Kids Updates

The kids are all pretty entertaining lately. Eva and Eli are both adding words and working to communicate. They continue to call each other 'baby.' They can say more words and sometimes we can hear them responding to something in the environment. When a speaker at the conference was talking about the concept of "sugar daddies," Eva piped up with a loud, "da-DEE!" When someone on the radio talked about meatballs Eli enthusiastically said "ball! ball!" One morning we were able to watch them playing outside with the teacher and they really looked like they were conversing. They're still a ways from real talk, but also definitely coming along. Eli's new improvement is that he can use the potty some. Today I took him to pee at a restaurant, which was a first. I think he'll train himsefl. Eva loves to play in the bathtub. I call her the "mermaid." Her favorite is to lie down on her tummy and kick her legs while making swimming motions. The teachers this week nicknamed Eli "lovebug" because he likes to give Eva and Sam hugs and kisses. He's a cute guy. He's the only one of our kids who eats enthusiastically and is not very picky. He's a funny one. Sam is also growing into a big brother. He does try to help Eli and Eva and often offers guidance or admonition. Sam is very funny to watch interacting with them. His favorite book lately is "The Monster Who Ate Darkness." We like it also, so it is pretty painless to read. In Emily's hometown, Sam started playing with a little t-ball set, and after seeing some kids play at church today, he's requested a soccer ball. It was fun to watch his improvement in just a few weeks in other areas too. Randy had gotten Sam a kettcar, and at first he could only really ride it on flat surfaces, but by the end of the time he was able to do circles in the driveway, which required some uphill. He is also a big fan of the cats. He even made up a song about them the other night. His other main animal interest lately is horses. Barb took him to a place where he was even able to ride some ponies (a black and white one! a brown and white one!). He has a stuffed horse he got from his great-grandmother Jeri Ann, who he has named "Cornchicken." Somehow he has perfected race horse naming without ever having seen a horse race. Sam's very shy around people from northern island. I can't tell whether this is because he often encounters them in crowded places (restaurants, churches), whether he's ashamed that he can't communicate in Second Language, or whether he is just feeling some cultural schizophrenia. He somteimes behaved like this in public back on the island, when people would approach him and try to talk to him or comment on him (hair, skin, etc.). I think probably it's just something he'll grow out of, and I'm reminded that it's nice that he has some set communities where he can get to know people and be known as himself.