First Day of Preschool

Yesterday Jack began his daily preschool program. It's from 8 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. and it seems to be going well. He reports that he enjoys the little kitchen, where he cooks dinner for his 'babies,' and the big slide, where he goes down 'very fast.' Such a cutie. His first friend is "Leslie." He also likes Callie the guinea pig. Eck. I am sad and relieved to have him in a program. I think that he's the type to really enjoy the other kids, but I'm a little sad that he's off and running in school.

Caroline and Brooke are taking a morning nap, longer than usual, which is why I am posting in the middle of the morning. (Sad when I think middle of the morning is 8:50 a.m., but when you've been up since 5...). I am saving my career angst posting for another time. All is well on the homefront. In the pictures, Brooke is smiling at Jack, Jack is feeding Brooke ice cream when he thinks I'm not watching, Jack feeds both twins ice cream when he thinks I'm not watching, the twins post verboten ice cream eating and J, the twins and Jack going into preschool.

The Littlest One

Brookie is the youngest of our three, and for some unintentional reason, has gotten short shrift on photos. So, a short posting all about her. She is, by far, our easiest going child and for that we are forever thankful. She has the longest eyelashes and the largest eyes as well. Heartbreaker material. Brookie eats and after nearly 3 years of trying to feed a non-eater, is a great relief and joy. We all love her dearly and I promise to try and post more equally in the future. (Apologies to Auntie Harriet, Brookie's godmother, who watches out for her!)

Caroline Crawls and Other Tales from the Crib

Caroline crawls, which is terribly exciting and a little sad, as it is a great relief that our babies are healthy and growing, but also a reminder that they are growing up! J and I talk a bit about the grind of having 3 little kids, but we try to remember the Trace Atkins song, "You're Going To Miss This...", which basically is a tale of parents being tired and irritated during childrearing, but once they grow up, you'll really miss those times. (We know Trace because Jack is a huge fan of country music. I guess when your name's Jackson Wyatt and you live in the heart of America, that's inevitable. Well, that and Trace was on Celebrity Apprentice and we watch bad TV.)Brookie, remaining the most cheerful of our children, is not crawling, but is sitting up with great confidence for about 20 seconds and falls over just as I get the camera out. I'll work on my speed.

Last week, my little public affairs firm received a request from a big company for a proposal to lobby for them this coming session. Of course, we are overjoyed, but trying not to get too set on the prospect as we are the most untraditional choice. Fingers crossed.

Justin is in trial this week with a manslaughter case for one of his pd clients. It's very stressful and he's having his back pains and spasms because of it. His new suits look great, though! He'll give his closing tomorrow, which will be a relief to us all.

Next month we will celebrate Jack's 3rd birthday and the twins's baptism. Today we go to preschool orientation, if you can believe it! Jack is a curious and demanding child, preschool will really, really help him. Hopefully his teacher will be great. We're excited to meet her.

A few currently irritating phases but sure to be fond memories.....Caroline rolls over any time you change her diaper, which can be quite messy. Jack is refusing to wear shorts and insists on a coat and tie (we use the term coat loosely, as it is usually a sweatshirt) so as to look like dad. After several days of Caroline taking the Winnie the Pooh phone away from her in the playpen, Brookie has begun to take it back (and the sibling squabbling begins.) J keeps thinking that he left important trial folders at home once he goes to the office, there's a mad search by his office staff and me and then he finds it in his briefcase or that his co-counsel took it to organize. Practicing our yoga breathing.

In the pictures, Caroline crawls and the twins play with their music boom box. I love seeing their two little heads together. Brooke and Jack splash in the tub. Jack plays "Slip and Slide" with our neighbors on a lazy Sunday. Jack at the Museum of Transportation at the children's play room on the ship.

Summertime

We had a tough day today. I knew it was going to be bad when Jack came into our bedroom this morning and began the day with jumping on our bed, kicking his feet out in front of him and landing in a big "plop." This was around 6 a.m. Sigh. I ended up taking him to Monkey Joe's, in an attempt to induce a nap. He did take a 2 hour one, which is the only way we made it through the day. The twinnies went along for the ride and were well behaved, for the most part. It was bath time tonight. For those who have participated, you know how the baby triage goes. All are currently asleep, one more feeding to go.

Pics include Caroline and Brooke at the dress up room at the Children's Museum of Edwardsville (ok, but not worth the drive overall. Better to go to the Magic House.). Jackson at Monkey Joes. Grandma and kiddos at the Missouri Botanical Gardens and Jack checking out a calla lily at the same gardens. Good night, sleep tight.