Little Update on Levi

Today Levi went in for his 3-year check-up. It's hard to believe that this guy just barely turned three. I guess he's been past the twos for me for a long time. He is still a hefty kid; even more so than last year. He's higher on both the charts, weight at 70% and height at 92%. He seems as healthy as a horse as far as that goes.

Today we also had a screening with the school district psychologist, part of the process for speech services. She tested him in all sorts of cognitive tests and asked me tons of questions that were hard to answer. But we got through it. Levi really charmed the psychologist. He was being really cute with her. She would have him do a little task and then reward him with a sticker, which he was supposed to put on a paper she gave him. He loved it, and was super excited when she showed him the stickers and there was a sticker of Prince Phillip! He quickly chose that one. As far as I can tell, he did really well cognitively. She even said that he is a really smart little guy. She thinks that he will definitely make it into the program for speech. I'm supposed to meet with the speech teacher on the 22nd, so we have a while until our next screening.

General Conference

Today has been great. Yeah, the house is still a wreck from the past week's hustle and bustle, but we got to watch General Conference today! I always look forward to Conference. As I listen, it becomes more apparent why I love it. I needed to hear some things today. I especially loved the talks given by Elder Holland, President Uchtdorf, Elder Cook, and Elder Anderson. There seemed to be a recurring theme of having a righteous character and withstanding the world and even the little vices that creep up on us. The choir from the afternoon session brought tears to my eyes! I have never seen a choir made up of families sing at Conference. I thought of my own kids and my little brother and sister as I watched the little boys and girls sing along with their parents.

Our own kids were surprisingly pretty well-behaved during Conference. Nevermind that as I type this, Eden and Levi are in a death-match over a Magna Doodle. During Conference the kids colored pictures from The Friend quietly and asked about the apostles. It still amazes me that my kids are growing up. For a long time, I never thought we'd get to that place when they'd be civilized kids, similar to how I felt when I was 5 days overdue with Jonah and I finally resigned myself to be pregnant forever. But they are growing up, and I am already feeling that twinge of sadness that the older folks talk about- that I might someday miss those smudges on the windows or the crumbs on the floor.

The kids have been really entertaining lately. Eden and Levi have started T-ball. Eden seems to have gotten the hang of it, but Levi, being the youngest on the team, doesn't really have too much interest yet. I'm sure most of it has to do with the fact that we practice right next to a huge playground. He wanted to go play so bad the whole practice. I'm sure once we start games and get our jerseys he'll be more into it. Jonah has been the prefect supporter on the sidelines. He yells encouragements to the other two- it's pretty funny.

Jonah has our whole family figured out. Apparently, we need a baby and a brown little dog named Rex. Then our family will be complete. I am fine with adding a baby, but I'll need some convincing on the dog.

Jonah has been on a big-brother kick for the past few days. It's kind of nice having him remind the other two to listen to me and obey. Today during Conference after the closing song, he told Eden and Levi, "Okay guys, we're going to say a prayer. Fold your arms and close your eyes." I'll have to make sure he doesn't abuse it, but right now, I'm just so happy to have someone else on my side!

Update on the Kiddos

Jonah

Jonah is enjoying Kindergarten. He has been reading pretty much since he started. He came into Kindergarten well-prepared, having already known what most of the letters sound like. The Spaulding phonics program his school uses is doing wonders for him, and he is sounding out more hard-to-read words. He reads Dick and Jane books every night, almost all by himself! I'm pretty proud and excited that he can read and that he likes it. He hasn't told me much else about Kindergarten, except that he likes Music, P.E., and going to the library. I was able to go in a few weeks ago as a volunteer, and from what I can see, he is doing pretty well at school. I'm not sure if he is making friends or not, but Jonah isn't really a people person, so he might just prefer to play alone.

Other than that, Jonah is loving Let's Play Music, a pre-piano program he is in. He is still into Star Wars, Waldo books, and art projects. I can't believe he's going to be 6 soon!

Eden

Eden is still loving preschool in Miss Amy's class. She is a goofball and charms everyone she meets. She still needs to learn her alphabet- she only recognizes the letter E, which she thinks is her name. I'm going to try and start working with her using the phonics program from Jonah's school.

Eden is going to play T-ball this fall. After last year, I figured I would put her in so I didn't have to hear any more whining about why she couldn't play while Jonah was. I think she'll like it, and even if she's no good, it might help get some energy out!

Eden gave her first talk in Primary a while ago, and she did a great job.

Levi

Levi just had a screening appointment to get tested for speech. His articulation is far worse than the other two kids' was, so I'm pretty confident he'll make it into the program. He made it past the initial screening, and now we have to do all the paperwork and go back in the next few weeks. They are usually pretty quick with the process, but since there's a two week Fall break, we might have to wait a while. I hope he gets into the program. It would really help him out, I think. It's nice that Eden already goes, so he could ride the bus with her. Levi has pretty much grown up with the bus coming to our house to pick up either Jonah or Eden, so I'm sure he'd adjust fine.

Levi is also going to be playing T-ball, and I'm sure he'll love it!

Levi is still addicted to his favorite toys/characters: Fred from Scooby Doo, Prince Phillip, Sir Tyrone the knight, elephants in general, and his green car. Maybe it's a third child thing- like most things get taken away from them, so they hold onto their toys like they're pieces of gold :)

I-Spy Swap!

I participated in an I-Spy fabric swap a while ago, and now I am hosting one on my craft blog! If you love to sew or quilt or know someone who does, come check it out!

Levi's 3rd Birthday!

Levi actually turns three on Wednesday, but we decided to have a very small get-together on Saturday evening instead. The kids were excited to see their Grandpa and Grandma Shirley. Levi wasted no time in showing Grandma the crown I made him for his birthday.
Grandma and Grandpa brought Levi a Spiderman balloon, which he loved.
Levi wanted to have a Backyardigans party, since one of the characters he is obsessed with is Sir Tyrone. Of course I couldn't find anything with Tyrone as a knight, so he settled for just plain old Backyardigans.

Pablo came to the party
as well as Uniqua
and Tyrone.
We ate some dinner...
and opened presents. Levi asked for a watch this year (this kid is into the most random things!) and lucky for him, I found a digital Tyrone watch at Party City for 2 bucks! Perfect!
He got some Toy Story, trains, and Star Wars loot.
But his favorite toy of all was...
a plush Prince Phillip and sword from Grandpa and Grandma Willard. He had to have it next to him as we sang "Happy Birthday" in a very bad key, chosen by Eden.

Video temporarily unavailable- Blogger bug!

Then we devoured the Tyrone cake.
Happy Birthday, Levi! We love you and can't imagine life without you! You sure keep us smiling!

Tired...

I finally read The Hunger Games. In around 15 hours. If you haven't read the book yet, my advice is not to start at 8pm like I did. I went to sleep that night at 3:30am. Basically, I was a vegetable with a headache for the next day or so. It's nice having the kids in school, because it gives me a chance to take a nap if need be.

I guess I'm not the only tired one. I found Levi like this today...
I am now on to Catching Fire. I forced myself to do some painting before I could start it, so last night Peter and I finally painted the part of my stairway that has been two-toned for the last, I don't know, year? If you've been to my house, you know where I'm talking about. We are getting there slowly but surely! I still have some touching up to do, and the top half of a tall wall. Maybe I can get myself to do it before Mockingjay!