littlest singer

Alyna sang her first recognizable lyrics to a song when she was 15 months old... I thought is was remarkably cute and smart of her to sing "row row row bo" over and over again.

But Kellyn, who is very verbal already, is only 13 months old and sings multiple lines of multiple songs.

"buh rou rou rou" (while rolling her arms in a circle)- wheels on the bus go round and round
"bee bee bee" - horn goes beep beep beep

"row row row bo" - row row row your boat

"upa buh buh wa" (while opening and closing her hands) - up above the world so high (from Twinkle Twinkle)

"a face, ooray" - face will surely show it, if you're happy and you know it shout hooray

:E-I-E-I, ah ah"  - E-I-E-I-O, and a dog says "ah"

She also knows where her eyes, ears, mouth, belly button, hands, and feet are. She's a sweety too, and loves to laugh and be tickled.

It's amazing to watch God's development plans for each child as they differ. Each child seems to have talents that also compliment their personalities. I look forward to seeing all their talents develop further over the years.

fall clothes

Grandma may remember an outfit Alyna wore at Christmas when she was 15 months old, playing on the slides outside... it's a long sleeve white shirt with pink and green hearts all over it, and a green fuzzy hooded vest over it.  Kellyn wore it today and looked so cute.

I also realized on Monday that the capri pants Alyna was wearing were starting to look more like bermuda shorts.  I looked at the tag, and they were 18 month size (she's so skinny). So after washing them they became Kellyn's and she wore them yesterday. Alyna had a little trouble with that at first but finally relinquished them to her sister's wardrobe when I told her she had lots of capris but Kellyn needed them.
 
Kellyn is also about to outgrow the really cute shoes I just bought for her 2 weeks ago in Austin... I guess I should have gone up a size, but she needed some to wear right now.

We're having a gorgeous fall day today with a high of about 70 degrees, a cool wind, and lots of cloud cover.  I love when seasons change and the kids get to wear things for the first time. Ryan and Alyna looked super cute this morning in their new light-weight zip-up hoodies I found on clearance at Target earlier this summer. Alyna's is chocolate brown with a pink sparkly stripe down each sleeve. Ryan's is royal blue with a yellow car on the left side.  

I feel very blessed for the clothing choices we have for our children.

big kids now

It's very different only having one toddler, even though I still have twin 3 year olds. With Ryan and Alyna I always worried they would take off in different directions and one would get hurt. With just one toddler I can keep an eye on her more closely, and her siblings are now old enough to know what they should and shouldn't do. That doesn't mean they don't often need assistance or supervision, but it's at a different level.

Kellyn is walking all over the place, and falling often right now. She's testing her balance and strength daily. She now giggles and eagerly complies when I put her shoes on because she knows we're going outside or away from home. She's always eager to go out that door. S

Alyna and Ryan are acting a lot more like preschoolers now and have lost that toddler look altogether. I'm working with them a few times a week with worksheet pages on colors, shapes, patterns, etc. They love when Mommy is the teacher and we do "school" at the big table. Last week we got out a bucket of coins and counted pennies and quarters. They liked playing with the "moneys".  We also use some online educational tools for preschoolers. I also use their toys to have them find things of certain colors and shapes. Their newest favorite activity is painting with water colors. They actually don't make as many messes with it as I was expecting, aside from the occasional spilled water cup.

We recently visited my cousin's family in Keller, TX, and my brother's family in Austin, TX. It was a wonderful trip, and also very tiring. The kids loved playing with their cousins all week, and Ryan didn't even want to come home.

The smell of fall is in the air as the temperatures are finally starting to cool off, at least at night. It's wonderful to be able to play outside with the kids without worrying so much about the heat. I'm looking forward to the fall as it gets physically easier to take the 3 on outings since Kellyn is walking now. It is such a blessing to watch my kids grow and explore their world.

Road Trip TIme

We leave tomorrow for Kellyn's first road trip.  We flew with her to Tennessee in March, but she's never done a trip more than a 2 hour drive away for shopping or appointments in Lubbock or Midland.  I suspect she'll be as good a traveller as her siblings who love to go places, and only occasionally get so tired of their car seats that they start screaming about it.

I took some of toys over to a friend's house this morning and brought some of their toys home with us to take on the trip. With those "new toys", and the DVD player in the van, hopefully the trip will pass quickly.

We're off to the Dallas/Ft Worth area first (about 6 hours away) to visit my cousins, aunt and uncle, and some old friends for a few days. Alyna's been asking to go to the zoo all summer so, weather permitting, we will go to the Ft. Worth zoo on Tuesday. After that we'll have nap time in the car as we drive the 3 1/2 hours south to Austin. We're staying with my brother and his family through the weekend, and plan to also spend some time with  Barry's brother and his wife while we're there.

Ryan and Alyna are very excited about spending time with their cousins, and that includes my cousins' kids whom they've never met before.  We also plan to have their 3rd birthday party while we're in Austin, it'll just be a few days early.

Pictures and more descriptions are sure to follow after the trip...

Other News:

Now 1 year old Kellyn is walking all over the place, except when I put shoes on her. And she's gotten her 4 front teeth in last 4 weeks.  Fun times...

Alyna is starting to understand math concepts like that a $20 bill is bigger than $1 bill. So smart.

Ryan is still not pooping in the potty very often despite being pantless all week at the house... not sure what to try next.