week ending nov 16, 2008:

To anyone who hasn’t heard, Casey’s doing much better. He started physical therapy and went back to work for one day so far. The pictures is of Alex trying on Daddy's sling.

On Monday the twins got very curious about the mysterious place called “hospital” where Daddy went to have his surgery and where they were born, so I decided to take them on a field trip. Our hospital has a street-level corridor that connects the waiting rooms for surgery, pediatrics, women’s health, and emergency, so we walked the corridor and I pointed out the doors behind which various life-events occurred for our family. They were underwhelmed. I guess they thought they’d get to see people on gurneys or something more exciting than hallways, doors, and chairs.

This week I noticed the constant presence of the question “why?” is giving way to the statement “I know”. The twins are getting more confident about their understanding of everyday events and are letting me know. For instance they LOVE to correct me. Like when I burp and forget to excuse myself they say “Mom, what do you say?”. And they’ve started to question whether I really know more than them, for instance when we were driving home from the hospital Alex questioned me, “Mom, is this the way home?” “Are you sure?” “Is this the SHORTEST way home?” And they like to remind me what they do know, like when Chloe asked me which books in her catalog cost less than $5 and I started reading off the titles she kept saying “I know that one! You already told me that one!”

The twins are really changing their tune about school. Last year they’d moan and groan and bargain in an attempt to getting out of going to school, and this year they’ve started to be downright positive about going to school. On Friday Alex asked which day of the week it was. When he found out it was Friday he asked if Friday was a school day. When I told him it was he said “oh good, then I’ll get to see Mrs. Peirce”. He really likes her! I’m so relieved to have them liking school before they have to face the scary transition to kindergarten.

My last story of the week is about raking leaves. The twins raked up a pile of leaves so they could jump and play in it, and then they named the pile Phil. Whenever the wind would blow the leaves around they’d yell “No! Phil, come back!” As I sucked up the rest of the leaves in the yard they pleaded that I not “throw away Phil”. When I asked Chloe how the pile of leaves got its name, she said simply, “I named it Phil”. Apparently naming a pile of leaves and becoming emotionally attached to it is perfectly normal from her point of view.