Made You Jump

Another Halloween has come and gone and for whatever reason, this is the holiday that most reminds me of the twins' days in the NICU. I'm not sure why since you would think it would be their birthdays, or even Christmas, but Halloween was the first day they both came out of the islolettes and sat together on Jim's lap, so for me it's a day of reminiscing. You can tell that their personalities are shining through now when it comes to choosing costumes. Eleanor wanted to be a turtle and Adam wanted to be Mario from Mario Party 8. Alex plays it and Adam always chooses Mario as his character. He can't really play himself yet, but I'm pretty sure he thinks he's playing. :)

They went to about 40 houses this year and had a system down to get from one to the next. Jim pulled the wagon and I pushed the stroller with Ethan in it. Afterwards they took a look at their haul and Eleanor proclaimed that she wanted the Dots. Eleanor makes many proclamations every day. One example is, "When somebody is still putting on their seatbelt, somebody doesn't leave yet." Or, "When somebody says, 'Boo!', somebody says, 'AAAhhhh!' not 'Boo!' " She has many rules. And be certain to follow them or she may place her arm over her eyes and dramatically state, "I don't know anything!" Adam has continued quoting (appropriately) from all his favorite shows. For Halloween his favorite was, "Boo!" and when I said, "AAHHH!" (because those are the rules), he says, "Made you jump!" from Charlie and Lola. Another favorite is Toy Story. "We need more monkeys! There aren't anymore! That's the whole barrel!!"

Adam and Eleanor and now 5 and in their last year of preschool. We eeked out another year of preschool because of the date of their birthday. Both of them are doing well in school and read all the time. I wish I could get Adam to hold his pencil tighter because he would love to write. He can do it on a Doodleboard, but pencil/paper is hard for him. Eleanor is a social butterfly and everyone is her friend. She barely remembers to say goodbye to me when I drop her off. They both can count by 2's, 5's, 10's up to 100. Now if I could just get Adam to sit in a seat for more than 2 minutes, we could really accomplish a lot. Neither of the twins like crafts much and Eleanor doesn't play with dolls at all. She loves stuffed animals and has them all around her on the couch in what she calls her "nest". Or she plays Leapster 2 Pet Pals and has them circling her.

Adam's favorite game right now is Search for Trouble. He goes around the house and searches for ways to wreak havoc. The other day he came downstairs with two soaking wet sweatshirted arms complaining he was wet. I asked him whose room he got so wet in..."Alex's room." Aaaaagh!! The fish!! Sure enough he had both arms in the fish tanks beyond his elbows. I put him on a chair in the family room stating, "Sit there. Be quiet. Be calm." You know what he says? "Mommy, you're funny." Arrrgh!!! Then yesterday, I thought he ate his lunch kind of quickly, but his plate was empty and he was reading Berenstain Bear books up in Eleanor's room. Later in the evening, Alex comes downstairs with a handful of apples. "Where'd you get those?" I ask. "Eleanor's bed." Aaaaargh!!! When I ask him, he admits to it, I give him a big hug and a kiss. What else can you do 6 hours later?

Let's just say there's not really a quiet minute around here these days. And I couldn't be happier.

(Eleanor's drawing of Adam and herself. Notice the pigtails.)

Hey! No Cameras!

I think Adam's favorite season is summer. I haven't actually asked him, but I know how happy he looks whenever he's in the water. Whether it's the pool or the sprinkler, he's thrilled to be out there with his little swim trunks sagging off of his skinny butt. For a kid we're pretty sure has some degree of sesory issues, he sure doesn't care about the grass, the dirt, the water, or any combination of the three.

He'll get out in the backyard and the first thing he will do is scoop both hands in the water and splash Eleanor as close to the face as possible. Now because Eleanor has seen, "Can You Teach My Alligator Manners?" on tv, she is under the impression that you should not splash others unless they want to be splashed. And Eleanor is all about The Rules. So this upsets her greatly and she proclaims, "Aaadam! Don't splash somebody unless somebody wants to be splaaashed!" Hmm. I ignore her. I think splashing is funny as long as the kids are the same age--plus the last thing I want is a whiny kid--i.e. Waaah! She splashed me! So just about the time Eleanor gets the last word out, Adam splashes her again. She should be used to this by the end of the summer I figure.

Recently, Adam has become completely hooked on Cars, the DIsney movie. The kid can quote about 50 lines form the movie, including his favorite, "Hey! No cameras! Get outta here!" He knows the name of every Car, and often knows their numbers. We went to Florida last month and stayed at my dad and stepmom's condo not too far from Disney, so we spent a day there.

He went nuts every time he saw Cars paraphanalia which of course was often. I have to admit he came home with a track and a stuffed Lightning McQueen to sleep with. Ka Chow! Eleanor has even gotten into the act and it looks like they have agreed on a Cars birthday in September. I thought for sure by 5, they would need separtae themes, but not yet. So a Lightning McQueen cake it is--I'll have to post photos after the party.

Developmentally, Adam has made great strides during the last year of preschool. He's speaking so that most people can understand what he's saying most of the time. At this point, his speech teacher is mostly concerned with correctly answering Who, What, Where, When, Why questions more so than pronunciation. For a boy who couldn't really talk at all about a year and a half ago, I think that's great! Adam's cognitive scores are right at the avarage level for his age. He can read quite a bit, knows all his letter sounds, can write many 3 and 4 letter words, and I've mentioned how he loves his numbers. SInce his speech has improved, he hasn't been quite as obsessive with th numbers. I personally think he had found a way to communicate through the numbers when he speech wasn't so great, so he wanted to count with everyone. But now that his speech isn't as big an issue, he doesn't want to count all the time with everyone he sees any longer.

Where Adam's scores aren't so great is in the behavioral stuff. He has a really hard time focusing on tasks--particularly tasks that he hasn't initiated. He can sit and read through a book 2 or 3 times, but ask him to do a worksheet at school and there's all kinds of trouble. We've wondered if he has some attention issues. I've never been a proponent of going right to medications to correct behavior, but it's something on our minds with Adam. I would hate for him to get any farther behind because of his lack of ability to focus if we could find a medication that may help him. I don't know what to think yet.

What I do know is that Adam is improving by leaps and bounds all the time. I'm hoping that his focusing and his ability to play with kids other than his sister improves this year. He's had fabulous teachers for the past 2 years and I know he'll have one of them again this year, so it will be a great year no matter what.

Unexpected Tears

I'm a lucky mom. I know...all moms are lucky, but for me it's different. I have 23 week twins and I can go days without being reminded of that. Although Adam attends special education preschool, that is the only "leftover" if you will from their combined prematurity--and it's just "social/behavioral". His cognitive scores are at least average if not higher. I don't take this lightly, and although I'm very happy for my kids it also brings some guilt. Not all situations turn out like ours and I know that. Hopefully someday things will be different.

But today was one of those days that I hadn't thought about it. I woke up with Ethan, Jim started baths for the twins, they got themselves dressed (well, mostly...), I did some laundry, Jim did some yard work, and I went to this GIANT greenhouse nearly to buy our flowers for the summer. Yes, I got to go by myself. Ahhh... Then it was time for Eleanor's ballet recital dress rehearsal. I did up her hair in a bun, put a little blush on her, and slipped on her frilly pink tutu--just too sweet.

Then we drove off to a high school where she got on stage to do her dance. She's quite the perfectionist and gets more than slightly irritated with the girls who don't know their part--to the point of tears at a few practice sessions. Gee, wonder where she gets that trait?

So I drop her off backstage and go to the auditiorium to watch and take pictures. And right there, while she was doing her dance onstage, twirling around with her little pink teddy bear, the tears hit. I just started crying and crying, all the while still attempting to focus and gets some cute shots. I couldn't believe that was my little girl up there, the one who started off at 1 pound 5 ounces, who has a big scar across her back from her PDA ligation, the one who we really thought wouldn't even live, let alone dance her little heart out on stage.

I wanted to yell out, "Do you know what that little girl has done?! Do you know how much more this means to me than it does to all the rest of you?! Do you have any idea how much more FABULOUS my daughter is than any of yours?!" But I didn't. Of course I didn't, because who knows what some of those little girls on stage have overcome? Probably not the same thing as Eleanor, but we all have our stories, and theirs are important, too. But still, it crossed my mind. With the way Eleanor lives life, I'm pretty sure this won't be the last time I start crying amidst hundreds of people...wait until her first soccer game.

The Best of Friends

Adam and Eleanor have always gotten along, for the most part--more than I would expect two 4 year olds who spend so much time together. But this year, their relationship has really blossomed. It warms my heart to see them getting closer and acting like brother and sister.

Eleanor has the stronger personality of the two--to anyone who knows them, this isn't news. She's been quicker at learning just about everything--except numbers, of course--and she's quite adept in social situations. Until recently Adam couldn't really express what he was thinking about what was going on around him because his limited speech just didn't allow him. But his sister wouldn't have any of that. Eleanor began sticking up for Adam, making sure he got his prize from the Happy Meal when she did, giving him her extra chicken nugget she didn't want, keeping track of his likes and dislikes, reminding me that Adam needed to be buckled in the carseat just like her--as if I'd forget. I guess it's been a sweet, but often one-sided twinship (I'm making up words here...) Now that Adam is talking all the time and saying just about anything he wants to, their relationship is changing, and definitely for the better.
Tonight, I was holding Ethan because he was getting tired and a bit cranky, and because I just love to cuddle with him and the twins decided to play a pick up game of baseball in the foyer. Yes, in the foyer...ask me if I thought I would have let that happen 10 years ago. Anyway, big yellow plastic bat, big white plastic ball. Eleanor would pitch, Adam would attempt to hit the ball. Mind you not one pitch crossed the plate, nor was one ball hit, but each time they would yell, "Homerun!!!!!!!!!!!!! Out of the park!!!!! High ten!!!!!" (A high ten is a high-five with both hands. They also give each other high-threes and high-zeroes. A high-zero is in essence a knuckle bump. Hilarious.) After three pitches one of them would exclaim, "Change sides." (Incidentally, all of their baseball teminology was learned on Wii Sports--easily the favorite game in our house.) Then Adam would pitch and Eleanor would hit. No matter what the result, they support each other. "Don't give up Adam!" "Try again, Eleanor!" I just sat there on the step, with a giant grin on my face, tears welling up in my eyes. I've discovered that often happens when you're a mom, but it happens even more often when you're a mom of preemies who started out with little chance to even leave the hospital. I thought that maybe those memories would fade, and I guess they have a bit with the mundane happenings of daily life. But when something new occurs, when a milestone is reached, it floods back pretty quickly. Never has a baseball game between two 4 year-olds meant so much.



A photo of our little Ethan for those of you wanting an update. :)

Jingle All the Way

This is the first year that the twins really got into the whole spirit of Christmas. And when I say spirit of Christmas, I mean it in the watch-commercials-and-ask-for-everything-how-many-days-until-Santa-gets-here sort of way, not the the-best-gift-is-the-gift-of-giving sort of way. But then I suppose this is more than partly my fault. Back in early September when I start Christmas shopping Eleanor saw a green garbage truck at Costco.

She wanted that silly thing more than anything in the world, but I told her Santa would be coming in just a couple months and she would have to ask him for it. Then Adam started combing through every toy catalog we received in the mail (and those of you with little kids know how crazy an accomplishment that is) and pinpointed the Imaginext castle as the most fabulous thing in the world.

I once again told him that Santa would be coming soon and that if continued to be such a good boy, perhaps he would bring it. Well, that's all I needed to say and it was Christmas carols with jingle bell accompaniment, Christmas cookies, Christmas TV specials, and Christmas lists for the next several weeks.
They sat on Santa's lap, wore Santa hats around the house, the whole nine yards. Adam had a Christmas party at his school in the evening complete with a man playing accordion in the gym, face painting, and Santa giving away books to every kid. Well, Santa must have been watching Adam closely because he gave his the Icky Bug Counting Book. That poor book looks like it's seen 6 or 7 Christmases he loves it so much.

And Eleanor and I took a mommy/daughter trip to Bronner's where she picked out a beautiful disco ball ornament for herself. And of course, we had to dress Ethan up in silly Santa outfits and take pictures he will not be happy with in about 10 years.

Doesn't it sound like I just had a blast this Christmas? I really did--there's nothing like little ones running around the house screaming Jingle Bells busting at the seams in anticipation for Santa to get you in the Christmas spirit. I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Big Personality, Little Body

Anyone who has met Eleanor knows that she has enough personality for a classroom of little girls. Yesterday Eleanor and I went to visit my dad. It was just a short visit since he was having work done in the basement. He took us down there to show us the progress and the 2 painters were sitting taking their lunch break. Eleanor walks right up to them and says, "Hi Guys!! Whacha doin'?" Self-confidence oozes from her.

Last week I took Eleanor to her first movie--The Princess and the Frog. For a week beforehand, she'd say 10 times a day, "Will you take me to Princess and the Frog on Saturday (she's into the days of the weeks right now) oh please, oh please, oh please?" Of course I take her but Eleanor gets a bit impatient waiting for it to start, looks up and calls out, "Lights Please!!!" Being an elementary school teacher, I know to prepare her for this new experience. I told her how the picture would be really big, that it would be dark, and that we'd be watching the movie with a bunch of other people. I was remiss in preparing her for previews. As they begin she leans over, "But I want Princess and the Frog!!" I tell her it's coming. Another preview. "But I want Princess and the FROG!" It's coming next. So it starts, but not immediately with the title--it goes right into the story. "But I want Princess and the FROOOG!" This IS Princess and the Frog. "Well where's the FROG?"
Also this week--a big week for Eleanor-- we discovered she can read. I don't mean she knows a few sight words. I don't mean she's memorized the books we've had around the house for months if not years. I mean I can pick up a brand new Level 1 I Can Read Book and Eleanor can read it to me. Holy moly. I haven't really taught her to read per se. We have loads of books, we read to the kids all the time, we've been going over sounds that letters make for 2 years, but I never intentionally taught her to read. Eleanor did that all on her own. She 4 years 2 months. She's not even 4 until January if you're her dad who still adjusts her age for prematurity. I know I'm a little biased, but that girl is going places. Born at 23 weeks, no problem. Surgery at 10 days, a breeze. You think she might be delayed because of it all? Ha, she'll show you. Ask her how she is and she'll always respond, "Great!!" If she messes up at something she'll tell you, "I'm going to try again." I think that little girl has a whole lot to teach the world. Isn't she fabulous?

Thanksgiving

Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of just how premature Adam and Eleanor truly were and just how thankful our family is to have the two of them with us to make us smile and appreciate life. I remember very vividly Thanksgiving Day 2005 when the twins were in the NICU.

They were still in the back--in the extremely intensive-intensive care section. And there was a little boy who had been born earlier that day--he was not premature, in fact he seemed absolutely huge to me. But he was so so sick, though I never knew with what. The entire NICU was hushed and there were signs everywhere around him pleading, "Quiet!" as the slightest noise caused him troubles. I remembered that because Adam had the same thing happen to him for awhile when he was at his very sickest. I sat in the corner all dressed up, holding Eleanor's tiny hand --it was the first day I was actually going somewhere (my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner) other than the NICU since September 29. And as I held her hand I asked her to help me pray for that little boy because it seemed that he needed it much more at that we did at that very moment. It was the very first time that had been true in two months of prayers. The twins were very stable on finally both on nasal canulas and soon would be eating from bottles which was why I was actually able to elave their side for a few hours and spend the afternoon with the rest fo the family. I saw the baby boy's mom walking in and out to visit him in a trance--and I realized that I had looked just like that at the beginning of our journey. That little boy somehow turned in around in the next week or so and went home with his mom long before Adam and Eleanor we able to come home with us, but I remember thinking then that Thanksgiving would never really be the same again, and I don't think it ever is for any parent who had a very sick child in the NICU. I'm just so thankful that our little ones are here with us to celebrate and really all the rest--the things I used to be thankful for before our experiecnce in the NICU--will never be as important as they once were.

Happy Thanksgiving Eleanor and Adam. Mommy is so very thankful for you.

Happy 5th Halloween!

It's hard for me to believe that this is Adam and Eleanor's 5th Halloween. I very clearly remember their first one--in the NICU with pumpkin hats knitted by some women who donate them to the hospital. The hats were tiny, but we still had to make them smaller by taping them with hospital tape at the back before they could wear them. We've come quite a way since then. This year Adam chose to be a dinosaur. He goes around roaring and even got to wear his costume to school today. He's become such a boy when it comes to toys. Since they were boy/girl twins, they've both always been around toys that are sterotypical for both genders, but nevermind that. Adam is all about dinosaurs, castles, race cars, and making things crash. He still very much loves his numbers, but he's been doing a lot of imaginative play lately, usually making guys fall off ledges (back of the couch).

Eleanor chose to be a witch. And I'm not talking a pretty little sparkly witch with a shiny purple cape. I mean the Wicked Witch of the West. She saw the costume in one of the 500 catalogs we got and made her decision as soon as she saw it--you would think she might have changed her mind and gone with something more cutesy, but nope. At the last minute she did decide against the green makeup for her face, but I still think her choice is a bit refreshing when so many little girls are running around as princesses. I'm not a big fan of making my daughter think she's a princess (even though I think she is--I just don't let her in on that fact) so I really admire her for having her own mind and not being concerned with what all the other girls are doing.

Big Brother and Big Sister

Adam and Eleanor now have a baby brother named Ethan, making them a big brother/sister. The twins are quite excited to have Ethan here, but have taken a decidedly different opinion of the whole situation. During my pregnancy, Adam was the one who would always look at me, say, "baby brother" and then follow it up with a "whop, whop" to the belly. When he first saw Ethan in the hospital, he must have given him ten kisses in a row. Now Adam is the one to remind us (as if we need reminding) that, "Ethan's crying", or "Ethan too loud". Eleanor, I think, was under the impression that Ethan was going to arrive a lot more fun than he is. To Eleanor, he just sits there and takes my attention away from her. The other day when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law cam eover to meet Ethan, Eleanor brought out a stool and kept saying, "Let me show you what I can do," jumping off of it over and over. Then she thought she would outshine Ethan by spelling her name and various other words with the letter magnets on the fridge. She may as well have screamed, "HEY!! Will you look at me already?!? That kid just cries and eats--totally BORING!" She still likes to give him kisses at night and pick out his next outfit (and those of you who know me understand that's no mean feat). Alex, of course, has been thrilled with the little guy and a big help. He's gone to camp for three nights this week and I truly don't know what I'll do without him. What a great kid.

And now to show you our new (not so) little arrival, Ethan. He was 8 pounds 4 ounces at birth and already weighs just about 10 pounds at 3 weeks. I am a much more relaxed, calm mommy this time around. I suppose the lack of oxygen tanks and apnea monitors will do that. Every couple days I stare at him and get tears in my eyes, though--for the newborn days that Adam and Eleanor never really had and for all the needle pokes, medications, IVs, and pain they had instead. I know they don't remember it now, but I do and no matter how fabulously things have turned out, I'm still sad to think of the way it should have been for them and wasn't. That's when I have to remember how blessed we are move on from the tears. I'm so proud of the big kids my little twins have become and I know they are going to be an amzing big brother and big sister, too.

First Day of School

Here are the twins on their first day of preschool. Adam went all of last year, so it wasn't quite as exciting for him--although he gets to take the bus home from school now! Jim brought him in, but they dropped him off right at the end of our driveway. He absolutely loved it, even though I was sad to see my little guy looking so grown up. Eleanor goes to preschool right across the street from us where Alex used to go to elementary school. She comments that, "That's my school!" every time we drive by. Adam has a new teacher, but it's the classroom right next to his old one. At open house he went right to his favorite counting toys. Have I mentioned that he's taught himself to count to 20 in Spanish and add and subtract single digit numbers? I know his dad is a big math guy, but Adam has taken things to a new level!! His speech has come soooo far this summer, but his math skills are definitely beyond the level of any 3 year old I've met. Particularly his sister, who told me 6+6=5 yesterday. Adam quickly corrected her. In Spanish. I had to attend the first day of preschool with Eleanor. There were 8 kids with parents there for the hour (another 8 kids came later for a total of 16 kids in her class). Being that Eleanor has never really been in a play group, I was curious how she'd do. It was hilarious to watch her. Of the 8 kids, 5 were boys --3 named Jack!--and she would much rather have played with them than the little girls wanting to wear princess costumes. Not her thing. She squished the clay, microwaved a strawberry (as you do...), and showed off her "mad puzzle skizzles" (as Alex refers to them). Poor little boy next to her was trying to just put numbers 1-10 in the right holes and she'd already finished a 24 piece Curious George puzzle. Then it was time to sing a song and hear a story. All the kids are sitting on the rug and Elenaor tells the teacher, "I want to sit right by you!" which of course was fine, but she did have her sit on the letter "w". The teacher, Mrs. B, turned on a CD to sing along with and Eleanor had to stand up and "take a look-see" (from Special Agent Oso on Disney) as to where the music was coming from. And as the teacher read the story, she knelt up there as if the story was only being read to her. A tad embarrassing, but nothing I didn't expect.

They made a little art project coloring in their traced hand. When I explained to Eleanor that she needed to color the hand, she took the yellow crayon to her own hand. Hmmm....perhaps we should have done some more crafty stuff at home... We found out they can't bring in birthday treats to preschool (although it's fine at Adam's school and everywhere Alex has gone, so I don't know what the deal is there) because of allergies and who knows what else. Kind of sad when you can't bring cupcakes in anymore. Anyway, if it hadn't been for the fact that I'm 9 months pregnant and due any time now, it would have been a really fun morning. But when we all got home and it was only noon I almost cried...I was sure it had to be at least 8:00pm. Fortunately, the twins still need naps when it's a school day, so after lunch we all collapsed into our beds for a good 2 hours. This is going to take some getting used to.

Baby It's Hot Outside

I thought I would add a few more summer photos before preschool photos ended up being the next entry! All of the kids love swimming at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house--can you tell by the giant grins?

The Sweetest Thing

If Eleanor took the lion's share of spirit, our little Adam grabbed sincerity with both hands. I guess I shouldn't really say "little" since Adam is about an inch and a half taller than Eleanor...only thing is he weighs about two pounds less at 32 pounds. He has the skinniest rear end that I love to pinch--to which he responds, "cute little bubby". I guess that comes from me telling him he's got a cute little bottom for so long! Adam has recently taken to patting my belly and saying, "baby brother," at the table--usually because I'm trying to convince him to eat something or other and he can't help but have my tummy right in his face.
Adam spent the last year at a special education preschool to get extra help with his speech. I was veeeerrrry apprehensive about sending my little guy to school so young, but I can't say enough about the school and his wonderful teacher. Adam started school saying very little--animal sounds, mom, dad, a few other things. Now he says almost anything (though whether you can understand him often depends on how much time you spend with him), is constantly interacting with the family, and has become much more independent. His voice is quiet because of his paralyzed vocal cord, but if you listen, you'll hear that he can say his ABC's, count to 100, count by 10's, count by 1000's, and can even do some basic adding and subtracting. He also can look at a clock and tell you what time it is. If there are numbers involved, Adam is all over it. He also loves to spell--mom, dad, Adam, Alex, Eleanor, hat, dog, cat, bus, yes, no, nose, up, down...the list goes on. He also surprised the daylights out of me the other day and counted to 10 in Spanish. I'm blaming Handy Manny. :) I wish I could get Adam to enjoy coloring and drawing more, but his attention span needs some work. Needless to say, I'm very glad we can send Adam back to the same school this year and even the following year before starting kindergarten.

When something strikes Adam's funny bone he laughs with the sweetest, most contagious little laugh that shakes his whole body. He loves to be tickled and will even grab you hand and say, "more tickles!" just to be able to laugh and laugh. He just adores his big brother and is not always fond of having to take turns doing things with him. For example, Alex will pick up the kids and spin them in circles while they look to the ceiling and squeal. When it's Eleanor's turn his gets quite impatient and can throw a temper tantrum with the best of them. Even though it's not supposed to be a good thing, I like that he's not just letting Eleanor get away with whatever she can anymore--he's starting to stand up for himself. Only problem is that her speech skills far surpass his, so she can be quite eloquent at explaining why it was all Adam's fault.

Now that summer is here, Adam just loves to go outside. He will grab his Disney hat and wear it all day if he thinks that it will get you to take him out on the trampoline or climb the rock wall on the playscape. His dad takes the little slide and puts it into the little pool so they slide down into it--as you can see from the photos, he loves it. I'm hoping that by the end of summer he'll be riding his tricycle--but he's a little afraid of the whole bike riding concept.

One of the best parts of the day, though, is when I go upstairs to put Adam to bed and he yells out, "Mommy!!!". Not much can beat the sound of that with the huge grin on his face.

That's My Girl

Eleanor finally got to move into her big girl bed this weekend. She is more excited than I can possibly put into words! It all started by moving Alex into a new (more "mature") room. Then we found out I'm expecting--surprise! So we have a new baby boy due in September. Actually on the twins' birthday--so I'm hoping he's a day or two early or late. I'm only a week and a half from the day the twins were born--with not a single emergency room visit. Yay! Anyway, so we have made Alex's old room into Adam and the new baby's room. Which left Eleanor as the only girl with her very own bedroom, which she definitely wanted painted pink. So last weekend Jim painted and when she first walked into the room she exclaimed, "It's beauuuuuutiful! Daddy, how did you DO it?" Don't tell Eleanor but with a response like that, Jim will repaint her room anytime she would like.

This weekend, we moved my old queen sized bed from my single days into her room. She cannot get enough of sleeping in her big girl bed. She needs a stool to get up into it, but she doesn't mind one bit. I've tried to keep her from having a princess complex because I'm not really into that, but it seems that it is in her blood anyway. There has not been one issue about changing beds, changing anything. She still sleeps with her pink blanket (gosh I wish I remembered who gave that to her at the shower) her puppy, and like any normal 3 year old, her shark, fox, squid, and bat. Yes, those are actually her favorite stuffed animals. Eleanor is always up for an adventure or a challenge whether it's a new bed or a new playground. When she walks into a room, even if there are 15 adults sitting there, she'll call out to everyone, "Hi!!!" When we went to Mackinac Island this weekend (we did a lot over Memorial Day) she loved the boat, the horse ride, and even asked to go into the haunted house. Silly girl--doesn't she know her mom is afraid of haunted houses?

Eleanor will be starting preschool this fall and every time she sees the building she says, "There's my school!" I hope the teacher is ready for Eleanor when she gets there, because she's sure ready to take the school by storm. I hope this all means that she's getting the confidence that I hope to be instilling in her each day--the same confidence I wished I had had as a little girl. She sure seems to be wrapping her little arms around life with everything she's got...and wow, she deserves every exicting minute!