Growing pains . . .

Yup- three of them.

The Z-monster is getting so big! He is wearing size five everything- most of the time. He is also doing big-boy stuff like swim lessons and gymnastics classes at our local YMCA. He loves it! The Z-monster has had great improvement in his speech development, a lot of it is from reading lessons. Taking the time to sound out each letter of a word on paper has really helped him take time to stop and sound out words he says. There are still sounds he has trouble with, of course, but we understand most of what he says (and he has LOTS to say . . .)!

Didi is talking up a storm as well. She is at that lovely stage where she parrots everything she hears. Yup- everything. The best part of that is hearing her sing. She sings all the time, with a surprisingly pleasant tone. Bedtime, of course, is her favorite time to sing. We have her in swim lessons, which she loves, especially the parts that involve lots of kicking! One of the most fun things about Didi is that she carries a book with her everywhere she goes. She just loves story time, and "reads" to herself out of anything with pages. Her favorite book is a battered, tattered, very worn book about a frog.

LW is growing. She has finally topped 20lbs, just in time to start Nursery at church. She is starting to talk as well, speaking in full phrases, generally running the show, and throwing unbelievable tantrums when she can't. (By unbelievable, I mean hitting, kicking, throwing things, and screaming until she gets petechia on her face- not kidding). I feel like she is having her terrible twos a year early. When she isn't throwing tantrums, though, she is very sweet and loving. She has a great propensity to laugh, and loves playing games. She also loves hats, and usually can be found with something (not neccesarily a hat) on her head.

Sven and I are doing well, Sven is contemplating a career change, and we are doing a lot of work on our house to get it ready to sell. I have been working on losing some weight, and getting back into shape. Sometimes it seems to be going better than others, but I try not to get too down about things.

I don't have a computer during the day, and I'm generally pretty busy, so I'm sorry for the dearth of posts.