Marching Fourth

Time continues to fly by around our household.  Ben has only 20 weekdays left of arguably the most difficult rotation in his residency program and on top of that he finally succumbed to the cold/virus/grossness that the kids were swapping back and forth. 

Lola is in full birthday-mode and can't wait to celebrate on Wednesday with her dance class, on Thursday at school, on Saturday with Gigi and Poppy, on Sunday with the other kids in the ortho program, and on Monday when Rivi and Papa arrive.  Phew.  She continues to amaze me everyday.  Last week she asked me what 'copasetic' means (swear.  I had to look it up.) And tonight she did one-to-one correspondence counting up to ten items (in a book - it's not like we are actively testing her on this stuff :)  Lola talks NON. STOP.  There is literally a constant commentary coming from the backseat of the car and I can't talk on the phone for 2 minutes to anyone without a barrage of questions about who, what, and why.  "Why" is her FAVORITE question, and she doesn't take "I don't know" for an answer - even if I legitimately don't know. (See next post).  She has a great sense of humor, loves to tell jokes and laugh, and talks all the time about being kind, sharing, taking turns, taking care of others, and doing a mitzvah (kind deeds).  She and Ben got me a birthday cake today and she was so excited to give it to me - I love that we are instilling in her an appreciation of doing good by others. 

Allen has found his toes and loves holding them whenever he doesn't have sock on.  He CAN roll from his tummy to back, but opts not to demonstrate too often (it's a lot of bulk to be throwing around!).  He is getting so good at manipulating things with his hands - putting his paci back in his mouth, picking up Sophie the giraffe, grabbing rattles or loveys.  And he loves to snuggle and be held.  He wakes up crying in his crib and INSTANTLY stops the second he gets picked up.  Last night was the first night that I let him cry through his middle of the night feeding (which is usually around 2:30 am) and it went better than expected.  We'll see what happens tonight!  He has starting eating a few solid foods - namely oatmeal, squash, and bananas.  I'm trying to do homemade babyfood this time around.  I figure since he gets the shaft in so many other ways, it's the least I can do (we'll see how long it lasts!)