UPdAteS!

Avery- she is so stinkin smart and also a smarty stinker. She is still very loving to the point of crawling up under our shirts and putting her nose up to our ears as she is trying to snuggle herself to sleep. She seems very smart (to us) but that possibly could be a comparison we inadvertently make to Ileigh, who began speaking in 3-4 word sentences after her 3rd birthday.

Avery continues to win our and our friends and families hearts.. however.. we need to be careful not to disturb her delicate temper. (I.E. )You WILL know what sippy cup she is requesting from the cupboard and what color straw she wants, even if she has not verbally expressed it. You WILL make sure she does not hit her head while passing the kitchen counter or while walking backwards toward the refrigerator doors. and you WILL know when it is neccesary that she do something completely on her own whether it be buckling herself in her carseat, pulling her own pants off to get up on the potty or brushing her own teeth. Those are just a few of the Avery rules. If any of these are accidentally or (God forbid) purposely broken, you will be punished. First by the extreme noise that she lets out at your face and second by some sort of pain inflicted by her nails or teeth. Yes that is our sweet sweet girl.

Healthwise, Avery still has some. Her pooping issues come and go. Her eczema is bad. She has been on a few different creams, ointments, and steroids for 2+ years now. I recently read (yesterday) that one of the ointments we have been using has been black boxed. We were specifically told it was safer than steroids, so we have been using it liberally. Come to find out yesterday, she was supposed to be covering her body parts from the sun after using this (like the Elidel we started last month, and were warned about). And we were to use it sparingly and under extreme circumstances. Unfortunately the drug companies wanted people to be amazed by this wonder drug so they went ahead and waited for 76 or so cases of skin cancers and lyphoma's to be found in children after using their product to go ahead and let the public (ME!) know. I am pissed. She better not get anything.. and now we have to monitor her carefully for the next 10 years. Those three $50.00 each tubes are now going in the garbage. The worst eczema is better than the best cancer. JMO.

Ileigh. Poor middle child Ileigh. She is so emotional. She has so many frustrations. She is usually very quiet but is a complete bear in the morning to get ready and out the door. We are beginning to think Kindergarten again next year will be the best thing. She has breakdowns doing her easy peasy homework lately. Her memory for all things UNacademic is superb. I just don't understand why it doesn't carry over. I pray that her brain synapses will fire off soon and she will understand and learn the basics over the next few months. I don't think she will even realize that she is repeating kindergarten next year. It will be at a new school and most of the kids will only be a few months younger than her due to her late summer birthday.

Austin- Has a girlfriend! I am so scared. I wonder if they kiss. Ewww. I mean, I did at that age but it is always different when it is your child. In another year, he will be driving. I just can't believe it.
He got almost all A's and I believe Montessorri really pushed him in middle school. High school is a breeze for him. This weekend he starts baseball. May there be NO injuries there!

Andy- wants to switch jobs. Hopefully it will be the right move for us. I will have to change my work hours and begin taking the morning beasts to school. We really want to get out of debt and I think we can do it in the next year, with my settlement and his new job. I hope. I hope.