Thursday, February 10, 2011

A Bit About the Children

I wrote this in January and was thinking to post it when we finally got all our computer difficulties resolved to the point that I had a reliable place to upload photos.  I was going to add some current photos of the children.  Instead, it's now February, and we're using John's laptop as our main computer, which doesn't even handle the Internet as well as we'd like.  He's understandably a little hesitant to let me upload photos to it, for fear that it will have difficulties with that, so I'll continue to wait, and you'll just have to read without photos for now.  Sorry.

Pretend it's still January while you're reading this and it might make sense. ;-)  I did add a bit in places but left it otherwise pretty much as I'd written it.  The older three will have birthdays this month and next, so the ages will quickly be out of date (Liberty's already is), but hopefully I'll post again when I have photos anyway, right?


Liberty was just 7 months old at the start of 2010, still just a baby.  Now, at 19 months, she's squarely in toddlerhood and is really playing it up.  She's still growing fast, is incredibly mobile, loves to climb and get into everything (including trouble), has a good set of teeth, and is rapidly acquiring language.  I melt when she says "thank you" in her sweet little voice.  She has a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous smile, and she loves to tease everyone.  She seems mechanically inclined, and loves toys that are "gadget" oriented.  But she also loves baby dolls.  She's a precious little handful, and a hoot.  She definitely keeps things interesting around here. 

Tirzah was 3 most of the year, but turned 4 in the fall.  She has made huge strides in communication as well this past year.  She has a gorgeous full head of curly hair that gets frequent remarks.  She loves doing 'preschool' with Mom, being read to, and dolls.  She is frequently seen carrying a doll or pushing one in a stroller.  She's also showing more interest in drawing pictures lately, and she likes to do puzzles.  She asks lots of questions too, which are frequently thought-provoking.  She can be quite entertaining as well, and has a super-cute and highly contagious grin and giggle. 

Zion, 6 years old, got a new gerbil last year, which she adores.  She loves animals.  She's been more interested in our read-alouds this year, is doing very well with writing and math, and even joining in on spelling.  She very much looks up to her older sister, Bethany, yet she likes to play with Peter also, and is a determined opponent for him in the wrestling he likes to do.  Zion is full of life and spunk, and can get into conflict at least as well as any of the rest of the children (they're all gifted enough in this area, it seems :-/ ), yet she's also frequently the peacemaker, loves to be helpful, and is usually the first to give someone a hug who seems to need it.  She's very musical and frequently whistles or hums as she goes about her activities (actually we have a few who do at least the singing/humming part, but she's probably the one who I notice the most lately -- Peter is the close second).

Peter, at 8 years old, is "all boy," as he's always been.  He loves roughhousing, running, and wrestling (as mentioned previously), playing war-type games, Legos, throwing/kicking balls or anything that seems a worthy projectile.  Yet, he's not all physical action but is also a man of the mind.  He does well in his studies.  His natural tendency is to focus intensely on a subject for a while and think of almost nothing else as much as he is allowed.  His most recent interest has been spelling, and he's learned a lot about it in a short amount of time.  He's been very interested in the game Scrabble lately, which is helping him develop in this area of words.  He also likes reading and listening to read-alouds. 

Bethany, 10 years old, is just as "all girl" as Peter is "all boy" in many ways.  She likes dolling up the younger ones, especially Liberty, caring for and babying her pets (3 family cats and her own rabbit), learning about animals or drawing them or other things, reading, chatting, imaginative storytelling and dramatic play to accompany it, and lately making cards with rubber stamps and sending them.  In school she excels especially in her reading and narration skills.  She loves history.  She also likes to help with meals and especially baking.  She likes to make up her own recipes and is getting pretty good at it.  She's getting to be quite a help to her mother in this and other areas around the house.

I'll add just a bit here at the end about our latest expected addition (you can stop pretending it's January).  We are almost finished with the first trimester and I'm starting to feel better, though I still have my moments.  On Monday I had my first appointment with the midwife and got to hear the heartbeat, which is always a neat experience and reassuring.  Looking forward to this little one's arrival.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how each of the children grows and changes this year.  I am so blessed to have each of them in my life.  Children are such precious gifts from God!

4 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading about each of your children. It's amazing how different each child/sibling in one family can be.

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  2. What a fun update! Makes me want to see you all again!

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  3. Yes, it really is amazing how different people's natural inclinations are.

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  4. Would like to see you all too, Shonya -- I *should* be feeling more up to travel soon too, although the bouncy van on those rural hills will be a test, ha! You should come here!

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