Annabelle, Annabelle, Annabelle

When Caleb was smaller, I remember my sweet Moma saying that 18 months was always her favorite age for kids. I thought she was freakin' crazy. You see, Caleb was/is one of the strongest willed children born in this world to date. He started up with what others might call the "terrible twos" when he was about 9 months old. When Caleb was 18 months old, life was a constant battle of wills. In fact, the Christmas right after Adam was born, I opted not to have a Christmas tree because I didn't have time to put it up and I didn't want to deal with him touching it. (aka destroying it) And, yes, I spanked him. I would have tried time out, but I would have had to tie him to a chair or lock him in a closet to keep him somewhere. That seemed a little inhumane to me. From earlier posts, you probably know the story of his maturation and all so I won't go into that again. (click on the word 'posts' to read about how wonderful Caleb is to me!) He is a delightful challenge in my life. By the way, this was the youngest picture that I could find quickly on the computer of him. I think he is 3 (almost 4).

Wow, I really didn't mean to go into all of that. My point is (note the title) that Annabelle is that child my sweet Moma was talking about. She is SO compliant! She knows not to touch the Christmas tree or presents. She is only 14 months old but what a great age! She has added a few more words to her vocabulary like horse and dog. She loves music and taps her foot to the rhythm anytime she hears it. Also, she has started this pointing thing. When I get her up from a nap she usually points at me and laughs. (Is she making fun of me, I am not sure.) It is super cute though. Hhhmm, what else? She is not a big eater and prefers to look at a book while I shove some sort of substance in her mouth. We are down to one nap a day now which frees the morning up a lot. She is about as active as her brothers and runs anytime she can.

So that is what is going on with Annabelle these days.



On the homeschooling front, I am excited to say that BOTH boys have begun to read! I didn't realize what a relief this would be to me before, but a load has been lifted off my shoulders. It just sort of began to "click" on how to put the letter sounds together. Writing on the other hand.............



Yesterday I brought Lanie and Kiah home with us for the afternoon. Mimi was very nervous as I loaded up 5 out of 6 of her grandkids in my van and drove away, but I promised to drive EXTRA carefully. We had a great time together, no fights, no squabbles, and what gorgeous weather! Lanie and Kiah enjoyed our school lesson and it was nice to have two playmates for the day. 4 is better than 3 in most cases because they tend to pair off. Annabelle adores both of them so she was happy too. We will definitely do it again soon. I regret that I didn't take a single picture (very unlike me) so nothing to show ya.

Here is Dollywood instead: