Thursday, May 29, 2008

Kindergarten Then and Now

Then (first day of kindergarten)...and now (last day of kindergarten)....

School is out for the summer, and we have successfully made it through an entire year of kindergarten. I can hardly believe it, it is kind of surreal that next year I will have a first-grader who will be gone all day. Yikes! But it has been pretty amazing to watch Abigail learn so much in a year. She is already reading quite a bit (it's actually a little shocking sometimes what she can read), made some great little friends, and she seems to really love learning. I hope it's a life-long love. We are one week into summer break, and Abigail and Owen have played "school" everyday, so hopefully she can last a whole summer without it.

Here are some pictures of the little kindergarten program they did towards the end of the year. Based on Abigail's preschool performances, I was expecting to be slightly embarrassed by her lack of participation. But boy did she get into it! It was great to see her enjoy herself so much.Abigail is on the left in the back row.

All that Walker Christmas Eve practicing of the chimes really paid off.



The boys enjoying the show.



Me at the piano. Another mom and I switched off every week playing the piano for singing time. Sometimes the boys came with me, and I'm pretty sure Owen could have sung every song right along with the kindergarten class.

Well, I hate to end on such an awesome picture of myself, but (or should I say butt)....

Friday, May 2, 2008

Then and Now

Then...



And now...
So, it's been a few days since our Nathan John turned one. And it's not that we don't love him or that he's the third child or anything, it's just that I can't believe an entire year has passed by! We celebrated with strawberry shortcake and the opening of presents--which of course when you're 1, means a little bit of gift wrap snacking while your older siblings pretty much unwrap everything for you.


This pic is after we took the cake away to cut it. Seriously, once this kid even catches sight of food, it is like a scream fest--or rather a shriek fest--until he is given something to eat. I'm starting to get a complex that I might be starving him.



It's amazing how much little babies change in a year. A year ago Nate wanted nothing more than to be held and cuddled, now he wants nothing more than to not be held and cuddled. He is on the go--doing a traditional crawl (not the commando crawl anymore), cruising around furniture and climbing up stairs.

He claps his hands, waves, signs "more," shakes his head yes and no, says "hello" when he talks on the phone (which he holds up to the top of his head), makes car sounds when he plays with cars, pats your back and says "ahh" when you get a chance for a quick snuggle, and makes shy faces for strangers. He weighs 19 lb. 6 oz. (4th percentile--reinforcing my aforementioned complex about malnourishment), and is 31.7 inches long (91st percentile).
clapping hands

feeling shy

sweet suspenders Grammy sent, to assist in keeping our little skin and bones dressed (see Slim)

making car noises

saying "hello", which really sounds more just like "lo"

Happy Birthday, Nate! We love you!!