Guest Update: A Few Pictures of the Children

Hello all. I may not quite have Dave's knack for this but I'm going to do a guest post. There have been a few things I've had the notion to add to this blog and this seems like a good one to start on. (We'll see if it passes Dave's approval process - he runs a tight QC operation.)

For many months Dave or I have made sporadic attempts to get Greta to write anything - even just the letter "G". For some reason, she has obstinately refused to even try, claiming she can't, doesn't want to, or is too young. (OK, so maybe it's not completely a mystery, as she has all her life quite stubbornly refused to try anything new until she feels sure that she can be self-sufficient at it.)

Anyway, today there was finally a breakthrough. She and I have been going on various trips on the "airplane" (Aaron's car seat on a little rug in our living room), and when we went to Vancouver today "for kindergarten" I suggested that we write something there as part of getting ready for kindergarten. She chose to write "DAD" with no direction from me, which is why the first "D" is backwards, and then she wanted to write dolphin, which I had to spell for her and ended up scrambled, as may be seen in the picture. I did at least venture to correct her "N" which was originally an up-side-down "W". So I guess we will now gingerly carry on encouraging her to write. (She also drew a picture of me and her, another recent breakthrough from stubborn refusal to do anything but scribble.)

Greta and her "special book"

me .............. and .............. Greta

Reuben's big development has been that he's been accident-free for a few days now. It was a challenge trying to maintain the level of potty-training that he had established before we went on our trip. Then when we got back, Dave really had to struggle to get him to recognize and control his bowel movements. The last few days have been the turning point, it seems, with no accidents for 3(?) days. He is still in a diaper for sleep (although more often than not he wakes up dry) and for going out; we also still expect accidents and need to give him frequent reminders, but he's got the basics and has been pretty cooperative. Today I managed to get a picture of him in his gitch, which is how he is usually seen ricocheting about the house.

Grown up Reuben

Aaron - well, he's gained weight. He's over 13lbs now. He also holds his head much better and his repertoire of noises has grown from "ah" to "ah", "goo", "oh" and a few other cheery little noises - besides crying, that is. He still gets me up a few times at night but at least goes back to sleep quickly.

Reuben, as usual, showing his keen interest in Aaron

So that is my brief update on the kids, and my first blog post. (And of course, I passed inspection ...)