Update

Wyatt speaks! For some time now, Wy has been doing several signs - more, please, water, and milk. But just in the last 24 hours, Wyatt has begun to say those words as he signs them. He doesn't quite have milk yet, but he's saying the others. Tonight he also gave a good strong BAAAAA when presented with a sheep in a bedtime story. This little boy who for so long had very little interest in books, is now very engaged. We recently began putting G and Wyatt to bed in a more simultaneous way, and story time has become a group function rather than one kid/one parent. Wyatt's interest has taken off, and he's listening to two or three books at a time now. He has eight teeth, weighs 24 pounds, can say ball, Greta, thank you, please, more, water, mama and dada. Every time this child throws a ball, heads turn. Total strangers in the park - themselves the parents of little 16 month old boys - stand amazed at Wy's ability to throw. Now if we could just get him to do it with his left hand! He also has some serious climbing and sliding ability. Wyatt climbs up to the very top of the slide all by himself and then flips himself around on his tummy and slides down alone. He is very confident with moving his body around. Wyatt remains loving and laughing and silly. He smiles more than any other expression, and he's becoming a decent snuggler in the morning while he sips his milk - - from a sippy cup! Wyatt is eating more food now than he ever has, but he still is somewhat picky. He loves all fruit, hates all veggies, and probably prefers meat to most anything. Finally, Wyatt has begun to dance during the last ten days or so. We spent Sunday afternoon in Noda at a bike race and as we meandered around talking to people and dogs, Wyatt broke into dance a few times. This little boy is loved and beloved by all.

Greta is learning at a pace with which I cannot keep up. She knows all of her letters, her colors (in two languages), her shapes, she can write her name, and she knows which letters begin the names of her extended family and most of her friends. She can recognize a few words, but the main thing she's doing right now is "reading" her books from memory. We have many books, but since we read at least five a day, and often upwards of 15, Greta is very familiar with most of them. Because she knows the stories so well, she can recite several of them nearly word for word. Greta sings songs! Her favorite is Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, but she rocks out several others. G is eating about the same as she has for some time. I make a really big deal about her trying new foods. Through this praise, she's tried spinach and kale. She ate exactly one leaf of each, but it's a start. She is beginning to exhibit the same sorts of eating issues I always had - - she doesn't like for food to touch and she cannot get around issues like a brown spot on an apple. But she's great in that she eats crust and prefers the skin to remain on the fruit. G is starting to exhibit enough quirky habits that it's probably fair to say that she's a kid. No longer my little babe. G chews her hair and her nails. She is beginning to get freckles. She can spit out the toothpaste, and thus, she brushes her teeth completely on her own now. Greta is still the world's greatest snuggler and seems to physically and emotionally need to curl up at least every morning and evening. She has called me downstairs at 2:00 in the morning just to snuggle her. I love it! If I try to snuggle her when she's pretending to be a grown up, she corrects me and tells me that she's a lady, not a big girl, and moms cannot snuggle grown ups. Finally, Greta is saying, "I love you, mom" and "thank you, mom" with great frequency, and those are my favorite words to hear.

I write this post more for myself than for anyone else because I cannot hold in all the memories that these little beings are trying to give me. I am all filled up with them and their activity, their learning, their habits, their kindness. I could not capture it if I wrote all day, and so this is my meager attempt to remember the best highlights before they change to better ones.