Almost Summer

The kids baby-sat Tadgh and watched a "scary" episode of Little Einsteins.

Chloe with Ana and Dane at her school Easter party.  Despite how it looks in this photo, she had a great time.

The kids enjoying treats on Missy's birthday.

Dane got his CT done last month, and the imaging showed that the lump is not a dermoid, as the pediatric neurologist had suspected.  She says it is actually fibrous tissue that formed instead of bone on a section of his skull.  Kind of like a little fibrous tumor.  She said the good news is that he won't need an operation.  We'll follow up in 6 months.

After crying in his crib for 20 minutes in protest of nap time, Dane fell asleep on the couch.  Sitting up.

At the end of March, things were just starting on our house.  Here we see the walls in Dane's room newly framed.

And just last week we got some drywall up!  Can't wait for our new front door!

Here's Danes room, all brand new.

Things always get busy toward the end of the school year.  Joss had a project that kept her up with Landon until 2 AM. (He really took one for the team.  Thanks, Landon.)  She also performed with her guitar class last week.  I went on the wrong day out of the 2 performances, so I was the only parent in the bleachers watching.  I made sure to wave enthusiastically and blow kisses until she turned red and looked away.

Chloe was stressed about taking the LEAP (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program) test, as this was her first year to do so.  She took books home to study on Easter Break and kept fretting that they'd make her drop French if she didn't test well.  After her first day of testing, I asked her how it went.  "Great.  I don't think I got ANY wrong!" she exclaimed.  I love that girl's confidence.

Tristan was lamenting that there was a little Asian girl in his grade that keeps getting more AR (accelerated reading) points than he does.  I reminded him that he didn't have to be #1 in the 2nd grade -- that he can just work to beat his previous record.  He looked off into the distance for a second and then replied, “But I want to compete for 1st place!  I’ve gotta do SOMETHING to add some excitement to my life!”

Logan is making steady progress with reading and enjoys sounding out random labels and signs he sees around him. But his true love is math.  On the way to church today, he asked me, "Mom, if I had $800 and then got $100 more, I'd have $900, right?"  "Uh-huh," I reply.  And then, "Mom, if I had $850 and got $150 more, I'd have $1000, right?"  Then there's a pause as I try to drive and add sums in my head, feeling sheepish that my 5-year-old can do it faster than I can.  Money, of course, is his favorite way to practice math.  But he also has fun with time.  For instance, he'll say, "Mom, it's 7:23. I still have 37 minutes until my bed time!"

Dane's vocabulary is growing rapidly, and his favorite time of day is when he sees his Dad's car pull up in the driveway.  "Dada!  Dada!" he yells as I throw him out the front door, letting Landon take over while I finish dinner.  His other big accomplishment is that he is now weaned!  (It wasn't his idea.)  It's so nice to sleep through the night.  And, when he realized that no more milk was forthcoming, he started eating solids in earnest.  His favorite foods are avocado, eggs, and fruit snacks.

Landon has been making steady strides toward finishing up at UL.  His biggest news is that the first chapter of his dissertation was accepted for publication in a great journal.  Now he's working night and day to finish up his last chapter (# 3) so he can graduate.