FYI

Katie came down with a fever of 102.7 very early Sunday morning.  She had a slight cough and runny nose, but I'm not sure that had anything to do with the fever.  She also had a gross diaper last night, but that could be because her dad fed her raisins.  She is very fussy, but seems to be plenty energetic.  I'm hoping this is the same thing Melissa's family had last week, as we were with them on Saturday night.

Katie Tries It On

Katie is very interested in what she wears these days. She knows that if she wants to go outside, she should bring me socks & shoes. She can even say both "socks" and "shoes." She knows that when I put her pretty dresses on her with her tights that we will be going to church, and is very concerned if I don't get her shoes and overcoat on her when she thinks I look like I'm ready to go. She also likes accessorizing. She tried on my bracelet at church last week, and the next day I found her with her toy stacking rings on her wrists. She has also figured out that purses are great accessories. However, she hasn't quite figured out how those go on yet.

P.S. Leisa, if you could see her from the side, you'd see that her hair has the same curls as your Katie. I wish I could see the two of them together. They look so similar in their pictures!

William's Concert

William's concert went very well.  He sang "This Land is Your Land" and "My Country 'Tis of Thee" with the choir.  It was nice to hear children singing in tune, and singing willingly, besides.

We were a little surprised by how little seating there was in the auditorium.  The music teachers involved obviously can't do math - 80 children times 2 parents each would have easily filled the available seating, and it was advertised as open to the public, and children welcome.  Our family alone provided 16 fans to watch William, as both sets of grandparents, two aunts, and two cousins joined our immediate family. So, children piled onto laps and on the floor of the stage, and many adults stood or sat in the aisles.

There were some other surprises, as well.  The first was that Pete Seeger was not there.  It was advertised as his 90th birthday celebration, so I naturally assumed he was going to be there.  It didn't say anywhere on the invitation that William was given that these gatherings were being held all over the United States, which would have tipped me off.  

Another surprise was the part where they did a presentation on the computer software program that had evaluated the children.  I knew they were going to demonstrate it, but the developer was asked to give a speech about it, as well, and it went on for a bit.  The good surprise was that they asked for an adult to try it out.  Melissa volunteered, and was given a copy of the software.

The next surprise was that they played a few Internet videos about music from the laptop they were using.  They were the types of things you would find on YouTube.  One of them had a man singing "Goodnight Sweetheart" (badly, I might add) to a litter of puppies to put them to sleep.  It was cute, but not what I would expect during a sing-along concert.

The final surprise was that they had us sing every verse ever written for each of the songs, including about 11 verses of "We Shall Overcome" at the end of the concert.  Wow, did it go on forever!

All in all it was a good event.  William had a good singing experience, Melissa and Jessica got to network a little with some music educators, besides Melissa coming away with a freebie that she can use in her field of expertise.  We also got cookies at the end, which made my kids happy.

Aaron and Tristin had to scoot out right away to get to Priesthood meeting, where they sustained Jeff Kerr, a counselor from the Burnsville Stake Presidency, to the Minneapolis Stake Presidency (n case I didn't mention it in a prior post, yes, Aaron was called as a High Councilor in our new stake).  The rest of us chatted for a while, then left - almost without Ben.  Luckily, I always do a "sound off" with the kids when we get in the van.  They each have a number, oldest to youngest, and they shout theirs off in order after I yell, "Sound off!"  As we didn't hear our sweet #4's voice, I ran back to the building, where I found Ms. Lozito, one of Southview's music teachers, coming out the door with Ben.  He had just told her that I wouldn't leave without him because we sound off!  He wasn't in the least worried.  What a great kid!

Healthy Katie

Katie's 18-month check-up was yesterday.  She is very average in height and weight.  She is now 31 1/2 inches tall, which is the 50th percentile, and 23.4 lbs., which is the 45th percentile.  She is healthy and developing very well.  The best part of the appointment was when the nurse gave her the DTaP immunization.  She tensed up her leg while the shot was given, but didn't even so much as sniffle.  What a brave little girl!