22 Months Old at Christmastime

Moses is 22 months old! He had a rather eventful 22-month-birthday, too. In the morning, he went sledding for the first time ever. He was initially terrified when I placed him on the sled and wouldn't stop screaming until I took him off, but after he watched his brothers gleefully glide down the hill in our backyard, he insisted on having a turn. Moses went down the hill head-first on his belly just like his brothers (I'm convinced that he thinks he's 5 years old, too) and loved every second of it. It never even occurred to us that our backyard would be good for sledding until it snowed, but it turns out that it's perfect! We are so thankful for our awesome backyard and the year-round outdoor fun that it affords our energetic little boys.

Later that day we went to Caleb and Joshua's school for their classes' Christmas parties. When we arrived at Caleb's class, Moses walked right on in and immediately made himself at home with the other children. He helped himself to a seat at the table and made a gingerbread house, and at circle time he sat in a chair and got up to dance to "Move It, Move It" with all the other children. The kids take turns dancing two at a time until everyone has had a turn, then they all dance together. Moses, however, got up to dance with each set of children, but took great care to return to his seat in between each session. He was the star of the show! Yesterday, when I dropped the boys off at preschool, he threw a fit and cried because he wanted to stay, too.

The Baby Center's "Your Child is 22 Months Old" email I received this week said that my child probably won't be able to jump with two feet or kick a ball for a couple more months. Moses has been doing both of these things for at least a couple months. He loves to play with balls and frequently asks me, "Wanna play soccer ball?" He is also growing like a weed. His 2T footie pajamas no longer fit because his feet are too big! Whenever we put them on, he quickly unzips himself and frees his feet from the captivity of the footies.

Moses continues to talk up a storm. By the way he talks, you'd think he had a good 4 or 5 Christmases under his belt. "Look at the snow man! Look at the Christmas lights! It no-ing! There baby Jesus! Can I have a candy cane?" A couple days ago while we were eating dinner, Moses grabbed his ears and pulled them so that they were sticking out and said, "I a reindeer!" He never ceases to amaze us with the things that he says. Here are a few more examples from the past few weeks:

One day last week Joshua came stumbling into our room first thing in the morning, as he is apt to do. "Do you want to sleep in mommys bed?" I asked him. "Yeah!" he replied eagerly. Moses, who had also just woken up, was quick to object. "No!" he protested, "Moses sleep in mommy's bed. Joshua no sleep in mommy's bed!"

Over the past few weeks, Moses has been smitten with my FONZ membership card. I guess it's hard for him to resist those cute pandas. Since it's expired, I've let Moses take ownership of it. The only problem with giving a 22-month-old a toy that's literally the size of a credit card is that he loses it all the time. The other day he was agonizing over not being able to find it, as usual. When he finally found it, he said, "Mommy, I found my panda bear card! Gimme five!"

One day last week, Moses was playing with a monkey Beanie Baby when the sun went behind some clouds. He said, "It dark! It dark, baby monkey." Then he turned to me and said, "Heh, heh, I talk baby monkey."

Yesterday I was driving around with the boys and Moses, for whatever reason, was being grumpy and unreasonable. Caleb scolded him, saying, "You're being a naughty boy, Moses." Moses snapped right back and said, "Don't say that me!"

Over the weekend, we were driving by our neighbor's house and Moses said, "Look at that orange car!" Sure enough, an orange car was parked in front on their house. Later that day, Moses asked me, "Where is the green Guido?" so I found the green Guido and gave it to him. "No!" he replied, as if exasperated with me, "where is the green Guido?" Suspecting my error, I found the blue Guido and gave it to him. "Oh, thank you, Mommy." I guess we'll keep working on those colors!

Can I Have a Gun? And a Sister?

Recently overheard in the Wolf household...

Joshua: "Can I have a gun?"
Me: "Hmm, maybe you can have a gun when you're older."
Joshua: "Do you want a gun, Mommy?"
Me: "No, I don't want a gun."
Caleb, while patting me tenderly: "You don't need a gun because you're a lady."
Moses: "Can I have a gun?"

* * *

Caleb coughs in Moses' face.
Moses: "Don't coughing me!"

* * *

Caleb, singing after a miraculously quick recovery from a stomach bug:
"In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, we have the victory!
In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, demons will have to flee!"

* * *

Joe, while holding Moses wrapped up in a bath towel: "Look, I've got baby Moses!"
Moses: "I baby Moses. No, I baby Jesus!"

* * *

Moses, while crouched inside an upside-down laundry basket, playing a new favorite game with his "zookeeper" brother Joshua: "I in a cage!"
Me: "Moses, are you an animal in a cage?"
Moses: "Yeah."
Me: "What kind of an animal are you?"
Moses: "I a zebra."

* * *

Joshua: "Can I have a sister?"
Me: "We tried to give you a sister, but we got Moses instead."
Joshua: "Oh, but I want a sister, too!"

Caleb's Ladies

It all started when we attended the Trademarks Expo at Joe's work, the Patent & Trademark Office. There were all sort of trademarked characters in full costume walking around, including Popeye and Olive Oyl, the Green Giant, Pillsbury Doughboy, Berenstain Bears, Idaho Potato, Dennis the Menace, Geico Gecko, and more. The boys were fascinated with all of the characters, but one in particular caught Caleb's eye. "Mommy," said Caleb as he pointed to Betty Boop in her shimmery red dress, "I love that lady!"

A few weeks later we were at Mimi and Papa's house when one of those ridiculous comedies came on the TV. The movie had just started and we weren't paying close enough attention to discriminate whether it would be appropriate for little boys. Well, it wasn't long before the screen was displaying a young scantily-clad woman wantonly leaning out of an open window. Eyes wide with wonder, Caleb said, "I love that lady!"

Then, not long after Joshua and Caleb's 5th birthday party that they celebrated with their preschool friends and their families, Caleb told me, "Mommy, I love Konstantine's mom." I asked him if he loved some of his other friends' moms, and he was sure that he did not. Only Konstantine's mom.

We trust that as Caleb matures, he'll learn to take some other qualities into account, such as character and personality, when deciding whom he loves. Not that his aforementioned love interests lack good character or personality, but I'm pretty sure that was not the criteria Caleb used when he decided that he loved them!

Too Dry and Expensive

Here are a few snippets of conversations heard in our house over the past couple weeks:

Moses: "Can I have mama?"
Me: "Yes."
Moses (singing): "Bob the Builder, yes we can!"

* * *

While holding a copy of Dick and Jane...
Moses: "Want to read this book, Caleb?"
Caleb: "No, baby, this book is too dry. And it's too expensive. I'm sorry, baby."
Moses: "Oh."

* * *

While watching a Gospel Bill episode in which Oogene is painting a picture of his house...
Moses: "Is Oogene drawing?"
Me: "No, Oogene is painting."
Moses: "Oogene painting a house?"
Me: "Yes, you're right, he is painting a house!"

* * *

Joshua: "Mommy, remember when I was a little baby and I drank mama?"
Me: "Yeah, you were such a cute little baby."
Joshua: "Mommy, can I be a little baby again?"
Me: "No, I'm sorry, sweet Joshua, you can't ever be a little baby again."
Caleb: "Joshua, maybe you can be a little baby again tomorrow."
Me: "No, you can never be a little baby again. You are just going to keep growing older."
Caleb: "But I don't want to be old!"
Me: "Why not?
Caleb: "Because I don't want to have whiskers!"

* * *

And now a small supplemental sampling of the eloquence of a certain 21-month-old. These are just a few Moses-isms I happened to transcribe today while sitting at our (new, virus-free!) laptop:

"I need a tissue."
"Percy begins with 'P'."
"I made a car."
"What're you eating? You eating coffee? Can I have some coffee?"

21-Month-Old Chatterbox

Our chatterbox is 21 months old! Here are a few things we've heard him say in the past month. There are many others that I've forgotten, but I remembered to write these down.

"Look Mommy, I'm a squirrel. I'm a cat, too. I'm a dog, too." He said this while
crawling on hands and knees back and forth across the bathtub.

"Mommy, remember I was sad?" These were the first words out of Moses' mouth the
morning after he'd cried himself to sleep. I can count on one hand the number of times I've let Moses cry himself to sleep, so I felt so bad that he remembered!

"I want to say hi to the Cat in the Hat". Moses' reply when I asked him what he was thinking about after what appeared to be a moment of deep contemplation.

"Because I need to!" An all-encompassing argument which he unfortunately picked up from Caleb. He also says "SO-rry" with a hint of attitude that he's also picked up from Caleb.

"I eat it." We later discovered a few small clear beads alongside a torn, moist packet labeled "Silica Gel. THROW AWAY. DO NOT EAT."

"What's that noise?" When Moses hears something, such as an airplane in the distance.

When I picked Moses up from the one-year-olds' class at Bible Study this past week, he was standing at the table all by himself, flipping through the pages of Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? and saying "hippot-mus, zebra, f'mingo" and all the other animals. What a contrast to the other one-year-olds who were toddling around in silence with blank stares on their drool-soaked faces. Now, if I'd never been in the shoes of the parents those other toddlers, I would probably be giving myself a generous pat on the back right now for being such a superior parent. Thankfully, I have the twins to keep me humble!

I Don't Want Mommy to be Scared

One evening a few months ago, Joe suggested that he take the boys to the grocery store after dinner. As usual, the boys cheered and scurried to put on their shoes. After all, going to the grocery store with Daddy was a huge treat, since it meant riding in Daddy's car and often resulted in the purchase of organic chocolate milk. Joe was in the habit of just taking the twins and leaving Moses at home with me, but on this particular evening Moses made it clear that he wanted to be included as "one of the guys". The boys had excitedly congregated by the front door when Joshua realized that if all three brothers accompanied Daddy to the store, that would leave Mommy at home alone.

At first Joshua tried to persuade me to come along to the store, but for whatever reason I needed to stay at home. Then he tried to persuade Moses to stay at home with me as usual, but that wasn't going to fly, either. And Caleb of course was not willing to budge. Joshua was on the verge of tears when he pleaded, "But I don't want Mommy to be scared! I don't want Mommy to be alone!"

I tried to assure Joshua that I wouldn't be scared or sad, and that they'd only be gone for half an hour at most, but he wouldn't stand for it. Holding back tears, Joshua slipped off his shoes and retreated to my side, telling his brothers and Daddy to go on without him, that he would "stay at home with Mommy so she won't be scared". At that point, I was the one holding back tears as I realized what a tender heart my four-year-old son had, that he was willing to sacrifice one of his favorite activities--going to the grocery store with Daddy in Daddy's car--to ensure that his Mommy wouldn't be scared and alone.

So Joe, Caleb, and Moses went to the store while a somber Joshua kept me company at home. When they returned from the store, Joe took Joshua for a ride around the block all by himself in Daddy's car. Even though this happened a few months ago, I haven't forgotten it, and every now and then Joshua will remind me of it, too. He'll say, "Remember, Mommy, when I didn't want you to be scared?" and he'll smile and give me a hug. I'm telling you, they don't make boys any sweeter than my Joshua.

Happy Half-Decade, Caleb and Joshua!

The boys accidentally downloaded a virus onto my laptop a few weeks ago, rendering it useless. That's why things have been quiet here lately. While my iPhone has kept me somewhat connected, typing out lengthy blog posts is not something I'm eager to attempt on a handheld device. Hopefully we'll get the laptop fixed soon.

Yesterday was Joshua and Caleb's 5th birthday! They had a fun-filled day which included a field trip to a local nature center, singing cards from Granny and Babo (which provided a good solid hour of entertainment), and concluded with a "really cool party" (according to Caleb) at Mimi and Papa's house, complete with steak, angel food cake, and the biggest hit of all--Pillow Pets from Uncle Chris. Apparently Pillow Pets are not only wildly popular with the preschool demographic, but also with the boys' preschool teacher's 12-year-old daughter and her friends, and one of their other teacher's 16-year-old daughter and her friends. And of course Moses was so distraught about not having a Pillow Pet of his own that Mimi and Papa went out and got him one of his own this evening. At $20 a pop, we regret not having invented Pillow Pets first!

While we may have missed out on some material investment opportunities in the world of stuffed animals/bedding, we have been busily investing in the lives of our sweet boys. While parenting twin babies is probably the craziest and most exhausting thing we've ever done and ever will do, it has totally been worth it and our hearts have been full as we've watched our babies grow up to be little men. What a blessing to have such pure and sweet 5-year-old boys who happily exclaim, "Praise the Lord!" when they're happy and are quick to pray, "Be healed in Jesus' name!" while laying hands on a hurt family member. We are so thankful for the blessing of the past 5 years, and for the many more to come.

Farting, Framing, and Philosophizing

Moses is no longer a "teen" toddler--he is now 20 months old, and boy does he have a lot to say. I have given up on keeping track of all of his new words, but here are a few snippets from the past couple days. The first two stand out in my mind because of their common theme...

With a sly grin on his face after making a loud slurping noise while eating yogurt, Moses told me, "I farted, Mommy."

A few days later, in response to witnessing what must've been an alarmingly loud bout of coughing and hacking, Moses asked me, "You farted, Mommy?"
"No, I didn't fart," I replied. "What that sound?" he asked inquisitively. I told him, "I was coughing."
"Oh," he replied.

And now for our more modest readers, some dialogue that doesn't relate to flatulence:

While trying to get past his brothers who were sitting in the hallway with their backs towards him and therefore blocking his access to the laundry chute, Moses said, "Excuse me, guys." When "the guys" didn't immediately move, Moses hit Joshua (whose back was turned to him) and screamed "Move, Caleb!"

That must be one of the worst aspects of being an identical twin--you frequently get blamed for your brother's offences. I realized this the other day while the boys were playing with their classmates after school. Another little boy had brought in one of those dollar-store parachute men, and in the course of play Caleb and another child were both tugging on it, and the strings broke. When the toy's owner saw what had happened, he marched over to Joshua, shoved him, and angrily berated him for breaking his toy. Joshua naturally became angry at the boy for falsely accusing him and a scuffle ensued. Meanwhile, Caleb was happy to be off the hook and had no qualms about letting his twin be framed for his crime.

And speaking of the twins, I'll leave you with a somewhat philosophical conversation that caught me off-guard the other day:

Joshua: Is Jesus by the Sun and the Moon?
Me: Jesus is everywhere.
Caleb: Just like the bad guys?
Me: ...

I guess I should have explained to them that unlike God, bad guys aren't omnipresent, but rather that there are a lot of them out in the world. You see, I have been trying to get Caleb and Joshua to realize that the reason why we don't want them to wander out of our yard and down the street all by themselves--as they have been apt to do lately--is because "bad guys are everywhere". I guess I need to clarify from now. At least I know they've been listening to me!

I Naughty

Today I caught Moses bracing himself against a chair, with that look on his face. "Do you need to poop?" I asked, while quickly taking off his pants and diaper. "Yeah, I pooping" he replied, so we hurried to the toilet where he sat for a few minutes before the novelty wore off and he demanded to get down. This happened twice in the span of about half an hour. Not long after he disembarked from the toilet for the second time, he waddled over to me and sheepishly said, "Mommy, I pooped."

"Oh Moses, you should have pooped while you were sitting on the potty!" I groaned. He somberly cast his eyes to the ground and said, "I naughty." How could I be upset with him? At least he is telling me he needs to go and is not entirely opposed to sitting on the toilet. After my experience potty training the twins, though, I'm not getting my hopes up too high that he'll be diaper-free anytime soon.

Caleb vs. 6

A few months ago, I noticed that the digital alarm clock on our bedside table was facing the wall. I assumed that someone had accidentally knocked it that way, so I turned it around. After all, the clock does share tight quarters with a cluttered assortment of diapers, wipes, lotions, tissues, books, and toys. But the next time I came into the bedroom looking to see what time it was, I noticed that the clock was once again facing the wall. This continued on until one day when I finally caught Caleb in the act of turning the clock towards the wall. I asked him why he was turning the clock, and he became a little flustered and told me that he didn't want to see the "6". I asked him why he didn't want to see it, and he gave his classic reply, "Because I don't need to!"

When I turned the clock back around so that we could see the numbers, he started to freak out and yelled, "No! No! The 6 is coming! I don't want to see the 6!" and struggled to turn the clock back towards the wall. Even though the number 6 was not currently displayed, he knew that the numbers changed every minute and it was due to reappear soon. When he failed to thwart my efforts to keep the clock in a viewable position, he dashed out of the room. I can't help but wonder if it's some sort of spiritual thing? We have never told him that 6 is the devil's number or anything like that, and he has never before or since then shown any sort of aversion or favoritism towards any other number. Interesting, isn't it?

19-Month-Old Vigilante

I'm not so sure how I feel about Moses' first 6-word sentence, spoken the morning after his 19-month birthday after repeatedly beating a whiffle ball with a dinosaur Pez dispenser: "Mommy, I killed a bad guy!"

Bug Love

"Sweet daddy long legs! Moses killed you and now you're dead! It makes me so sad!" - Joshua, talking to a smushed daddy long legs.

"Here you go, fuzzy caterpillar, have a nice snack! Bye bye!" -Caleb, after picking a clover and setting it in front of a caterpillar he found on the sidewalk.

Earlier this week, Joshua found a cricket in Mimi and Papa's house and whacked a shoe at it until it was dead. When I explained to him that crickets are basically harmless "good guys", Joshua became very remorseful. "Oh dear, I killed the cricket! I need to find another cricket!" he insisted, as if he could redeem himself by finding another cricket and sparing its life. While he grieved, mourned, and frantically tried to find another cricket, I tried to reassure him that it was ok because there are plenty of other crickets in the world. Joshua was unable to find solace until a couple days later when he found another cricket and graciously spared it an appointment with the underside of his shoe. Sweet Joshua.

TOMY

Over the Summer I'd occasionally help the twins sound out letters in an attempt to read words. This morning Caleb picked up a Thomas train and asked me what its name was. For those of you who aren't familiar, most wooden and metal Thomas trains have the name of the train imprinted somewhere on the bottom. Well, this particular train was plastic, unlike most of our other ones, and I couldn't find its name anywhere. I handed it back to Caleb and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know what his name is." Less than a minute later, Caleb said, "Mommy, I think his name is Toe-me". Surprised, I took the train back from him and upon closer inspection of the engine's underside, I saw the toy brand name "TOMY" subtly embossed in the black plastic. "Wow, Caleb, did you read that?" I asked. "Yeah!" he replied, smiling and beaming with pride. I knew he must have, since it was a proper noun that he's not familiar with. So there you have it, Caleb officially read his first word all by himself, and of his own volition, too!

Moses' 18-Month Stats

Today Moses had his 18-month check-up (a few weeks late). He is 33 inches tall (60th %tile) and weighs 28 lb. 4 oz. (75th %tile). I think this was the first time his weight was a higher percentile than his height! I'm kind of surprised because he still seems like a little stick figure compared to the twins circa 3 years ago. Where does all of his weight come from? Maybe he's pure muscle? ;-) But in all seriousness, we continue to thank God for blessing us with such a healthy and bright little boy.

Verbose Moses

Every week I get an email from BabyCenter.com telling me what kinds of milestones my baby should be reaching each week. Today I got the following email for 18 months, week 3:

Now that your child has mastered some key words, she'll soon figure out (if she hasn't already) that saying those words in a REALLY LOUD VOICE is a surefire way to get what she wants. Some toddlers can even make simple two-word sentences such as "No more" or "All done." And, as a sign of your child's growing self-awareness, she may start referring to herself by name: "Claire go," for example.

Now, I realize that these generic emails probably err on the side of very gradual development so that if you have babies who don't like to talk (a certain set of twins comes to mind) you won't feel so bad. But Moses keeps blowing us away with his conversations and sentences which are definitely more than two words long. Here are just a few examples that come to mind from the past couple days:

Joe: Moses, do you want to get in the pool?
Moses: No.
Joe: Why not?
Moses: Cold.
Joe: Because it's cold?
Moses: Yeah. Because cold.

Moses: Mommy, get it!
Me: What do you want me to get?
Moses: Goggle.
Me: Where are the goggles?
Moses: Pool.
(Sure enough, there was a pair of goggles at the bottom of the pool.)

Moses: Where'd Daddy go?
Me: He went to take Caleb to the bathroom.
Moses: Why?
Me: Because Caleb needs to poop.
Moses: Ohhhh.
(I don't think the twins started asking "why" questions until they were close to 4.)

I tired!
(He actually says this when he is tired and ready for a nap or bedtime.)

Me: Sweet Moses.
Moses: Sweet Mommy.
(We go back and forth telling each other how sweet we are.)

Where bikes go?
(When he realized that his ride-on trikes weren't in their usual corner in the basement.)

'sat? (what's that?)

Where Joshua go? Joshua, where are you?
Where Key-eb go? Key-eb, where are you?

Excuse me, Daddy. Excuse me, Joshua.
When you're in the way and he wants to get by.

Where are you, al-gator? There you are, al-gator!
When playing with an alligator.

M! Moses!
When he sees an "M" somewhere. He realizes that his name begins with "M".

I Don't Want It!

Last night we went over to the Stewarts' house. After dinner, the older kids got ice cream sandwiches. Moses, upon realizing that he hadn't been offered one, came to the kitchen and the following conversation ensued:

Moses: Some? Want some?
Us: Oh, would you like some ice cream?
Moses: Yeah!
(We give him an ice cream sandwich)
Us: What do you say?
Moses: Thank you!
(He disappears into the next room with the ice cream. A few minutes later he marches back into the kitchen with the melting, merely nibbled-on ice cream sandwich.)
Moses: I don't want it! I don't want it!

So there you go, 18-month-old Moses is now officially speaking 4-word sentences. When we took the twins to be evaluated for speech/language therapy about 6 months ago, the test results claimed that they could barely even speak 4-word sentences (we of course knew that they could very well speak 4-word sentences and more, but what did we know? We're only their parents, after all... sigh...) Anyway, I only mention that to give perspective on how amazed we are with Moses' verbal skills. We're just not used to having such a little person who has so much to say!

Miss Lana

A recently overheard conversation:

Caleb: I love Miss Lana. She's my girl.
Joshua: Yeah, she's pretty cute, isn't she?

For those of you who aren't familiar, Miss Lana is the main female character on The Gospel Bill Show. She is a sensible, matronly woman in her mid-40's.

From the Mouth of an 18-Month-Old

Since Moses' 18-month update didn't actually include much information about Moses, I decided to compile a list of some things that Moses has said today, just to give you an idea of what we've been hearing lately.

Cay-eb! After saying Joshua's name for several months now, Moses finally started saying Caleb's name last week. The very first time I heard him say it was last Monday when we went to pick up the twins from VBS and he became very excited when he spotted Caleb across the classroom.

Scary! In response to a "suspenseful" segment of an episode of The Gospel Bill Show.

Back? Back? When he wants me to give him a piggy-back ride.

Mama all gone. When he was nursing and milk was all gone.

M-O-B-S. He dictated these letters to me while the twins were practicing writing and drawing this afternoon. I'm sure he had no idea what he was spelling, but I was amused that he spelled an actual word. He does seem to understand that his name begins with an "m", though, and asked me to write "m" over and over again.

Here are some more Moses-isms that don't require an explanation:

All done poop.
Mommy, where are you?
All right.
Apple num num num.
Okay.
Here, Mommy.
Yeah.
Eeew, bug.
See it?
Shoes on. Help me.
Shoes off.
I do it.

Playing Mother-Baby & Moses is 1.5

At 18 months old, Moses continues to amaze us with his verbal communication skills and dexterity. For example, the other day he was playing with some interlocking plastic blocks and was having difficulty getting two blocks to interlock, so he turned to me and said, "Help me? Help me?" but before I had the chance to help him, he had figured it out on his own and proudly told me, "Did it! Did it!" Even the twins sometimes have difficulty building with these particular blocks, so I was pretty impressed. Moses is quick to figure things out on his own, and if he can't figure something out right away, he doesn't give up easily. As far as he is concerned, he can do everything his brothers can do.

For this and other reasons, I'm so glad that Joshua and Caleb are interested in things that seem to be younger than age-appropriate. While many of their friends are swooning over Spiderman and Star Wars, the twins are still wild about Thomas, Cars, Sesame Street, Toy Story, and Winnie the Pooh. And lately they've been going through a mother-baby phase where they'll find a large and small version of a stuffed animal and one boy will play the "mommy" and the other boy will play the "baby". It all started with a Curious George "mommy" and a Beanie Baby monkey "baby". The boys create dialogues between the mommy and baby in which the baby rides on his mother's back (they learned in a book that this is how mother monkeys carry their young), the baby gets thirsty and drinks "mama" (nurses), takes naps, waits for daddy to come home from work, etc. Sometimes when they're engaging in their imaginary mother-baby dialogue, I will mistakenly respond when I hear someone say, "Mama" and the boys will become exasperated with me and say, "No, Mommy, the baby monkey is talking!" Oh, of course, silly me. While I know this type of imaginary play isn't typical behavior for almost-5-year-old boys, I think it's very sweet and is a lovely respite from the rough-housing that usually goes on around here.

White or Brown?

Today, out of the blue, Joshua patted his cheeks and said, "Mommy, I'm white."

"Oh really?" I replied. "What color is Caleb?"

"Caleb's white, too," he said. "How about Moses?" I asked.

"Moses is brown."

"Oh, is that so? What about Daddy?"

"He's white," Joshua replied confidently. When I asked him what color I am, however, he had to deliberate briefly before deciding that I, too, am "white". Joshua concluded that Mimi, however, is "brown". He told me that Babo and Sooja Emo are also "brown", as are his friends Branden, Catalina, Bryce, Logan, and Ryker. On the other hand, Papa, Uncle Chris, and Granny are all "white".

What a blessing it is to have such a diverse group of friends and family! Our boys may not be colorblind, but there's no question that in their minds, color really is only skin-deep.

17 Months on the 17th

Moses has been a busy, curious boy this past month. He asks to "see" everything, from the boiling pot on the stove to the rain dancing on the surface of the pool from the kitchen window. He also requests to "try" everything, from cracking an egg to throwing ice cubes into an overflowing pot of boiling rice noodles. Moses' desire to see and try everything is demonstrative of his inquisitive nature. This evening, for example, he asked me, "where Daddy?" after Joe left for worship team practice.

One of Moses' favorite pastimes is peeling things. He can easily occupy himself for a solid 30 minutes by peeling the paper labels off of crayons. Another one of his favorite activities is collecting small twigs and sticks in the yard and bringing them inside the house (Joe likes to say that Moses is looking for his staff). The other day while he was outside with Joe, he found a small Y-shaped branch, held it up, and said, "Y". I didn't believe Joe when he told me, so I asked Moses what letter he was holding, and was impressed when he replied, "Y". It's amazing to see what he picks up on the sly.

In addition to his covert independent study of the alphabet, Moses is also becoming very good at counting. He usually counts "1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9." He can drink from a cup without spilling, feed himself milk and cereal with a spoon (and make less of a mess than his 4-year-old brothers when they do the same), helps me hang laundry to dry, and thinks that he can swim all by himself. Most people guess that he's 6-12 months older than he really is, and it doesn't help that he's a good bit taller than some of his 2-year-old friends. Seeing that he's so much more bronzed than the rest of us, most people probably think he's adopted, too! I affectionately refer to him as "my big brown baby." Moses is still pretty skinny, though. We just weighed him tonight, and he rung in at 25 lbs. Caleb is 40 lbs. and Joshua is 45 lbs.

Caleb and Joshua are nurturing older brothers and deserve a lot of the credit for Moses' quick development. For example, Caleb often uses the time that he's sitting on the toilet as an opportunity to educate his baby brother. While Caleb is pooping, Moses will loiter outside the bathroom door while his brother drills him. The drills sound something like this and will go on and on for quite some time:

"Say horse."
"orse."
"Say chicken."
"chi-en" etc.

Joshua will sometimes "read" books to Moses while they sit together on the couch. Since Joshua can't actually read yet, he usually opts for books that involve numbers. This is probably one reason why Moses demonstrates such an interest in counting things. Joshua will ask Moses, "how many flowers are there?" and they will point and count the flowers in unison. Moses loves his big brothers and missed them dearly while they were in Vacation Bible School last week. When I would tell him it was time to go pick up Joshua and Caleb, Moses' face would light up and he'd yell, "Jahhhhhhh-shwa!" while running towards the door.

Of course, Moses also picks up undesirable behavior from his brothers, such as pretending to shoot his brothers with coat hanger "guns" and hitting each other in the head with large blunt objects. Whenever the twins come crying to me because Moses has assaulted them in such a manner, I am quick to remind them that he learns from their example. This doesn't seem to curb their desire to act this way, unfortunately. Boys will be boys, I suppose!

Elimination Experts

Upon reflecting on the previous night's episode of The Gospel Bill Show in which Miss Lana worried so much that she nearly developed an ulcer and had to go to the doctor, Caleb asked me, "Mom, does Miss Lana have a potty?" (Yes, in Caleb's opinion I have now graduated from "Mommy" to "Mom.")

"Yes, I'm sure she does have a potty," I replied, unsure about why he needed this information. Caleb replied, "Then Miss Lana needs to go poop on her potty so her tummy won't hurt anymore." And Joshua chimed in, "Miss Lana needs to eat lettuce so she can poop."

That's right, folks, next time save yourselves a visit to the doctor or pharmacy. Drs. Caleb and Joshua Wolf have all the answers!

Uncle John is Sleeping

Earlier this week we drove to Pittsburgh to attend my Great Uncle John's funeral. He was 86 years old when he passed away on the very day of his 63rd wedding anniversary. Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, so he was the closest thing to a grandfather I ever had. And since Uncle John and Aunt Rosine were never able to have children of their own, we really wanted to be there for Aunt Rosine, even though it was a long drive for three little boys. Just a couple days earlier our mechanic had told us not to take the Santa Fe for any long drives before we replaced a broken ball joint, so we decided to rent a minivan and ride together with Mimi and Papa. The novelty of riding in a different car definitely helped make the trip go more smoothly. The boys kept insisting that the van was ours and that we would not have to give it back, even though I warned them otherwise.

At the viewing, when the twins saw Uncle John lying peacefully in his casket, they were quick to announce to the whole room that "Uncle John is sleeping!" Joe took them outside during the ceremony, and then when they came back inside and found that the casket was missing, Joshua declared that "Uncle John woke up!" We had already explained to them that Uncle John died and went to Heaven to be with Jesus. "Is Uncle John in Heaven with George Washington?" asked Caleb. We confirmed that he was. "I want to die and go to Heaven and see George Washington and Uncle John," replied Caleb. We assured him that he would someday, but not for a very, very long time.

Uncle John was my Grandma's youngest brother, the last remaining of eight siblings who were born and raised as missionary kids in pre-Communist China. I will certainly miss hearing their memories about growing up in China and hearing them speak Chinese to each other. Not to belittle the sacrifices made by modern-day missionaries, but I can't even wrap my mind around the sacrifices my great-grandparents made when they transplanted themselves half-way around the world, without the internet or even the ability to make a phone call home to America, for over 50 years, all for the sake of spreading the good news of Jesus to an unreached people. It sure does make my life of raising twins plus one in the suburbs of DC seem pretty boring and inconsequential. But I guess there's always a possibility that I'm raising a future missionary or two, in which case I suppose I'll keep plugging along!

Three Twins Praise the Lord

Today the boys and I went to Trader Joe's. Over the past nine months, I've grown accustomed to going to the grocery store with just Moses while the twins were in preschool, so I wasn't used to the attention that twins seem to generate while out in public. Two little girls, in particular, kept pointing and saying, "look at the twins!" and their mother eventually stopped and asked me, "are all three of them twins?"

"No, just those two," I replied, pointing to Caleb and Joshua who by this point had pushed the cart (and Moses) half-way down the aisle. "The one in the cart is three years younger." It didn't even occur to me until later that her question really made no sense at all. But knowing what it's like to be a frazzled mom at the grocery store, I of course understood her perfectly!

Later as we were going down the chip and cracker aisle, the boys caught sight of their favorite treat, white cheddar cheese puffs (a.k.a. "cheesies"), and asked if we could get some. Feeling generous, I tossed them into the cart, which launched all three twins... I mean boys... into full-fledged celebration mode. "Yay! Cheesies! Oh, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!!!" they loudly exclaimed, drawing even more attention to themselves. What can I say, they're our little evangelists!

Peas Way Goggle

This evening while we were playing in the pool, 16-month-old Moses spoke his first 3-word "sentence": peas way goggle? Translation: please wear goggles? He was holding a pair of goggles and asking Joe to help him put them on. I was rather proud of this sentence on more than one level. Naturally, I'm thrilled that he is learning how to be polite and say "please" and "thank you", especially since he knows he can get usually get what he wants regardless. And of course it warmed my swimmer's heart that my baby's first sentence was a request to wear Speedo goggles!

Moses - 16 Months Old

Moses' vocabularly has really taken off in the past couple months. Just this evening, for example, he asked for more of his favorite vegetable at dinner, clearly saying, "broccoli? broccoli?" Then after dinner, during our evening swim, Moses clearly requested to wear "goggle". This afternoon when I told him it was time to go pick up his brothers from preschool, he happily exclaimed, "Jooooshua! Joooooshua!" He hasn't mastered "Caleb" yet, however, and I'm not sure if it's because Caleb is a more difficult word or because Moses simply favors Joshua.

That reminds me of something funny that happened a couple months ago, when Moses was about 14 months old. We had just arrived at Safeway and put Moses in one of those carts that has a "cozy coupe" car attached to the front. Moses was happy as a clam until Caleb claimed his coveted passenger seat, relegating Joshua to drive solo in another car, a move which prompted Moses to start crying hysterically. In an effort to keep a low profile (which, we realize, is basically impossible when you take three little boys at the grocery store at 9 pm), we moved Moses to Joshua's car, and he immediately stopped crying. Upon suffering rejection by his baby brother, Caleb launched a crying fit of his own. While I of course felt sorry for Caleb (he's a very loving big brother who just happens to have unusually stiff competition from an equally loving yet perhaps slightly more fun and engaging Joshua), I couldn't help but marvel at Moses' ability to tell his twin brothers apart, a skill which most adults have yet to master.

In addition to broccoli, another one of Moses' favorite foods is Cheerios. The other night Joe and the boys were dancing to Old School Sesame street songs and Moses fell asleep in his arms while listening to "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon". While cradling a sleeping Moses in his arms, Joe asked the twins if they wanted to eat some Cheerios before bedtime. As soon as Joe said "Cheerios", Moses' eyelids popped open and he perked up and said, "Cheerio? Cheerio?" quickly regaining alertness just in time to join his brothers in partaking of their favorite evening snack.

Moses wants to do everything that his brothers do. When we're outside swimming in the pool we let the boys pee in the shrubs so that we don't have to take them into the house every ten minutes. (I don't know if the boys are hydrating themselves through osmosis while they're swimming or if they're drinking the pool water, but for some reason they need to pee three times more often than usual while they're swimming). Moses has observed the twins' outdoor potty ritual often enough that he now tries to copy them. He'll say "potty! potty!" then walk over to the grass and assume the same posture that the boys assume when they relieve themselves, with an arched back and stuck-out tummy.

Moses is enthralled by "Elmo", which in his mind is an all-encompassing term that refers to any googly-eyed Sesame Street character. For example, last weekend he was beside himself with glee when we allowed him to bring home a new "Elmo" aka Cookie Monster plush toy from our friends' yard sale. Moses has never even seen a modern Sesame Street episode featuring Elmo (we don't have cable and only occasionally watch 1970's pre-Elmo Sesame Street episodes on DVD), but he has somehow become obsessed nevertheless.

Moses has started trying to count. He especially loves counting to 3 (he usually skips 1 and 2 and just says "three" three times), especially if such counting is followed by jumping in the pool or being tossed up into the air, or if he is looking at pictures of himself, Caleb, and Joshua, he'll want to count the three brothers. When we drive by Mount Vernon on our way to church on Sunday mornings, the twins like to count the dozens of tourist buses that are parked along the road (interestingly, Chris and I used to do the exact same thing every Sunday on our way to church when we were little... not much has changed over the years!). Moses tries to count along with them, although he usually gets lost after "three". Moses also tries to sing the ABC's. He has the melody down pretty well but the letters are still a bit muddled.

Overall, I'm very impressed with Moses' ability to communicate. One of our friends recently gave us a very thoughtful gift of a baby signing DVD, and while baby sign language is something which probably would have benefitted our tongue-tied twins when they were Moses' age, we honestly don't see the need to teach Moses how to sign because he already speaks and understands language so well. Indeed, in retrospect there are many things I would change about how we raised the twins during their formative first two years. For one thing, I would have forced myself to talk to them more, since I suspect that my own reticence is at least partially to blame for their recently diagnosed language delays. But looking back, we were still in survival mode well into the twins' second year, and were probably still too precoccupied with trying to get enough sleep and preserve our sanity to explore alternative communication options. What can I say, you live and learn!

Jesus Gave it to You

This morning, as usual, Caleb and Joshua were chatting with the men from the pool company while they conducted their weekly cleaning of our pool. As usual, the boys drilled the men about their equipment and wanted to know everything they were doing each step of the way. Then, apparently feeling the need to state the obvious, Caleb informed one of the men, "I have a swimming pool!"

"Yes, you have a very nice swimming pool," the man replied, to which Caleb immediately responded, "Jesus gave it to you!" (Of course what he meant was, "Jesus gave it to us"... the correct use of pronouns is one of the things we're trying to work on with the boys). Anyway, the man, certainly not expecting to hear that, smiled and chuckled to himself. As humorous as it was, Caleb's bold witness couldn't be futher from the truth--Jesus did give us our pool! I can only imagine how different this world would be if all believers shared Caleb's boldness in telling others about Him.

Worm Vitamins

This afternoon, as usual, I asked the boys what they did at preschool today. As usual, the boys answered this question by telling me what they ate at preschool. In addition to their typical fare, Joshua added that he'd eaten a "worm vitamin". It only took me a second to figure out that they must have given the kids gummy worms. We regularly give the boys gummy bear multivitamins at home, and that is the only context in which the boys are familiar with gummy "candy". It warmed my heart to know that my boys' familiarity with gummy bears is limited to the vitamin realm!

Switching to Flickr

We've had a lot of trouble with our hosting company (among other things, they deleted all of the images from this website without telling us!), so we're closing down shop and moving over to Flickr. Not only will it cut down on maintenance time, but you'll also be able to comment on individual photos, see photos in high resolution, and even order prints if you'd like. The only catch is that, for a variety of reasons, we've decided to go private. I know it's more inconvenient than the existing setup, but we think it's worth it for the sake of our boys' privacy and safety. So come be friends with "Our Baby Wolfs" on Flickr! If you'd like me to send you an invitation to be one of our contacts, leave a comment here or send me an email. Thanks!

We are hoping to keep up the blog, too... we're not sure where or in what format, but we'll keep you posted.

Moses - 13 months

In the past month or so, Moses has developed a great interest in animals. Last week he impressed me when he heard a dog barking somewhere outside, pointed towards where the sound was coming from, and said "dog!" Today while we were at the park, he saw a woman walking her two dogs. He pointed at them and said, "dog! dog! woo-woo!" (by "woo" he of course means "woof") Whenever he sees a cat he points at it and exclaims "dat!" (he can't quite say words that begin with "c"). He also gets very excited whenever he sees a squirrel, which he also calls a "dat".

Moses seems to understand a lot of things for his age. For example, he understands the meaning of "hot". He often touches the space heater in our bedroom and says, "Hot!" The other day he touched some of my food at dinner and said, "Hot!" He also impressed us a couple weeks ago when he put the cap on a milk carton the correct way. He knew without even having to experience trial and error that he needed to turn the cap over to fit it correctly over the spout. He did the same thing with the cap that goes on my bottle of moisturizer. I know these things all sound mundane and inconsequential, but I'm just recording them here for posterity, so please bear with me.

Moses is a very good eater. For breakfast he can eat nearly an entire fried egg all by himself. The other evening I was dropping the boys off at Mimi and Papa's house so I could help Joe get some work done on our new house. Joshua was feeling tired and didn't want me to leave, so Mimi tried to distract him by offering him some veggie chips. As soon as Moses heard her say "chips" he perked up and pointed across the living room at the pantry doors and began to get excited. "Chih! Chih!" he happily exclaimed. He knew exactly where Mimi keeps those chips hidden. Thankfully, Moses' taste for chips is tempered by his love of vegetables. As noted before, he likes asparagus and will feed himself several stalks of asparagus in one sitting. More recently we've discovered that he really enjoys steamed broccoli. The other day at dinner he fed himself several large florets. What a contrast to his picky older brothers, who even to this day will protest most vegetables. I've often agonized over the theory that children's preferences for certains foods are not innate, but rather a product of their environments--meaning that if your kid refuses to eat vegetables, it must be your fault for letting him eat junk food all the time. But now that I have a child who was introduced to junk food at the same time he was introduced to vegetables, but has already voluntarily eaten more asparagus and broccoli in 13 months than than his junk-food-deprived older brothers have in 4 years, I have tossed that theory out the window once and for all.

Sold!

In case you're wondering why I've been neglecting this website lately, it's because we bought a house last week and I've been kind of busy getting ready for the move!

Ok, let me back up a little. We put an offer on our house at the end of January, which the sellers accepted the very same day, even though our offer was well below the asking price, the house had been on the market for less than a month, and they were already in negotiations with another buyer. Our home inspection occurred the February morning that "snowmageddon" hit, and then we closed this past Friday.

During the settlement, the seller (a kind, elderly man with three sons of his own who had grown up in this house and were also in attendance) told us that he had arranged and paid for the pool company to open the pool in May, have someone perform weekly maintenance all summer long, and then winterize the pool in September--the highest level of service that the pool company offers. Both our realtor and the settlement lawyer told us they'd never before witnessed such a generous gesture at a closing. That's right, our new house comes with a pool! As most of you know, I grew up swimming and have always loved to swim, but I never imagined I'd own a house with a pool. I feel like I'm living in a dream and I keep having to pinch myself to see if this is real. All that I can say about this whole situation is that when you give to God, He always gives back!

Here's a picture of the boys that our realtor took in front of our new house on the morning of the closing. As you can see, Joshua had just rolled out of bed and was (and still is) in dire need of a haircut. Anyway, we hope it'll tide you over until life settles down and I get a chance to edit and upload the enormous backlog of pictures which are waiting impatiently to make their long overdue ourbabywolf debuts.

The Third Child

This evening, in between bites of freshly baked homemade brownie, Joe turned to me and asked, "are we supposed to give Moses chocolate?" I glanced at Moses, who was standing at Joe's feet, earnestly begging his Daddy for a morsel with an outstretched arm. "Sure," I replied, "that brown stuff that's all over his hands is the chocolate chip I gave him earlier while I was baking."

About half an hour later, I walked out into the living room to find Moses, alongside his big brothers, hovering over a bowl of grapes, nonchalantly popping them into his mouth. God only knows how many hours of my life I've spent peeling and meticulously quartering or halving those infamous little choking hazards for my two first-born, but here was 12-month-old Moses feeding himself whole grapes like an old pro. 

So this is what it's like to be the third child. I don't think Joshua and Caleb had their first taste of chocolate until they were at least two years old. I don't think I let them feed themselves whole grapes until they were close to three. Yet Moses, at the tender age of 12 months, is all too familiar with chocolate and whole grapes, and a whole slew of other delicacies that I won't mention lest we be judged unfit parents. I can only imagine the kinds of things a fourth, fifth, or sixth-born child would get away with! And now when I think of the story about the time when Mimi (who was the youngest of seven children) was a baby and had a near-fatal encounter when her well-meaning big sister Sooja mistakenly gave her a drink of alcohol, it makes total sense! :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Moses!

I seriously can't believe that Moses is already one year old! It seems like it was only yesterday--not exactly one year ago--that I was laboring at home in the birth pool, in full swing of my second sleepless night of labor, with still more than 12 hours to go before rushing off to the hospital where my 9 lb. 14 oz. gentle giant finally made his unplanned debut. I guess you could say that Moses' birth was a character-building experience that has made me a stronger person, but I sure am glad it's one that (God-willing) I'll never have to repeat!

Fast-forward one year. Moses has a busy (but thankfully much less dramatic!) birthday ahead of him, starting with Bible Study in the morning, followed by his one-year-old doctor's visit in the afternoon, and then dinner and birthday cake with Mimi and Papa in the evening. I'll update later with Moses' one-year stats and any other fun facts that come to mind, but first I'm going to go do something I wasn't able to do exactly one year ago: enjoy a good night's sleep snuggled up in bed next to my sweet one-year-old baby boy. 

* * * * * * * *

Moses behaved very well at his 1-year check-up this afternoon, happily "talking" to Dr. Irwin all throughout the visit and not making a single fuss. The doctor remarked that Moses seemed to be very verbal, especially considering how it's often difficult for younger siblings to get a word in edgewise with the older siblings doing all the talking. We are also thankful to report that Moses' hydrocele has vanished. We'd been told he would probably need to have it surgically removed, but delayed doing so since the pediatric urologist who had been recommended to us wasn't in our insurance network. When Joe got his new job, we switched insurance companies, but as it turns out, we won't be needing the urologist's services after all. Thank you, Jesus, for healing Moses!

By the way, here are Moses' 1-year stats. He is 30 inches long (75th %tile), weighs 22 pounds (35-40th %tile), and has a head circumference of 19 inches (90-95th %tile). And for the record, he has the biggest feet and hands of any other baby I've seen. I forget how huge they are until I see him next to another baby the same age, and then the dichotomy becomes quite apparent. Also, every time I change Moses' diaper or give him a shower, I am in awe of how tan his skin is, even the skin that never sees the light of day in the dead of winter. It's even a few shades darker than mine, and obviously a lot darker than Joe's. Also, Moses has the cutest brown (yes, his hair is getting lighter... oh well, I enjoyed having my dark-haired baby while it lasted!) curls gracing the back of his sweet head.

Please Stop it, Snow!

This morning after breakfast I found Joshua perched on the window sill in the living room, gazing somberly at the whirldwinds of fluffy flakes falling upon the existing 2-3 feet of snow already blanketing the ground. "Snow, please stop it. Please stop it, snow," Joshua sweetly implored. Today marks day 6 of our impromptu blizzard-induced family "vacation". It's the third consecutive day that the federal government has been closed, which means Daddy gets paid to stay home with us! And by "stay home with us," I mean "shovel snow for hours on end (not only our driveway, but also those of our elderly and disabled neighbors, as well as the trampoline), only to come inside and referee our cabin-fever-plagued boys' fights". Hmmm... maybe this isn't much of a vacation for Daddy after all! Either way, we are so thankful that Joe got his new job before this crazy winter, since at his previous job he would've had to make up the hours or burn through his precious saved-up vacation time.

Since mid-December, we've only had about two days when our yard was completely void of snow. That's nearly two straight months of snow, virtually unheard of here in Virginia. I'm so glad that the twins' snowsuits I found at Marshalls the night before the first big storm are getting plenty of use. At first I was skeptical about spending $25 per snow suit, but in retrospect they were definitely a good investment! And this time around, I was thrilled to be the recipient of some second-hand boys snow boots on Freecycle. I usually plan ahead and buy the boys their clothes and shoes a year or two ahead of time on end-of-season clearance, but I've never bothered stocking up on snow gear since we usually only get a few inches at most each winter. I guess I should start scouting out some duds for next winter, although I suspect there will be slim pickin's at the stores after this year's whirlwind of wintry weather!

Num num num

While Moses' Biblical namesake was not much of an orator, we have been quite impressed by our 11-month-old's verbal communication skills. "Num num" is what Moses says when he wants to eat or drink something. Usually, he will point his index finger at the object he wishes to consume and say, "num num num" until we figure out what he wants and give it to him. He will even refer to some of his favorite treats by name, saying "baaah-na num num num" while pointing at a bunch of bananas sitting on the counter, or "joooo num num num" while pointing to a glass of juice on the table. We are so pleased that Moses has figured out how to effectively communicate with us this way instead of crying (which is what a certain set of twins often resorted to when they were about the same age)!

Happy 70th Birthday, Papa!

Today we helped Papa celebrate his 70th birthday! Caleb and Joshua helped me bake a carrot birthday cake (Papa's favorite), and Caleb assumed the honors of inserting the candles into the cake when I wasn't looking (but that's ok, he did a decent job). The boys also selected a gift for Papa--a toy red '57 Corvette, which was the same year as the red MG he used to drive back in the day. Maybe we'll get Papa one of those for his 80th birthday ;)

Moses' gift to Papa was wanting to be held by him the entire evening. If anyone else offered Moses their arms while Papa was holding him, Moses would avoid eye contact, turn his head, and nestle it against Papa's shoulder. He really does love his Papa! By the way, this evening Moses also set a personal record in the walking department, taking 13 consecutive steps.

Most people who know Papa cannot believe us when we tell them that he is already 70 years old. He is certainly the most youthful 70-year-old we know. Happy birthday, Papa, and may God bless you with many more years of excellent health! We love you!

Favorite things: Moses' pillow & Joe's O's

Last week Moses and I went to Trader Joe's while the boys were at preschool. As we were walking down the cereal aisle, Moses started pointing and fervently exclaiming, "neh neh neh!" I looked and saw that he was pointing at the Joe's O's, Trader Joe's version of Cheerios. Even though we only have Cheerios at home, Moses used his keen intellect to determine that the contents of those bright yellow boxes must closely resemble one of his favorite treats. His sweet enthusiasm melted my heart and I couldn't resist indulging him with a box of $1.99 Joe's O's. I know, I know, today it's Joe's O's, next it'll be Thomas Trains, but when it's an 11-month-old asking for generic breakfast cereal, how can you say "no"? As I handed Moses a box of O's, his face broke out in a wide smile and he clutched it gleefully throughout the rest of the duration of our shopping trip. When it was time to check out, Moses reluctantly relinquished his box of Joe's O's to the cashier, who detected his infatuation with the cereal box and was kind enough to promptly return it to him immediately after she scanned them. We went to Trader Joe's again today and it was like dejavu: the persistent pointing accompanied by "neh neh neh!", resulting in the blissful possession of his favorite treat. Our Moses is definitely a boy who knows what he wants (and knows how to get it, too)!

Moses' other favorite thing is his plush Restoration Hardware travel (i.e. baby-sized) pillow that Mimi and Papa gave him for Christmas. He loves to bury his face in it, hug it, and roll around the bed while clutching it, all the while grinning from ear to ear. When we lie him down on the bed to dress him or change his diaper, he immediately rolls over and looks for his pillow. Trying to dress or change him before he's found his pillow is basically a futile effort. A few nights ago, he woke up in the middle of night whimpering. He sat up and groped around in the darkness for his pillow, found it, then thrashed around while clutching it against his body several times before falling back asleep. It's definitely one of Moses' favorite things.

Steppin' it up

Moses has been taking one step here and there for a couple days, but today he took 4 steps! He stood up and then walked towards his Daddy. He was so proud of himself!

Elevators and Steps

This morning the boys and I, along with another woman and her daughter, got stuck inside an elevator in the church where our Bible Study meets. We were trapped for half an hour. Being the kind of person who steers clear of the long tunnel slides at water parks, it was quite possibly one of the longest half hours of my life. Neither of our cell phones got a signal, and after the other woman frantically pushed all the buttons multiple times in vain, I discovered a hidden door that opened to an emergency call box that connected us to an operator somewhere across the country, who then dispatched a repair man to the church. We breathed a huge sigh of relief, although we still had no idea how long it would take him to find us, especially considering rush hour traffic on a weekday morning. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. The boys and I bided the time reciting Psalm 91 and some other Bible verses we've memorized and thanking God for delivering us out of the elevator. I knew I had to maintain my composure for the boys' sake, and as far as I could tell, they didn't have a clue that anything was amiss. It probably helped that an elevator seems like a much larger space to a small child, and that they are yet unaware of what would happen if six people in a small airtight room ran out of oxygen. Needless to say, I don't care how heavy Moses is getting... from now on we will be taking the stairs!

After that, I knew the day could only get better, and it did. This evening, Moses took his first step! I was in the kitchen rolling pizza dough at the time, but Joe witnessed him stand up all by himself in the middle of the living room and take one step forward. He was so proud of himself. Maybe he will be walking by his first birthday after all!

Moses' Skills - 11 Months Old

There's no doubt about it--Moses has got great skills! While he may not have nunchuck, bow hunting, or computer hacking skills, he does seem to be somewhat advanced in certain areas. But it's likely that we are just biased, so we'll let you be the judge. Here's a brief run-down of the kinds of things Moses has been doing that have impressed us:

• Moses can hold a pen and scribble. He enjoys drawing on the Magna Doodle.


• Moses likes to play "catch" and is quite good at throwing and catching a ball.


• Moses is very talkative, and unlike his brothers, who even to this day will speak nonsense in their own "twin language", Moses speaks a few real words that actually make sense. For example, he can say and accurately identify his "Papa," and he says "ow!" when he hits something hard.


• Moses can feed himself with a fork or spoon. For example, the other evening during dinner, he grabbed Joe's spoon and helped himself to soup. This morning, he used a fork to eat pancakes (putting to shame his 4-year-old brothers who were eating their pancakes with their hands). Moses is adamant that he should be the one maneuvering the utensil, and will forcefully yank it away from you if you don't surrender to his grasp right away.


• Forget sippy cups. Moses prefers to drink water out of a glass that he is holding without anyone else's assistance.


• Moses is very inquisitive and regularly uses his index finger to point to objects of interest and asks what they are by saying "deh?"


• Moses can crawl up the stairs, walk up the stairs while holding the railing, and he can scoot down the stairs on his tummy. We don't have stairs at our house, but he has picked this up during the few hours a week when we're visiting Mimi and Papa.


• Moses will eat just about anything. Some of his recent favorites have been chili, spaghetti, cantaloupe, honeydew, french fries, carrots, bananas, fried eggs, yogurt, and oranges. And don't bother pureeing any of these delicacies for Moses--he wants to sink his eight teeth into big solid chunks.


• Moses pays close attention to detail. For example, the other day he removed the stem from a cherry, then carefully tried to put it back in the "hole" from where it came. Similarly, he removed a drinking straw from a Chick-fil-a cup, then diligently tried to re-insert it through the "X" in the lid.

This last point is particularly noteworthy because Mimi likes to tell the story of my first birthday nearly 29 years ago, when I tried to re-insert a birthday candle into the tiny hole where it had pierced the cake. Legend has it that my Great Aunt Sinnie was so impressed that a 12-month-old would be captivated by such a subtle detail. Considering Moses' interest in the proper placement of cherry stems and drinking straws, Mimi is convinced that Moses will take after his Mommy in more ways than just physical appearance, heavy birth weight, being a good sleeper, and having a calm disposition. She predicts he'll also be scooping himself grapefruit with a spoon at 18 months... we'll just have to wait and see!

Bible Study

The boys and I have started attending a Bible study at a local church one morning a week. It's the same Bible study I have fond memories of attending with my mom when I was little, so I was excited to have the opportunity to participate again. Caleb and Joshua are enjoying learning about Jesus' boyhood, singing songs, and eating goldfish crackers in their Bible class. I am enjoying reading the book of Acts and participating in a Bible study group for the first time since college. And then there is sweet Moses, who has not been so fond of being away from Mommy in the nursery. The first week, he was happy to explore his new environment and play with new toys, but the second week he knew what was going on and wasn't too thrilled about it. I think next week I'll try to minimize the trauma by waking him up extra early so that he'll take a nap during most of the Bible Study.

Two of Moses' classmates in the nursery are adorable identical twin girls who are about a week older than him. This past week I found myself staring at them and thinking, "Oh my gosh, that would be crazy to have two babies at the same time," and then I quickly reminded myself, "oh yeah, I had two babies at the same time!" I can't say enough how nice it has been to just have one baby this time around... it has truly felt like a vacation!