18 months

This blog is an acceptable place for bragging on our kids, right? Get ready.

Gracie has a peaches-and-cream complexion with a mass of curls. There is a particular one in the back which when pulled, boings back into place. When she walks quickly (tummy leading, left arm pumping), her little curls bounce with her. A friend from church calls her a cherub.

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Her favorite things to do include bird watching. We take pictures of the birds and categorize them (her daddy is becoming a regular ornithologist). We have dozens of sparrows, chickadees and cardinals. "Our Yard is Full of Birds" is one of Grace's favorite books, and she can identify the robin ("rah-rah") and the cardinal ("car-car"). I just bought 40lbs of birdseed from Costco, because apparently our birds are ravenous.

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She is also an avid tea drinker. "TEA!" When we first got the set, we had a tea party every morning when she woke up. (I thought 6:30 was a little early for parties, but Gracie was unconvinced.) Now we have them outside on the porch.

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She also enjoys playing with Maria. Usually. "Ree-Ree" is what she calls her.

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She likes to help unload the dishwasher (I rearranged our stuff so that she can put her plastic bowls away--genius!) She likes music (a CD will ward off tears in the car seat) and singing (she has joined in on the "doodles" refrain in "I Love You".) She has dozens of words, some of which are recognizable to other people. And she's a cuddler. She even lets us brush her teeth.

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I love you, Baby Girl!

Zilker Kite Festival

Went to the Zilker Kite Festival today. Here's my favorite kite, a superhero:

Here are the "Pizza Triplets" (they saw The Great Muppet Caper for the first time today!)

This next one was supposed to give you an idea of how many kites there were. It's hard to see, I realize, but the sky was full of kites wherever you looked:

Love you all!

Mary Clement is 19 mo. today, and she wants to say HELLO, which sounds like AYE-YA!

Here's she's hoarding toys from friend and neighbor Cormac. Turns out that if you can climb into chairs but your frenemy can't, you have quite the advantage over him. Also note that she still loves to chew on everything!

I snapped the next shot when she slipped out the door as quick as a flash to be "one of the boys". This girl can climb. She was on top of this picnic table in no time:

"Mother, are you seriously incapable of ironing my Sunday dress?"

This day she stomped around the neighborhood like a fashionista, strutting. Really, strutting. Where did she learn this?

A ladybug costume hand-me-down from Ayrah. Harry had as much fun dressing her up as she did:

Harry's constant "morning chore" helper. She throws them in, he arranges. His other morning chore is to take all the trash from the little trash cans and throw it into the kitchen trash, which looks like him pointing at each trash can, her picking it up or pushing it following Harry, who does the dumping. She then pushes the little trash can to its designated spot:

My baby doll:

Charmed

Jackson lost a front tooth last night, while eating spaghetti of all things (the other front tooth is barely hanging on, making for a snaggly-toothed boy, as you can see.) He's lost one bottom tooth already, for which he received a dollar coin from the Tooth Fairy. This time he wrote a note with his tooth, requesting two 50-cent pieces. I didn't know he knew such a thing existed. The Tooth Fairy apparently didn't have time to procure these coins b/c she wrote the following note:

Dear Master Jackson,

Thank you for your note. I regret to inform you that I do not have 50-cent pieces. I prefer them myself, but for some time now the Main Office has required all fairies to carry dollar coins. No explanation was given - just one of those bureaucratic oddities that can't be accounted for. May I suggest, however, that you exchange this coin for 50-cent pieces at a local bank? They are generally willing to accommodate polite young boys on such matters.

Until Next Time,

The Tooth Fairy

P.S. Yes, this is a very fine tooth. Please do keep any supply you have for me.

Our Household Tooth Fairy sounds a lot like a dapper and handsome 30-something in our house. I think I'm going to like her; she's charming.

Icy Days

Today is a "snow day", though with homeschooling, every day is a snow day! While picking Matthew up last night on the way to the Budziszewskis (we carpooled with the Stokes), Betsy snapped these photos of the fountain & tower near Matthew's building.

GMW Dances and D masterfully builds a beautiful gate

Hi All,

I've never tried to do a You Tube video before, and I made this one private. Are you able to see it? It's of Grace "dancing" to her music. (Ruthie, when I get some video of her walking I'll post it.)

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Since Grace became mobile, David installed a gate at the top of the stairs. But it wasn't until very recently that Grace was able to scale the 14 steep wooden steps with stealth, and a gate at the bottom of the stairs became necessary.

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We have a metal post on one side and a wall on the other; the only type of gate that would work without any adjustments is a retractable one and these are muy expensive. A traditional gate would work with some gerry-rigging (is that how you spell it?), but it would hit the bookshelf when it opens. And so, enter David's design for Perfect Protection at Pocusset.


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He made this in a 24 hour period, because he wanted it installed before he left for Utah.

Thanks, Honey!

Scenes from Today

Matthew leaving in the wee hours of the morning for the ski trip with his brothers.

Jackson wetting down his hair before combing it, imitating his Daddy.

Everyday scene, including today: Mary Clement sitting in her highchair for sets of ten minutes having eaten nothing; when I begin to unbuckle her, she crams food in her mouth as if I'm rushing her meal.