Big Accomplishments All Around!

So the Campbell kids have had some big accomplishments this week!  It started off with some big changes in Ryan's eagerness to take on more responsibility.  He is more willing to help take care of Jack and keep him occupied while I am busy with Emma.  He usually fights us on this and complains when we ask him to play with his little brother.  Another thing we usually have to prod him about is his homework, but lately he has been coming home from school and initiating the process all on his own! While he still fights us on the weekends to do homework, he has been great about getting it done Monday through Thursday.  And his hard work is paying off, coming home with a 104 on his Science test!

Ryan makes his First Penance next weekend and he easily memorized The Act of Contrition prayer.  We repeated it several times a day, learning one line at a time and adding a new line each day.  He really has a fantastic memory!  And yesterday he woke up and without any directives he prepared his own breakfast and dose of medicine.  This is a big deal because it usually takes a lot of nagging by me in the morning to get him going.  He is usually so bouncy and unfocused when he wakes up.  Also, Ryan lost another tooth the other day and at his dental checkup yesterday he allowed the dentist to complete the fluoride treatment on his teeth, which in the past he has resisted.  And no cavities this time!  He continues to be creative as ever in the drawing department and his creativity flowed over into the toy department two days ago.  He took a number of Jack's toys and created a city street in the middle of our family room.

Julia came home from dance class with a 2nd place medal for a competition she was in last week.  She continues to excel in so many areas of her life and we are proud of her.  She wears her heart on her sleeve so we do need to be careful with how quickly her feelings get hurt.  But she has a big heart!  I have not had the chance to post in the past month but I want to share her latest "do good" deed which she will be working on all year.

Our little philanthropist!

Our "little" Jack turned 18 months last week.  He weighed in at 31 pounds 3 ounces, and is 34.25 inches long!  He is over the 95th percentile in both of these areas.  As big as that sounds, and as big as he looks, at 18 months Ryan weighed 5 pounds more and was 2 inches taller than Jack!  We have big kids!  Anyways, Jack's big accomplishment occurred last night.  He went pee pee on the potty for the first time!  He was so proud of himself and clapped his hands each time we praised him.  This accomplishment is credited to Phil.  He usually gives him his bath and for quite some time he has been placing Jack on the potty before bath time and last night he performed.

Jack loves to look through books!

And Miss Emma!  Just when I thought I wouldn't have anything exciting to share about Emma, she sleeps an 8 hour stretch through the night!  This is a BIG deal considering her nights these first two and half months of her life have consisted of 2-3 hour stretches of sleep and staying awake 2 hours between those stretches.  I am truly exhausted and could use a few nights in a row of her sleeping some long stretches!  Her latest development is discovering herself in the mirror.  She gets so excited to see a baby looking back at her and she begins to coo and laugh.  She is growing leaps and bounds and we are so excited for next weekend when we will celebrate her Christening!

Happy Emma!

Here's hoping there is more sleep in her near future (and mine!)

DC