Catchup Photos

Really seems to capture the interaction between the two of them. Or not.

Well, at least one is a birthday warning for Olivia for next month - Hank knows his cipherin'.

Audrey at 1

Tap-tap. Though her mother and I seem a little resistant to nicknames for Audrey right now, this may be the closest we come to one, in naming her after a small proclivity she has for lightly poking something with her finger. Before we switched the twins' carseats last week, she would tap on the button of her chest belt closure and frequently open it en route home. We chose not to interpret this as a self-destructive cry for help. Mostly because she remains one of the happiest and most observant children I have ever met. Composed, smiling, gregarious. Which is why it is very disconcerting to watch her calmly grab her brother's arm and bite him when he steals something from her. He has it coming, but she is so matter-of-fact and calm about this assault that I'm usually too slow to call her off. She strikes like a cobra, that Audrey. Henry seems as shocked, receiving no warning cry of her frustration or rage. Simply the Mossad-like injury response to his insult. I guess i'm taking this with her aplomb and am simply comforting Henry afterward, hoping by ignoring her it might dissipate the behavior, but i'm also simply too slow to stop it. But enough about her single naughty trait. She sleeps well, eats well, but is cutting a molar right now with lots of intermittent pathos. She'll just suddenly spike a toy she was playing with and go into a silent cry in a heap on the floor. I'll pick her up and she accepts the cuddling as quietly as the tooth pain. But she isn't always quiet - her laugh is infectious and sounds like her sister's. And she will laugh at almost anything, even holding her gaze for a few moments. Prat falls are her favorite, and her brother has realized this, performing them for her at school occasionally. She is a fantastic audience; one wants her attention. I predict she will finally walk within the next week, as walking is starting to make her laugh, even if Mom or I aren't the destination. She will be my last child to walk, and i guess i'm in no hurry.

Henry at 1

This last month or so, Henry has really perfected walking. He still holds his arms up, elbows cocked, as if getting them out of the way, but at least not out in front of himself to protect or absorb. Getting ear tubes placed last week has changed him into a much more consistently happy version of himself. Gone are the eye and nose boogers that plagued him. He is imitating sounds that he hears and actions that he sees surprisingly accurately. I think I hear words from him sometimes, and catch him playing at something, but the thing he just said had been said by someone else in the room within a moment prior. He loves to chase his twin sister for a few moments at a time, then pause to do something, then chase her again. She behaves similarly, and neither seems to get frustrated when the other takes a break. The dogs still do this sometimes as well, and I imagine some small gesture or look that communicates this desire to play between them that goes unnoticed by those much taller. He signs words well, is very coordinated when climbing on playground equipment and brings books to his mother and I for reading, knowing which books he wants read specifically. He also screams to get his way, steals toys from his twin sister blatantly, as well as other children at school, and deliberately climbs onto things or runs away with things when we tell him not to or ask for something to be given back. I am in profound love with this little guy, even though he passes through these phenomena for the second time in my experience of my own children: it is just as fascinating to see the walking and talking in a second and third child, and to see it learned and acted by a different personality.