Three’s company, most of the time…

Our kids enjoy playing together for the most part. Of course they have their squabbles here and there and we have to remind them to “be gentle and kind” and “play together” and "If he’s crying, that means he doesn’t like what you’re doing to him,” but they really are great friends. Here they are playing “choo-choo train”:

But watch what transpires:

I have no idea why Callie decided to grab at Jude’s face. Probably just to see what would happen.

Jude has 6 teeth now, and has been pulling up on furniture! A little earlier than the other two. No cruising or walking yet, though – will keep you posted. Here he is at the coffee table.

He’s constantly crawling up these steps that separate the living room from the kitchen and the rest of our apartment – and I’m always finding myself chasing after him to see what trouble he’s gotten himself into. He’s constantly trying to crawl into the bathroom and I’m constantly kicking him out – usually I’m helping one of the older two “on the potty.” Of course, he has to find the nastiest room in the home to crawl all over. But really, he just doesn’t want to miss out on the action and our company.

Here are Jude’s adorable wrinkly fresh-out-of-the-bath feet:

And discovering himself in the mirror! A little self-absorbed, don’tcha think?

In other news, Zane is now fully potty trained! He even goes “in the big potty.” It’s so nice not to have to constantly clean out that little potty-training potty. He transitioned pretty quickly; it only took about a couple weeks. His progress was quite amazingly faster than what Jeremy and I expected, and his potty-training experience was less emotional than Callie’s. It also only took a few weeks for him to be able to stay dry through the night as well. We had a lot of friends (i.e. fellow moms of toddlers) praying for him which was so helpful – we could tell from his smooth and quick progress that the Lord was truly gracious to us. It’s so nice to have only one kid left in diapers.

We’ll be sure to post another update soon, along with more photos of what we’ve been up to! Do come back and visit us again soon! And of course, we’d love your comments.

First Teeth, and a general update

There hasn't been any earth-shattering news going on with us lately, but we wanted to update you anyhow. Jeremy took a manly weekend trip away in April. He enjoyed himself, though he did wear himself out having so much fun. And then we all got sick - one of us caught something and then everyone else followed in succession - and that pretty much consumed the last part of April into the first couple weeks of May. Anyway, we're all finally better now and boy am I ever relieved.

Anita got a sewing machine in April and has been learning to sew. She made sheets for Zane's "big boy bed" and Easter shorts for the boys. And then she was glad to alter some of her clothes to fit her better. She's also made a dress for Callie, and another one for a friend who's adopting a little girl this summer, along with matching hairbands with felt flowers. We'll have to post a photo next time Callie wears the dress.

Jude's crawling like a champ these days and is always sticking things in his mouth, perhaps just to know what they taste like? He's starting to pull up and stand up holding onto things now too. He has grown two teeth - we noticed the first one on Easter. The funny thing is, Jude got his first tooth at 9 months - yes, I'm aware that most babies start getting teeth around 7 months, but our kids get them late (Callie got her first tooth at a year and Zane at 11 months), so 9 months is considered early for us!

And we started potty-training Zane on Monday. The progress has been a little slower than Callie's was, but there's still some progress so we're grateful for that. Zane loves the fact that his underwear look like Daddy's and that they have cars or choo-choo trains on them.

Here are some recent pics for you to enjoy. And please do drop us a comment if you have a minute - we'd love to hear from you, too!