I realize it has been a while since I've randomly written about what the kids are busy with these days, and considering we hit another major milestone today...I figure it's time.
Patrick is closely approaching his 5th birthday on May 22nd. He is doing wonderful at Resurrection in preschool, recently receiving a great progress report from his teachers. He has made many nice friends as well. Patrick and Lucy are learning side by side - recognizing letters and working on letter sounds, counting, and identifying printed numbers. They are both very interested in reading and writing, and although Patrick is the only one who can actually write his name they both can very easily spell and recognize their names. And each others :) Just the other day, Patrick wrote our entire family's name without any help! Patrick is a good artist and his favorite subjects are ptyerodactyls, vehicles, and people. He is constantly building, amazing me with his Lego creations. And quick to add that he "didn't even have to look at the directions". Last night, Daddy took off the training wheels....and by lunchtime today he was speeding around the neighborhood like he had been for months. He loves to play games on the computer and on his Explorer, work on puzzles, and play make-believe. He is often in character, the most frequent one we see is a dragon :)
Lucy is three going on sixteen. As usual. Too big for her skinny britches and entering a fiercely independent stage. It's a lot of "I am NOT a baby", and resisting us carrying her most of the time. She graduated to a "training wheel bike" with her all time favorite painted on the side -- Rapunzel. We recently took her to see "Tangled", her first theater experience...and she absolutely loved it! And loved having a big soda and popcorn :) We still do tumbling/dance weekly, and her class is preparing for their recital in June. Just last week at class, I realize how much stronger and more coordinated her movements are. She is frequently dressed like a princess, complete with necklaces, bracelets, a purse and heels. Typically with a dragon on her tail! Her vocabulary continues to be ridiculous, using as many big words as she can during the day. Favorites are "did you realize....?" and "I didn't recognize...." or "such-and-such is similar..." The kids play very well together, we are so lucky for that. Lucy will start preschool next fall alongside her brother in pre-K, sharing a room for this year only until he moves onto Kindegarten.
We keep pretty busy during the day -- from playdates at MEGA gymnastics to the library and Children's Museum. With warmer days approaching, we will add the park and zoo back into our rotation, and hopefully the pool. Both kids tear up and down the street all day long on their bikes, and Lucy tackles the hills with the same drive as her brother. We are looking forward to the new swingset, which is anticipated to be up sometime in the next month. Hopefully. Naps are pretty much history, but quiet time with a movie in the afternoon seems to be a pretty good alternative. As is the earlier bedtime for Mommy and Daddy :)
