Double Digits

10 months today.

We have finally reached a few developmental milestones, as she is independently sitting up and slowly making her way across the floor with her own version of some kind an army crawl.

She continues to receive weekly physical therapy, however she screams at the poor woman for an hour straight so I am not exactly sure how much it is helping. But we will keep going with it for a while and see.

Overall though, she is an absolute delight and just melts my heart with her smiles!

Thanksgiving

We had a busy but fun Thanksgiving this year. We spent Wednesday & Thursday in Michigan, visiting my sister & her family, as well as our friends Brad & Bradi. The kids had a great time playing together, which included Kiera & Cameron playing dress up.























Friday night we were back in town and headed downtown Naperville for their annual Lights Parade which includes a Santa & Mrs. Claus float.








We froze our buns off with the Wiegers' family, but I think the biggest complainers were the adults. The kids didn't seem to mind the cold.





My parents treated us with tickets to see The Lion King downtown Chicago on Saturday. We had kept this as a surprise for Zachary as Cameron was a bit too young to go. He was so excited when we got in the car to head downtown & told him.


He was then even more surprised when he ran into his cousins at the bathroom at the theater. He had no idea they were coming down for the show and surprised Zach with their presence.

The show was absolutely amazing! I would highly recommend it to anybody who is a fan of the movie. The costumes were outstanding and the best part was that several times during the show some of the characters came up the aisle where we were sitting.









After the show we took a taxi over to Ed Debevic's which always produces some good laughs.

9 months

Sitting... almost at least. And its about time! Come on, girl, you are 9 months old!

I think she has finally gotten the hang of it, although she still topples over frequently & needs some support to sit for a long time. I am proud of her though, as she has come a long way this past month. She also is starting to show signs of crawling by wiggling her way forward. We have been participating in weekly physical therapy, which I think is helping her with her core strength, increasing her muscle tone, and getting her moving.
I am very much enjoying this new phase, as she just seems happier to be up and able to see the world at a new height. Long may it continue!

She also is starting to eat some 'table foods', which makes her seem so grown up. Knock on wood, she's my best eater yet.

R E S P E C T

Zachary was picked for his 1st grade to be a Longwood (name of his school) Leader. This past month they worked on the character trait of respect. Zach had earned the opportunity to be a leader last year, but for the character trait of cooperation and I was as equally as proud.

But as he gets older, wiser, mouth-ier, test-ier, sass-ier, etc. with us at home... I was wondering if he would earn such an accomplishment two years in a row at school.
Parenting is a challenge from day one and sometimes after a having some difficult times at home with dis-respectfulness, its nice to be reassured he is making us proud at school.
This was truly another proud moment and of course, and I must toot my own horn for a milla-second, as it must be a true reflection of our parenting! :-) Just kidding!
Congrats Zachary, your Mom & Dad couldn't be more proud of you!








Zachary and his 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Swieter, who is as sweet as can be. He is really enjoying his year with her.

October... thats a wrap up

October came & went and what a great month we had with fall activities & fabulous weather.

We managed to hit the 'Boo Zoo' at Brookfield Zoo, which was a fun family activity. We did some pumpkin carving, raking of numerous leaves, finished Zach's outdoor soccer season & had a fun cul-de-sac party.




Zachs carving attempt at a scary pumpkin












For Halloween we had a Star Wars Clone, a ladybug and Thomas the Train









Lindsey as a ladybug. She looked so cute & was as snug as a bug in her costume.

She was a trooper too as it was pretty chilly out and she contently stayed in her stroller for numerous hours and the boys could not get enough of the trick or treating.

Cousins

My sister and her kids came down for a short 24 hour visit yesterday. Her kids were off from school due to Teacher Convention so she kindly made the journey down to see us. I was a naughty mom and took Zach out of school for a half day so he could spend some time with his cousins. We enjoyed the afternoon together by hanging out downtown Naperville with some gorgeous fall weather. Thanks for coming Sian!

Dayna & Kiera taking on baby duty with miss Lindsey. She fortunately was willing to let them hold her without any crying. A big step for her!




They were running up & down the hill. Kiera is missing in this picture but you can see her in the background still rolling down the hill. They had a great time! Plus they earned a few extra dollars for Naperville's old school candy store, which was our next stop.





all the boys


















the cousin's posing... what a great shot!

8 months today

Lindsey is 8 months today!

Although she is looking older, not too much has changed in the past month. She continues to get stronger and is slowly using her lower body strength to move around on the floor. She has been evaluated for services and has qualified for physical therapy which is starting this week. A physical therapist will be coming once a week to work with her. It should be interesting, as she is currently a bit too much like her older brother, Zachary, as she cries at absolutely everybody. He was the same way as a baby. But hopefully she will warm up to the therapist and be a willing participant in the sessions.

So far she seems to be my best eater as she loves all and any baby foods, which hopefully continues for a while. She is also figuring out how to self feed herself with cheerios which is a fun new task!