December 17-24

Olivia and Gretchen had a dance recital last Sunday.  They were in The Nutcracker: All Jazzed Up.  I have a vague idea of how The Nutcracker goes, which is the only reason I could follow what was happening on stage at all.  Bryan just saw a series of disconnected dances that claimed to be part of an overarching story line.  Olivia was a wildflower and Gretchen was a lavender angel.  I need to invest in some hairspray for next time.  Their buns were fine when I left them in the dressing room, but by the time they got on stage they both had wisps of hair in their faces.  Poor Olivia was pushing hair out of her eyes after every other step.

Matthias is definitely a thumb sucker.  After fighting it for almost two months, he finally succumbed, and now he uses his thumb when he's being tired and snuggly.  It has made church easier since he can generally be convinced to suck his thumb to take his morning nap while being held, but it hasn't really affected his sleeping routine yet.  I still have to nurse him, but after I put him down his thumb goes straight into his mouth.  He favors the right thumb slightly more than the left and is becoming attached to his blanket square as a thumb sucking aid.

Baby planks are Matthias's exercise of choice.  He pushes up on his hands and feet all the time and looks very proud of himself.  Every now and again he gets one knee down, but never two.

I found a tooth all popped through the gum in Matthias's mouth last night.  Another one is on the way.

Speaking of teeth, Olivia has teeth like a shark.  Since her adult teeth are coming up behind her baby teeth, the little ones are taking longer than usual to fall out.  She has two big teeth nearly halfway in while two baby teeth just hang out in front of them.

Gretchen talks a lot about "God magic."  As far as she is concerned, God is a very real, although somewhat finicky, magician.  She will tell me that God will use His magic to help her remember something, or ask me if maybe God could use His magic to get us more milk for breakfast since we ran out.

Kaitlyn's phrase of choice recently is, "Oh, I forgot!"  It could mean that she actually forgot something, but it could also mean that she wants something ("I forgot to get cereal," generally said just before dinner) or that she's stalling ("I forgot to tell you something," used at bedtime) or that she had an idea ("I forgot to color a letter for Gretchen") or that she noticed something ("I forgot Matthias was crying"). She forgets everything.

I've been teaching the girls to play board games this week.  We played Carcassone and Splendor and Olivia played Scrabble with me.  They're not fantastic at the older games yet, but they understand the basic rules and they're very excited to play.

Jacque made a surprise visit this week.  She was coming to straighten out some car things having to do with titles and Chicago emissions requirements.  It was nice to see her, however briefly.

Pictures:
The girls in some new dresses:

Matthias:

Baby planks:

Bryan helped the girls make a Hershey Kiss House:

Playing Carcassone: