And 8 months!

Besides a new 4-year-old, the household has two new 8-month-olds!





Lizzie and Teddy have definitely entered a new, dynamic time of their lives - they suddenly realize that they are here, and perhaps it would be nicer over there. Of course, they can't actually get there yet, but I think we're counting down the final weeks of immobility. And then, up come the baby gates, and out the window goes my sanity.

Lizzie gets up very very early most mornings - when I stagger out of bed at 6am, she has often been awake and chattering for the better part of an hour. It's a very good thing she's so cheerful and cute in the mornings, because I'm generally not thrilled to be up.

Why yes, this is Teddy, wearing his sister's hat. Big brother Spencer doesn't care about gender-appropriate-garb. And I have to admit, it's cute on him.

Almost sitting! Or rather, sitting just fine 90% of the time, and flopping over and wailing the other 10%. Plus, we have rolling, and reaching, and occasional toy theft.

Four teeth! All on Lizzie - Teddy is still toothless. Though the drool suggests they're coming soon. Of course, I keep being extra-sympathetic to Teddy's problems sleeping and bouts of fussiness because the teeth are coming! Any day now! And then Lizzie smiles at me and cuts another one. Which, not to propagate gender stereotypes or anything, but kind of lends evidence to the "boys are wimps" school of thought.

We go through huge amounts of solid food - they're still at that lovely stage where they're willing to try most any food, as long as it's pureed (unlike, ahem, a 4-year-old I could mention. Oh, not to imply that Spencer is pureed. Simply a picky eater.)

As for other benchmark-type information:

• Lizzie, with her multitudes of teeth, has had her first experiment with biting a tender area of her mother's anatomy. Yelping ensued.
  

• In related news, the twins are mostly weaned. I've been nursing them to sleep in the evening and if they wake up at night, but I think we're done soon. They don't seem to automatically collapse into sleep when they start nursing anymore, and I don't think they're getting much nutrition at this point anyway. Plus, teeth. Oh, the teeth.
  

• Most nights the babes crash by 7:30, occasionally as early as 6. We have had one complete night of sleep (no stirring until 5am, which is, of course, much too early) and a couple nights of sleep from my bedtime until morning (11pm-5am). But those were just to tease me - most nights Teddy, especially, will wake up at least twice. I hope to regularly sleep all night very, very soon.
  

Aunt S gives Teddy a kiss. Or maybe whispers in his ear about the importance of sleeping all night long?

4 Years Old!!!

Spencer is 4 years old, a bona fide big kid!

(Aside: does the word "bona fide" make anyone else think of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? With Holly Hunter repeatedly describing her new fiancé as bonified? Just me? Ok, then.)



We had a glorious cake from Aunt S (I had already purchased the Wall-E candle when he announced that he wanted a train cake), and a multitude of presents. The crowning glory of which has to be the Mack truck with the interior set up for Lightning McQueen to dance, get a car wash, and play video games.

(But also several presents that didn't feature licensed characters at all! Really! He even asked me to read him a non-Pixar-themed book last night!)








The celebratory birthday week has had several other notable events - Grandma and Grandpa are visiting, and we all had a lovely time out at Kiddieland. We hear they're closing, which is sad - though not so surprising, given that the rides were at most half full on a glorious Sunday afternoon in May.

And, we had a rematch with his nemesis from last fall, the slide. Well, this time it was a different slide, and he tripped and fell on the stair, rather than going down the slide head-first. But the result was the same: another 3 stitches at the ER (different part of the face, at least.)

Before (with the numbing medicine and a clear bandage on it):

After, with the therapeutic purple Popsicle:

It must absolutely be said that this almost-4-year-old was a little scared, but lay perfectly still and answered questions about his coming birthday (in a tiny brave voice), and earned every one of the little prizes the staff gave him (stickers! popsicle! a car! A big bubble wand!)

And I'm kind of hoping that that's the last ER visit for a while.


Finally, we had a silly face contest last week - Spencer won that one, at least! (I'm pretty sure finger placement in the last picture is accidental.)

Quick!

Quick! Must post spring photos before they're entirely out of date!

First, the Big Kid. Spencer poses for photos now, which makes his smiles look a bit forced; the candid shots are nicer:



Some Easter egg dying:



Spring! This weekend I got to see the kids' legs and feet!

Lizzie is my beautiful, beaming smiley girl:

And Teddy is more a silly grin kind of guy:

Awwwww! Of course, Teddy likely grabbed Lizzie's hand in order to shove it in his mouth, but still...