update

Lauren has really grown up over the past month. Her vocabulary has really taken off and there's nothing that she can't say. As her vocabulary increases we're learning about how much she knows. She pulled me into the playroom a couple of weeks ago and pointed to a circle and said, "shirshle." She says the colors blue (her favorite), yellow, and pink. She points to body parts and says their names (like back and knees - not just the typical eyes, nose, etc). We are amazed at our sweet little girl - she's really growing up. She's been into completing little puzzles and games and it's so amazing to watch her do these. You'd think that it wouldn't be as amazing the second time around, but it's almost more amazing. Our little baby has really grown up! She continues to nurture her baby dolls, play with trains and cars, and she's finally conquered going up and down the stairs (no more gates)!! She absolutely loves gymnastics and she's learned a lot about being part of a group and following directions from her teacher. She's learning to do things with her body after you ask her to. For instance, she'll do an arabesque, walk on her tippie toes, do a straddle, do a pike, etc. It's really neat to see the wheels turning in her little mind. I've enjoyed getting to know Lauren a little more one on one and she is just a joyful child.

Will has really matured in the past six weeks. He's learning a ton at school and he's really developing friendships more this year. We've had a couple of his school friends over to play and it's neat to watch them interact. He's made some good choices with his friends and I'm proud of him. He's starting to get control of his emotions a little bit more (that is a constant struggle with him) and I've accepted that he's an emotional boy and that's just how God made him. The world is such a competitive place and it really starts at birth.... I just want him to be secure in the person that God made him to be and to know that we love him totally and completely.

We took him to Build a Bear this week to make a dinosaur. About two months ago Joe took him to play golf and I took Lauren to Build a Bear. (Lauren made a bunny named Hop.) Will's been wanting to go to Build a Bear since Lauren got to go. We took him this week to make Dyno the Dinosaur (he came up with the name, Joe came up with the spelling) and that little trip meant the world to him. He LOVED the experience and he has slept with Dyno every night since then. He also eats breakfast with Dyno and his request for breakfast is now, "Nothing messy because I don't want to get Dyno dirty."