(First riding session for the season!)

It seems as though this past year has flown by at lightening speed. I have watched my kids turn into little people, at times seeming much to smart for their age. With each day that passes I see Brenden and Madelynn learn new things and as a parent, it's an amazing thing to watch. With Brenden, it's always been easy for others to see what he isn't able to do. But for me, it's even easier to see what he can do.

As I think back over the past several months, he has come so very far. He has learned to walk with his walker, with no help. He's even using a new walker at school now, which has no support sling (which went between his legs and velcroed around his waist in cause his legs gave out), and he's doing GREAT!! He hasn't fallen once! He can now climb up into the kitchen chair, with no help. He can climb into the bathtub, up on the train table, into his bed, and into his recliner....with no help. He learned how to crawl on his hands and knees, as opposed to army crawling. He has learned to pull up at any piece of furniture....actually anything really. He can walk up the ramp into church. These are all things that most parents, and people for that matter, take for granted. Things that for us, once seemed impossible and out of reach. While some of these accomplishments cause Mommy more stress (i.e. earlier today he climbed up onto the kitchen chair and proceeded to climb up on the kitchen table, giving Mommy a heart attack), they don't go uncelebrated. Tonight we went out to dinner with Jonathan's dad and as Brenden was coloring I noticed that he was holding the crayon properly (this has been an OT goal for a while!) and I got so excited! I thank God each time Brenden reaches a new goal.

And then there's Madelynn. No doubt about it she is going to be the, shall we say, mischievous one?!? I find myself saying "she's bad," but I don't really mean it. She's adventerous, she pushes my buttons. She turns around and tilts her head down and looks up with her eyes, when told "no." (I'm talking about that mom look...you know, the one we all use when we are trying to get our point across?) She's gotten a few hand smacks after not listening...but she just laughs. She's started getting timeout in her crib....but she just stands in her crib and jumps and runs around in it, laughing. So I'm in need of new discipline tactics. She knows when she's doing wrong....yesterday she found Brenden's snack bowl...he was across the room so she kept watching him out of the corner of her eye, at the same time eating his snack. She's saying a ton of new words, climbing on everything, and destroys the house within 5 minutes of waking up each morning. She is becoming very independent....today at Target, after throwing her leg over the side of the cart in an attempt to climb out, she insisted on walking, not riding. It was early, it wasn't crowded, so I obliged. She wouldn't walk with me though, she insisted on walking on the opposite side of the aisle. I couldn't do anything but laugh.

(She's got her car and Daddy's wallet....glimpse into the future, I'm sure!)

My kids test my patience to the limit every single day. They both know how to push my buttons and do so far too often. But I can't imagine things any differently. As I see them growing up before my very eyes, sometimes I get sad that they are growing up too fast but it's exciting to see the people they are becoming. In the very near future we will be getting rid of the binky (promise!!) and at the beginning of Summer I plan to start potty training Madelynn....she's VERY interested in the potty so hopefully she'll be a quick learner like I was!

(Running around the farm during Brenden's riding lesson)