Simon: Friend of animals

 Here is Simon and Newton hanging out in the laundry basket.  Simon likes to sit quietly with Newton when the cat wants to rest.  They have been known to  sit under bushes and trees together.  I've also found them in corners and other small spaces around the house.

Of course Simon loves his Aha. Elephants flock to him too :)

Seriously, Simon is a gentle soul who loves all kinds of animals.  He tells us his favorite animals are ducks, penguins, and birds.  He notices every little animal that comes along.  He's also the first one to come running when there's a dog to pet.  He even likes to touch those crazy scaly reptiles.

Jonah at 11 months

Jonah has grown so much over the last couple of months.  He has really been working on his sounds lately.  His favorite thing to talk about right now is his rubber ducky that he takes baths with.  He calls it Duh.  He also now has names for Reed and Simon.  They are Dah and Bah.  It's especially evident when he's yelling at them to get their attention.  Jonah has also been practicing his car sound.  Now when ever he has a car in his hand be trying to make that brmm sound.  He also says, "bubblew" when we aren't quick enough at saying, "bless you" for him when he sneezes.

Our little Jojo is also quite the eater.  His favorites are bananas and chicken nuggets.  I can honestly say that I have never seen him turn down meat.  He is a protein eater.

Jonah really is quite the happy baby.  The only things that really frustrate him are when he wants to be with his brothers and he can't.  It has been so fun to see how he fits in with the other boys.  Simon seems to have knack for helping him feel better when he's sad.  Simon also likes to help Jonah go to bed and get up.  Reed is the one who tickles and chases him.    Jonah can usually get Reed to get him what he wants if Tim and I aren't around.

The other day Reed said to me, "Mommy, I'm so glad that we have a baby in our family!"  I agree, and I can't imagine life without him.

Reed graduates and turns 6!

On May 19th, Reed had his kindergarten graduation.  It was a fun ceremony where they interview all the kids about their favorite field trip and their favorite subject.  Reed's answers were the train ride and reading.  Afterwards there was a cake and punch reception.  He did such a good job reciting his memory verses (John 3:16 and Ephesians 6:1) and singing Jesus Loves Me with his classmates. Here is another from that day with  Emily and Abigail.

The other major thing for Reed this month is that he turned 6 on the 12th.  He asked me if he could have a lego party.  so we invited a few friends over to play and have cupcakes.  I put little candy legos on the cupcakes and we decorated with lego posters.  Here are some pictures of that.

Reed Reading

Reed is mostly done with the school work I had planned for him this year. We only have about ten more lessons in his reading book. I am so amazed at how much he can read now. I think he really started to improve when he realized he knew more about what was going on because he can read signs for himself. He also makes sure we're reading the right words when we read to him. Plus he likes to read to Simon and Jonah. I can't wait until he's done because I have an Amelia Bedelia book that I want to read with him. I think he's really going to like the humor in it. Here's a picture of Tim reading to Sam, Reed, and Simon.

Jonah's 9 month checkup

Jonah is now nine months old! My baby is 19 lbs 11 oz and 29 inches tall. He has been pulling up for awhile, but lately he has been trying to cruise. He definitely has the whole crawling thing down now although he still prefers to army crawl when he wants to carry something around. Right now his favorite toy is a ball, any ball really. Jonah has definitely turned into a sweet smiley baby. His favorite past time is to smile and wave at people. He's also very sensitive to when somebody is yelling at him. He cries when someone tells him no. Jonah is such a blessing to be around.

Simon's friend

Today our friend's Erica and her son Stirling came over while Reed was at home school co-op. Stirling and Simon are the same age and have become quick friends over the last couple of months. It has been so much fun seeing Simon develop from parallel play to actually playing with someone. Erica and I have enjoyed eavesdropping on their conversations that seem to be real and about things that they both care about. They even listen to each other seem to value the other's opinion Today the two of them decided they needed to go up to Simon's room and listen to music on the cd playing. So we found them with the music blasting and hanging out in the cave under Reed's bed.

Overheard Conversations

Reed is crying
Simon: "Reed, Reed, what's wrong? How can I fix you?"


while listening to Yesterday in the car
Reed: "Daddy, when did he lose his love? Did he lose it yesterday?"
Tim (while chuckling): "I guess."
Reed: "Well what time?"