Macy got her flu shot at her well child visit two days ago. The medical assistant told Matt Walker that Macy was the best baby she's every seen at the clinic. haha She was very calm and she is just that way in general.
The rest of us got our flu vaccines at the clinic today. Esther had a really hard time with it last year. But a few days ago she said "I'm fine with getting the flu shot this year. I'm not worried about it." She was a little hesitant and wanted to be second, then the last kid, then the very last one of our family. But she did fight us this year and there were no tear from anyone. Benson was the most vocal about his worries this year. He got really upset about it when I told him after school two days ago. He didn't want to have the shot and was completely irrational about it all. Then he changed to bargaining mode and asked if I'd let him have more screen time. I told him I was happy to make a deal with him. He ended up getting an orange cream soda that I had in the fridge already. He loves pop. So everyone did well. Hopefully our $120 we spent on those vaccines pays off.
We weighed the kids while we were waiting for the nurse to come in. Annika- 63 lbs Benson- 55 Esther- 43 Tyson-35 and Macy weighed 22 pounds (48th percentile) on Monday, 30.3 inches long (35th %), and 19 inch head circumference (97th percentile).
Last week, Tyson, Macy, and I went to Grandma Stock's house for a visit. On our way there, Tyson and I were talking about all the jobs you could have working with trains. When we talked about the maintenance crew, I told him a man or woman could be in charge. He asked what a woman was. And a bit later I said "maybe I'll work there someday." He said "and I would be in charge of you." I asked him why and he replied "because you're a woman." What??! I called David right away so we could laugh about it together. Yesterday he asked Esther if she would dress him up. haha He loves it when the girls put their dresses or dress up clothes on him and he comes upstairs for a giggly fashion show. He's hilarious. The kids all love it too. When he came upstairs one of the times yesterday he said "I'm a fashion Donny!" :) He cracks us up. His imagination is really developing and he's enjoying independent play much more.
Macy is 15.5 months old. She still calls me "naw naw." She says dada, car, hi, Jesus (every time she sees His picture, also the 1st presidency picture :)), and "naw naw" for no. She took her first steps around 14.5 weeks. She will walk halfway across the room now for entertainment. But she still definitely a crawler. Her favorite places in the house are the countertop right by the window and snack basket, Tyson's bottom bunk bed, under the table, on the little chairs, the stairs (especially the little pockets she can look over the ledges in the basement, the girls' room (she loves all their little things- mini tea set, mini hamster set, candy wrappers that Annika keeps in an old tissue box to use for crafts haha), the fireplace (she started climbing up to sit on their on her own about a week ago), standing or sitting on the bay window seat, crawling on the couch. She enjoys music and often starts dancing. Last Sunday she started "singing" during a piano musical number and then she started bouncing up and down on her feet while she stood on my lap looking toward the piano (her version of dancing). She is such an easy going baby. I'm often amazed to observe her just quietly and confidently crawling across the room while chaos ensues around her. The other day she started laughing (sounded like a forced or fake laugh) when she noticed their were bears on her shoes (some I hadn't put on her for awhile). She loves to go outside but she's not begging for it as much now that it's colder and we all are inside more. I think she's transitioning to one nap per day. But I'm sure she'll still need two on days she wakes up early. She sleeps 11-12 hours at night. But she's been having a harder time going to bed at night. I'm wondering if it's because she's napping too long. But today she only took one nap and she still had a hard time settling. So maybe it's more separation anxiety than too much napping. We'll figure it out soon, I hope. I don't like hearing her cry every few minutes while she tries to go to sleep. We all enjoy spending time with our sweet little Macy!
Esther is doing so well in school! Her teacher, Ms. Wicks, sends postcards in the mail every few weeks. She says that Esther is such a positive influence in their classroom. Two different parents have talked about setting up play dates with her. We're having her friend Amelia over next week for the first time. I think she is such a friendly and fun girl! She sure brightens our home. She's been getting into building with legos and k'nex this fall. She is a determined girl. Sometimes her desire to do something perfectly makes it hard when she messes up on her art project or can't fit pieces of the building set together. She is still pretty intense emotionally in situations like that. But we're working on it and I know she'll gain the skills she needs to do amazing things the rest of her life. I think public school will be good to help her with seeing that everyone makes mistakes in their work and that's ok to learn and keep going. Esther loves to play outside. There is a little girl named Karlie that moved into a rental right next door while they're building a house. She plays with her outside pretty much every day. I was ok with it getting dark earlier so it's easier to keep her with our family more. She's just a social butterfly. :) She doesn't go to the Sperl's as much now that she's in school. But she still goes once or twice a week. She and Annika sang I Will Walk with Jesus in Sacrament meeting a month ago and it was wonderful. They sang so clearly and confidently and it was so beautiful to watch as their mom. They sang it at Benson's baptism but Esther has been asking if she could sing in Sacrament meeting (not sure where she gets this confidence to perform!). The music person asked if our family would do a musical number and I knew who to volunteer for this right away. :)
Benson is doing really well at school too. He's in second grade and reading at 3rd and 4th grade reading level. He's in the highest math group. His teacher said his behavior is perfect. I'm not surprised since he is our rule keeper. He still has anger and disappointment that he's learning to understand better at home. But he's come so far since he was three! :) He's a good boy. He says witty things all the time. He makes funny faces and tells jokes. We love having him in our home. He went to a BYU football game in Pullman with David and few weeks ago! They had a blast going with his buddy Drew and Parker Roylance. He got to talk to a few players after and got one of the gloves from Gunnar Romney. He was pretty thrilled about that. He texted me a picture of it on David's phone and said "I bet you don't know what this is!" :) He's been getting into cooking, which I enjoy a lot more now that he's older! He can cook scrambled eggs in a frying pan and quesadillas on the griddle. And he does great with adding ingredients and stirring for me. We had waffles with blackberry sauce and eggs tonight and he was so helpful to me!
Annika got her ears pierced a few weeks after her birthday and she looks so cute with earrings! She is still reading a lot, loving every chance she gets to bake, enjoying practicing piano, and always up for going for a walk with me. She played soccer this fall for the first time in probably 4 years. She loved it and said she wants to play in the spring too! I talked to her after one game about being a little more aggressive. I didn't criticize at all just encouraged her to be more confident about getting the ball. She replied "well I have a very small area I have to stay in." :) She's very good at keeping her position on the field. Ashley Mollotte coached and she made it a very positive experience. They practiced twice a week but only had 3 games (plus a jamboree that we were at the OR coast for). She is still deciding if she wants to play volleyball, which starts next week. She really values her downtime and I think thats' a great thing to protect. She started taking an art class from Lucy Gilbert (she's probably 12). It's on Saturdays for an hour. I love that she can go to it! She's doing really well with piano- much more self motivated to practice than my siblings or I was. I love hearing her practice. She is our most trusted babysitter of Macy. She is so intuitive with knowing how to entertain (and distract) Macy and Tyson when she plays with them. We're blessed to have such a nurturing oldest child (not that the others aren't nurturing. I'm just glad our oldest is.:))
