Three things about four kids coming right up.
Grady: Still super into all things sports. He is currently playing soccer and flag football. Baseball starts next week, so he will be playing three sports for a few overlapping weeks. This weekend it snowed and all sports were canceled and he really didn't know what to do with himself all day long. He is in a phase now that he listens to the Rockies on the radio every night before bed. He is a reader. He loves to read every night before bed with me or dad. Then, he will read for another 20-30 minutes on his own. He is into Captain Underpants, My Weird School, & Dog Man. He is tightly wound and struggles when things don't go his way. We are working on it, but it is definitely tricky. A great quality in that he wants to do his best and be the best at everything, but difficult when he doesn't do something the way he expected to or when others don't see things the way he does (at home). At school, he does much better than at home. Phew.
Laine: Wrapping up kindergarten. She loves school and all things about it. She is obsessed with her teacher and can come home and tell us everything Mrs. Rothman taught her at school that day. We had to send a form in that would be returned to my school (where she will go in the fall) and it asked about academics and social information about Laine. It said, she is reading at the middle of a 1st grade level and is doing great in math. Yay!! I was worried about her a little in the beginning, but she has proven me wrong. I am also glad we waited to send her until she was 6! Her teacher said she loves to paint, draw, build with blocks, is a great listener and a wonderful friend. At home, she is starting to stand up for herself more with her siblings and have stronger opinions about a few things. BUT she is still by far the most easy going and peaceful of all the DeCola kids up to this point. She is very interested in animals and horses. Her school was giving away books last week and she brought home about 30 (all about horses, farms and and animals). Soccer. She plays in Louisville and practices twice a week and plays on Saturday. At first, she wasn't too into it. She got in the car one afternoon after practice and asked me, "Mom, what is the purpose of soccer?" I responded, and then asked what she liked about it. To which she replied, "Nothing. Well, seeing Andie Kate. that's it." It has gotten better since then, but I'm not sure loves playing as much as she likes building pyramids on the sidelines and cheering for the Sparkling Soccer Balls.
Ava: Ava continues to be the outgoing performer of the bunch. We were at the park the other day and she walked right up to a 2 year old boy and proceeded to introduce herself as well as every other member of the family, including our real names (not mom) as well as our ages. From there, she followed the poor kid around and fired questions at him like, "When is your mom's baby due?' "Where is your house?" "What is your name?" "Last name?" ... and many more. She dances whenever music is on and enjoys singing in her microphone. Ava is very articulate and uses words as well as has conversations that sound more like they are coming from an adult than a 4 year old. Today, Kris was yelling at Laine and a little friend about making a mess in the basement. When he came back up the basement stairs, she sang him a Daniel Tiger song about feeling frustrated. She is quite in tune to people's feelings. Ha. She told me yesterday she would name her 5 kids: Olivia, Shula, Lula, Aula, and Frank. "After Great Grandpa Frank." She is weirdly into older family members and talks about them in Heaven. A lot. She still screams out and has a lot of trouble sleeping at night. We are working on it. Not going well;)
Anna: This girl has my heart. She is at my favorite stage and is the cutest. She just learned to walk. And takes steps, then falls, then gets back up. She is a little parrot and says so many words: Dada, DD, Nainey, Ahva, Papa, Mama, help, up, out, in, milk, itsy bitsy, eye, ear, hat, tongue, bath, toes, pat pat, uh-oh, Addie, Ollie, hot, ouch. She uses them in the correct context and seems to use a new word or more words together everyday. She just started sleeping all night a couple weeks ago. #pathetic. I thought she'd stop nursing at 1, but she is still interested, and I don't mind. She lifts up my shirt or pulls at my collar and says, "Nack" (snack). Hilarious. I just can't say no. She gets dragged all over the place on the weekends and does pretty well being a spectator at the sports fields. She better get used to it, I suppose.
Laine: Wrapping up kindergarten. She loves school and all things about it. She is obsessed with her teacher and can come home and tell us everything Mrs. Rothman taught her at school that day. We had to send a form in that would be returned to my school (where she will go in the fall) and it asked about academics and social information about Laine. It said, she is reading at the middle of a 1st grade level and is doing great in math. Yay!! I was worried about her a little in the beginning, but she has proven me wrong. I am also glad we waited to send her until she was 6! Her teacher said she loves to paint, draw, build with blocks, is a great listener and a wonderful friend. At home, she is starting to stand up for herself more with her siblings and have stronger opinions about a few things. BUT she is still by far the most easy going and peaceful of all the DeCola kids up to this point. She is very interested in animals and horses. Her school was giving away books last week and she brought home about 30 (all about horses, farms and and animals). Soccer. She plays in Louisville and practices twice a week and plays on Saturday. At first, she wasn't too into it. She got in the car one afternoon after practice and asked me, "Mom, what is the purpose of soccer?" I responded, and then asked what she liked about it. To which she replied, "Nothing. Well, seeing Andie Kate. that's it." It has gotten better since then, but I'm not sure loves playing as much as she likes building pyramids on the sidelines and cheering for the Sparkling Soccer Balls.
Ava: Ava continues to be the outgoing performer of the bunch. We were at the park the other day and she walked right up to a 2 year old boy and proceeded to introduce herself as well as every other member of the family, including our real names (not mom) as well as our ages. From there, she followed the poor kid around and fired questions at him like, "When is your mom's baby due?' "Where is your house?" "What is your name?" "Last name?" ... and many more. She dances whenever music is on and enjoys singing in her microphone. Ava is very articulate and uses words as well as has conversations that sound more like they are coming from an adult than a 4 year old. Today, Kris was yelling at Laine and a little friend about making a mess in the basement. When he came back up the basement stairs, she sang him a Daniel Tiger song about feeling frustrated. She is quite in tune to people's feelings. Ha. She told me yesterday she would name her 5 kids: Olivia, Shula, Lula, Aula, and Frank. "After Great Grandpa Frank." She is weirdly into older family members and talks about them in Heaven. A lot. She still screams out and has a lot of trouble sleeping at night. We are working on it. Not going well;)
Anna: This girl has my heart. She is at my favorite stage and is the cutest. She just learned to walk. And takes steps, then falls, then gets back up. She is a little parrot and says so many words: Dada, DD, Nainey, Ahva, Papa, Mama, help, up, out, in, milk, itsy bitsy, eye, ear, hat, tongue, bath, toes, pat pat, uh-oh, Addie, Ollie, hot, ouch. She uses them in the correct context and seems to use a new word or more words together everyday. She just started sleeping all night a couple weeks ago. #pathetic. I thought she'd stop nursing at 1, but she is still interested, and I don't mind. She lifts up my shirt or pulls at my collar and says, "Nack" (snack). Hilarious. I just can't say no. She gets dragged all over the place on the weekends and does pretty well being a spectator at the sports fields. She better get used to it, I suppose.
Well, that is more than three things for each kid. They are all pretty amazing. In a mama's eyes.
