We're down to our last two weekends. Today Lisa and Reina are visiting and it has been fun to see them. They're getting the "full picture" of our life, of twins in diapers, Sam drawing and drawing, kids' books and videos, giggling and crying and whining.... It's been a fun day so far.
The adults took the twins for a walk while Emily's lazagna baked. Aside from a set off fire alarm, it was a pretty smooth evening. For the first time ever I refilled a lazer jet cartridge ($10 instead of $70). This is a small victory in the greater scheme of things, but I felt useful for it. Later in the evening, the cousins all went to a coffee place with Sam, and they returned as snow began to fall. We skyped with Alan this afternoon, and it was really interesting to hear about his life: shooting ranges, and mountain hikes, and new apartment, and upcoming travel. He sounded pretty happy with it all. I also skyped with my parents with the twins earlier and they had enjoyed all talking. Eva's in a kissy-huggy phase now, which is a lot of fun. It doesn't take much encouragment for her to perform.
I had two meetings Friday mornig, with a student in the program where I did my PhD and with a Chinese student I'd met earlier. (Being done with grad school may be a good thing; it is such a stange mix of freedom and doing what other people tell you to do.) Emily had coffee with a classmate/friend in NB. It was not the world's most efficient day, but I've been really grateful for these little chances to connect or reconect. One nice ting about P-Town is that it's a hub in my church and academic worlds, so I've gotten to see people without having to do much travel. Emily's profited from being close to her school and hopefully is caught up with things. She's down to the proverbial six months. There's a point where when you ask PhD students, "how long do you have?" they say something like "hopefully six months." It can still be years, but in theory if the student stays on top of the research and writing, it is possible to finish in a modest amount of time. It's still amazing how much Emily has done in all these years: part time jobs, three kids, one of the world's hardest languages, travel, church life... Sometime we'll settle down a bit.
The last two nights all three kids have danced with after their bath. It's one of the most hillarious things I've ever seen. I use my cellphone to play dance tunes, and they jump right into it. Eli takes a wide stance and does a dramatic walking-stomping motion while he swings his elbow back and forth. Sometimes he gets on the ground and does something like breakdancing. Eva mimics him and occasionaly throws in a hop or two. Sam goes back and forth. They also are chasing each other more. If I say "one, two, three, go!" they'll race through the house. A few nights ago they also played hide and seek. At this age, they are so happy to do the same thing over and over again. They'd disappear into the closet and then reappear. For the first time they can also pretty much play together. It's nice sometimes when they'll play in the bedroom for fifteen or twenty minutes. The other day I was surprised to see Sam reading a superhero book to Eli.
If our shipped goods make it to the island we should be in good shape. I feel mostly reprovisioned. It's a mix of pots and pans, kids' toys, electronics, books, and clothes. Hopefully we won't feel totally overburderned by luggage on the plane. This time we're planning on checking the car seats, and we have a slightly smaller, more maneuverable stroller.
There's always more that could be said! These have been good months. Of course, more could have been done, but we also got probably more accomplished than I thought we would. This week I get back the proofs for the book I've been working on. The kids have all made great strides, and I'm really grateful for babysitter Andrew. He's been engaged and kind and energetic with them. Tonight I was trying to explain to Lisa and Reina that parenting is this strange mix of decision making where there are always unknowns and alternatives. For almost any activity (feeding, sleeping, playing) there is no shortage of opposing views. We're no experts, but I'm really gratified that the kids seem to have been happy and healthy these months and that they've had such a nice range of experiences (lots of family time, trips, libraries, lots of new people, time playing outside and racing cars in the basement).
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