Random Odds and Ends

Here's a few things that's been going on lately. Or thoughts that I've had.

1. My baby boy Luke has started his formal education. And it's not at home with me! During the month of August, I spent hours planning homeschool - phonics/math and lots of recitation and reading. However, homeschooling was not my heart's greatest desire for Luke. This school was. And TWO DAYS before they started their school year, the Lord provided a way for Luke to go! He started one week late, on August 31 and has loved every minute of it. He is my timid and insecure one when it comes to new people and experiences, but he walked into his classroom without a look back. He said he only missed me a few times, but didn't even need to hold his hand to his cheek and feel the kiss I put there the night before. Sigh. I sure needed the kiss he put in my palm and had a good cry when I got to the car. :) I am LOVING the quieter mornings with Simon and Elliot. We are all SO blessed for Luke to have this opportunity. (I will TRY to post a pic soon of Luke in his school uniform. He's the cutest!)

2. Yesterday was the last day our pool was open. Boo hoo. My boys love swimming so much. Simon wears a "Swim School" suit that has foam flotation material inside of it. He is fearless and loves to jump in and swim with his face in the water for as long as he can hold his breath. Luke mainly enjoys staying in the shallow area where he can swim without floaties so he can dive down for rings or practice swimming. He's getting the doggie paddle down and even is starting to do some better-looking swim strokes. When we were planning on homeschooling, I was going to get him into swim lessons this winter, but now we might be too busy. We definitely have to find some place to take the boys swimming throughout the cold months.

3.Elliot got his first 2 bottom teeth in early July when he was 6.5 months. He is in the process of getting all FOUR of his top teeth. Poor baby. I guess this is why he wakes up about once a night? He's the best baby in every other way, so I can't complain.

4. Elliot has a killer belly crawl, aided by his left knee. I'm not sure if he'll ever crawl normally before he starts walking. He's pulling himself up on anything that's low enough for him to reach. He'll be nine months next week.

5. Yesterday the boys enjoyed watching some home movies from about a year ago. If you don't take videos of your family, you are missing out!!! My dad's always been a huge home-videos guy, and we used to love watching them together. Seriously, take movies of your kids. They LOVE to watch themselves when they were younger, and sometimes the movies are encouraging. You might think, "Hey, it really wasn't all that bad back then!" (Luke was kinda a difficult infant. :)