Besties

Anne and Cal have a special bond.  She seems to have gotten over the fact that our baby was not a sister as she had hoped.  She is always quick to talk or sing to Calvin, or bring him his pacifier and blankie.  Here they are snuggling on the couch, a much-requested activity.

Update

I can't believe it has been an entire month between blog posts.  That is BAD!  Turns out that 3 kids, a husband, a job, and a household can kinda sap your energy....

I have tons of photos on the camera, my phone, and the iPod to share with you.  I'll really try to do that tomorrow.  In the meantime, here are a few bits and pieces for you:

Anne
-Learned to whistle.  She's really pretty good!
-Back to preschool 2 mornings a week.  She loves it, but yesterday she was sad about being, "the biggest one there"  She is the tallest kid in her class.  I told her how awesome it is to be tall.
-Keeping busy with Sunday school, swimming lessons, and gymnastics.  Awana starts up again tonight, too.
-Birthday!  She turns FIVE one week from Friday and she's been talking about it since July.  She has elaborate, specific demands about her "party".
-She can straight-up READ.  Seriously.  She can read anything you put in front of her.  She reads silently to herself.  She reads out loud.  She sounds out words.  It is amazing.

Sammy
-Now that he's 3, he can tag along to Anne's activities.  He goes with her to swimming, gymnastics, and Sunday school and is doing great in all of them.  It is nice that they have each other (and I only have to watch the baby)
-Still all sports, all the time.  The potential NHL lockout will be so sad for our little Wild fan.  He was happy to go to "Daddy's football game", though he thought Dadddy would be playing football, not just coaching.
-Went to his first birthday party on Sunday.  Our friend Lucy turned 7 and happily invited Anne and Sammy to celebrate with her.  The pack of first grade girls thought it was pretty funny to have a 3-year-old boy in attendance.
-Knows all his letters and their sounds.  He is also doing some reading/word recognition.  Last week he read the sentence, "I will help you"

Cal
-4 months old already!
-Rolls from his back to his front.  Then he cries.
-Tried some baby oatmeal (not impressed) and a bit of banana (a little more impressed)
-Weighed 13 lbs, 12 oz at his checkup and was 25.5 inches long.  He wears all 6-month size clothes now.
-Likes to hold hands and snuggle his fuzzy blanket
-Finally starting to laugh a little bit.  He's a tough customer.  A smile is easy to get, but a laugh is rare.
-Getting better at putting his fingers or thumb in his mouth to suck.  He's definitely our worst napper--never more than 45 minutes of nap from him.  New territory for sure.
-Not yet reading, though Anne said, "Cal must know his letters because he says, 'A! A! A!'"

Mom and Dad
-Staying busy with kids/school/church/football
-After 2 years of part-time working, I finally got my boss to agree to a 4-day work schedule.  Now I stay home all day on Thursdays, which is awesome.
-Gearing up for our busy season of birthdays and holidays.  Christmas is a mere 3 months away!