August was mainly occupied by the anticipation of waiting for the birth of our third child, and then her subsequent arrival into the world on August 19th. After much debate, we finally decided on her name, which is Zofia Roze Petite. The transition from two to three children went fairly smoothly. Both Florence and Joseph love their new little sister, and constantly want to hold her. We were surprised to find that Flo had a little more difficulty adjusting than Joe did. For the first week or so, she acted out a lot and was definitely vying for attention. But, things seemed to have settled back into a routine, and we're continuing on with the ever challenging quest to create balance and harmony within our family and household.
So, aside from the rather major change in our life this month, much has stayed the same. Flo continued to take piano lessons and Spanish class. We went to a few playgroups, and the last week of the month, both Florence and Joseph started up with their Little Gym classes again. Joe is taking a sports skills class, and Flo decided to try the "Jazzy Jets" class this time, which is a mixture of dance and gymnastics.
Academically, we've just continued some reading comprehension exercises with Flo, and she finished Shiller Math Level 1 this month, so she'll do Level 2 and 3 over the upcoming year. Darren has been working with Joe on his number recognition and counting, and we'll probably try starting him with the Shiller Math in the New Year, and see how he does. We'll also start him with the Funnix reading program either in the New Year or we may wait until next Fall, depending on his readiness. He seems to be a little behind where Flo was at 4 1/2 with his speech, but we're not sure if that's just because he's missing his front teeth, or if that's just his own pace of development. Nonetheless, he's inquisitive and eager to learn, so I don't foresee any major challenges, aside from budgeting the time to manage everyone's needs.
Now, we just have to organize our schedule for the upcoming "school year." There are so many activity options this year, it's a challenge to not over-schedule ourselves or to spend too much money. Darren would really like to start up a little tee-ball group for ages 4 to 6, so Joe will have the opportunity to meet some kids his age. But, Darren tends to work a lot of overtime, which keeps him busy six days a week most of the time, so I'm not sure whether he'll be able to squeeze that in or not. And I'll be spending the next week sifting through course offerings and see what's available and how we can best use our time.