an update on the Morrills

I just took a little nap, and woke up thinking that I needed to blog about everyday life stuff that I'll want to remember. So here's a little update on each of the kids.

See the crazy look in his eyes? Holy cow, this kid is a handful! We stopped giving him his ADHD meds 3 1/2 weeks ago to allow his body time to catch up any growing it's missed. I wish I had measured him to know if it's been worth it. It's gotten really hard! I thought it was something that ran out of his system by bedtime and was gone, so the first day without pills would be the same as the 25th day (Which is what today would have been had I not gave in and medicated him). But it didn't seem that way, it seemed like he was getting progressively more and more impulsive. I babysat for a friend's 5 and 3 year old boys today, and they had been here maybe 5 minutes when David tried to kick the 5 year old in the privates! He's also really, really noisy unmedicated, both talking and just random sounds. He needs to have a basement or backyard to go to if he's going constantly be making noise! I need to not have David just be ADHD, but it probably is a useful thing to have recorded. I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, if we'll keep him unmedicated for more of the summer. If he had a physical disorder we wouldn't think twice about treating it, why is a mental disorder so hard?

The other new thing with David is that he reads chapter books! Out of the blue one night last week (he gets to stay up and read for a while after Ryan goes to bed) I found him with an 83 page Pokemon book, and he said he was on page 51! He'd been upstairs on my bed reading for probably 45 minutes, and when we went through and asked him questions he got them all right. So I don't know if he did some skimming or something, but he knew a lot of it! I've got him started on Flat Stanley now, and he's read a few chapters. What a smart little 6 year old!

Sweet little Ryan turns 5 tomorrow. He's getting so big, but in some ways is still so little! I love that he still can't say his Ls, Rs, and THs. I know he should stop soon, but it's so cute! He's also a nice little cuddler. We went to see Horton Hears a Who for free yesterday, and partway through he asked "Can I sit on your wap (lap)?" Of course! Oh, and last night when I was reading to the boys Ryan saw a owie on my hand and asked "Did that huwt when you go it?" I told him that it did, then kept on reading. He kind of said "Hmm," and that was that. Sweet little guy!

Then, there is Katy. Beautiful, wonderful Katy. This is how she is right now, crowded in her full bed. Clockwise from bottom left we have her blankey that Grandma Smith made for her, Big Puppy that the boys gave her for Christmas, a baby Grandma Morrill gave her for her 1st birthday, a sippy cup of water, Pretty Bear that Great-Grandma Smith took her to make for her brithday this year, Little Puppy that she found for herself at Great-Grandma Maughan's house after her funeral, a book I got for her (I took a picture on the real camera that I took last night of her asleep with that book spread across her chest), and her Lambie Lovey that I got for her before she was even conceived. From time to time I'll take things out of her bed (Pretty Bear and her blankey and the most constant), then she'll find things and add them. She also often remembers Little Puppy and the baby if I take those out. It gets so crowded in there, but it's hard to argue when all those things represent someone who loves her!

I also have to say that I think Katy was meant to go to Aunt Miriam's family. I'm grateful for the mix up, but it's really funny! There's the curly hair (mine is straight as can be), the dislike of most fruit (there are only a few Katy will tolerate, and even those only occasionally), and her utter girliness, wearing dresses and skirts and jewelry whenever possible (you were like that as a little one, weren't you Miriam?). Then last night she was in the kitchen while I made dinner, and started crying because she stepped on a crumb. Then she started yelling at me about the floor being messy! Holy cow, rude two year old! But really, really funny too! Oh, and when we went into her room for naptime today she saw some toys on the floor and said "Oh no, so messy!" So we cleaned up before she went down. Silly little Princess!