Jubilee had trouble falling asleep tonight. She called out to me at some point and explained that she’s afraid of the monsters. She knows monsters aren’t real, but her mind was full of some images she remembered from a story, and naturally the emotions were real too. Then she told me, “My brain is a smart brain because it thinks of things even though they were a long time ago.”
Author Archive for David
Angelina peeled her first orange today, and then she promptly peeled another!
Jubilee excitedly told us, “I have a great idea! If you put raisins in water, they will become grapes!” I (David) then proceeded to explain to her how you can’t simply put dried fruit in water in order to return it back to it’s former glory. I tried to give her some semblance of a scientific explanation, but I knew the particulars would be lost on her. “Besides, it will just make a mess,” I concluded.
But she persisted, so we filled a cup with water and put a raisin in it.
I knew that the raisin was just going to sit there, day after day, getting increasingly slimy and gooey. So, it was no surprise that after the first couple days there was little noticeable change. But by the third day, I was shocked! The raisin swelled up and now looked like a brown grape. Sure, it wasn’t really a grape, but as far as Jubilee was concerned, the raisin became a grape again. Amazing! And she was so proud of her discovery she proceeded to eat the “grape” and, I think, pretended to enjoy it.
Our little Jubilee, the scientist.
Madeleine is having a language explosion.
There was a time when she signed more and Angel spoke more, but Maddie now talks incessantly. We still don’t understand much of what she says, but she’s definitely talking rather than babbling.
And she definitely surprised me this morning after I finished putting on her socks. She pointed at her socks and very clearly said, “Baba, I have purple socks.” Wow! A well formed and complete sentence!
No matter that the socks were yellow. 
Madeleine is very possessive about her favorite snack, called “Hot Balls.” So possessive, in fact, that she won’t stand for someone else even saying the words.
This was a constant source of humor for the boys of a family we were visiting. Here was a sample “conversation” from the back row of the car:
Micah: “Hot balls.”
Maddie: “MY hot ball!!”
Joel: “Hot balls.”
Maddie: “MY hot ball!!”
Micah: “Hot balls.”
Maddie: “MY hot ball!!”
Joel: “Hot balls.”
Maddie: “MY hot ball!!”
And on and on it went, with Maddie getting more and more infuriated.
After monitoring enough of Maddie’s attempts, we think we finally identified exactly how she was able to climb out. She would get into a corner and reach out her arms over the crib up to her armpits. Then she was strong enough to pull down her arms and thus “lever” her body up a little bit, feet off the crib mattress. Once up this little bit she would wedge her feet against the two vertical corner slats where they formed an angle. From there all it required was sheer determination to climb up a little further. We never witnessed what happens next, and we don’t plan to either because we don’t want to let it happen again.. all I can picture are some pretty scary looking falls.
So.. in the end, we simply swapped cribs because the other crib has sides and ends of uneven height such that Maddie can’t stick her arms out over the rails at a corner. Also, there is no corner angle where vertical slats meet together at the side and end. (It’s hard to explain with words.)
We are relieved to observe that she hasn’t tried to climb out again since her initial attempts were thwarted in this new crib.
The house was hot this evening, so we had all the windows open. As I was getting Jubilee ready for bed, we heard a very loud “WOOF!“. Jubilee looked at me and said, “What’s that?!” I explained that it was the neighbor dog behind our house.
“I don’t like dog-barking”, she said. And after only a slight pause, she added, “I like motorcycles. And planes. And people talking.”
I think she listed a few more of the common sounds she hears outside her room, but I don’t remember any more than that.
Today during dinner, we realized that Maddie was saying, “Mommy!” when trying to get Daphne’s attention.
Angelina had a weight check with the doctor and she’s now 20lbs 5oz!! Yay!! For comparison, Madeleine is 20lbs 12oz.
So, after turning around their car seats, we now have three forward-facing girls. And they love it!!
Picture forthcoming…
Last thing before we turn out their bedroom light at night, we pray for the twins. Tonight, upon saying, “Amen”, Angelina said “Amen”… and then Maddie said “Amen”! And then Angelina said “Amen” and then Maddie said “Amen” and then Angelina said “Amen”, and so on.
They were still doing this as we closed the door, so no idea how long it went on.