colleen writes: April Showers

April Highlights

Adam's birthday #35!
Gabrielle's birthday #4!
Carter is 10 months!
Hosting Easter and Gabrielle's birthday party
Working in Gabrielle's classroom for the last time this year
Gabrielle's art work displayed at "Mr. Bumble B's" in downtown Howell
Opening up the cottage and taking our maiden voyage on the pontoon!

Overall, it was a great month. I got totally spoiled with March's phenomenal weather, so April was such a let down, but I am reminding myself that April's weather was normal... As you will see from the pictures below, there were a lot of smiles to go around. Carter's monthly pictures are so much easier to take than when Gabrielle was a baby. Taking pictures of her was a two person job! He's just a smiley baby. I think I just have him trained to smile when the camera comes out. Oh Carter--poor thing--can't quite crawl yet, but he is making great strides toward his mobility. He can now pull up and is beginning to cruise around the furniture. He can rotate while sitting, sort of like a butt pivot. He can walk if I hold onto his hands. He can schootch around while on his back. He can also shimmy backwards. Today, as I write this on April 30th, he went from laying to sitting for the first time. However, he just can't seem to lift his tummy off the ground, and so until he can accomplish that feat, crawling just ain't gonna happen! He may not crawl at all because he gets more stable on his feet everyday! Carter likes to eat "real food" (i.e. the same things we eat) and he does a good job of chewing, so when it's possible, he eats whatever we're eating. He knows how to sign "more" now, and he using that sign quite frequently during the day! Carter is totally enamored with Gabrielle. She is now seeing that he gets more and more interactive everyday, and she enjoys making him laugh-not a terribly difficult task! I think she is less annoyed with him because she seems him as an actual person and not just a baby. She shows her love by looking out for his well-being...always pointing out potential choking hazards or other potential baby hazards. I really appreciate it.

Gabrielle just seems old to me now that she is 4! She had a great birthday. She is still really into Disney princesses but also likes My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake, and now Barbie. Adam and I got her a Barbie bike for her birthday, and I am shocked that I don't have a picture of her on it, but I will have one for next month. This month Gabrielle has taken a liking to me blow drying her hair and using the flat iron on it. Her hair is so long now. It's longer than mine! That's pretty impressive considering that in her school picture in October her hair was still by her ears. What else.....Gabrielle's teacher, Mrs. Peckens, stopped me in the parking lot one day to give me an update. She told me that Gabrielle is a really good friend to everyone in her class. That makes me so proud. She also told me that she likes to play with the boys and be a little rough, but knows how to tone it down and still enjoys playing with the girls, too. She's a good girl...having your kids get older really isn't so bad---it's so awesome to see what great people they have become!

Sleeping Beauty on her birthday