oh my. so far behind in so many ways. I guess this is going to be the state of things for a while. Emily has oh so kindly agreed to come over this weekend to watch the children while I try to catch up on household chores. I have laundry piles taller than a six year old just for a starter...

Let's see. So, Wiley lost another tooth, one of the top front ones. He actually knocked it against the bunkbed ladder and the next day he said he pulled it out at school. I also had a parent teacher conference with his teachers the other week. They said that he is doing great. He has gone from not reading at the beginning of the school year to being on level 12...whatever that is. By the end of 1st grade he is supposed to be on level 16. He is well liked and he seems right on target in all areas, with a special affinity for science and engineering. They do feel that he has a bit of the class clown in him, but he takes redirection well and can pull himself back into focus. He often pushes himself to learn and move forward and seems to really like to accomplish things. For example, in reading, they move through the colored reading levels after reading 10 books on each level. He really enjoys getting the certificate the teachers present when they change levels and that seems to be more important to him than actually being able to understand what he's reading. He asks for the maximum homework in math even if it means it causes him a bit of stress, he wants to move through the book. Joan (teacher) also said he has a bit of "pig pen" in him.

He's still doing his piano lessons even if I try to give him an "out" he doesn't want to stop.

Archer seems to love school. He is coming out of his shell. He says funny things like, "Babies can't move and that's why we have to protect them." and "no problem." He has taken a special interest in helping me cook lately. Cora Bell loves him. She will smile like crazy at him and crawls over to smack him in the face, hug him, and kiss him.  He is really convinced that we are going to go to legoland. Like, really convinced. He has coupon for a free child entrance with an adult ticket and he carries it around. He's funny and talked today about how he felt scared when the big kids were in the pool at "my hotel" but he wasn't scared when the little kids were in the pool. He tries to help with Wiley's anxiety stuff, like when he gets nervous about me remembering him to pick him up, Archer will say reassuringly, "of course mom will pick you up." He can do all kinds of math and tries to spell words, all courtesy of paying attention to Wiley during homework time. He talks about how Pluto used to be planet but now it's considered a star and how they are exploring Mars, but no one lives there yet. He wants to be a police officer when he grows up and get bad guys.I thought I had written about this, but I don't think I did. I went to Archer's preschool child teacher conference. He's doing great. They talked about how his art skills were quite advanced, he can count to 39! He got above average marks in all areas. The only area that they felt he needed to work in was standing up for himself. They said that he'd walk away from a conflict instead of standing up for himself.

Cora Bell is all about practicing walking these days. She really only wants to take your hands and walk around; it makes it hard to get stuff done. She loves to take a few steps then clap for herself and watch you clap for her. She loves music and "dancing" she has a move where she sits with her legs in front of her and lifts them off the ground and rocks side to side. Cora Bell started childcare. York is doing all the drop offs and pick ups and he doesn't say much about how it's going. It's the same place amelia's son goes and I get more from Amelia about how it's going....ok so far. General adjustment stuff, not napping or eating well. She's only going three half days right now. Apparently York tried to take her there today.