Keeping Busy

Things are moving at warp speed in the Gould household, both Michael and Emily are crawling with gusto now, and leaving them for a second can prove dangerous. Michael espescially loves to crawl to danger, if there is an outlet or lamp cord available, he is all over it. Emily seems more discerning, but maybe that is because she is able to sit up. She is content to sit on the floor and play with toys, her hands, a shoe, whatever she can find, for 20 minutes at a time. (This is a GREAT trait, one Sophie had as an infant and still has) She will crawl if she needs to, but only if that warrants her moving to something more interesting. To Michael, EVERYTHING is interesting! It has been a lot of fun to watch them over the past couple of weeks, the personalities are really starting to show. Michael sometimes cries when I leave the room, and will make his way from the family room into the kitchen to find me. Neither Sophie or Emily did/does that, so this is a new one for me.

Sophie is doing great also. Last week she attended Vacation Bible School. This was her first year, and she really enjoyed it. The theme was "Treasure Seekers" and each day they uncovered more treasure. We were given a CD the first day, and the last day they had a little program of all the songs, with the kids doing all the hand motions. It was very cute. After a week, I have the entire CD memorized. Does singing it all the way through count as Sunday attendance at Mass??
She comes out with the funniest questions at times. Last week, she told me lots of things about God, since she was going to VBS. "Mom, you are God's treasure, did you know that?" I walked into the family room to find her talking to Emily: "Emily you are so sweet and precious, such a treasure and I will always remember you." It's like all the little bits and pieces she heard during the morning come out when she gets home. Today she asked me, "Mom, who do you think will marry me? Do you think Elizabeth will?" Usually she talks about marrying Noah, so this is a new twist. When the babies were asleep this afternoon I was working in the kitchen while Sophie colored. I was scooping out and mashing avocados for Michael and Emily and also some for guacamole. Sophie wanted to help with the mashing, but they were too slippery for her. She ended up playing with the pits and the skins, making up a long involved story about how the pits were eggs, and the skins were the nests, they had to hatch, etc. This kept her busy for no less than 30 minutes. She even asked me for a dishcloth so she could wipe the "abacabo" off the pits. Who needs toys when you have produce available?? Here are some recent photos, I know I am putting a lot in here, it's just hard to choose!

Here's Michael doing Yoga in his high chair:

The babies "playing" together:

The girls in green; Sophie loved putting that hat on Emily, and surprisingly, Emily kept it on:

Michael getting a bath from Grandma Maier:

Sophie and Noah at their swim lesson:

As I am typing this entry and downloading the pictures, I am also watching a show on TLC about a family with a set of 5 year old twin girls and 16 month old sextuplets.....3 boys and 3 girls. Yes, that's 8 children under the age of 6. And I thought grocery shopping with my 3 was a challenge!