Braggin' on the kids

We've always known we have a genius in Karlen. She's got the smarts and the kooky eccentricities to boot. Compared to her, the other two often feel they are in her shadow. Well, Rowan does anyway, most likely because his big sister always tells him he's stupid. But I could tell from early on that Rowan has his abilities, as well, and they are both different and the same as his sister's. Unlike his sister, he is a mechanical whiz. You can tell just by watching him take something apart to figure out how it's all put together. You can tell by the elaborate, detailed drawings he does. Like his sister, he's also a math whiz. Lately we've been talking about negative numbers. Last night, when I drew out a number line, I could see the light bulb go off in his head. We tried to trick him by asking things like, which is the bigger number: -5 or 3? We couldn't trick him. He can also do simple multiplication in his head. Oh yeah, and he's still 6 years old. Gosh, I'm so proud of him. Well, really, I'm so proud of myself for having him.

Then there's Liana. She will be 4 in less than two weeks but she can already write her name (ok, so it's backwards and upside down -- big deal). She can read the names of her classmates. She is very verbal, much like her sister. She can also work many of the electronics in the house. She is especially proud of her ability to start her own computer game, work the vcr, and find her favorite shows on the tivo. She's also stunningly beautiful. The trick with her will be to keep her proud of her abilities and intelligence.

And then there's Karlen. She is a mini version of Bob -- but she's a lot better looking! ;-) At times, it really seems like there is an adult in that little body. She's so mature in many ways. I have to remind myself that she's still a child. "Things" are not very important to her and this is difficult when grandparents want to know what she wants for christmas. I'm not even sure what to get her. But yesterday she said she wants a pair of leg warmers, even though she knows they aren't very cool. Every time I worry about her having low self-esteem, she says something like that! The thing that amazed me recently, though, was her disappointment to find out she has to be 12 before she can volunteer at the animal shelter.

I have some amazing kids.