Zongker Family Blog

Alyssa just thinks she’s so big, it’s cute!  She got in trouble a little, just recently for something she didn’t realize she was too young for, though…  It’s kinda’ funny, so I thought I’d share…  Katrina has a small, kid-size table that she typically sits at, to eat her meals & to do art projects, & things like that.  Since Aly’s not quite old enough for that sort of thing, just yet, she still eats in her high chair.  But, just a few days ago, when her Big Sis was in school, Alyssa decided she was going to climb into Kat’s chair & sit there for a minute.  It was sooo sweet & funny, she didn’t really get into trouble then.  It was the next day, when she decided she was going to get out her Sister’s markers, crayons & other art materials that she was told, “No-no!” about.  Thankfully, she only dumped them out, onto the floor, rather than trying to use them, but still…  I think we’re going to have to put them up, out of her reach, pretty soon, until she understands a bit better that those are Sissy’s things, not Aly’s. 

Well, Katrina’s been making more progress on becoming “mobile” this week!  Her Dad took her to the schoolyard to ride her bike the other day.  They had a great time!  She was turning corners & going all over the place on that thing like a pro!  So, we decided it was a good idea to go ahead & take her training wheels off.  This was a much harder thing for us, than for her, it seems.  She was all excited about it, we just weren’t sure if any of us were quite ready.  So, we took her to a local park that has a little walking/biking trail around it.  The whole thing I’d estimate is only about ¼ – ½ mile, or so.  Jeremy & I took turns, helping her balance while riding.  Whichever one of us was not helping Kat at the time was pushing Alyssa in the stroller.  She got to pedaling rather well & got up to speed where her Dad & I had to jog to keep up, but the entire time, it felt like she was leaning one way or the other, rather then balancing on her own.  We each let go a handful of times, but only for a second or two, before we felt the need to grab on & let her use us to lean on…  She’s getting there, though.  A couple more times & she’ll probably be going around on her own, with no training wheels.  We’re proud of her for trying her best & for trusting us & not being apprehensive at all!  It’s a great first step! 

Alyssa’s getting to be such a little ham, lately!  She cracks us up!  But, it’s extremely cute, too.  It doesn’t matter where we are, or what we are trying to take a picture of, she grins her best, looks at the camera & says, “Cheese”!  And, of course when we giggle at her, it just causes her to do the same!  We love that she is becoming such a bright, happy toddler & that she enjoys posing for pictures.  Her Sister acted the same at that age (and still does, at times), so it must run in the family…    It will be especially fun at her Birthday party in a couple of months, to see & hear her, all ready for those action shots!

Katrina just loves first grade, so far!  We are so proud of her, too!  She is extremely responsible!  Even though they’ve only been back in school for like, 5 days now, she already has “homework”.  This week & next, she is supposed to wear something & bring something to show her class that is the “color of the day” & she’s doing really well, so far.  On Friday, she made sure to tell us, “Mom & Dad, you need to read the note in my backpack about special color days.”  So, yesterday was “red day” & today was orange.  Tomorrow will be yellow, and so forth, until the 6 major rainbow colors are done, then there are a few more to fill in the other days.  She is enjoying it, so far.  She has even made little paper hearts & colored them & given them to her teacher & a few of her friends (this wasn’t something assigned, just something she wanted to do, out of her own creativity).  We are so glad she is loving school & hope the trend continues for years to come!

Our sweet baby girl is such a little copycat lately!  Of course at this age, it’s to be expected, and it’s one of the best learning tools.  Aly loves to repeat words, even though she may or may not use them again, on her own, later.  She also enjoys mimicking our actions.  She’s really developing her personality & we love watching her pick up on these skills, as well.  She has been eating with a spoon for some time, but just recently, we’ve started giving her things that could potentially be really messy, such as cereal with milk & letting her eat them on her own.  She does really well, it’s just funny the things that she has picked up on, having been fed by us – for example, when a piece of food falls on her tray, she now tries to pick it up & throw it back on the spoon or in the bowl she’s eating from really quickly, so that she doesn’t waste it!  We’re proud of her for trying, though & can’t wait to see what new words & actions she will learn in the near future, as well!

Katrina is sooo ready for school to start!  Good thing her first day back is tomorrow!  She went with me last week to Wal-Mart to finish fulfilling her supply list.  We also got her a new backpack, new shoes & some new clothes.  She picked out some new headbands for her hair, as well.  All of this is really exciting to a 6-year-old, of course!  While finishing our shopping trip up, we bought groceries together.  This included “fun” things to put in her lunch pail, such as apple slices and Raspberry Zingers, too.  This weekend, we went to get a booster seat for her, because she’s outgrowing the 5-point harness carseat she was sitting in.  She got to pick it out & of course got a pink & purple one, with flowers all over it.  She’s been enjoying riding in it & can strap herself in with the seatbelt really well, already.  Today, we went to meet her new teacher & see where her first grade classroom is.  We’re excited for her, of course, but we also see our little girl growing up before our eyes & wonder just where the time went…  We look forward to the future adventures of our sweet first-grader, though!

Alyssa loves her little voice!  It’s so cute & fun to hear her, too.  For the most part, she will just babble, chattering on & on, incoherently, with a few choice words that she actually knows, thrown in the mix.  She *does* have a good vocabulary for her age, but she doesn’t always choose to showcase it.  However, the other day, she got into a little pattern of words that she knows, along with some babbling in between.  She repeated the pattern quite a few times in the car & it really had us all giggling & grinning.  It basically began with her babbling a little bit, then saying, “BIG”, rather loudly, followed by more incomprehensible chatter, then the word, “COOL”, again with the babbles, then the word, “Wow!” in an almost awestruck whisper –  as though she was so amazed by herself!  We like to think that in her own little way, she was saying something like, “I am just so BIG, and that’s really COOL; it makes me say, ‘Wow!’” over & over again.  She really is getting to have such a fun, little personality!

Well, the Music Camp that Katrina was attending at our church is over with, but she had such a great time & she learned a lot, too.  We enjoyed watching her perform in the musical finale put on by all the kids, “The Slingshot Heard ‘Round the World”.  It was a story about David & Goliath.  It taught the kids how they can face giants in their own lives, through prayer.  Not only did Kat learn a lot of songs that week, but she also brought home some wonderful Biblical knowledge.  The day of the performance, I was telling her how proud I was that she had done such a good job practicing & I was encouraging her not to be nervous that evening.  She promptly told me, “Mom, I know you’re proud of me, but you should be glad for God, because this is a show about Him & it’s all for His glory”.  I told her I was & that I was happy she knew that, while holding back tears of joy.  We’re so grateful not only that Katrina had a wonderful experience, learning & playing in music camp this year, but that she brought back some truly great life lessons that we hope will remain with her for years to come!

Alyssa’s really becoming a little “tiny dancer” lately!  It’s so cute!  She has always loved music, especially being sung to, even when she was just a newborn.  But, this week, she really just started “getting down”!  She likes to twirl around in circles & say, “yay”!  She will do this, even when there’s no music playing, though…  She also likes to clap her hands & bob up & down (bending her knees) to the music.  She especially loves it when her Big Sis starts dancing – she will try to follow her moves, smiling & giggling the entire time.  We love watching our girls!  They can be so entertaining!  And, it’s sweet how they like to amuse each other, and us, as well! 

Katrina has been excited for all the activities that she’s gotten to do this summer!  The most recent one she’s begun is music camp each day this week at our church.  It is for all elementary school aged children.  She is having a blast, so far!  They are going to do a musical production this Friday evening, for the finale.  So, she received a special learning CD, to practice the songs she’s learning, at home.  She loves doing this & will put on her Spongebob CD player (with headset) & “jam out” – singing the parts she knows & just dancing in place to the ones she hasn’t quite learned yet.  It’s cool that she was interested in going, this year, because when we offered to let her attend last summer, she just said, “nah”.  And, it’s even more of a joy, seeing that she is having such a great time, so far!  We can’t wait to attend the performance at the end of the week!