Elise - Sean

Sean is 5

We celebrated Sean's birthday in the tradition we've alway done...a picnic in the park. With 2 winter babies, our only summer baby will be seeing a lot of picnics in his future. Sean starts kindergarten this Fall at Duveneck (Elise's current school - we are down to 2 drop-offs). He is a great reader and loves to read anything (labels, street signs, back of boxes, and of course, books). His greatest passion is still cars and rolling them around the house or any surface. He is also showing a big interest in baseball and says he wants to be on a "real" team when he grows up. For now, he plays in a Lil Sluggers league teaching the basics. He is also learning martial arts and goes to class 3 days a week with Elise. Sean is a sensitive soul and picks up on the smallest nuances, quietly observing things we think he doesn't notice. He is definitely more laid back than his sisters but he can erupt instantly in a pool of tears which also disappears as quickly as they appeared. He also learned to ride a bike this summer. It took one run and he was off on his own.

He grew 3 inches and 4 1/2 lbs. since his last exam.

Height: 41.25" (16%)
Weight: 36 lbs. (14%)

Ava is 2

For the second year in a row, Ava was sick on her birthday. This year, she caught some kind of flu and didn't want to do anything but sit on dad's lap. When she isn't sick, she is one big ball of pure charm and energy. She is fearless when it comes to doing things first and doesn't accept the limitations of her own body size (i.e. she wants to sit on a big person's chair even though she can't see over the plate) or her 3rd sibling status (i.e. she thinks everything Elise and Sean owns should be given to her first until she's ready to give it up). Ava reminds us of a chihuahua who acts like she's a bulldog.

Already the tallest and biggest of the three, here are her stats:

Height: 33.75" (44 percentile - wowie! for our family)
Weight: 22.9 lbs. (6 percentile - tall AND slender)

This how Ava looked at her birthday party. Couldn't muster the energy to blow out her own candles (if you have ever seen her around candles, you'd know this is NOT her usual)