Thomas is 3 years; Sophia is 20 1/4 months

Recovering from her first ever swim lesson; Thomas deciding that swimming might be ok!; practicing jumping into the pool; Thomas and all 2 of his other classmates; Sophia's class in action

Thomas is 3; Sophia is 20 months and a few days

Daddy's home!; a quiet moment for Thomas; Sophia enjoying playtime; Sophia trying out the potty! with some moral support from Chloe; more playtime

Thomas is 3; Sophia is 20 months; Baba and Jiji visit!

Sophia gives Baba some accessories; reading Sophia's favorite Everyday Food magazine; Jiji naps at his own peril; Um, excuse me, a little help here, Daddy; a double rainbow outside our favorite Sweet Tomatoes!

Thomas is 3; Sophia is 19 3/4 months

Time for a snack!; "How many cheetas do you see, Thomas?"; "If you're silly and you know it, make a funny face!"; giving her babies a kiss amidst the chaos of the playroom; at the zoo for the 4th of July (with Matthew, Rose and Pam)

Thomas is 3 years; Sophia is 19 1/2 months

What a long time it has been since I have written an update. A lot of things have happened! Mostly great stuff.

Thomas understands what bedtime is all about now, or at least, he doesn’t use bedtime as an excuse to misbehave and drive us crazy! He finishes his dinner, takes a bath, gets dressed in pajamas, listens to a story and a recap of our day, hugs us good-night and then ... falls asleep! No more last-second declaring that he's hungry, or has to go potty, or needs to use a diaper to do poo, or walking out of his room, or hiding in the playroom, or visiting us in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning! Even when it takes him a long time to fall asleep at night, (when he has had a long nap during the day,) he'll stay quiet in his room at bedtime! It's a miracle. I think it was Matthew's clamping down that did the trick. It's such a huge relief to not have to deal with that stuff anymore (cross fingers). Thomas is gradually getting better and better at potty training, too. He now wears underwear all the time now, except when he has to do poo. We washed his bed linens for about two weeks straight before he started staying dry at night! He still resists doing "last drops," but can be convinced that it is a good idea and will do it without too much fighting, especially if we convince him that there will be a noisy potty where we are going, one with a power flush. As he has said, "When I a grown-up, I could drink wine and I could like noisy potties."

Thomas is really getting into the alphabet, spelling and words. He's come a long way since saying, "T is 'tuh' for 'chase-chase'!" or (reading a word on a sticker) "P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S ... [spells] Thomas!" He's starting to be able to read a few words, and spell a few words, and loves to sing his ABC song. He sings it so often that Sophia is starting to sing it. Sometimes I'll hear her singing out of the blue, "Now I la la EBD, now I la la EBD."

Sophia is saying a lot of words! She can even string a few of them together: "pizza please," "peanut butter please," "more apple please." She really knows how to use the word please! Her favorites these days are "outside" and "NO!" I've even heard "mine!" She also listens carefully to her older brother and mimics whatever he's saying...or whatever he is doing. She's getting pretty good, even though she may not know what she's saying! Sophia's usually very easygoing at home, but when we go out into public she gets a case of the "mommies." She gets the most upset when we go to the chiropractor: she cries the whole time I'm lying facedown on the table and keeps trying to lift my head up with her hands. She'll wave bye-bye to strangers who wave at her and venture a few feet away from me to explore, but when people get too close, she wants "up up up." When we're at home, if she gets hungry or thirsty, she clambers up onto a dining room chair and helps herself to Thomas' snack or water if I've left it on the table. I think she eats more than he does!

"If you're silly and you know it, make a funny face!"