The other people...

...in my family

I have shared quite a bit over the last few weeks about how I was doing, but not so much on everyone else in the family.  So, here’s an update.  I’ll go youngest to oldest, because, well, that’s how things always went in my family :)

KATELYNN:  My sweet, sweet little one.  Love this girl!  She turned six months on Saturday and I am torn between being sad that all the little-baby time is gone and being excited that all the “other” stuff is beginning.  I love watching as little personalities emerge.

Katelynn LOVES people...as long as someone is right in her face, she is happy and smiles non-stop. This, of course, delights all the Indonesians who can’t get over how “fat” she is and how happy.  Our Ibu loves her to pieces.

She still isn’t huge fan of solids but is taking sweet potato without too much of a fuss.  She also got her hands on a dinner roll last night and she just shoved it in her mouth.  She still doesn’t take a bottle, and other that she thinking biting me is something to smile about, I don’t mind.

LEVI:  Oh my sweet, sweet, little goofy, antagonistic Levi.  I ADORE this boy...so much more than words can say.  He just has the sweetest and most hilarious personality.  Currently his favorite things to do are: 1) repeat the words, “I neeeeed you” all day long, 2) play with this deck of I spy cards (he carries them around everywhere with him and especially loves the two frogs and the two puppies)

 3) going with mom to pick up Caleb from school, and reading book.  Lots of books.  He is amazing us with his vocabulary and his insistance on telling us who or what is to blame when he gets hurt.  “Cabe did it.”  “Window did it.”  “Floor did it.” 

CALEB: There are no words to describe this boy -- he is his own little person and each of his little quirks becomes more endearing to me every day.  To my surprise, he is LOVING school. He especially loves “playing basketball,” which is what he says when he talks about PE class (funny, since they don't actually play basketball in preschool PE).  He insists on his PE hat being cocked to the side.  Soooo adorable!

 

He also LOVES LOVES LOVES our Ibu.  When his teacher asks him what makes him happy, he says, "Ibu."  When we get to the house and she isn't there he says, "Where is Ibu?"  I tell him she went home."  Then he says, "But I miss her." Funny thing is, he doesn't actually interact that much with her when he is home.  He does, though, like to help her clean.

We are going through some other stuff with Cabe right now -- we finally feel that we are on the right track to understand a lot of his developmental problems and other quirks.  It has been an amazing few months where feel like we are finally understanding our son and learning what makes him tick.  I will share more in the coming weeks -- way too much for this post. I will say that he is one AMAZING kid and he is accomplishing so much!

ALAINA:  Oh where did my sweet baby girl go??  She is not a baby in any way -- she is a young girl starting to be a bigger girl.  She is smart, responsible, outgoing, fun loving, kooky, and incredibly thoughtful.  She has her moments of being whiny and impatient, too, but I fear the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree on that one :)

To no surprise, she just LOVES school.  Her teacher tells me she is always the first (and often the only) one to answer questions.  She is enjoying reading, PE, and her one-on-one tutoring in Indonesian class.  She is also SUPER excited to start violin lessons soon at a local music school.

When she isn’t at school (which I realize isn’t very much -- she is gone from 7:30-3:30 and then goes to bed by 7:00 pm!) she loves to go to the playground, work on “homework,” and play with the neighbor girls next door.  The two older ones speak some English and she has a grand ‘ol time playing jump rope with them. 

She is also really happy to have another “yellow haired” girl in her class -- a new family just came last week and they have three blondies. She loves to make up games for her and her brothers to play.  Every morning the three of them play outside in the front yard.  I just love to watch them.

JASON:  He is really enjoying his work and I am so proud of him for all he does.  He manages a full teaching load as well as athletic director duties.  And on top of that he does his best to come home at 3:30 each day and spend quality time with the kids. I love seeing all the fun and creative stuff he is doing with his classes and was impressed that he even thought to take his camera in one day!  I’ve trained him well ;)

And as for me, I am doing well.  Keeping busy and LOVING my new role as "just" a mommy.  I am finding so much enjoyment from taking care of my little ones and the house, cooking, taking the kids to the pool, and just taking a rest from the past few really busy years.

AND I am happy to report that after six weeks in Indonesia I have found a decent place to get a piece of pizza...even if they do think that I might want to add chili sauce to my left overs.

Comments

[MandaKay]

Awesome update! Love seeing the kids grow up! They are all just so so cute!

[Hollie]

Thanks for the update, Janet! You have such a sweet family--you are very blessed:) I'm glad you found some good pizza too--that's important! LOL! I remember when I went to Croatia for a summer trip (this was during the war) and my mom, who was a bit freaked out, told me she knew I could never do this full time. Why? Because I would miss pizza! Well, little did she know that Croatia has some of the best pizza in the world! Haha!!!

[SteinyGirl]

LOVED reading about everyone! Thanks for sharing all that!!

[Kara]

As always, Janet, your photos are amazing! I love the ones of little Katelynn especially; what amazing eyes she has! You have such a beautiful family!

[Vanessa Armstrong]

Sounds like you guys are getting adjusted. I can't believe how fast the babies are growing, Cooper is also 6 months now and it just blows my mind.

Hope you guys are enjoying living overseas again, it was really neat when we were in Japan, I'd love to go back.