Where did May GO?

Phew! I don't know where the month of May went?! We were waiting and waiting for it to come and now it is almost over. Lots of things have happened in the B house in May. Here is a little recap (not in any particular order):

*Little O was baptized! We had a few family members come to town and celebrate with us. It was PERFECT. We enjoy having them visit and the kids LOVE having extra people to play with, esp. their Auntie A who is only a couple years older than J.
*J and E are riding bikes (with training wheels) like pros! J was doing a great job but E was ever so frustrating. Now he is getting it and can almost keep up with J.
*J started her physical therapy once a week and is working on getting her muscles stronger! She loves going to see her 'teacher' as she calls her. I think she really enjoys the extended one-on-one attention which is hard to come by in our home sometimes.
*N is getting more and more hair! She doesn't have quite enough to put in a full ponytail but my hope is that someday she will! Our kids tended not to have a whole lot of hair until they were 2 1/2 or 3. YIKES!
*O is rollin' all over the place. It started a month or so ago. He was rolling back to tummy and now he can go about 6 feet from his original place. It is crucial now that we watch where we are walking since you never know where he could be even though he is not crawling, yet.
*T passed his first year of medical school! We were super excited and nervous at the same time. I know that he is very intelligent and there is not a doubt in my mind that he will pass, but he seems to doubt himself. This block in particular was neuro-based (which apparently is difficult) and he took a night class that used a lot of his time that could have been spent studying. But long story short... HE PASSED and is a second year student now.
*E continues to try our patience every. single. day. We just don't get it. He simply fights and argues about everything. Even something fun like going outside to play. It is so frustrating sometimes.
*J is even more of a rock star at her letters. We are focusing now on upper- and lower-case letters, she still gets a little confused with when to use each appropriately.
*N is talking more and more everyday. She still does not speak in full sentences yet but she is able to communicate to us what she wants/ thinks. She is going to be one of the firecrackers in the family. She appears to be very expressive and opinionated even at her young age.
*O is a happy little guy who loves just watching what is going on. He can be on the floor or in his saucer for quite a while as long as he is able to see his big sisters and brother. Every now and then they will pop over to shake his hand, give him a toy, sing to him, or just talk to him and he gets so excited. He just screams and laughs. It is so nice (as a parent) to see the kids getting along and having so much fun together.
*Doctor time. I took a home-video of this since it is played so often I thought the kids may like to see it when they are older. J, E, & N all play that they are the doctors and O is the patient. He is a perfect little patient. He just lays their in all his glory while the three big kids ohhh and ahhh over him. He just eats it up. They check his ears, listen to his heart, give him shots, check his mouth (esp. since he has TWO new teeth!), and check his blood pressure. He is in good health just in case you were wondering.

Well I am sure you are slightly bored by now but that is about 1/3 of our month. Hopefully next month I will be better at updating. = )

LONG day

Today was a trying day. We did not really have anything too important going on but the kids seemed to have a different idea of how things were going to be done, well E anyway. We went to Target this morning to get a couple odds and ends which ended by having to physically hold E in the cart and pay with one hand. Then we made it home and things were alright.

This afternoon J had an appointment and I took the boys with so T could study. (N stayed home and napped.) About 3 minutes into J’s appointment E started to misbehave. He did not want to be quiet, was grabbing toys, and playing with everything he could. He ended up getting away from me and jumped into a pit of balls. I was unable to get him out because he kept being just out of my reach. I finally grabbed his arm and picked him up. Thank goodness I brought the double stroller with me! I was able to buckle him in there and leave with him; after a battle and him head-butting me of course. J did amazing working with the specialist and enjoyed having an adult all to herself. = )

I took the boys for a 20-30 minute walk and then went back to check on J. She was done with her PT evaluation and ready to start her OT evaluation. E once again wanted to play with all the fun exciting things so we had to leave. This time we went out to the van and I fed O while E played with some of the toys. I was just about ready to go back inside when E informed me that he needed to poop. Oh great! I got everything set so we could go back inside: stroller out, O in his carseat, E’s sweatshirt back on, E in stroller, van locked, and we were off. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough and he had a minor accident. Of course I did not have the communal diaper bag with me I just had O’s diaper bag. So E had to wear a diaper home that was just a tad too small.

We made it back in perfect timing and J was just getting done. It turns out that she is a little behind her peers as far as gross motor skills are concerned (jumping, hopping, skipping, etc.) but her fine motor skills (writing, drawing, cutting, etc.) are a little ahead of her peers. The PT thought it would be a good idea for J to have therapy once a week all summer so when she starts school in the fall she won’t be too far behind. She does not think the classroom will be a problem but J may have a tough time in gym. The OT does not see a need for any therapy since she is a tad advanced for her age. *Bragging moment*: certain areas she is at a seven-year-old level!

I think J will have fun and enjoy this time. She does need to work on some of those skills and get a little stronger. She is just so petite and fragile.

I had been keeping T up to date via texting while I was there and on the way home he sent me a lovely text; wondering where we were and making sure I did not have a nervous breakdown. He is a funny one. After we got home we had a little snack, O went to sleep, and I took the three big kids outside to play for almost an hour. J is a rock star at biking (with training wheels!) and E was horrible at first but I think he is coming around. : / I don’t know if he didn’t understand or just didn’t care but E was so frustrating a few weeks ago when we got the bikes out. Now he seems to be on the right track though. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed!