T&V

Here's my once every few years blog post. I won't promise I'll start doing this on a regular basis again because I never follow through with it. I'll try.

Some updates on the children:

Thendara waved tonight! It was the cutest thing. I've been trying to teach her to wave for a couple weeks now because we're cramming for her 9 month checkup. According to the Internet, she should be able to clap and wave hello. John was saying good night to her and as I carried her towards her bedroom, she waved! We were so excited that we made her do it a few more times before I put her to bed. It was all squeals and smiles...but not from the baby. :)  Despite my worries that Thendara isn't growing fast enough...she seems to be perfect in every way. She's got a little leg roll on her inner thighs, she's quite smart, she's growing in length and head circumference, she's crawling all over and now, waving! She sleeps all night long without waking to eat too! Yet, she hasn't gained anything (in fact, I think she's lost a few ounces) since 8 months. Perhaps it's because she's become so active. I just don't know! There are some slender and/or petite women on both sides of the family so maybe she's working with those genes.

Vincent is just SO smart! He knows all his uppercase and lowercase letters, the sounds they make, and words that begin with each. He can recite the alphabet (fast or slowly, as you please) but he won't sing it for whatever reason. We've been starting to work on reading and he actually read the words "to" and "cat" the other night! I couldn't be more proud of him. He can count to 30 so far and he loves to count everything he sees! He knows lots of shapes, colors, animals, etc. He's a little sponge and will absorb whatever you teach him. He's speaking very well, with no noticeable impediments. He likes things to sound correct and will stop and restart a sentence to get it right. He's not great at writing letters yet but we are practicing that a bit. No rush - he's only 2. He loves to "run around, climb ladders and go down slides" at the playground and he used the big kid swings the other day for the first time! He swims with a puddle jumper and seems to have no fear! He even went down the waterslide into the pool at a friend's house. As for toys, he's obsessed with anything quintessentially "boy" - trains, cars, planes, etc. Thomas is a big deal in our house. Vincent has a train table and quite the collection of little trains and track. He loves building different tracks with Daddy before bedtime. 

So happy. So thankful for these little people I get to raise. Life is good. :)