Update

--Insert standard excuses for not posting updates here--

The babies are doing so well. At an age now of 20 months, they are really becoming enjoyable. Each continues to grow and develop at a normal pace, and thus far we've been blessed to have avoided all health problems other than some very mild pneumonias resulting from long-lasting colds. The children eat well (mostly because we do not tolerate or enable the alternative). Every once in a while, they decide to dig in and refuse...in those cases they are simply exempted from the obligation of eating until such time as they change their minds. One of our most recent experiments was sauerkraut with sweet mustard...actually went over really well.

The time is soon coming when the babies will be able to climb out of their cribs. They are already able to climb onto the couch and chairs, and Joel has made several concerted efforts to hurl himself over the baby gate in pursuit of a deliquent Ellie. Joel also (being the tallest) has become quite interested in the doorknob to his room (we will shortly be installing one of those protective plastic bubbles to prevent little hands from working mischief).

Ella and Grace both have long beautiful hair. Each girl has hair which (when wet) reaches to between their shoulder blades, and (when dry) has beatiful waves and slight curls. The Boy recently got a haircut to match his Daddy (i.e. a buzz-cut). It's so sad...not because it's a bad haircut, but because he really looks like a little BOY and not a little BABY.

The babies have demonstrated an understanding of a fair number of English and German words and commands, and are especially good at identifying particular toys by their names (e.g. "LoveyBear", "the Monkey", "Ellie"). Thus far, they have attempted or successfully said several words in German, including "nein = no", and "Katze = cat". Jade continues to be hopeful that his efforts will indeed pay off.

We're fortunate to have several excellent babysitters from our church congregation. THANK YOU to Heather, Crystal, Rindee, and of course to Grandma :) Of the four, obviously the babies prefer Grandma!

We are excited for the upcoming warm weather so that we can take the babies to the park and let them play in the yard. We are also eagerly anticipating the development of more extensive verbal skills AND potty-training (successful potty training will equal about $100 saved each month).

Grace likes to collect and arrange things. She will gather as many small plastic rings as possible and carry them around the room. Then, on a flat surface, she'll place the rings in various configurations or inside of cups and containers. This provides quite a bit of entertainment for her. Her other hobby is to chew holes in the bindings of books.

Ella loves to talk. She'll walk around the room "telling stories" (i.e. baby-talk and babbling) with such an adorable inflection to her voice. She has a LOT to say. She has a very ingrained sense of right and wrong, and KNOWS shen she's being bad (you can see her "startle and stop" herself at times when she's about to be naughty when we simply say her name). And, she has beautiful eyes.

Joel is a tender-hearted boy. His favorite thing to do is to sit in Mommy's or Daddy's lap with his Ellie and read books to us. He'll "read" for a little bit, then stop and tip his head back to look at us with the sweetest smile on his face. He also enjoys sitting in or upon various toy vehicles while Grace pushes him around the room (i.e. while the Littlest One pushes the biggest one around the room).

We are truly blessed.