Friday Updates

It is a lovely Friday afternoon here, at least for me! Emilio is off at kindergarten, Gabi is at her friend Cora's house for a play date, and Luci probably has her bottom in the air in her crib as she takes her afternoon snooze. So, I have been left with a little time to myself, which may I say, rarely happens .I got to take a long hot shower in the middle of the day (took Pilates this morning at the gym, so I needed a rinse off), threw a load of laundry in, checked FB, called the WA state licensing department for teaching info. (just looking into it for the future for possible substituting jobs), and mostly caught up on newsy blogs from friends. I thought I'd take this chance to update all my friends on how our three monkeys have been doing lately.

Emilio has been loving kindergarten. He has lots of buddies in his classroom, and adores his teacher. He is sounding out his words, and reading early reader books from the Bob series, and from the library, is noticing print lying around the house, and on signs as we run errands. It is very exciting! He is also piecing together sentences, and recording information that he finds interesting. Today, he decided he would write down what he had eaten for breakfast, snack and lunch. I loved seeing his interpretation of pumpkin bread....it was pugnbrid. Love it. He asked me, "Is that right Mommy," and I reply, "You are doing great, and I like how you spelled that." I don't correct him at this point, we can tell he's going to follow in his Mommy and Daddy's "perfectionist," shoes, and don't want to discourage him. Last week, Emilio was the student of the week, and was honored in a school assembly. We clapped for him, and cheered.
He's very interested in spiritual things right now, and has been pondering heaven, and asking us lots of questions. He is a deep thinker, and we like that about him, except that it usually happens around the bedtime hour, which may also be his way of prolonging the inevitable.
Emilio is taking a break from sports right now (they are so spendy sometimes!). We might sign him up for swimming again next month though, and he is quite the fish. We love our energetic, sweet dude! He is getting so big.

Emilio and his friend at the Student of the Month Assembly

Gabriela is doing very well in preschool. She sometimes shares a little too much with her teachers though. The other day she told them in circle time, "One time, my Mommy was really bossy, and I don't even know why?" Twerp! Gabi sometimes doesn't have a filter on what is appropriate or inappropriate to say in front of others which can make for some both awkward, and funny moments. She still loves pigs, but doesn't have the obsession she once did. She loves playing dress up, and we've grown to call her "Belle" dress from Disneyland, her uniform, as she wears it almost every day. Gabi can't wait to start ballet class again next week, mostly because she loves to dress up fancy for class. She loves to play with Polly Pockets, color, and be read to. She's an expert eye crosser, and loves to sing a princess song at the table about "Manners and Etiquette" for everyone to hear. Gabi is learning her letters and the sounds, along with her numbers as well. She is so excited to be a kindergartner next year. We love our funny, quirky Gabi, she makes us smile from ear to ear.

Princess Gabriela and Tiny Princess Luciana

Luciana is 21 months now. She is well on her way to being 2 years old, or even 10! She is extremely verbal and knows how to express herself. Just the other day at the library, she became angry with another little boy, and started yelled, "Dang it," at him. She also frequently tells us, "Stop it," or "go away." We have started describing her as "spicy, feisty, and stubborn." She is sweet too though, and loves giving hugs and kisses, and saying, "I wuv you mommy, or Daddy or Boo Boo or Babby." Luci loves Elmo, Dora, her blankie, her paci (only in bed though), and snacks (we had to take the doorknob off the pantry because she was sneaking into it to get herself food all the time). Luci has had lots of success pooping in the potty so far, but not many pee experiences. Kind of opposite from the norm, but we will take it. We are going to go full on with the potty training soon. We feel so blessed to have little Luci in our lives, she is full of zest, and we couldn't be happier about it.

Miss Smiley

 So, that's a little synopsis on how the kiddos are doing. Life is moving forward, whether we want it to or not.