Kristiaan Update.

Just in case you are now tuning in....please make sure you scroll down and read the last few posts to be caught up with the Voss family! Currently, I am taking some time to share with you updates on the kids.

Today is Kristiaan Daniel (Bubba)

Kristiaan is 4 3/4 and so incredibly full of life and is so sweet and loving. Always active, he goes and goes and goes! Sometimes, I have to just send him outside to play and hope he can run off some of that energy! Kristiaan has a very wide spectrum of activities that he enjoys. He loves playing outside on his bikes, his scooter,and the trampoline. We also have a bucket of chalk that Kristiaan can play with for hours (especially if Uncle Nate is over playing with him)! Out in our garage is Kristiaan's HUGE train collection. Over the last couple years, we have invested in Fisher Price's GeoTrax and Kristiaan has countless sets and engines. We don't park in our garage, but rather use it for a play room...and Kristiaan loves taking out all the trains and is able to build elaborate track set-ups! And when his trains aren't out, he sets up his mini-golf set!

Inside the house, Kristiaan's activities lean more toward the technology side. Kristiaan has been able to work the TV remote, and DVD player since before he was 3 and is very capable of finding his favorite cartoons and shows on Tivo. He also has a vSmile and a SmartCycle that he loves to alternate playing/learning on. The favorite, however is the computer! I started teaching Kristiaan basic online preschool sites when he was 3...now, he can navigate to all his sites and play all sorts of games - educational or otherwise. The cutest thing is when he sees something on TV or in a magazine and recognizes the www., he will run to the computer and look up whatever it was that he saw. One of the questions I hear most frequently is, "Mommy, can we look it up online?" Auntie Monica gave him the Roller Coaster Tycoon game and I am amazed to watch him build roller coasters from the ground up and manage the park! Even though he can't read yet, he can do more on that game that I can!

Starting this fall, my baby is going to kindergarten. While I will miss him greatly every day, he is sooo ready to go to school. Kristiaan has a great love for learning and over the last year and a half, I have bought countless books and learning tools to practice with him. He can write the entire alphabet, upper and lower case and has started practicing reading simple words. Whenever I tell him that we have to go out an run errands, Kristiaan grabs his little notepad and wants to write out the list for me! He also LOVES to make signs and cards (asking how to spell elaborate messages!) and post them all over the house. He's has recently learned how to spell his real name - since he has gone by Bubba for as long as he can remember and just writes Bubba as his name! HaHa! I bought a couple time-telling books because Kristiaan is constantly asking what time it is or what time Daddy is coming home. We also are working on calendar recognition. We got this free calender in the mail and Kristiaan loves checking off every day and making note of his special dates and activities as he learns about days, weeks and months.

Aside from all the activities and energy, Kristiaan is such a sweet, loving boy. We can see this the most when he is around his siblings and little cousin. Sure, they have their moments, but Kristiaan is so nurturing and works to meet the needs of Kayla and Brayden all the time. The other day, I was sitting here working at the computer, when I hear Kristiaan talking to Kayla (who fell asleep in her lunch!)...he was asking her if she was tired and wanted to go take a nap. He then proceeded to get a washcloth to wash her face, and then took her out of her highchair, found her blanket and Bear-bear and walked her into her room! It was just sooo sweet!!!! Kristiaan also is probably the biggest snuggler of all the kids. He loves sitting in my lap, reading books together, taking a nap with me. When we happen to have one of those crazy, stressful days, he will come to me and say, ""Mommy, I always love you!"

He is also so incredibly helpful! He wants to help fold the laundry, vacuum, make smoothies, water the plants, dust, make cookies!!! Sadly, there are times, when I just need to focus on getting something done and I get frustrated at Kristiaan and tell him to go play...he tearfully tells me "but I just want to help you!" Kristiaan also loves talking on the phone! He asks to call his Uncle Nate (the only person whose phone number he know by heart!) almost every day. He calls Aaron's parents often and will chat with Daddy on the phone forever! He is just so full of questions and things to say! He even makes up his own jokes, and laughs so hard at them! HaHaHa!

Kristiaan is still our only child with beautiful blue eyes! Since he was our only child for 3 years - I really cherish the times that I get to spend alone with Kristiaan these days as they don't happen very much anymore. I'll try to get him to come to the grocery store, or Walmart with me in the evenings as Aaron puts the other two to bed. Once a round, squishy baby boy...now he is a tall, talkative ball of energy! While he does wear me out at times, I will never get tired of loving him!