Family life...

March 24th, 2018

• Today Adrienne laughed! Her first definite giggle at mommy saying "Aar" and pinching her chubby legs.  
• She also took her first bottle from daddy (it's just practice to make sure she can).
• She really likes to oo to us and smile so big (that started at around 6 weeks).
• She has been sleeping around 6pm-3am/3am-6am or 8pm-6am for several weeks now! She eats well - very regularly, plenty of milk and weight gain, happy and not much spitting up or fusing at all.
• Her voice is the deepest of all my babies and she rarely ever cries, and when she does it's short and hardly anything. 

Martin is my super hero pretender, rough and tough stuntman, defiant and iron- willed three year old.  

•  He will tell you hits name is Mar-TIN, not Mart-n. He understands things very literally. Rules and realities are clear and absolute to him, which isn't to say he always follows them, but he does rigidly expect them to be true at all times. Exceptions do not go smoothly.  

• He is so expressive, from his comedic facial reactions to his whole body drama. It brings us such delight. He can go a long time without saying much, but then will decide to say a lot, in his blunt and boyish way. 

• The love between us cannot be put into words. I feel so protective of him and memorized by this beautiful person. Lately he asked if I will love him forever. He told me he loves me forever back.  

• He does however often tell me (just starting in the past month or two) that I'm not making him happy if I'm denying him something he wants, that he's mad at me if he doesn't feel like doing what I ask. 

• His favorite toys are still planes and cars, also Avengers and ninja turtles, playmobil and legos, and puzzles.   

• His obsession with weapons, especial guns, is honestly astounding.  He was first exposed at other people's houses and that was all it took. Eventually we got him a nerf gun, even though he begged for the gun that went "tttfftfftfftff" (little boy machine gun sound) - there was no way that was happening. He has a small arsenal of nerf guns now which gets used every day. 

• He's drawn toward small parts and tiny balls. He can stay focused and interested in playing with one collection for up to an hour or perhaps more. 

•  Spot and striped "B.B.'s" are so torn and ragged they needed grafting to escape the retirement estate where old blankets go to be happy and free. I don't think I could patch them up many more times; every so many stitches threatens to blow up into an edge-to-edge 

Our darling, beautiful Elaine - such a bright, conscientious, good person.

• Elaine is the most cheerful person I've ever seen. She is delighted with everything and seeks to make everyone happy. She goes out of her way to help, without being asked, understands others needs without being told, and shows such kindness to all people.
• She is so passionate about art and beginning to be about dance. Some of her favorite activities are drawing and painting, cutting and taping/ pasting party decorations, and cooking. She's always asking me if she can help with dinner or of she can cook or bake.
• Party planning happens regularly in our house and any occasion can be an excuse to have one - a visitor, making friends, daddy returning from a trip, etc. 
• Her reading abilities are improving; she sounds out most three-letter words and many longer ones. We're often delighted when she blurts out information that we didn't tell her and when she's asked how she knows that, she'll say she read it.  If a library book is read to her a few times, she will attempt to read it herself using memory and reading along.
• Her memory is excellent in both its length of retention (she remembers details from years ago) and in its detail and recall. An observation will lead her to make a connection to a small detail in the past. 
• Our only challenges with her right now are managing her physical energy and rivalry with Martin. When I'm able to get her outside enough for proper exercise she is not so out of control indoors, but she still can't seem to restrain herself from rock climbing and body slamming on the couches, stomping and tumbling throughout the townhouse (NEIGHBORS!!), racing in front of everyone and tangling under our feet...
• With Martin, the challenge I believe comes from their different ways of communicating: Elaine expresses herself verbally and understands by listening, whereas Martin expresses and learns nonverbally. So the more Elaine tries to speak to him, the more he groans and throws his hands around. Then her feelings