6 months & 4 years

Last week I took Autumn and Bailey to the dr. for their well visits. I always love seeing how much they weigh and how tall they've gotten.

Weight: 15.1 lbs. (25th %)
Height: 26 1/2 in. (75th %)
Head: 43 cm (50th %)

Bailey at 6 months is so smiley, happy, and easy going. My easiest baby by far. The only thing remotely difficult about her is her lack of interest in baby food. She doesn't mind cereal or oatmeal- it's all the other untexturized food- green beans, bananas, peas, apples, etc... My favorite thing about her- whether she has napped for 3 hours and just gotten up or if she slept 15 min and got woken up by a sibling screaming, or if she is dog tired and fighting sleep- she is as happy as a clam. She is babbling, rolling in all directions and watching her try to figure out why she can't go forwards and only crawls backwards and in circles cracks me up. I hope she stays this easy.

Weight: 37 lbs. (50th %)
 Height: 40 1/2 in. (50th %)

Autumn at 4 years old has lived true to the claim that once kids are 4, they're over that terrible 2's and 3's stage. I originally hoped that at midnight on her birthday a magic switch would turn old behaviors off and she'd be over all that 2 and 3 year old mess. It didn't happen. It took about a month and now Autumn and I are getting along in ways I worried we never would. She isn't as big of a handful as she used to be and I rarely find myself reprimanding her. I am loving age 4 for so far! My favorite thing about her- seeing her light up with positive praise and when I get on to her brother about something she's quick to tell me that she's not doing that and she's being good. :) She's a big help with Bailey (and Weston) and she is doing amazing with learning to read. She amazes me and surprises me everyday.

I love these girls!

Autumn Reads

I knew with summer coming I would need something to keep Autumn busy. That girl has a knack for learning and just eats it up. With preschool being out and looking at all she accomplished last year in preschool I knew the only thing left was teaching Autumn to read. I was hesitant at first, she is barely 4. But she needed something new and different.
I taught her her letters at 18 months old, and she could recognize all her letters, a few colors, a few shapes, recognized numbers up to 10, and count to 20 by age 2. By 2 1/2 she knew all the letter sounds. I loved being the one responsible for teaching her. I took such pride when we would be at friends or a family members house and she would start spouting off letters she saw on a blanket, shirt, wall, etc... and she wasn't even 3 yet. It made me light up.

 It's no secret Autumn is difficult, but she is on her best behavior when her and I sit one on one and do something educational. There's no denying how smart this girl is and I for one do not want to hold her back. I have had a book that teaches how to read for over a year and have gone over it so that I had it perfect when the opportunity presented itself to teach Autumn. Summer is here, and this was my moment. We are only into day 11 of the lessons, and she can read the simple 2 and 3 letter words in the lesson. I don't know what to expect when the lessons get harder and instead of just e and a sounds there is ea, ou sounds how she will do. But so far this has been right on her level.

I took a video because during the lesson she just shocked me, occasionally I have to redirect her attention to where I am pointing and have her say it slow and sound out the words. But she was doing it perfectly. I then tell her I am going to video and you can see minor distractions but she kept wanting to see the screen and the video itself. I am so proud of her.

I want Autumn to keep up this love for learning and be excited about it. So far that's all I have ever seen from her when it comes to learning and I want to help keep that up.