Milestone-like kid update

I do a lot of talking about what's happening around here and little about how the kids are growing and changing. Here's a breakdown of their cans & dos.

First lil Ada France. She's nearing 1 year, and she's very mobile. She scoots/crawls quickly everywhere she can fit herself into/under/around/on top of. She pulls herself up easily at chairs and tables and can hold herself there one-handed, spin around a little, and put herself back down lightly to grab something before she's off again. She's waving - two lil types: open-shut-open-shut as well as a shake-shake one. And she's done the "so big!" routine just once now ... we'd forgotten about that one! She's also trained herself (and me) very well to use the same shriek cry for "Stuck! Need help now!" and "Paul took that from me." They used to be different, I swear. She's happy, smiley, pretty easy to keep content . . . as long as she's not teething or otherwise in acute pain. She's got just the 6 teeth still from when they all came raging in, but the other two bottom ones are about to poke through. She's nursing round about 5 times a day and sleeping (new trend?) from 8 til 7am with one nurse break round 11. And she eats. She eats a ton! of everything! I finally broke the no sugar rule and have been adding strawberry jam to her oatmeal, and she loves it! She is a little like her mama in not liking breakfast things really, so shrug. She loves greens - spinach, limas, peas - and, really, pretty well everything we eat and most things Paul has decided to turn his nose up to: gumbo, curry, and, of course, all of my pastas. She's not into rice so much, unless it's super sticky, and no ground beef for her à la taco meat, but in lasagna or a sauce is a-ok. She's about 18 lbs and is starting to pack it on but has a long way to go since she's a tiny little sprite. Ada loves music and bops or rocks to any sort of music as soon as it's switched on. She's using her xylophone and kazoo like Paul was at 18mos ... not to compare or anything. Her scrunchy-face is adorable, and she things Paul is the most hilarious thing on the planet.

Big brother Paul is just under 30 lbs! He's grown a fondness for sandwiches or really any combo of bread, meat, and cheese. Mostly the bread, though. He really, really loves some things and really, really won't eat others. He's turning into a real little guy! With preferences and everything! He particularly likes sweets, too ... will work for sugar. He's potty-trained! (Line of thought is no coincidence.) He's getting tall and growing out of pants. He loves wheels still, especially if they're attached to trains, garbage trucks, or construction equipment. He's a sweet little church-goer, with proper cross-arms for communion and an almost-proper genuflection in the aisle. He's a talker! But he's also shy for others ... for the first 5 minutes, anyway. (We're working on audible pleases and thank-yous.) He speaks German almost solely, and his sentence structure is definitely toddler-y for any language: Paul go here. Paul eat this. Paul that please. He reads to himself or to us in gibberish, and he bosses Ada around in English. Mostly, Ada not touch! No train, Ada! He's a sweet cuddler, and he's very fair, making sure no one gets left out of anything fun or yummy. His memory's improving, and his recall is truly shocking; keeps us honest! Physically, I feel like he can do anything. He helps with thousands of little tasks - silverware sorting, fetching a diaper, putting his dirty clothes into baskets, pulling pants up and down, etc. And he's quite strong, too, carrying out recycling and trash even. He's got a good arm, too. Pretty good aim with both a baseball and football. He likes kicking around a soccer ball but has shown preference for throwing so far. He loves to make Ada laugh, especially if it's doing something he shouldn't be, and he's a fun-loving dancer. My little Pea is almost 3.

Pretty happy little kiddos. We thank God for them.

Happy Feast of the Epiphany! Go getchu some king cake.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention 2 things about Paul. 1. He carries around his Decke (blanket); he's Linus! 2. He sings. He sings "Frinkle, frinkle, widdle staw" and "Abba peace like wivver, Abba peace like wivver, Abba peace like wivver in my soooool" - it is the. best.