(written by Nate)
Well, Paul and Elise have made it to the big time. They are three year olds now. They're doing big kid things like going to pre-school and figuring out potty training. They're old pros on their balance bikes and their drawings are starting to resemble Real Things. To celebrate, we had a few of their friends and friends' families over for some fun and food. They got exactly the cake they wanted - Elise ordered a pink monkey with orange eyes, a black tail, red bow on her head, and purple arms and legs, while Paul ordered a purple alligator with green teeth, brown claws, and pink legs with purple nail polish. And Nicole found a cake maker at Fred Meyer willing to fulfill their wishes. We all had fun, even if Paul cried when it was time for the birthday song.
Paul and Elise are continuing to evolve and change. Paul is constantly humming or singing, usually a song from the Wizard of Oz or his all-time favorite, O Tannenbaum. He loves kicking and throwing balls around, and he's telling more and more stories. At the moment, mean guys are a big thing on his mind and he can't figure out if he doesn't like them or wants to be one. He's still prone to bad moods, aka crying at the drop of a hat about anything or nothing, sometimes first thing in the morning, sometimes going to bed. But that's also gotten better through the year, and he is a load of fun a lot of the time. He's definitely the most focused of the three kids, the only one who will gladly rake leaves and help with yard work for an hour (his new favorite pastime with Oma). Even getting ready for bed tonight he was disappointed when he came upstairs and found that the girls had cleaned everything up and he didn't have anything to clean up. I had to invent a job for him.
Elise is the one most likely to be quietly playing with toys in some corner of the playroom, but she's also the one most likely to put the smack down when someone tries to take one of those toys. Even Lily will sometimes come downstairs complaining that Elise pulled her hair or kicked her. She has been working on her dancing skills more and more lately and just tonight was showing off her very nice plie after asking me to twirl her around a few times. It's fun to sit and listen to her narrate her dolls or playmobil characters' adventures, lots of pretend family interaction. She's been getting more defiant lately, and is happy to just scream when she's having trouble with something instead of just saying "I can't do X"… working on that one at preschool since I'm sure they're not huge fans of her ear-piercing shriek. Special foot and all, she's quite a sprinter and jumper, not quite the daredevil as her brother but she holds her own. She'd rather draw than kick a ball around, but she was playing soccer with Paul a couple of days ago and holding her own.
They have been playing together more and more, but I wouldn't say they're inseparable. The word from preschool is that they definitely aren't attached at the hip and both fit right in with the other kids. This was a big year of change for them, moving to a new country, making new friends, becoming big-time chatterboxes, and getting awesome new housemates Oma and Opa. Here's hoping the coming year brings no more diapers, seamless transition to big kid beds, and fewer tantrums!
Somehow the favorite boy activity at the birthday party was jumping off the couch onto pillows.
Tears for the birthday song, but digging in to cake a minute later.
I AM A HAPPY SUGAR ZOMBIE
Paul's favorite gift of all time, a sweet bulldozer
Animal partners in crime
Paul pondering the meaning of life
A typical moment in our house these days… they could have a future in pro wrestling
