January

Let's just jump right in, shall we?

 

As always, the biggest changes for the month were dominated by this little one:

She's kind of an over-achiever. She went ahead and checked off one of her New Year's goals on January 2nd - crawling.

This has always been one of my favorite stages as we watch them figure out these amazing things...but I spend half my time being amazed, and the other half fearing for her life. Karoline is quite the explorer already, so the baby gate is worth every bruised knee and scuffed-up wall it causes. Sometimes it even keeps Kassie caged. Win-win.

She also went ahead and popped out her first tooth. Karoline wins the "Youngest to get her first tooth" award for the family. Yay. Since then her other bottom one has come through, and it looks like we've got one coming in on top.

This picture also shows the fantastic eczema that has taken over Miss K's skin. It's AWFUL on her face, but covers her whole body. People keep telling me Illinois is terribly humid...I can't wait. This winter weather is no fun for my baby.

Our little sweetness is 7 months!

And to prove she's a big girl, she started pulling herself up on things.

I keep telling her to slow down, but no one ever listens to me.

On to the rest of the family. One Sunday I curled some hair. I curled Kimberlee's too, but she wouldn't pose for a picture unless I promised to not post it anywhere online. "I mean it Mom, no blog, no facebook, no instagram." Fine. It was beautiful though. Since then Keira and Kimberlee both got cute haircuts that I have yet to take a picture of.

That Sunday Kassie gave a talk in Primary. I don't think people really believed her when she told them she could read...now they know.

One day she picked up Island of the Blue Dolphins. She carries it around everywhere, and is so proud of being all the way on chapter 11. Don't bother asking her what it's about, she has no idea. We're working on reading comprehension.

Several people have asked how we taught Kassie to read. I'll be honest, she really did it herself. She has loved letters and their sounds since she could first talk, and it wasn't hard for her to figure out how to put them together. If you're looking for a good (free) program or introduction to reading though, Starfall is a good one. All my girls have loved that website.

I think I've mentioned before that preschool was too expensive for my taste here. I've done a couple little programs with Kassie, mostly because she needs her own little activity each day, and some practice focusing and completing tasks. I found a free homeschool preschool program that has worked well for us: Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool. Kassie spends about 10 minutes a day doing "school." She watches some videos and plays a few games, and then does worksheets or crafts. I appreciate that someone else has organized it and put it all in one place.

Every week she learns about a new letter (and shapes and colors). We're keeping it fun and easy.

Sometimes we add in a math app (like Khan Academy or Todo Math). She likes it...but she misses being with "friends" in a regular preschool. She's counting down the days until August when she can go to school with other people. :)

Grandma Law came for a visit!

That meant I could run away with Ed. He started his training with Delta and they invited the spouses down to Atlanta for a nice dinner. Karoline got to go on her first flight, we got to see the Delta museum and eat the yummiest salmon, I got a little extra time with my hubby. It was fantastic. Karoline even cooperated for the babysitter we lined up.

On to February!