Half Birthday Girl

Miss Lucie B., you tried to convince me that you were actually turning four and a half this week. I'm not ready for that yet, though I do agree that you're growing like crazy. Just recently, you sprouted up an inch in only one month. Suddenly long pants turned into capris on you. Before you start fitting clothes from my closet, here's a glimpse of wonderful, thoughtful, creative, amazing, and not-quite-four-year-old you.

You love assigning family roles to every creature, stuffed, plastic, or real, that you meet. At the zoo, you'll quickly point out which giraffes are the mommy, daddy and baby. Your stuffed animals all have a brother, sister, Gigi, Papa, Grandma and Grandpa. You've even given babies to soccer balls and forks. Everyone is part of a family.

Family assignments are just a part of your rich imagination. Recently, you've been telling us all about your sister. Sometimes she's a baby, and sometimes she's ten years old and lives in Chicago. Like so many of your friends, she has an elegant and extravagant name, Lavinia. I'm still trying to figure out how I have a daughter that I've never met, but that's no matter. Lavinia sounds like a great gal (like her sis).

Other literary friends of yours include Madeline, Olivia, Frances, Angelina and Nancy. You love a good story, especially if it involves a little girl and a grand adventure. These girls rarely disappoint. Each time we go to the library, you search out a book on one of your favorite friends, that we're sure to read over and over and over again.

You're beginning to be very interested in languages. You're fascinated by letters and have learned to write the letters "LUC" in your name. We've been teaching you bits of Spanish and French, and you've been teaching us your own versions of these languages. You'll say a funny word like "yanky" or "net-spek", and when I ask what it means, you reply with, "Well, Mommy, that's just Fwench for park" or "Spanish for placemat". Oh, well of course.

You love to be outside, singing, skipping, and collecting rocks and sticks. When we go to a park down the street, we pass through a beautiful grove of Eucalyptus trees, now nicknamed "Stick Alley". Like all good Eucalyptus trees, these trees leave sticks and leaves everywhere, which you adore. You'll fill your hands with sticks, deposit them in the stroller, and fill your hands again. As Papa says, our Lucie cannot pass down a good stick.

You are incredibly affectionate. Your "baby bird" and bear hugs are the warmest, biggest hugs I've ever had. I never want to let go. Before bed, you'll sing out before we close the door, "Don't forget your baby bird hug!" You love to save up hugs for Daddy's return from work or visits with relatives. There's nothing like a Lucie hug.

Thanks for making every day a grand and exciting adventure, Lucie. I love being by your side.

Half Birthday Boy

Mr. Ryan, it's hard to believe that you're now closer to age four than you are to age three. All I have to do is look at you in your favorite "3's a charm" shirt to see how much you've grown in only six months. How could a shirt that had room to spare last September now hit you mid-belly? I want to savor every little bit of the charming, inquisitive, smart, oh-so-wonderful (and taller!) guy you are today.

At age three and a half, your favorite food, by far, is watermelon. Anytime I go to the grocery store and ask you what I should buy, you cry out with delight, "WATERMELON!" Some of your other favorites include pickles, black olives, Hawaiian pizza (though really it's just the pineapples you like), cashews, and corn. You explore and savor your meals, rarely complaining about trying something new.

You have an amazing memory. You can recall the smallest details from things that happened months and months ago, especially if you were with your Dad at the time. Something will remind you of an experience you've had and you'll say, "Daddy, do you be-member that time we did...?" The story you'll tell will have incredible detail, right down to what you were eating or what color shirt you were wearing. This memory serves you well when it comes to retaining important facts, as you can now recite your address, including street number, name and city, and retell some of your favorite books word-for-word.

You love routine, and like to know what to expect. Every day has a meaning to you. What do we do on Tuesdays? Library day, of course. Knowing what to expect also means that you prefer games that have predictable outcomes. You might start out enjoying a chasing game with Lucie, but quickly dissolve into tears, not enjoying the possibility of her reaching out and grabbing you at any moment. That's way too unpredictable for you.

Construction trucks, garbage trucks and fire trucks continue to light up your world. You run right to the transportation section in the library, eagerly picking out new or old favorites in the light and heavy machinery genre. Our library receipt recently indicated that we'd checked out two copies of same construction book. I was sure it was a mistake, until I looked over our pile of books and discovered that Ryan had selected two of the same Giant Machines book. Why check out one copy of an amazing book about cement mixers, concrete trucks and excavators when you can check out two?

You're fascinated by letters and sounds. You've mastered a few words from I Stink! (a book for true garbage truck fans), learning to read such phrases as "YUCK!" and "You're on Mount Trash-o-rama, baby!" You also love talking about rhyming words. "Hey, Mommy!", you'll say, "ball rhymes with hall!" Or in a silly moment, "Cabinet rhymes with Babinet!"

You are a little man on the move, running, jumping, leaping and bounding everywhere you go. When it comes to quiet time, you love art projects and show incredible concentration mixing the perfect shade of orange paint, or covering your entire sheet of paper with cut-outs for a collage.

Ryan, we're all so lucky to listen to your sweet voice as we enjoy the world through your eyes. You make each and every one of my days fun because you're in it.

Cookie Love

Dessert is usually pretty tame for Lucie and Ryan -- a piece of fruit, applesauce, yogurt or letter crackers . But with this weekend's arrival of Girl Scout cookies, R & L's post-dinner treat has taken on an entirely new and delicious meaning.

After a taste test, Lucie was asked which one was her favorite. She had to hug them all. Clearly, choosing a favorite was too tough a decision.

Ryan couldn't choose either, though he does love the ones in the orange box (no surprise there). I'm not counting on four boxes to last very long around here.

I just love it how Lucie and Ryan get so excited over the smallest of life's joys.

Forming Friendships

I love this photo from last week's homeschool preschool. We took a buddy walk, pairing up the kids with someone other than their twin. With an equal number of boys and girls in our group, the walk turned into this adorable line of boy/girl partners.

The kids loved the walk, taking it very seriously with repeated calls of "I have my buddy!" and "My buddy is holding my hand!" It was great to see them take responsibility for one of their friends, as they counted mail boxes, cars, and trees along the way.

Lucie and Ryan tend to stick together in groups of kids, sitting next to each other in art class or lining up together in tumbling. I love to see this closeness, though I also think it's important that they have opportunities to branch out and make other connections.

Clearly they do too. At the end of tumbling class last week, they both reported to me that they had made a new friend. Lucie struck up a kinship over spinning in circles with another girl. Ryan made friends with a girl too, who also happens to be named Ryan. Or, as the teacher now calls her, "Miss Ryan", to avoid any more tumbling collisions when their shared name is called for a turn.

Though Lucie and Ryan have fun making friends, when asked about their best friend, they'll almost always answer with "Lucie!" or "Ryan!". They are a devoted little pair.

Sunshine Ahead

With beautiful sunny skies, a visit from Gigi and Papa, and a super fun birthday party for homeschool preschool buddies, we welcomed March with open arms this weekend.

We hadn't been to the beach in some time, and Lucie and Ryan were delighted to put their feet (and eventually entire bodies) back in the water again. While I would never describe our kids as reckless or fearless by the ocean, they are gaining more confidence in the water and will continue to venture out further and further on their own.

The water was a bit chilly, but that did not stop Lucie. She does not like it when her clothes get wet, and as soon as the first wave tickled the edge of her skirt, she had stripped out of her underwear and dress. (I wasn't expecting such eager swimmers or warm temperatures and neglected to pack swim suits.) As Papa described her, Lucie was our little free spirit, running across the beach in the nude, happily dipping in every pool of water and hole in the sand she could find along the way. The sun sure feels good on a little body.

After a dip in his underwear, Ryan was ready to return to his sand toys, and more specifically his skip loader. He'd been talking all week about how excited he was to bring it to the beach and didn't want to waste a minute of pushing, moving and dumping sand. Our boy sure loves his heavy machinery.