Milestones and More...

I just realized this morning as I was driving Sam to Summer Camp (one day a week from 9-1, more on that in a minute) that there has been a whole lot of "milestones" being met in the DeFoor house these last few weeks. It has all happened at once and blew by me like a tornado and I haven't had much time to digest it...but here goes an attempt at covering all our goings on.

1. Kate is showing off all 12 of her teeth...that's right we have been cutting all 4 molars at once and when I say all at once I am not exaggerating. It was like she woke up with them one morning or something. She is also chewing food like a champ. She had her first bites of chicken recently and LOVED IT!!

2. Kate has also been learning to "rough house" with daddy and big brother very well lately. As a matter of fact, she is often the instigator. She is for sure going to be our more adventurous child. She really has no fear and loves to go fast in just about anything. Kind of scary.

3. Sam is off to "Bible School" as he affectionately calls it. It is a summer camp program at one of the local churches one day a week from 9am-1. Let me just tell you what a BIG deal this was for ME....I almost lost it last week when I dropped him off. He did EXCELLENT and I of course had a pit in my stomach the size of Texas until I went to pick him up at 1pm. This is his first time away at any kind of "mother's morning out" or anything other than Sunday nursery. He is growing up so much and I am not sure I am ready for that. He was so proud of himself and the smile on his face when he talked about the experience was priceless and precious.

4. Ok...are you ready for this one...Sam is now in a Big Boy Bed!!! This one has left our entire family speechless. We have been talking and quite honestly fretting a little over this transition. Sam is very independent and loves to challenge us ALOT, so I was very nervous opf him getting out of the bed. He was doing fine in his crib, but I kind of felt like making the switch, so Idid just that and put him in there for nap one day and it was a MIRACLE. He laid down (which he never did in the crib) and let me cover him up (never happened before) and went straight to sleep like he has been doing it all along. It was almost as if he were at peace in a bed and finally could rest. He has been doing beautifully and calling us in the morning with the sweetest "Mama, Daddy, Up Please." you have ever heard. We are bursting with excitement for how well he has done. Yay Sam!! He is also staying up a little later (thanks to Julie for some advice) and waking at 7:30, where as before we were putting him to bed at 7pm and he was wide awake and ready to go at 6am...not a fun time to wake up at the DeFoor house:(

5. This past weekend, Sam got to "vacation" with us to Charleston without Kate. We thought it was going to be a nice chance for us to hang out with him and go to the beach and relax. Well, it didn't turn out that way and I want rehash the trip, because in short we came home early and were glad to be back...enough said, BUT in light of our not so fun trip we did have one snip it to share...Sam got to play in the fountain off East Bay Street downtown and had a blast. Here is some footage of the fun.

6. Sam has all 4 of his 4 year molars in now!! We weren't able to catch those beauties on film , but trust me they are there. Bless his little heart...because they have been a bear. His teeth take forever to come through and these have been especially fun:)

7. Kate has (for the most part) gotten over her fear of the nursery at church and lets mama stay in the service the entire time!! YAY!!

8. Kate is also creeping along on the furniture and has had a few "letting go" moments, which just lets me know that we will be walking soon! I am glad for this milestone, because it will be easier for the kids to play together. As of right now, Kate wants to keep up with Sam no matter where we are, the pavement & playground, and on all fours it makes for some scuffed up knees!

9. Sam had his first big time "Boo-Boo". In seconds, Sam grabbed the iron..OUCH!!! This was the last thing that happened in Charleston that sealed the deal on our early return. I know some of you are sayin "why was there an iron close enough for him to get to??" This is for sure OUR problem, but things happen people, so don't judge!!! We were out of our element on "vacation" and just got lax. He burned all five finger tip pads and the crease of his left hand. It was awful and he has blisters to show for it. After an hour or so of wailing, ice water and burn bandages, he settled down to sleep and the next morning we packed it up and came home!!

10. Rob and I have learned that even though our children our growing up every day and experiencing new things, that we LOVE being parents to TWO amazing children and that with God's neverending help and guidance we too will make it, even with a few bumps along the way!