March maddness

Yikes, these little ones are busy! Busy learning to talk, count, read, write, rock climb, ski, bike ... and be fantastic little people (well, at least sometimes!).  Hard to keep with all of the happenings, but here are a few highlights of March.

Adelaide turned six this month, and lost her second tooth (hard to say which was more exciting). One of her birthday highlights was going shopping with her birthday money (thanks grandparents, aunts, uncle!) - she picked her little things out and went to the counter all on her own to count her cash, and as we left she stood a little taller and said, "I feel so big." She's braver and smarter and more competent than ever. I'm amazed how 6 is so much older than 5. I'm grateful to have a little helper who's responsible and dependable, but I'm also grateful that she's goofy and creative and doesn't always do exactly what she should. Her bilingual language skills are absolutely incredible - she mixes Spanish and English in fantastic ways (e.g, last week labeled her drawing of the Grand Canyon as Gran Kañen - the phonetic spelling in Spanish), demonstrating how her brain's language center is so malleable right now. She's very social, and honest and generally stellar. We're very much loving the little girl she's becoming.
 
The Miler has been interested in numbers and letters lately - with a big focus on 3s and Ms (humm) which he points out all over town. He's still super shy but has become quite the singer and lately has been putting on spontaneous "shows" on our window-sill-stage, with the main goal being earning applause. Tonight he peaked through the curtains with his ukelele and sang in a full opera voice, "Oh, I love to put on a show ... and sing a song that I really don't know ..." - his huge smile and soft curls are irresistible (but don't get out the camera - or he's gone!).


Anika for her part, now 17-months, and officially potty-trained, even on the airplane! She's a little rockstar, full of personality bigger than her tiny frame, and so ready to keep up with her siblings in every regard - her favorite word is "me" which is usually short for "I can do that myself - don't even think of helping". She loves to dress herself (with amazing success) and she's pretty certain that she's always in charge (and she's usually right).