Will is 3 years and 4 months old. I’m not sure why it’s the Terrible Two’s – it should be the Terrible Three’s. Will was much less frustrating as a two year old. An informal poll of friends confirms that 3 is difficult. Understatement. I don’t want to dwell too much on the negatives but its hard to ignore. Theoretically I get that Will is testing boundaries, but what I don’t understand is why keep testing them? The experiment should be over now, and he should have arrived at his conclusions – a. Mom and Dad are human and lose their marbles sometimes, but b. They usually enforce/back up their requests, so resistance is generally futile. Apparently his inner researcher isn’t convinced by the evidence yet. Or maybe he's developed GW Bush's scepticism of science.

The other day, I asked him to do something as benign as getting his shoes so we could go out. He plunked himself down on the couch with furrowed brows, crossed him arms across his chest, and said, “This is ruh-dicka-less.” Holy 3 going on 15.

If he senses ANY ambiguity in a response from Steve or me (such as, “I think so.” “Probably.” “We’ll see.” “I don’t know.”) he said, “Can you just say ‘yes’?” That’s the only answer that satisfies him, or that he trusts. And rightly so.

“’Cuz” has morphed into “PAH-cuz”.

And, “Can you smile?” - mostly to me when I’ve tuned out and am lost in my thoughts. It always makes me smile, which he has figured out.

“You’re welcome, too!”

“I am born?”

Will is fascinated with his . If I had a penny for every time Steve or I have said, “Will, can you play with your bath toys instead?” I’d be a rich woman. Will is uncircumcised, so I had done a very thorough job of teaching him to clean himself. Apparently, too thorough.

Ellen is 1 year and 2 months old. No walking yet. I can’t believe it. She stands occasionally, and will walk with Steve holding her hands in front of her and sort of pulling her along, but otherwise just doesn’t seem interested. She slides down the stairs backwards (thankfully) very safely but quickly. She’s taken to “singing” every time she hears music, and she works hard to be louder than the other music. Unfortunately, she inherited my inability to carry a tune. She also will start “talking” the moment two other people start talking to each other. She works so hard at imitating actions – putting socks on, rubbing lotion in, brushing her hair, brushing her 7 teeth. She says, “Hi!” very clearly, and loves picking up the various play phones and saying, “Hi!” The other day she got her Arthur Fonzerelli on, and was saying, “EEEhhhh!”

Will got a play doctor’s kit for his birthday, and Ellen puts on (and keeps on) the stethoscope for hours on end. Its like an accessory she won’t be seen without. She’s signing “thank you” and “bird”. She’s enjoying grapes and mandarins, which is progress. Cannot get enough graham crackers.

Her strawberry blond, almost red hair is coming in, and I think its going to be as curly as her cousin Audrey’s, who is an Annie look-alike if you’ve ever seen one. Big blue eyes and dimples. A great giggle. When she is very tired she bites. Which is funny in theory, but not in practice. But I understand where she is coming from - A gal gets tired and cranky, ya know?