Summer has been great for us. We have spent lots of time at the pool and we have loved watching the baby hawks in our backyard learn to fly! The kids have gotten into the spirit of summer by sleeping in until 7am some mornings!!! (This is a big improvement over 6am!). At night, we hang out with neighbors and enjoy water-gun fights, hula hooping, running, chalk, walking the neighborhood, bubbles, and general summer fun.

Jonah is developing more skills each day—more words, more signs, more dance moves (specifically spinning), more screaming, more food, more adventures. He loves books and has some favorites that he loves to “read” over and over. He got tall enough to pull down part of his mobile over his crib—so Andrew moved it up. He likes to splash in the pool, but hates to get cold and will wave “bye-bye” over and over if he gets even a little chilled. He loves looking for birds, turtles, squirrels, and rabbits on our walks. He is fascinated by planes and trucks and any construction equipment. He has learned not to eat the PlayDoh or the paint during craft time each morning. He has developed a love for a blanket—the specific blanket that he wants changes on a daily basis but he is quite sure that only the specific one that he wants at that specific moment will be acceptable. He still loves putting his shoes on and is very proud of his new tennis shoes. He wants to tickle people and wants to be tickled. He cries when I leave or Andrew leaves. He loves petting Farley but we have to watch out because he also wants to use his blanket to hit the dog! As you can guess, he is also learning about time out!

Ella did a fantastic job at her recital. She had 4 dances: ballet, tap, Daddy-Daughter Dance, and the finale. She was terrific and as you can see from the pictures that the other little girls are checking out her moves.

Andrew danced in two routines also! He and Ella did a sweet Daddy-Daughter number and then all the dads did a Swan Lake/Village People dance that was awesome and hysterical!!! Thanks to Gerrit (now a NC resident) for watching Jonah while we were at the recital. Jonah is pretty patient and flexible, but I am not sure that he would have sat quietly for the entire recital.

We enjoyed celebrating Grace’s 5th birthday. She is exactly one week older than Ella. For Grace’s party, they had a Jumpy Castle and we ALL had a blast jumping and jumping and jumping. Everyone was exhausted by the end of the evening! We loved seeing baby Jeremiah getting bigger and more interactive. Jonah and Gloria had a great time together. Gloria is so careful and loving toward him. And of course, Ella and Grace were just two peas in a pod all day.

When Ella turned 5, we had a lovely birthday lunch at On The Border with Uncle Joe. She picked that restaurant because there are lots of wheat-free options but most importantly she got to stand on her chair and wave a napkin while the wait staff sang her a birthday song and then have ice cream. Martie and LT (aka Grammie and Sweet Potato) are now official NC residents! They joined us for peanut butter cheesecake to wrap up our celebration of Ella’s birthday. It was a lovely day.

We hope that summer is treating you as well as it is treating us!
Sarah, Andrew, Ella, and Jonah