Blogger's block

OK, so maybe it was more like the summer lazies! I know that I have had plenty to write about, but just sitting down to do it has been a little difficult to do. So here's all the news (from oldest to youngest) from the summer:

Isabella has hit a big milestone: she lost her first tooth. She also started 1st grade last month. She loves it and is doing well. She is really turning into a good reader. She tries to read anything with words on it! In less exciting news, she also got her first stitches. She fell and hit her head on a cabinet. But she was very brave and hardly cried once the shock of hitting passed. She was very brave when she got her stitches (once the doctor let Daddy come in with her).

Serious student takes a break!

This missing tooth! She's pretty proud.

Strike a pose!

Elijah has started preschool. He LOVES it! His favorite thing is his workbooks. Right now, he is a coloring machine too. He spends probably 2-3 hours a day coloring! He is also learning his numbers...a math teacher friend helped us with that the other day. He showed us a great trick that has really helped Elijah. In less exciting news for him, he got his first black eye...yeah, I know, this is starting to sound like child abuse, I PROMISE we did not inflict these things on our children. They really did fall. I was baking cookies and he ran into the kitchen to see if they were done. Instead he ran into the kitchen door frame...which is pretty sharp. It gave him a little cut on his eyebrow and a nasty looking black eye. It's almost healed now. And in 2 days he will turn 4 years old! I can't believe he is so grown up. We have a special birthday planned!

He's still working on smiling without closing his eyes.

The boy's got skill: winking is the new "trick!"

What a handsome boy!

Lydia is growing fast. Her eighth tooth is pushing through. She runs everywhere she goes. She answers to both English and Chinese. She will eat both American and Chinese foods (she loves broccoli!). She says several words, not very clearly sometimes, but we understand. Her favorite thing to say is "go go." We can't buy baby gates so we have to chase her out of rooms that we don't want her in. She also uses some sign language to tell us she wants more to eat or if she's all done. Her personality comes out more and more each day. One of the other funny things she does is that she shakes her head no to every question we ask her...I don't know that she understands, but she knows that it makes us laugh.

She loves having her picture taken.

Smiley girl!

"I promise not to sit still again like this for a week!"

So for Elijah's birthday, and a family vacation, to Hong Kong. How many kids can say "For my 4th birthday I went to Hong Kong!" And on his birthday, we are going to Disneyland in Hong Kong. The kids are really excited. I have to admit, I'm pretty excited too. I think that they are going to love it. So tonight we leave on a weekend of Mickey and Krispy Kreme doughnuts! We promise to take a bunch of pictures and post them when we get back.

This is our helper with the kids. She wanted to have her picture taken with them! Lydia, especially, LOVES her Ayi!