Matthew and Kayla are 7 1/2!

Matthew...

At 7.5 years old, Matthew weighs 46.8lb and is 48 3/4" tall.  He comfortably wears size 7 clothes and size 1 shoes.

Matthew is smart.  He seems to understand new concepts quickly and so he had an easy time in grade 1.  He really enjoys math and absolutely loved learning about the solar system last year.  He is a strong reader.  

Matthew loves learning, and is especially thrilled when he's learned something that neither his Dad (John) nor myself know.  He loves to be praised, and gets a sparkle in his eye when he is joking around with an adult.  Matthew has the best laugh of everyone I know, and it's fun just to watch him watch a funny cartoon/movie.

Outside of school, Matthew loves playing Mario games on his Nintendo Wii or his grandparents' Super Nintendo.  He also loves to play card games, go geocaching, and go biking.  Matthew decided to play soccer again this season, which he is enjoying so far.  

Kayla...

At 7.5 years old Kayla weighs 58.2lb and is 51" tall.  She comfortably wears size 8 clothes and size 2 shoes.

Kayla is the easiest child in the world to parent (in our opinion!).  I'm pretty sure I have only had to raise my voice at her only once or twice in the past year.  In our household, she is the one I can count on to help me or her younger siblings without any complaining.  She strives to please those around her, and always completes tasks to the best of her ability.  

Kayla is a good student.  She does well in all areas and is a strong reader.  She is also a perfectionist so sometimes she is hesitant to try something new if she is not confident in her ability or to answer a question if she is not 100% sure of the answer. 

She is quite quiet unless she is 100% comfortable with those around her... and then, watch out!  She can be loud and obnoxious.  Matthew thinks she is hilarious when she is in her "mood" and will be rolling on the floor laughing. 

Outside of school, Kayla loves to draw, to read, and to help me organize 😊.  She likes to play dolls or Barbies with Olivia, who absolutely adores her, but also is content to play on her own.  

Kayla appreciates being acknowledged when praise is due, but at the same time, does not like the attention being placed on her.  She loves making a crazy face when we attempt to take a picture of her.

She has started playing on a girls-only basketball team and so far, has seemed to enjoy it.  It has forced her out of her comfort zone a bit, having to play with a group of girls that she doesn't know at all, but she has handled it really well.

As twins...

Since Matthew and Kayla were born, they have been the best of friends.  There was not one stage where they disliked or were mean to each other.  They play well together and do well apart.  They shared a bedroom up until the beginning of September, when they mutually agreed that they wanted to have a "boys" room and a "girls" room.  We had kept them together up until this point to help foster the unique bond that twins have, but had always said that would separate them when they both felt it was time.

Olivia is 3 Years Old!

My baby is three!  :) :( :) :(

Olivia now weighs 33.6 lb and is 39 5/8" tall.

We are really getting to be past all things "baby" around here.  We don't even use the stroller really anymore!  It's definitely bitter-sweet; we have a lot of freedom to take the kids on a wide range of outings/activities because Olivia is now tall enough and wise enough to enjoy them.  We aren't held back by meal times or nap times.  It's sad because she's getting so big when she cuddles on my lap!

Olivia is 39 5/8" tall and weighs 33.6 lb.  She is extremely comfortable in her size 4 clothing, and I feel like we will be pulling out the size 5 clothes this fall/winter.  She wears size 9 shoes comfortably as well.

She often refers to her siblings as "my brother" and "my sister", as if we didn't know the relationship between her and Matthew/Kayla/Nathan.

Although she doesn't officially nap anymore, it's always nice for her when she can fall asleep in the car on our way home in the afternoon for 5-10 minutes.  We've been letting her (because we let the older three) stay up until around 9pm each night, and you can tell she is young a requires a little more sleep than the 10 hours she has been betting each night.

She swims amazingly well!  She can easily swim two metres, and then she has to stop to get a breath.  She doesn't blow bubbles when she swims - we are working on that!  She is not afraid to swim in water without her puddle jumpers, even if it's deeper than she can touch.  If you don't tell her to do a "nice" jump, she tries to jump as far away from the edge as possible which results in a dive/belly flop.

Olivia enjoys playing Barbies/stuffies/dolls/roll playing with her siblings.  They really like pretending they are the "Incredibles" - Olivia always chooses to be "Elastigirl".

Olivia says "a-morrow" and "a-day" for "tomorrow" and "today".  She also has difficulty with s-blend words.  For example, for the word "skirt", Olivia would say "kirt".  For "spoon" she would say "poon".  We are very aware of this and (thanks to learning techniques when Matthew and Kayla went to speech therapy) frequently correct her by overexagerating the "s" sound in the word.  To correct "skirt", we say "ssssssssssssssssskirt".  When she focuses on saying the "s" sound she can say the word without a problem.

Conversations between Nathan and Olivia in June:
O (while wearing a dress-up princess dress):  Nathan, I'm a princess.  Do you want to marry with me?
N:  We have to kiss before we marry.

While in the car, Nathan was bugging Olivia.
O:  Nathan, I'm super mad to you!