Monday, July 30, 2007

6:03 AM 7/30/2007

Good morning!! Here it is Monday morning all over again. Our family had a pretty good weekend. Sydney is doing well although she continues to look like a poster child for mosquito abuse. Her legs are covered and we have had some great difficulty keeping her from scratching them. By the end of every day it looks like we are beginning to win but by morning she has scratched them all to bloody sores again. It is fairly disgusting. We have tried a mixture of topical ointments to soothe the itching but nothing seems to get past her sleeping psyche. We have tried everything you can think of over the counter and have even tried some home remedies such as toothpaste. Most work for awhile but none seem to last through the night. Other than looking like an insect bite experiment gone bad she seems to feel relatively good. She enjoyed hours of swimming on Saturday and a fun trip to the zoo on Sunday.

Graham, wow, what can I say about Graham. Graham is about the sweetest kiddo ever. He is the sweet sentimental one of the bunch and quiet often tortured for his innocence. It is this quality of his that I am most proud. He truly cares for others and quite often puts others before his own needs. That is a tremendously surprising trait of a 3 year old if you ask me. Quite often, whenever one of his sisters beckon he is always the first to help. He is genuinely sweet. Of course, with this comes sensitivity as well. Graham often wears his heart on his sleeve and can easily come to tears. As a big manly man I would love for him to toughen up a bit but I can honestly say that I would not trade it for his sweet demeanor. This is not to say that he is a cry baby either, at times, we also get a glimpse of his inner strength. Last week, I had to run back to the school mid-morning to drop something off. I was watching as a large boy was giving Sydney a hard time on the play ground. He was chasing her around throwing balls at her. It was clear that it was upsetting Sydney and she was near tears. Graham grabbed a ball and stood right between Sydney and the big boy the next time he tried to throw a ball at her. He was twice Graham's size. He tried to throw the ball at Sydney and Graham deflected it and then threw his ball right at the other boy knocking him back. All of the kids were shocked that Graham stood up to this little boy. All the other kids ran up to say something to Graham and then everyone started playing catch except for the large boy that was bullying Sydney and the other children. He left to go play by himslef. I have never felt more pride than when I watched Graham defend his sister like that. That is my boy!

Ainsley. hmmm. Ainsley. Ainsley will no doubtedly be my biggest challenge. She is the sneakiest little twerp imaginable and she certainly has cuteness working in her favor. She is fearless and absolutely adorable. She is also the one of my children gifted with the most sophisticated sense of humor. She is really quite funny and her humor seems to transcend her age. She does and says things that would surprise me if I heard them from someone 5 times her age. She also seems to be the toughest of my gaggle. She has no fear of giving back what she receives and does not stand for any abuse. She is also smart enough to realize which battles she can and cannot win and seems to use humor to get herself out of situations in which she realizes she will lose. I have not seen this trait in any of my other children and it amazes me to see it in a two year old but it is clearly part of who she is. I hate to say that one of my children is smarter than any other but there is no doubt that this one ranks the highest in street smarts. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be my child that tries to sneak out at night when she is a teenager but thankfully she will probably be the one that can best handle herself. She exudes confidence and cleverness. The funny thing is that, if you asked her teachers, I would think they would give you a completely different picture. They would tell you that she was sweet and demure - more innocent than any of my other children. They would say that she is quiet and loving. The funny things is that she is just reeling them in to her web of trickery. She is just setting the stage so that her peers are the first ones to be blamed when she steals the cookie off of the table. I am telling you. Do not underestimate this one. She is the sneakiest yet. And yes, she still has me wrapped around her little finger.

Well, there you have it, a long overdue state of the Dungan's report.

No wonder I have purpose, huh?

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