Paul's 4 and Darla's 9 months (with videos!)

Here's just a quick little update on the kiddos.

Paul
Paul's reading ability has shot through the roof! I no longer dread his quiet absence, because it often means he's off reading a book to himself, and not secretly getting into mischief. (Although that still happens on occasion.)

He also enjoys the outdoors and runs like a mini athlete. He absolutely loves playing catch, racing with, or tackling his daddy. 

Gradually, we're seeing fewer and fewer screaming fits from Paul, which has been awesome! In fact, right around the time he turned four years old, Paul turned a corner in his emotional development. I think he's finally realized that putting THAT much effort into resisting mom and dad is just not worth it. 

He's also overcoming his shy side and will go out to talk to other kids at the playground. He loves telling jokes and making people laugh. He's such a fun person to be around!

Here are a few of his recent sayings:
1. “I’m sick. I don’t have cancer, I’m just normal sick.” 

2. While Blair was making mini "pizzas" on bread for them both, Paul says, “You know that flavor when you throw up in your nose?" Blair said that "yes" he did know that flavor, "why?". Matter-of-factly Paul answered, "That’s what the cheese smells like, but I still like to eat it.” When Blair was telling me this story he had me smell the Parmesan cheese, and I almost gagged! Paul was soooo right!

3. "What's this to learn about?" Paul asked as he took an Italian-English dictionary off the shelf.
"That's to learn another language" I say.
He responds, "I'm just looking at the words. Don't worry. I'm not going to learn another language."

4. While driving Paul observed,
"Hey, the sky is following us!" After persistent questions from Paul, I eventually tried my best to explain why closer objects appear to pass faster and farther objects appear to pass slower. He listened intently then sat silent for a while staring out the window. Finally he exclaimed in a hushed tone, "That's hard to know."

Here's a video of a daily occurrence in our home. Paul's toilet reading material of choice is always his Piggie And Gerald books from the library. In the beginning you can only hear him reading, but then I  was able to sneak my phone into the doorway without him noticing.

Darla

Darla just turned nine months a few days ago. (What on earth?!) She is really starting to burst with personality! She likes to show off her seven (almost eight) teeth in sniffs and giggles as she excitedly watches Paul dance around her and make up silly songs for her. 

Darla is a champion eater, just like her brother, and she's quite demanding about her meals. She's normally a fairly quiet baby unless she's near food and their's not anything currently in her mouth. (This mama's secret eating is almost impossible these days with a baby who can smell a square of chocolate from across the room.)

She loves to wave hello and goodbye. She's also finally starting to make some progress in the movement department. If she's motivated enough, she'll army crawl her way to an object. But she still is much happier to sit on her bum and enjoy her entertaining brother.

Darla already loves to "share" too. She'll take a treasured toy or food item and hand it to you or try to shove it in your mouth. If you accept her offering, she'll burst into fits of snorting laughter!

Here's a video of her "Darla" babbles. It's a couple months old, but she still sounds a lot like this now. 

 My little ham Paul...

I almost explode with joy quite frequently with these little ones and with my amazingly awesome husband Blair! I don't know how I got so lucky!