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| Sweet Siblings! |
One of the many strange things about our family (and there are many) is that Haven and Katriel share a birthday. Now the odds that I would adopt two children from Congo that were born on the same day are pretty remote, but here we are with two kids born on October 10. Hmmmm......
This year October 10 also happened to be the day I rushed home early from work because there were small men inside my ear drum trying to pick ax their way out. It was not a fun birthday event. We bought a lame grocery store cake, I took some bad birthday pictures, and gritted my teeth in pain as we sang the birthday song. Then I laid back down on the couch and took more drugs.
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| Grace happily volunteered to blow out the candle for Kat. |
Yesterday was the big 1 year and 4 year visit to the doctor for Kat and Haven's well kid visits. Here is what we learned (which we mostly already knew): Both kids are healthy as could be. Kat is enormous. She is in the 99th percentile in both height and weight. She will someday be a famous Congolese Olympic shot put thrower or power lifter. Haven is 25th percentile for height, but 50th for weight. And no, he is not chubby. He is crazy muscular for a 4 year old. Solid and wiry. Very athletic. Daddy hopes he is well on his way to a career as a second baseman.
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| She's all spit and giggles! |
Katriel, right on track with all our other kids, took her first steps the day after she turned one. All my kids have walked within a week of their first birthdays. But Kat really just stood up and started movin' and shakin'. She is really walking with some serious skill. Must be the enormous thighs holding her steady. She is getting smilier and sweeter everyday. She is probably our easiest baby of all 6 kids. Phewwwww! We needed that!
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| Pucker Up! |
Haven is going through a period of "second-child-itis". It is killing us all. He has been grumpy, needy, whiny, mean. He has forgotten how to share, how to use manners, how to say please and thank you. He gets very frustrated when there is something Grace can do, but he can't. Can't because he doesn't have the coordination yet, or he hasn't acquired the skill yet, not necessarily because we tell him he can't. We definitely don't want him to feel she is the favorite because she is the oldest, but that does seem to be happening a bit. So we are trying to compensate with lots of hugs, lots of extra Daddy and Haven time, and lots of positive reinforcements. It ain't always easy.
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| Aunt Cathy got Haven this great tent for his birthday. He slept in in the first night. JoJo the Destroyer killed it by the second. Sorry Cathy! |
One of the things we did to let him know just how special he is in our family was to make him his very own "Haven Book". Below is an electronic copy of the hard copy he got for his special birthday present from Mommy and Daddy. He loved it. I would highly recommend making one for your kiddo. No, this is not a paid endorsement. I would love to get more free stuff from Shutterfly, but this is just an FYI because Haven liked it so much! (If anyone from Shutterfly is reading, feel free to give me a call and I'll gladly make books for all my kids :))
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| Happy Birthday, my sweet treasures! |
So birthday season is thankfully over for several months around the house. The next birthday won't be until the spring. Until then: Happy Birthday Haven and Katriel.
