monkey update

oh such sweet monkeys!!

here is a long awaited update on what we've been up to :)

Ruby Rose:
Now this young lady is absolutely amazing. She is a mere 13 months old, and just took her first few steps! We have been waiting a few days for her to repeat the exciting event, but she has stuck with crawling in the mean time. We may need to head back to Sarah True's house to get her up and walking again! In addition to this exciting milestone, she is rapidly becoming the best climber in the house. Most of us are satisfied to casually sit on chairs, but not her! She just won't stop until she has climbed up to the highest height of any piece of furniture around. She has been going up and down the stairs, and quickly negotiated the ladder at the Solomon's backyard park, and proceeded to climb it about 20 times. Ruby is also babbling and signing like crazy. She easily signs more, up, eat, and a wild wave and grabbing hand that pretty much means, "give me that thing that you have that I want". She has said book and ball and mamamamama and dadadada and blah blah blah blah blah so many times. She is such a sweet little girl and the whole family truly delights in her. She has a beautiful smile (with 7 teeth!) and is full of joy and laughter. She is an amazing blessing.

Ethan George:
It is amazing how Ethan has matured! We are so proud of him! His language has blossomed and he talks easily all day long. We are so excited to see how he and Noah have become good friends within the past year. Ethan is now old enough to do big kid things like play legos and draw and many types of imaginary play, and the boys spend hours together every day playing so sweetly. Ethan still absolutely loves to read books. He will sit and snuggle with Lovey and his thumb while you read to him for hours. He has been riding his big wheel and scooter, and has even ridden to the park a few times. I can't believe how grown up he is! Ethan's heart is so full of love, and he frequently gives loving compliments out of the blue and shares his feelings easily. He is extremely generous, always ready to share and show kindness to others. He is a strong and sweet boy who is a blessing to our whole family.

Noah Robert:
What a huge blessing our Noah is! He is an amazing 5 year old! Noah has been working hard lately on his new passion, building legos. He got a few big kid lego sets for his birthday and Christmas, and he has been doing almost nothing else ever since! He has an amazing imagination and spends many hours a day building and re-building intricate creations. Noah continues to enjoy drawing and art. He also learned to sew and we made a pair of pajama pants for him together on the sewing machine. Noah is showing a renewed interest in reading, as well as a lot of excitement about math. He loves to learn and has such a curious mind, he always wants to understand why and how things happen. Noah is also a huge help to the family, and has been learning to take much more responsibility around the house. He is a pleasure and a delight to spend time with, and we are all so proud of him.

The whole family has been working on studying the character trait of obedience. The children have been memorizing scripture and reading bible stories about obedience, as well as doing their best to practice being obedient the first time they are told to do something. Such a cute thing happened tonight around the subject. Kevin was reminding Noah about how Jesus obeyed the Father even when it was hard, and said, "not my will, but yours". Then Ethan, in the sweetest little voice you ever heard, softly said, "take this cup from me". I am so proud of my children and so honored with the privilege of raising them. Thank you, Lord, for the amazing gifts of Noah, Ethan and Ruby Rose.