The Millers

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Winter 2013

Winter break flew by way too quickly and we are still trying to get back into a normal routine around here! Everyone's been busy and growing. Here are a few highlights:

Luke has joined the local hockey league and now plays in full gear twice a week. He is so excited about it that he invited his teacher and several classmates to watch him play last night! He was thrilled when Mrs. B and one of his classmates actually came to cheer him on! Luke is also learning to read harder books and impresses us with his new skills daily. His goal is to read chapter books by summer. Last weekend, he earned a trip to Jumpin' Joeys for an outstanding report card and for being named Star Student for the 3rd time this year! Luke's newest interest is science. He decided to spend his Christmas money on a chemistry set and has enjoyed mixing up some unique concoctions.

Gabe is busy mastering puzzles, his alphabet, and his counting skills. His vocabulary is amazing for his age and he seems to be taking after Luke in many areas. He still loves dressing up in his costumes and playing games with Luke. He is excited about turning 3 in April and starting preschool next year. The picture below pretty much sums up how he spends his time: Dressed as a ninja turtle, wearing a Band-aid (no injury though), and playing in the bean table.

Kiera keeps growing taller, but is only in the 10th percentile for weight (though I assured her doctor that she eats plenty). She is learning to stand her own ground with the boys and puts up quite a fight if they try to take her toys. Unfortunately, this also transferred over to friends who came to play... She's a people pleaser who loves to help though so we're trying to convince the boys to simply ask for the toys because she will willingly hand them over 90% of the time! Kiera is also on the verge of talking a lot! She repeats new words every time we read books so it's only a matter of time before the squeals, grunts, and cries are replaced by nonstop chatter :). Ah, yes and she spends her time sitting on top of the train table just because she can.

I have been playing with our new camera which turned out to be a late Christmas gift since our other one quit working over break.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Fall 2012 Updates

All three of the children seem to be growing and developing rapidly during this season.

Kiera quickly progressed from her first tentative steps at 11.5 months to competent, independent walking within just a few weeks. She understands much of what we say and can follow simple commands such as, "Bring mommy a book from the shelf." She still uses the word dada for most people and points and says "this" for everything else. Occasionally, we hear other words mixed in and she babbles in her own language all the time. It seems like she's on the verge of chattering in real words so we shall see. She weighed 19.5 lbs (25th percentile) at her 1 year check-up and was in the 75th percentile for height. Kiera is just as independent as her older brothers and demands to be a part of any activity (especially the messy ones like painting). She loves toys with lots of parts and her new baby doll and stroller. She also enjoys dancing to music and playing the keyboard! Outdoors, she still loves to swing, but is branching out to slides, sandboxes, and rock pits. Yesterday, she discovered how fun it is to play in a pile of leaves. O yes, and she loves to empty things: cabinets, shelves, boxes. There are times when I literally follow her around the house picking up the messes that she makes.

Gabriel amazes us each day with his growing vocabulary and academic skills. Multiple times in public, people stop to ask how old he is because of his speaking ability and vocabulary. This morning he identified almost every letter correctly and is beginning to associate the correct sounds with the letters. Building puzzles is still his favorite activity. He has an alphabet train floor puzzle that we assemble almost every day. I started some thematic activities along with some alphabet work and number work with him this week and he is loving it! He recognizes most numbers 1-10 and really wants to know more. We have a hundreds chart on our wall and he had me sit down with him this morning and point to each number while I said them. Then he wanted to do it again! He loves hearing stories and has a few memorized so he pretends to read them to be like his big brother. Gabe is just as independent as Luke and loves to be the helper. He still pushes his sister down if she interferes with his play (which happens many times a day)so we're hoping to break that habit soon. We finally helped him stop thumping against the wall/crib to go to sleep at night by taking down his entire bed. We'll put up a toddler or twin bed soon, but we're still debating when we can introduce bunk beds.

Luke continues to progress in his reading skills. This week his Star Wars phonics readers arrived and he LOVES them! Star Wars has quickly become a new interest (right up there with Transformers) so these books were just perfect for him. I love watching him sit down to read with Matt. I really think one of the reasons he picked up on reading so quickly is because his daddy takes the time to read to him or listen to him read so often! Yes, he gets the skills from school and his amazing kindergarten teacher, but the motivation definitely lies in wanting to be just like his daddy. Luke is excited to begin playing hockey and taking skating lessons in two weeks. We will definitely have to post pictures of that.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Kiera's First Birthday

Today, Kiera celebrated her first birthday! This year has gone by so quickly. This little girl has each of us wrapped around her finger with those big brown eyes and sweet smile. She has grown up so much in the past few months. Just a couple of weeks ago she was taking her first tentative steps and today she lets go and just walks halfway across the room on her own. She tries so hard to talk and has such an animated voice (even though she doesn't have a lot of real words yet). She points at everything and says, "this" because she wants to know what it is.

She spent the morning playing at the WonderLab with her brother, Gabe. Then we were off to lunch at the mall and a quick trip through Target. We stopped by Barnes and Noble for her free birthday cupcake and then headed home for a much needed nap. The boys helped me make a simple, but delicious cake (and by helped I mean they licked the icing beaters).

After nap, we spent some quality time playing outside. Kiera LOVES being outdoors and doesn't mind getting dirty, in fact, I think she prefers it.

Kiera really enjoyed her cupcake after dinner!

Gabe serenaded Kiera with several renditions of "Happy Birthday." It was so sweet, but I can't get the video on here. The boys also decided that she should open one of her presents today since her party isn't until Saturday. She really seemed to like her new Minnie Mouse. Luke and Gabe were also very interested in playing with Minnie :).

Now they're all upstairs sleeping (at least we assume they're sleeping since we hear no obvious noises). I have to say one of the best parts about today was seeing Luke and Gabe dote on their baby sister. She has the best big brothers! Happy birthday to the sweetest little girl!