Christmas 2012

I think we're pretty much there now. This year it was time to have Christmas at Birdie and Papas. It's been 3 years (?) since we've had christmas here. Andrew never has. I honestly, have been terrified. Nothing about traveling for 6 hours followed by four nights away from home sounds appealing to me, but it is nice to be out of the house and our comfort zones, and this is a great support group to do so. The trip down went better than I could have imagined. We stopped once for lunch and got right back on the road. I thought we would need to have the DVD player going for the entire trip, but Andrew lost interest partway through the Curious George collection he got fr his birthday from his brothers. The babies fell asleep at their target time of 1030 to 1130, but only for about an hour. We subtley turned it off and didn't turn it back on until the last hour. W left about 10 and got in at 4. Very impressed. The first night was a little rough, but nothing unexpected. The next night, Andrews first bunking next to Lexi, went really well. He even stayed in bed until his rabbit alarm told him it was ok to get up. He's getting so big. He just started to appreciate slides a d swings on this trip. Historically, he just likes climbing up and down toys but he's not really into using them as intended. Baby Brothers are getting big too. They are aclimating nicely to sleeping over here. Birdie has done a pretty good job of baby- proofing the place so they have almost 100% roam, depending on what activities are going on and where. Most importantly the sunroom, living room, and all the toys therein are accessible on demand, and there are always a few choice pots, utensils and bowls at their disposal in the kitchen. The babies are really impressive. Wesley had been standing for a long time, and I thought he would walk first. He then lost interest. Owen, tenacious as he is, worked so hard on free-standing and stepping. His persistence was really inspiring for those that took notice. After about a month of this he was walking, and very proud of his feat. About a week later, Wes decided he didn't want to be the only non-walker and just got up and walked around with very little to-do about it. Thinking back I think it was that way with thumb-sucking and crawling too. Owen practices all day long with a physical determination and a macro motor prowess that very impressive. Then, almost at though Owen shares his notes with Wes at night, Wes just does it one day. I don't notice Wes watching Owen, so I'm not convinced he's some sort of hyper-visual learning (although its certainly possible). He just does. Owen still has the grace of experience in comparison, but the learning curve and technique are very different. Owen is very quite and easy when he is well. Very chill. So mellow, in fact, that Kel is often concerned that he doesn't get the attention he may need that his brothers demand. When he's sick or sore, not the case at all. Like his father, he is evidence that long fuses generally lead to big bombs. His macro- motor skill and tenacity lead us to believe that he will likely be our scholar-athlete. Wes is very different from his brothers. He is very dramatic. He's quick to fuss, quick to recover, and quick to smile. So much so that all the wolf-crying makes us not respond as quickly as we may want to when he really is in pain. He's getting some big teeth in now and really milks it. He loves accessorizing. Lately it's been hats, shoes and necklaces (including toy stethoscopes and hreart-rate monitors). I'm sure he will love to play dress up soon. He will likely be a drama-geek. Andrew has always had really strong micro-motor skills and focus. His favortie toys and movies have always been alpha-numeric (Bath letters, alpha bots, letter magnets, Meet the ___, Phantom Tollbooth, etc). We think he will probably get into engineering or other technical fields.