Summer summer time.....

Two weeks to go until school begins, and we are really cramming the best summer has to offer in. Blueberry picking, trips to Purdue's varities of fountains, baseball games, gardens, parks, and zoo trips abound. Sophia's in the process of learning to ride her bike without training wheels. I don't recall that being such a traumatic experience as a kid, but perhaps it was so bad I blocked it out. She started the process crying and freaking out, which by a general rule is not condusive to riding a bike, as it is hard to see where you are going with tears in your eyes and snot running all over. We're making progress, and as long as she doesn't realize we've let go, she is able to ride. The problem is the second we let go, she lets go. So there is a lot of work to be done. We're all ready for the beginning of school. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with one kid two days a week. It's only for 3 hours that I'll be alone with Celia, but it will no doubt be odd. Being the third, she is always having to stake her claim and demand attention. The few times where the other two have gone somewhere with James, Celia and I had a great time once we figured out what to do, so I'm really getting excited to know her better as an individual, rather than part of the herd. She is really becoming verbal, and understands a lot. She can follow pretty much any direction you give her, knows most of her body parts, and says probally 15 words now. Every day there is something new. Yesterday it was "Spongebob". It's amazing to watch her blossom, and remember how Sophia and Maia went through that same process. It seems like a lifetime ago, even though it was just a few short years. Now that my last totally free summer is coming to an end, and we are about to become a part of the larger world outside my family and friends, I know that things will change dramatically. And I'm looking forward to it.