January 2013 Brief Family Update

I haven't written an update on the girls for a while, so for my own
records and the benefit of those few who are interested:

The other day the girls and I were at our friend's, the Lillywhite's
house where Miriam and Ethan Lillywhite were dressing up in capes from
their dress-up box. That night after bathtime, Miriam was running
through the house with her hooded towel on and shouting "Superman!"
and Caitlin (15 months old), unwilling to miss the fun, ran along
behind shouting "Maaan!". This carried on for about thirty minutes
until I figured it had been enough fun for one day.

Plenty of fun happens around here and I most often neglect to write it
down. both girls are growing up so fast; Miriam is three and I am
finding that I now have to adjust to thinking of her as a pre-schooler
rather than a toddler. On the whole I find I can trust her more,
although I regret it occasionally when she draws on furniture with
markers while I'm cooking dinner—yes, that was last night's little
surprise. On a nicer note, she's doing well at learning letters, and
even spelling the occasional word, or else stringing random letters
together and declaring the new spelling.

Caitlin just learned how to climb out of her crib, and for some time
now she has been attempting every word she hears. Most recent and
interesting word is vanilla. Most frequent words are stuck (used for
everything from being stuck in a high place where she has climbed up,
or stuck in her seatbelt), and snack (used for all food and drinks
when not specifying). Her very first words were at ten months, "Da",
"Ma" and then shortly after that "duck" and "sock" (with all letters
pronounced). Other words like cheese and shoes are still "chis" and
"shis". Her vanilla sounded pretty good that one time she was
requesting vanilla pudding. She also said chocolate milk yesterday,
which might be her first compound word. She also likes to say jump
while employing her new talent for jumping off the bottom step—show
off.

Their favorite Christmas presents this year have been a toy piano that
I picked up from a neighbor's garage sale, a toy tool set with hammer
and drill, Miriam's Leap Pad Explorer, Caitlin's shopping cart, a
wooden cookie baking set, and play food with mini pots and pans.

The only words to tell about myself are that Joe and I have had a few
good date nights recently in an effort to stay sane with the
combination of Joe's busy work and study schedule and the demands of
parenthood. We went out to dinner at El Chaparral last weekend and we
went to see the Hobbit and Les Miserables over Christmas—two of our
favorite books turned movies. We're doing our best to enjoy daily life
today and also constantly looking forward to all the exciting new
developments of the coming years. This fall Joe will be interviewing
for residency programs. Thus far he wants to do anesthesiology,
probably somewhere in the south such as Tennessee, Alabama, Texas,
Virginia, Georgia, or one of the Carolinas. Poor Joe is stressing over
all that has to happen between now and then. There's not much biking
going on for us unless it's on the exercise bike at home, or a bit of
a jog in the neighborhood. That triathlon won't be this year I'm
afraid. If I really get busy, perhaps another 10k or a half marathon
if I can get myself convinced. Mind you, we're hoping to visit
Australia in early 2014, so I can't allow myself to get too rusty lest
I forfeit the chance to enter a race then.

Signing off.