An update on the kids

I am not sure what I came here to write, so it should be interesting to see how this ends. I am so frustrated with myself for not blogging daily, or at least several times a week. My kids are growing and changing so much and crack me up everyday, I wish I could remember to come here and talk all about it. (Or find a quiet moment to do so.)

Callia had her dance recital the other night. It was so awesome!!! I was so proud of her. She didn't hestiate at all on that stage. I cried during her first performance. It was ballet and she looked so stinking cute up there. I did better for the tap performance and only got a little choked up, but at the end they came on stage and took a bow and it was adorable, I cried again. Then the entire group of dancers lined up behind the curtain and when it went up, she was right in the front, showing off her little trophy. She is so proud of that thing! It was a great night. :)

I can't believe she is turning 4 in just 4 more days. She is growing up way too fast and she is so smart and beautiful. As she talks to me sometimes, I can't believe what I am hearing. I feel like that can't be MY kid talking. She's not old enough to think of those things on her own or rationalize like that. For her birthday Sunday, we are having a beach party, per her request.

Kiefer has been talking a lot more. It's so cute to hear him say, "Thank you" without prompting after you hand him something. It's funny how kids learn to say thing the way you say them. I tend to emphasize the "you" and now he does, too. He also "talks" a lot, right at you, and expects you to understand every word he says. Most of the time I just nod and say, "Yeah?" and he says, "Mm-hmm." It's so precious.

But what a little stinker he is! He loves to throw things, especially food, and it drives me insane. He really tests our patience (he's quite good at this, actually) . As Corey puts it, when he is done with something, "he wants it out of his life." The other day he did this with his cup and hit the baby on the head with it. Before Corey (I wasn't there) could even react, Kiefer made a face like "Oh no!" with his mouth shaped like an O, looked at Corey then ran to the baby and kissed her forehead. He apparently knew he shouldn't have hit her with it and that was his way of apologizing.

Speaking of Cady, she is still progressing slowly. It's still hard to say how able-bodied she will be, but she has been trying a lot more lately. Her PT is in the process of getting her some adaptive equipment. Kind of makes it seem more real, like she truly is disabled, but I know it's best for her AND it doesn't stop me from continuing to hope she will walk on her own one day.

Two nights ago she ate some Gerber Puffs!! I was so proud of her! I couldn't believe how well she did. She did spit it out a few times, but I would just get it back in there for her and she chewed and swallowed about 8 of them. Then she was trying her darnedest to pick one up. She has also been reaching out a lot more for many other things, too, like toys and faces (particularly noses). I am hoping as she gets older, she will become more motivated to do things and try harder.

We are taking them to get their pictures taken on Sunday. We always take the kids in for pics on their birthdays, but I also figured for Cal's pics, we'll take a group photo. I have been debating which birthday I want to do it on, but Cal's seems like a good choice since it's the farthest away from Christmas, when I will likely have another one taken. But then Kiefer's seems like a good choice because then they will all have had birthdays and will officially be 4, 2 and 1. I dunno...I am still contemplating this, but I am leaning toward Cal's birthday.

Ok, Cady is "calling" me, so I must go. I'm really going to try and return soon. :)