5 Months!

I can't believe Jimmy is 5 months old!  He is getting so big.  He is now rolling over very frequently, though still almost exclusively from his back to his front.  He can even sit up for a little bit, though he will inevitably topple over!  One thing that Jimmy isn't doing is talking.  He almost never makes "normal" baby sounds, like "ga," "ma," ba," or "da."  If he makes any sound at all, it's usually, "ah" or bubbly sounds.  So I'm not sure what's up with that!  Maybe he figures Ms. B does enough talking for the two of them!  He's getting better-behaved in church, and he seems to have settled on a couple short naps during the day.  One in the morning, then a longer one in the afternoon.  Sometimes he'll snooze in the evening for a bit too.  I'm hoping to get a decent nap routine in the summer, so we'll see if I'm successful.  He can spread out the eating now, when he wants to.  But now he gets very distracted if I try to read to Ms. B and feed him at the same time, so that hasn't worked out very well.  Some of his current likes are:

Bouncy Balls (even just watching them bounce amuses him)
Smiley faces - he will almost always smile back!
Being sock-less!  Let those little toesies be free!
His giraffe - yummy!
He LOVES to grab newspapers and things to chew on, which is quite fun... actually, anything he can put in his mouth he loves, particularly his fingers!

Dislikes:
Being ignored for more than a couple minutes... a couple seconds if you actually leave the room!
Putting clothes on, although he gets over it quickly
Loud noises - can't blame him there.
Hair, apparently!  He's losing it all!  My poor baby looks like he'll be bald soon!

Swimming Lessons

Anna just started another round of swimming lessons at the Y!  I'm really hoping she'll learn how to swim this summer.  When we were walking over to the pool, I told Ms. B to make sure she listens to the teacher and doesn't get scared.  Very confidently she said, "I'm not scared!"  Well, one of the first things we did was blow bubbles in the water, and of course she was scared.  She didn't even want to lie back and float, despite the fact that I was holding onto her!  So we've got a ways to go, that's for sure.  Oddly enough, the one thing about swimming that she loves and isn't scared to do is jump in the water.  In her second lesson she was able to doggie paddle with assistance from a noodle and floaties, so we're making progress... hey, at least she looks adorable in her bathing suit!

Preschool Graduation

Anna just finished her first year of preschool!!  She had a really great year with a wonderful teacher - Miss Kochan.  She started off the year with little to no fear, seemed to make friends very quickly (especially considering that was what I was most worried about), and further developed her love of learning.  She can now count to over 100, she can talk to others with relative ease, and she has quite a good imagination!  I love listening to Anna play by herself.  Things she liked best about this year:

~The "dowl" house (doll house).  At least for the first part of the year
~Books on CD, in particular "Storm is Coming!"
~Having a job, especially the calendar helper
~Library.  Hearing her act out Three Billy Goats Gruff is priceless.
~Art center.  She has developed a deep love for stickers!

Apparently Anna has also impressed the teachers with her knowledge of Beatles songs.  She has been asked to sing them for a number of the teachers, including the 4 yr old teacher and the kindergarten teacher!  I asked her which ones she sang, and she said, "Eight Days a Week and the 'Da da da da da dum dum da' song," which is From Me to You :-)

Her celebration on the 22nd was a lot of fun.  She got to play lots of games, including a whipped cream eating contest, a race to put on cowboy clothes and ride her horsie to the finish line, Bozo buckets, etc.  Then she got on stage and did a couple songs and prayers for us, which was super cute.  I'm so glad she had such a great year at school.