February 1st

Today was Spencer's First Day in his new class at school. It was almost like the first day of school all over again. Each child in his class brought his new teacher a flower at the beginning of class. As Spencer left for school this morning, he was not happy about the changes that were to take place. He loved the schedule he had in the previous class. Well, the first thing he said to me as he walked through the door this morning was, "I'm so glad I switched classes". He came to find out that the other class (his old class) also switched schedules. Everyone in the school did. So now he is happy again.

Something I noticed during the night last night. I was up because of Ian. He kept fussing and crying. I could not handle it anymore, so I went downstairs and made him some baby cereal. We have a cereal bottle so he eats it that way. Well, he actually held the bottle all by himself. Not just for a minute and then drop it, but the whole time he ate. That was an exciting moment. And then Spencer noticed it today as he was helping Ian with a different cereal bottle. Ian is on his way to growing up.

Two days ago, Grandpa Wheeler had a birthday. The kids called him and sang happy birthday to him. Well, afterwards, he talked to the kids. Hannah wanted to go first. I couldn't believe my ears because she never wants to talk. Well, she talked, talked, talked, talked and then talked some more. I had to tell her to let someone else have a turn. That night, Gardner's Dad called to talk to Gardner and he was quite stunned by Hannah's conversation earlier. He said Hannah talked more to him on the phone for his birthday than she did the whole time they were here visiting. Maybe, just maybe, this might be a sign of good things to come for Hannah.

Speaking of Hannah and progress, she really is making strides at school. No, not in the talking sense. But in the participation. I can not believe how much she is doing every day. She is participating, showing excitment for things and playing with friends. The teachers are finally seeing her progress and is excited. She lets me leave everyday without crying or holding on to me. And she does not chase me out the door anymore either. I can almost run in and run out. Remember, I said Almost. Lots of times, she wants to show me things she did the day before.

We've actually seen a little bit of sun these last two days. The girls have gone to the park in the late afternoon. Today it was a little cold, but still nice enough to be outside playing.

Emma, our little Emma. She is really beginning to talk. She has said words before, but now she is trying to repeat whatever we say. Tonight I was saying I had a surprise after she got her pajamas on. (I had made pudding). The whole time I was getting her changed, she kept saying "rice". Which, by the way was not actual "rice" but "surprise" in Emma language. She also sat on the toilet again yesterday. She is wanting to, so I decided that could only help our cause. Well, she fell into the toilet. It scared her. And I am not certain if it has changed or mind or not about sitting on there again.

I've decided that everytime someone falls down these stupid stairs here at our house, I was going to document it. No one will believe how much we all fall. I broke my toe a month ago. And it is still swollen. I can walk on it now. It does get numb sometimes. And other times it will hurt because I forget and do something stupid with my foot. Well, just the other day, Gardner fell down the same exact 2 stairs that I fell down. I really don't know what our problem is. It is almost funny. I said almost.

I've been making some videos this last week. The first one I made of the first snow fall here in Germany with the kids outside trying to scrap the snow off the porch. Well, since then, I have started two other videos. I am making them for Adrian and Nadine. They were our exchange students the two previous years before we moved here to Germany. I put all the pictures of their time with our family on a CD. I'm excited to finish them and mail them. My previous goal was to make them a special scrapbook. But that is not happening, so this is a great 2nd option.