The Zoo Visits the Zoo

We celebrated Will's birthday at the zoo.

 

Let the Birthday Season Begin!

In the next six weeks we will celebrate three birthdays and the birth of baby number six.  My sweet Will is kicking off birthday summer today.

He is entering one of my favorite ages. Four year olds are absolutely delightful. They have their own unique way of seeing the world and are finally developing the skills to fully express themselves. It has been especially fun to hear Will's thoughts. He has had a speech delay, at times a significant delay, so for a majority of his life so far he has been the strong silent type. Hearing him chatter about questions we ask him or things he has been thinking about has been a precious gift.

Will is a very pragmatic boy. He has a big imagination but he has rigid rules within those things. He gets so exasperated with his dad sometimes for suggesting ludicrous things. The other day Matt was asking him what he wanted for his birthday. He suggested sharks, dinosaurs, and several other things. Will responded to each with a look that said, "Are you kidding?" And informed Matt that each of those things would eat him and therefore would not be a good birthday present.

He loves building things with blocks and Legos.  He loves his older brother. He is absolutely obsessed with animals and dinosaurs and superheroes. 

I'm so grateful to have Will in my life. 

 

 

Summer 2013

 

Random Kid Pics

Speaking of Softball

Ben watched the softball games avidly.  I didn't realize how closely he watched until he, unprompted, started begging everyone and anyone to pitch a ball to him and he would try to hit it with whatever resembled a bat that he found nearby.  When he found an actual bat in the toy room he danced for joy.  When he hits it, he runs to the door, smacks it and runs back.  I think he's super cute.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This spring, both girls played their first season of softball.  I have to say I was so excited for them to play!  I love softball.  Love it.  These are pictures from some of their first games.  Emily loved being with girls and learning the cheers.  Her best friend is on the team with her, and that was fun as well.  She gets the unofficial good sportsmanship award every time because she just loves being there with everyone.  I'm not sure she has a competitive bone in her body. 

 Dancing in the outfield

 Mary is my little lefty slugger.  Once she figured it out she hit it every time.  She didn't need the tee after the first few games.  She loved softball too, but in a more serious way than Emily.  It's important to her to get things right.  I'm so proud of her for going out and playing (almost) every inning of every game even though sometimes she was anxious about all the attention.  She's turning into quite the little ball player (even though her dad is already trying to recruit her to volleyball!). 

This has been a really long season.  I have loved watching the girls play, and the other kids have enjoyed playing outside during the games and making new friends, but I am also releived that it is coming to an end.  Four games and a practice every week on fields between 30 and 45 minutes from our house has been a huge commitment.  Much bigger than I had anticipated when signing them up.  And that on top of joe's two running practices a week and scouts.  It has been a marathon for this old pregnant woman.  Yay for a nice quiet baby-and-grandma summer!

Fun

Yesterday, we went with Matt to his last soccer game. I had to get this shot of Joe. He loves to run and comes up with elaborate games to play with his younger siblings but this is more often than not how you will find him, in some cranny somewhere with book in hand.