Milestones

Well, we're finally healthy and chicken pox free (hopefully E won't get them) for the past few days. YEAH!!!! Although, in all honesty, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

The past few days though have shown me a lot about my kids. It doesn't seem possible that in just 2 weeks Zach is going to be 7. I still think the math is somehow off there. In case I've not mentioned it, I think Zach is one of the best kids around- I know I'm a bit biased, but he never ceases to amaze me with his heart, his intelligence and his whole being. We've been struggling a bit with his cello playing and the relationship with his cello teacher and the past 2 weeks have been a complete turnaround. He is doing great and for the first time actually wanted to play for people other than me (he's not EVER done that before- he'll play in concerts and such, but not for others outside of performances). One of my favorite things he does is reads to E for however long she'll endure it. It's very tender. In the mornings E wakes up and starts squawking for Zach and Hannah. When they come in, she jumps up and down and can't wait to hug them.

ANYWAY... so the big milestone the past few days is Hannah has started to read! We have a series of books we got for Zach that are all 3-4 sounds words and are perfect for a beginner. I can not believe how quickly she's picking up on it. Tonight, with just a little help, she read an entire book (8 pages). Zach and I both were so proud of her. It was good and encouraging to hear Zach tell her that he was proud of her. That doesn't happen too often.

Elizabeth is doing great. She's such a fun kid and I enjoy her immensely! She is talking more- still in Elizabeth language, but you have to start somewhere! Her new favorite thing is to sing. We have a rotating playlist that we do in the van and right now we're listening to David Crowder- The Lime CD purely for song #5- "Undignified". Zach and Hannah LOVE this song and sing it as loudly as they possibly can. Elizabeth just claps and then yells "HEY" (or something like it) during one part of the song that David Crowder yells Hey. It makes me laugh. She's also started singing Elmo's World. Every time she does it, Brian and I just laugh and make her do it again because it's so darn cute.

Wow. This is a little long. Milestones are good and fun and unfortunately a reminder that the kids are getting older.