1,000,000) when it comes to not talking. I think in the entire year and a half that she was in nursery, she said maybe 5 words. Once she went to a birthday party and she just sat at the table, looking at her cupcake, while all the other kids devoured their cupcakes and ran off to play. Once again, speechless. I am pretty sure she has what is called "selective mutism." It's where she will talk around her family but once she is around others, even kids her own age, she clams up. Hopefully, preschool will help her become more social and expressive of her feelings. She gets to ride the special "short" bus to school as well. I don't exactly know how proud I should be that my child has to ride the handicap bus to school. A friend of the family put it this way, "It's better that she rides the short bus now instead of when she is bigger." True, very true.

Brooklyn waiting outside at school

Walking out to catch the bus

Ava Update

It has been 8 months already. Boy, I'm such a big girl. Life is sweet, at least for me. My mom on the other hand has completely lost it. She's walking around wearing some kind of weird white jacket with buckles on the back, saying "I can't take it anymore." I try to help her, but my words of comfort seem to only come out in loud cries. I follow her around everywhere, crying, of course. (Oh, I've been crawling for a month now--I'm pretty much the Jackie Joyner Kersee of crawling).

I love my mommy. She, however, doesn't seem to appreciate my athletic abilities. I can pull myself up on anything. I do this all day long. I just can't sit still. Life is too much fun. I do hurt myself a lot. Boy, I hate that crib thing. I like to ram my head and face into the rails--anything to get mommy's attention. She always gets me out. Works like a charm. Now, she's afraid to put me in the crib during the day so she holds me while I take my naps. Her arms over the lonely crib...you would do the same, believe me.

I love, love, love food. It's a good thing I move a lot or else I would be quite beefy. I have two teeth and should be getting some more soon. That probably explains why I chew on everything. Today, my mom caught me teething on the toilet. She said that was pretty much the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. It felt so good to my gums though. I find new things to teethe on all the time. One day, I was lying in my parents bed and I woke my mom up by chewing on her arm. If it's near my mouth, I'm going to chew on it.

So, I've survived my first 8 months. Not sure how much longer my parents are going to last (yes, I'm driving my dad crazy too). Not even sure if my sisters can handle me either. I've pretty much already passed Brooklyn up. One down, one to go. When are these people going to learn that if they give me what I want, feed me, hold me and pretty much give me their undivided attention, everything will be fine and dandy? Am I asking too much? I don't think so.

Mommy's little helper

Here's Brooklyn being a good little helper...

doing dishes...

and she did it without being asked. What an angel! And she did a pretty good job considering she's only three!

Our Favorite Things

How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? Probably the same way you get four babies to sleep at the same time. Or the way you get a five year old to go back to bed on Christmas morning. Or perhaps the same way you get that perfect family photo...Kendall, leave the hat at home next time. Perhaps, there isn't a solution. And perhaps, life is better with all the chaos and commotion, feisty 2 or 5 year olds, crying babies and even a hat in a picture. All those moments, that seem so out of control at the time, end up making the best memories down the road. So, in honor of cousin Calli's odd fascination with musicals, I submit this post of our "favorite things" from this past Christmas:

Ava crawling

Mackenzie waking up early on Christmas morning, playing foosball in our bedroom.

The invention of the shoe-lock and the great Frontier Street jail break

Stupid witches

Ashley...once a werewolf, always a werewolf

Mackenzie and her new bike...."the elves didn't put the pedals on tight enough"

Doe a dear, a female dear..."No, that's my song!"

It's Captain time!

New Yolk City

Ryan's don't ask, don't tell policy

Bird man Dan, the crappy roofer

Drooling and more drooling

Kendall and his pink party shirt

"Her skin was the color of a branch...she was beautiful."

The greatest Willospit comeback of all time

The art of rolling citrus fruits

Bananagrams

Okay, this clock says 9:20 and that clock says 11:30 and the other clock says 10:05...so, what time is it really?

Pinochle--a fairly quick game that lasts only 3 hours or so

Brooklyn and the scary Elmo book

"Yes, Jesse, yes, yes, yes."

The Happiest Place on Earth

Even in the rain, it is still the "happiest place on Earth." Abram had training in Orlando, so Macky and I joined him for some fun at DisneyWorld. Mackenzie had so much fun. She loved, loved, loved the roller coasters and the teacups. Oh, I can't forget meeting the princesses. She got so bashful and timid when she met them. It was adorable. She told Belle that she dressed as Belle for Halloween last year and Belle got really excited. You should have seen Mack's face when she saw Cinderella's castle light up at the end of the night. She looked so wet (her poncho ripped) and so cold. But, she had the biggest smile on her face! How sweet! Of course, when we asked her which ride was her favorite, she said, "the one I didn't ride"--the Aladdin's magic carpet ride. Sorry, but it was raining and she had already been on Dumbo, a dinosaur ride and a rocket ride that did the exact same thing. Maybe next time.

Dear Santa...

To the jolly fellow in red, this is what I really need for Christmas:

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Trend-Expedition-Jogging-Stroller/dp/B001NIZSGE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1260554864&sr=8-1

Thanks,

April