Ten Months on Sunday

Hi all,

I feel repetitive when I say that so much has happened again, but it's true. Life is incredibly busy at the Share Household.

First of all, the children are mobile, and we are very busy childproofing as we go. I didn't know you could move so fast by scooting around in a military crawl. We spend a lot of time playing with them on the floor. Having the playroom is wonderful, but I know they'll outgrow it in no time.

We were lucky enough to have my sister, her two amazing children, and my parents here to visit. I think my sister is wonderful being able to work with two different age children 24 hours a day without a break. And I thought my job was hard. Luckily her husband should be home (hopefully for good) in October. I pray for his safe return all the time. We started the trip off strong with visits to the park, the zoo, and ImagineIt! Museum. Unfortunately, my guys wound up with strep throats, ear infections, and colds. It put a little damper on the trip, but I am so happy they came. It was great to have my parents help, and between 5 kids, I think we wore them out!

This week we hosted playgroup for the first time. Including our trio, we ended up with 11 children ages 9 months through 14 months and 8 were boys. It is really neat to see so many children in the same room getting along or doing their own thing without many tears. It was also a great experience for the adults to relate and talk. I've included a picture.

Let's see what's new in our traits and skills.

Daniel is becoming very verbal. He loves to make sound effects and have you respond. He then giggles and does more. He always waits for the response. He even will do it to Dicey when she barks. He can climb up on his knees and loves to military crawl using one leg more than the other. He can go pretty fast. Today, we saw him do a real crawl and he stood up for the first time! He loves the tunnel I bought and playing with the clear plastic cubes. He doesn't always like when his brother and sister get in the way of his playing or when Nathan uses him to pull up or chew on.

Nathan is a very fast military crawler. I'm not sure I can keep up with him sometimes. As of yesterday, he can stand up on his own holding on. His laugh is contagious, as usual, and he loves to climb all over me or his siblings. His favorite toy is the one his siblings are playing with. I saw him race Emily to a toy yesterday. It was kind of funny. He has eaten 1-2 of the dissolving snacks, but he doesn't know how to gnaw or suck on it yet. He also loves to make a fish face.

Emily is a standing machine. She wants to stand everywhere (even her crib sometimes). She can cruise slowly - she has gone all the way around the ottoman. She can do a real crawl and military crawl. She has been a little grumpy because she is getting the first tooth of the family. Boy is it sharp. Her favorite toy is the stand up piano, and she also loves the cube.

All three love books and will race across the room to get to whatever book I am reading. I have to hold it high up or it becomes a climbing toy or a chew toy. They do love when I read and giggle at the animal sounds. They also like peek-a-boo. They love their baby food now. Mixed vegetables are a favorite, but they like lots of fruits, vegetables, and oatmeal. We are down to four feedings a day. We are also beginning to work on sleeping through the night. Our doctor said that they are beginning to have more of a memory and they now know Mommy and Daddy are next door and will come when called for. Therefore, we are trying to let them cry it out a little. It's getting better in just a few days. I look forward to sleeping through the night again soon. It is so sweet when they play together intentionally and talk/laugh together. We saw the boys playing a version of peek-a-boo one day and it made us smile. The hard part of all this is that with the climbing and moving come more falls, bumps and bruises. I hate to see it, but I know it is a part of growing up. So is my new role - that of a JUNGLE GYM. It is fun to have them crawl and climb all over me, but it is exhausting! I am tired at the end of every day.

As a final part, our contract came to renew or set Veroniuq free to find another family. I look forward to having her here a second year and will take her out to the South African restaurant as soon as we all sign the contract. She knows she will be working with the children more on her own next year, and she is looking forward to the challenge. In the past couple of weeks, she has spent more time with the children on her own and has fed all of them at once and gotten them down to nap. She knows it will get easier and harder when they feed themselves.

The pictures are a quick sampling of our month. The first is a snapshot of all of my parents' grandchildren together for the first time! We started our family trip at the swings and zoo. The next picture is of the men in charge of feeding and a snapshot of me reading to the kids. I've included one snapshot of playgroup. We discussed it as a group and think it looks a lot more intimidating than it really is. They get a long wonderfully! Finally, we have the outfits we wore on the first day of football season. Daniel wore the Georgia colors, while Emily is a Gator fan. Nathan sported Will's team, FSU. Enjoy, and I'm sure I'll have a million new changes next month. Please wish us no more ear infections!