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!

Moses' Twin?

Today the boys and I and the rest of Northern Virginia invaded Wegman's in preparation for the impending blizzard. It was only my second time at Wegman's and since the store was so crowded and chaotic, I decided it'd be best to put all three boys in the cart. I put Moses and Caleb in the upper seat and Joshua sat in the main compartment. This of course left very little room for actual groceries, and we were the subject of quite a few stares. As usual, I got many comments about having my "hands full". One lady said, "wow, you've certainly got stair steps" and I told her that they technically aren't since two of them are twins. "Oh, these two?" she asked, pointing to Caleb and Moses. I know that Moses is a little big for his age, but seriously? And of course the conversation couldn't end before she told me that her daughters were born 17 months apart, which, according to her, "was just like having twins".

The funny thing is that I hear this sort of thing all the time: "my babies were x months apart, which was even harder than having twins" or "my wife had our kids the hard way- one at a time". Yes, people have actually said these things to me. Now, I am completely in awe of parents of triplets and higher order multiples, and I would never dream of telling a triplet mom that having twins and a singleton is just like having triplets. I'm sure the lady at Wegman's meant well and was just trying to make friendly conversation, but unless her 17-month-old was nursing, pooping, crying, and spitting up all night long alongside her newborn, I think it's safe to assume that her experience was nothing like having twins!

Moses' 10 Month Update

Shortly after Moses' 9-month birthday, we had to retire his infant carseat because we could no longer buckle him into it. Joe managed to squeeze one of the twins' old UVA carseats rear-facing into the back of the Santa Fe, which has alllowed us to postpone the purchase of a third extra-narrow Radian. The UVA carseat will not fit forward-facing, though, so Moses will probably be rear-facing for a while, even though his weight already qualifies him to sit forward facing. Apparently a growing faction of parents are passionate about "extended rear-facing" since statistics show that children are less likely to suffer injuries while secured in a rear-facing carseat. I guess we'll just hop on the bandwagon!

Moses continues to be a sweet, calm, playful baby. People are often surprised to see how quiet and mellow he is compared to his rambunctious, loud older brothers. He loves to give us hugs and pats our backs while he's hugging us. He's also very generous. When I give him a cookie or a cracker, he alternates between gnawing on it and offering me a bite. If I don't take a bite, he persists in offering it to me until I do. Moses is also very attentive to detail. If I put on a different pair of earrings, he immediately notices and wants to touch them and examine them closely.

Cheerleaders

A while back I had my first parent-teacher conference at the twins' preschool. Let's just say that a few decades down the road we'll probably be more likely to find the boys behind a podium or pulpit than behind a pile of books or a microscope. While the boys' listening and sitting-still skills apparently leave something to be desired, Mrs. Lavergne reports that Caleb and Joshua are exceptionally happy, sweet, exuberant boys who are well-liked by their classmates.

Every day when I drop the boys off at school, they greet each of their classmates with a loud, boisterous salutation: "Hi, Lucy! Hi, Mila! Hi, Connor!" etc. They also have all of their friend's vehicles memorized, so when they see a small red coupe pull into the parking lot, they know to shout, "Hi Anais!" or when they see a green sedan, they exclaim, "Hi Auggie!" Then, when I come pick them up from school, as soon as I open the classroom door, the boys stop whatever they're doing and start hopping up and down and shouting, "Mommy's here!!! Hi, Mommy!!!" repeatedly at the top of their lungs before dashing towards me and lunging at me for a hug. I've been informed that prior to my entrance, they likewise announce the arrival of each of their classmate's parent or guardian, gleefully yelling, "Bryce, your mommy's here!" etc. Needless to say, from what I have observed, the other children are a lot more reserved than our boys. They're no doubt happy to see their friends and mommies, but they tend to express their delight with quiet smiles or hugs as opposed to our boys' raucous cheering and yelling from the rooftops. It's no wonder that this past week Mrs. Lavergne referred to Caleb and Joshua as "cheerleaders for life".

While it has never occurred to me that our boys would take an interest in cheerleading, since neither Joe nor I ever fit the "cheerleader" stereotype, with each passing day I gain an increasing realization that there's no guarantee that our boys will turn out to be anything like us at all. What an exciting journey we'll have ahead of us as we discover what great and unexpected things God has in store for our little cheerleaders.

Somersaults and Standing

A few weeks ago, around the time of his 4th birthday, Caleb went all the way across the monkey bars all by himself. In the week or so leading up to this grand accomplishment, he'd been dangling from everything--doorknobs, towel bars, Mommy and Daddy--building up his upper body strength. Conquering the monkey bars seems to be a sort of rite of passage amongst preschoolers that few have mastered, so he was very proud of himself. Joshua isn't quite there yet, his progress being no doubt hampered by the extra pounds he carries! Both twins, however, can do a perfect somersault. We're pretty sure they got the idea by observing our neighbor Lily somersault around the front yard, and decided to try it out for themselves. Now they're always saying "Mommy, Daddy, watch this!" as they tumble all over the living room floor. Given the boys' flair for acrobatics and high energy level that isn't easily contained within our little house, we've been thinking about asking Santa for a trampoline for Christmas!

Meanwhile, we have caught Moses standing up without holding onto anything for a few seconds at a time. When he realizes that we're watching him, he'll become bashful and drop down to his knees. Who knows, maybe he's been standing for even longer periods of time when we're not looking! In this respect, I wonder if Moses' personality will turn out to be more like Caleb's, who likes to make sure he's got a skill nailed down perfectly before showing it off. I looked back at our blog archives, and as it turns out, Joshua had been standing independently and for longer periods of time even earlier than Moses! We'd predicted that Moses would be an earlier walker since he started crawling so early and since he is just so big in general, but maybe he'll follow in his brothers' footsepts and wait until after his 1st birthday. Only time will tell!