 |
| Water makes everything better. And goggles? That's just straight up awesome. |
 |
| Ev has fun cheering on neighbor Matthew at his high school water polo matches (SBA) |
 |
| Rain never stops their fun |
 |
| diva girl at a birthday party - she was the most elegant young lady there |
 |
| All the Divas at Skye's birthday celebration at Sweet & Sassy Salon |
 |
| Evelyn's flower garden, coming along nicely |
 |
| Finger Paint is a favorite |
 |
| those earrings that seemed like such a great idea...they back-fired :-( |
 |
| Evelyn's Happy Family |
 |
| Drumming at Rainbow Lake Playground in Overton Park |
 |
| dinner al fresco on the patio |
 |
| oh that swing ... endless fun ! |
 |
| My Teeth !!! |
 |
| The Graham's |
EMERSON
my emerson just gets yummier and yummier. he has this beautiful soft skin, and these chunky little feet that are always wiggling and pushing up against you. his hands are so perfect - even when i can't keep up with his long fingernails. He has his Oma's hair, this straight blond hair that grows so fast - can't keep up with that either. His eyes are bright deep blue and so big and expressive. Even when he pouts at you. And boy can he pout (!). I love him like crazy.
he is growing his vocabulary lightening fast. "Pea! Pea!" is his please. He's very polite. You ask him a question and you get "Yeah!" or "No." or "Okay!" He's not sure how to say "may i have some of your drink?" so he does this straw sipping impersonation instead -- his little lips pursed together with this adorable little "sipping" inhale sound. Irresistible.
Tag has proclaimed him an athlete. He took one day to start walking on his own, with a little teetering here and there. But by day 2 he was solid. He is extremely good with macro motions - even throwing a ball. And he's impressive with micro motions -- able to place small items into exact positions, like inserting cards back into the paperboard card box after he dumps them out everywhere.
Boys are indeed different. That is obvious with Emerson. We are learning which things are sturdy in our home, and which are breakable. Things you can pick up are either good for swinging around, banging on other things, or throwing. And all with great gusto.
His little body (i get the sense that he is petite for his age) is so strong and solid and capable. He is learning to climb up onto things now (uh oh) mostly through his swim lessons where he's learned how to pull himself up and out over the edge of the pool. Swim lessons have been good, but I'm not sure how much swimming he's learning. He LOVES water, and doesn't at all mind being dunked down into it. The issue is that he thinks he should be able to float around on his own, so it's hard to hold onto him. And if he wrenches free from you, he sinks like a stone. This summer at the pool should be interesting....
EVELYN
Big sister. Not an easy job, but one that she seems to be enjoying more and more now that her brother can keep up with her a bit. Emerson won't brush his teeth unless his sister does it with him. and he even pretends to spit like she does. he watches her like a hawk. and wants to do everything she does, good or bad. They hunt for worms together in the backyard, each with a bucket and a small spade, lifting up stones one by one and peeking underneath.
She glows and fawns over him when they're having fun. She tries to help when he's fussy...but that usually backfires and we end up hollering at her to let him be. And she can be quite the conniving mischief maker when she's not in a great mood or she's frustrated that her brother is stealing more attention than he deserves. Im so proud of her for taking it all in stride.
She lets him destroy her room without batting an eye - she enjoys his company. Always one for social activity, emerson helps her manage through times of boredom or loneliness for the mayhem of other kids.
she's been reading more and more. it amazes me how she can sound out words that are totally foreign to her and sort out sentences piece by piece. she seems to have a love of numbers and is always adding up numbers for us and asking about the days in the month and the weeks in the year. she makes these books out of random drawings and has a story behind each page that she can recall even weeks later, writing in the titles on her own, sounding out the words in her mind.
we picked up this pot holder weaving kit on our trip to san diego as a coming home gift for evelyn. she took no time at all to figure it out, even wanting to crochet hook the edges on the finished square (we turned two of them into a super cute little purse - which turned into a battle around how to turn that purse into a merchandizing strategy so that she can start earning her own income...watch out world - this one is not going to settle for small !)
she's been asking about another trip - she wants to go on an airplane trip so she can use her suitcase with the rolling light-up wheels. I need to plan some visits to cool places and get this girl out in the world. I'd love to take her to europe again... we'll see...
