These are the Days: This and That

October is always a busy month and this year is no exception!! Busy good though, not busy bad...

We took a short weekend trip to Wild Dunes with mom/dad/erin/patrick/abigail over Columbus Day weekend. It was so great for me to be able to take Emmy to the beach and introduce her to the salt air and the ocean- both boys got to go to the beach as infants and for some reason, it was important to me that she go too. It was a great to be with my family- for so many years, even now, it's been hard to all be in the same place at the same time. We were missing Stewart a lot- but getting a majority together was really fun. It's so fun to see what the boys can do as they get older- particularly watching Barron take them to bike ride up to get ice cream, knowing that Davis is riding his own bike the whole way. It hardly seems real that he's old enough to do things like that. The beach in October is good for the soul- the sweetest was running out one morning with the boys to see the sunrise. We were all still in our pi's and we got to watch the beautiful colors in the sky. We also celebrated Mutsy's birthday- which first started several years ago during an October trip to Holden Beach. Davis doesn't forget anything! Quick updates on each of the three...

Emmy is doing great. She's 13 1/2 weeks and continues to be a really good sleeper. I work really hard each day to keep her on a routine/schedule. It keeps thing predictable and running smoothly. Change in the routine sometimes goes ok, and sometimes not. But overall, she's going with the flow as well as I could ever hope. She's "talking" so much now- today I literally went back and forth with her for an hour- even got the first attempts at laughter out of her. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. She's working on her neck strength, and rolls from side to side. She needs more tummy time so she can learn to push up. Davis is great with her when she does do tummy time- she just needs more of it!

Jack is Jack. I am so thankful for the time I'm getting with him while Davis is in school. I feel like I am finally hearing his voice without the influence of his big brother. He can be so amazingly sweet in one moment, and then a whiny pouty grump the next. I am still trying to capture a pic of his pouting face- I have to hide my laughter when he makes it because it's just so ridiculous. He's very opinionated about what he wants to wear, what cup his drink is in, if you brush his hair, etc. And lord help you if you get it wrong! But then, he will tell me things like "mom, you're pretty" and wrap his arms around me, melting my heart. I know I baby him a little too much. And, we have high expectations of him without providing the consistency we gave Davis at this age. But, he is a sweetie and puts a smile on my face every single day.

Davis is doing really well. We had his teach conference this week and got really good feedback. He's a great reader and very good at math. His conduct has improved a lot since being on the medicine. His teacher seems to be the perfect fir for us this year. She seems to understand who Davis is and appreciates the things that make him wonderful, but also a handful at times. I am so grateful that she knows that his excitement and enthusiasm can be used for good things- and I was happy to hear her say that he is a leader and really good with the other students. That she will use him to pair him up with those who are having difficulty with a concept because he's good at helping. He is a sweet big bother to Emmy, and to Jack. He can have his moments of being very bossy and overpowering, but his intentions are good and he and Jack seem to actually enjoy each other.

Whew- time for some fun photos and captions!