Garth Graduates!! A bittersweet day.

Waiting for gratuation to start: here is the line up.

I wonder how this picture might change if he was "normal." I"m not sure it would be much different.

The speakers gave a lot of advice. "remember we all die." "Be honest." "be a friend." "love only what can love you back--do not love your ipod." But when the principle said "Yes Garth, you are my friend." We all cried--Okay, the girls all cried. There is a lesson to be learned there. And Garth is a living example of being a good friend and unconditional love. He is friends with everyone! Oh, that we might be as good.

Garth LeGrand Mann: It's offical, you are a graduate!! What a bittersweet day. He has made so many good friends and learns so much from school. It's sad to see it's over. And yet, we are so proud of him too.


And we all love you!! Yes, Garth, you are our friend!!

==

Crabbing with the Boys!!

Todd and Garth went crabbing on the coast with the priests. They got really wet! But it cleared up so they could go crabbing. Garth decided he didn't care for Crabs: boats yes, crabs no. But the best story (I heard anyway) came during the night. Garth hates the rain! And yet he had to go to the bathroom, and he couldn't find his shoes. So he woke Todd up. Todd told him to just step outside and take care of buisness--the way boyscouts do. Well 5 minutes passed and Garth didn't come back. 10 minutes and still no Garth. After 15 minutes, Todd got up and went to the outhouse. Garth had walked barefoot over the rocks to the outhouse in the rain. He was still sitting on the throne crying "My brother, Todd, where are you?" So Todd piggybacked Garth back to the tent. Todd is strong--but Garth is almost double Todd's weight. My mom and I had a good laugh. When we were done laughing, Mom said "Now that is love!"

We want to go as a family back to the coast and take the girls crabbing, but we aren't sure when that will happen.

None of my videos are coming up--even old ones that use to. Does anyone know why or what I can do to fix it?

Kaylyns first birthday

(Although I am talking about the last several months, all pictures are within the last week).

This has been an exciting time for Kaylyn. At 9 months Kaylyn started saying lots of new words. (Not that most of them have stuck), but she is now to the point where she likes to talk to you. She carries on a great conversation in baby talk. But we started hearing her immate us at 9 months. She said okay, Hi grandma, up, juice, and Karla and Kylee.
At 8 months, Grandma took away a pencile she was sucking on. So grandma gave her a sucker. She has loved them since and hasn't had a single problem. The problem is in the adults around us looking at her going--I can't believe you gave her that!!

At ten months, Kaylyn said "Garth" and "bye Daddy." We went spent Easter with Grandma and Grandpa Cook, Todd's uncles and aunt, and Lorna's family. Did I blog about that? I will have to check. But we also went out to see Grandma K and all the other Nef's that are out that direction. We also saw aunt Dot. It was fun, but Kaylyn did not sleep through the night. She teethed a lot. She didn't get her first tooth until May 12th--just weeks before her birthday. She now has two teeth. As you can see, it didn't slow her down eating though. Kaylyn, to get around skirts and out door opsticals like grass, would crawl with her hands and feet--not on her knees. I have tried to catch it on video. Here is one of my best videos. It is funny to watch. At the end of the April, She did finally take her first steps to Daddy. She is funny. She pushed one of the play strollers all over--so we know she can walk. But without thinking she has support, she's not sure. In just the last two weeks she is starting to get more and more confident. She is playing standing up now. And she has walked half the length of mom's living room by herself. She is getting so big.

She has such an attitude uniquely her own. She doesn't let her sisters push her around, but she does it so nicely. She is sweet cuddley while being independant. She does not like being left out. And she through her first fit about getting off the swing. She fits right in with her sisters there. She loves being outside. She adores the swings and slide. She enjoys walks and bike rides. She has already started bring us books and asking us to read them, even if she doesn't stay long to hear the story. She adores her daddy without being a daddy's girl. She is her mommy's girl. And it has taken her a long time to want to go to other people. But she has gotten much better about this.

She weighs 17.6 lbs. She needs to be 25 to turn her car seat around. So she is still small. And she looks a lot like her sisters did at that age. You can still tell they are related. I'm starting to wonder if there is any other way Todd's and my genes could be mixed up. But I like that they look so alike too. We love Kaylyn! And I can't imagine our family without her. She is now suppose to be sleeping and in there just making noises and calling for me. I guess I will go get her.
One more story: We picked peas. And Karla and Kylee helped. They then helped me shell the peas. And Kaylyn got right in there. She even shelled a few which she promptly ate. Then she'd reach into the bowl and pull out a handful more to eat. She likes peas too. But I thought it was cute that she'd crawl up into my lap and help as well.

(I finally have her pictures with her doll that we took when she was first born. But I will go ahead and publish this--when I down load that picture and get a minute to do it, I will publish it as well.)