Esther is now 5 months old! She is so big! She really is attentive to what is going on around her especially people, lights, Martha, and any kind of screen (especially the computer screen when it has the psychedelic screen saver or the T.V. playing a movie - I know, she is only five months and she is already watching Veggie Tales).
Of course, there is the proverbial question of “Who does she look like?” There seems to be an awful lot of people saying, “Oh, she looks just like you!’ (mom), or “She looks just like Jeff!” or Laura, or they really don’t know. Here is my thoughts for today. I think that she has Jeff’s mouth, my eyebrows, Aunt Jennifer’s hair, Aunt Emily and sister Helen’s social personality, Laura’s eyes, and a whole lot of other characteristics just her own that wrapped up into one baby makes her one of the cutest, lovable little human beings on the face of the earth.
She has started eating rice cereal this week and usually seems to go at it with gusto. Just like Laura, she really does not like to lay on her stomach. She has started rolling on to her side from her back and likes to stand whenever she gets the chance.
Helen is one ball of energy and happiness (unless she is hungry or really tired). She is growing and developing as well. Her new tasks are running, hopping, eating with a fork and spoon, and talking (she says 84 words spontaneously to date).
She craves attention from anyone but definitely loves her Papa’s - all three. We pick up Jeff’s grandpa, Stan, on Sundays to bring him to church with us. Whenever Helen sees him walking to the van she says “Papa Papa!”. Recently, Grandpa Ross was coming to pick her and Laura up to go the Science Museum. We thought he was coming around 10 am. He came closer to 11 am because it was so cold outside. She said “Papa Papa” about 30 times a minute for about an hour and a half because she was so excited to see him. When he is there, she comes over and gives me a hug on the leg and says “Bye Bye!” and she is ready to go. Sometimes when she knows that she is going somewhere, she gives me the hug and says “Bye Bye!” before anyone has come to pick her up. She just loves going places. This fall when we had family over she was in route to give someone a hug and then she saw Grandpa Matejcek and changed courses to yell, “Papa!” and then give him a hug.
Her favorite toys are her dolls, blocks, balls, water, any kind of play with food - like tea parties, and picnics, crayons, and of course, whatever her big sister is into.
Laura is a great big sister! She just loves to hold and comfort her new little sister Esther. She thinks that Esther is the cutest one in the family because she is so little. She says she loves kids and especially babies (hmmm….I think that I have heard that same statement coming from her paternal grandma). She loves to read and do math. She told me yesterday day that she has said that she wants to be a lot of different things when she grows up but she is not sure what she really wants to do. Some of those things are veterinarian, dentist, pediatrician, mother, teacher, horse owner. The last couple of days, Laura has been asking, “When is the next time I get to see the dentist?” When asked why she wanted to see him, she exclaimed, “He is just so nice!” I told her she could see him at church tomorrow and she smiled and jumped up and down. Wouldn’t all dentists like to get that reaction?
Laura is involved in ballet, swimming, and homeschool co-op where they do art, gym, and a weather class. She has an awesome imagination and loves to pretend that she is the mom. She loves cooking, coloring, creating things, playing in the snow, sledding with Dad or Grandpa, movies, field trips with Grandpa, among other things. Her new favorite color is cherry red since she saw the red dough when we made candy cane cookies for Christmas.
All is well at the Olson household and things are starting to tame down after the addition of number three. Esther is developing more of a routine and so is the rest of the family. Of course, there are still upsets to the routine every week, like when Jeff wanted to have his gallbladder taken out, and this or that kid (or mom) didn’t get enough sleep to function well. But such is life, right?
