Liam: 5 yrs. 7 mo.

Been a long while since my last update on Liam, and lots of changes too. Not only with him, but also with our lives.  He has finished his 3rd year of preschool, and is reading so well!  He is also starting to do math in his head.  I keep telling him he has his dad's math brain.  Mike purchased several Sylvan Learning work books at Costco near the end of school, and Liam has been doing the 1st grade language book with ease.  We hope he isn't too bored in Kindergarten, but mostly it will just be getting used to bigger classes and going to school everyday.  Speaking of Kindergarten,  he will most likely be going to the school near our house instead of the one by Grandma's house because I recently lost my job which was in Orem (near Grandma's). 

We decided to continue with swim lessons over the summer even though it is a drive, and we are trying to cut down on our spending.  We feel that swimming is a very important skill to know, and can save a life too.  He is really excelling this summer with swimming.  He is getting very good with the breathing, and learning to float and all the strokes too.  We are very proud of how well he is doing! 

The biggest issue I have about staying home is all the bickering the kids do.  Both kids have dominant personalities which makes for lots of fights.  It drives me insane!!  I know I need to plan more things for them, but I have found it hard to do since they have swimming lessons everyday (Mon-Thurs), and it is right in the middle of the day so it's hard to plan play dates around....but I am trying!!  There is only 3.5 weeks left of swimming and then school starts shortly after....the summer has flown by so fast!  My hope is with school is we can establish a better schedule, and I will have a little 'me time' to get some things done during the day, which will be nice. 

Anyway, I wish I remembered all the little things Liam has done over the last several months, but he continues to be such a great kid.  One thing I do know is that his eating has improved vastly!  He LOVES spicy food.  He has tried and loved one of our pasta dishes called 'Fiery Fusilli'.  Now that I am home, I have been planning and cooking meals more often during the week.  It took him a while to accept the fact that I can actually cook (since usually dad is the one).  The other day I made an Asian Chickpea salad. He usually will not eat salad, but he tried it, and loved it!  He likes to mix up spices, and makes up recipes and tells us about it. He has been talking about having a cooking contest which we think is just adorable!

comment by mom/grandma on 07/25/2013 Watch out! He just may win a cooking contest, he has an amazing ability to put things together.

Rowan: 3 yrs. 7 mo.

Rowan absolutely LOVED her first year of preschool.  Her teacher Miss Marjan was wonderful, and Rowan still talks about her a couple months after school ended!  We are very sad that she will not be going to Kids Village for 2 more years, but hopefully her new preschool closer to home will be great too!  The tuition is actually less money, even with adding a dance class after school.  She always starts dancing anytime we put a skirt or dress on her.  We think she will LOVE it! 

She tries to keep up with her brother all the time, sometimes we forget that she is 2 yrs. younger.  While Liam is excelling in swimming, she seems to have reached her max this year.  She has learned how to go under the water, and blow bubbles which is a great improvement, but she has a hard time following instructions because she is distracted playing with toys and with bugs in the water.  We know this is normal for a 3 yr old, so we decided to scale back her time in the lesson and give Liam more time.  She doesn't seem to mind or notice, and we figured it was a better solution than stopping her lessons. 

Rowan is such a snuggle bunny, which we feel very lucky about. She is very loving, and is very serious about giving hugs and kisses.  She wraps her arms around your neck and squeezes pretty tight, and then makes sure to plant a firm kiss on your cheek.  While Liam continues to try new foods, she on the other hand is in her Hot Dog phase.  Thankfully, she likes the tofu ones, which are probably not the best thing, but beats whatever is in the 'meat' ones.  I mentioned the Asian Chick Pea Salad that Liam loved in his update....she actually tried a little of it, which is at least an improvement, and gives us a little hope that she will enjoy other foods when she is older. 

Anyway, once school starts, I am sure I will have more to write about!

comment by mom/grandmab on 07/25/2013
She has done amazingly well at swimming for her age. And she really does give great hugs and kisses, even to Koko!