In general time seems to have flown by this winter as things have settled down without the stresses encountered during the last half of 2003. We’re settled back in the house. There are lots of weekend projects on the to-do list but since none of them are really critical, they are getting done at a much more relaxed pace.

"Hulk" Jane - January 2004

Bethany’s pregnancy was in the 6th - 8th months, which are pretty goods ones and her mood is almost always up. However the closer it comes to the delivery date the more the physical qualities of pregnancy became more pronounced and bothersome (e.g. shortness of breath, tiredness, nearly constant need to urinate, etc.). In a rather humorous role reversal, it’s been Bethany who has been sleeping without covers, while Randy has been wearing sweatshirts and piling on the blankets, comforters and pets.

Jane "swimming" in her bathtub (note cement board and lack of tiles)

In preparation for the new baby, Jane moved into a "big girl bed" in February and transitioned out of the crib effortlessly. It did necessitate another baby gate on her room so when she does wake up and gets out of bed, she doesn't go wandering freely around the upstairs prior to alerting us she's up.

Jane in her big-girl bed with her best friend "Bunny"

In early March Jane had her 1½ year Parent As Teachers evaluation.  She got accolades for her advanced verbal skills and politeness ("please" "thankyou" "bless you" "excuse me").  However, a couple of stubborn refusals to switch evaluation tasks indicate the politeness is only a veneer of her “strong will” that we are quite familiar with at home, particularly at dinner time (but given her parents, is anyone surprised?).  The latest addition to her ever-expanding vocabulary is the word "DUDE", the source of which is murky but it delights her so to say it. We also hear a lot of "HOT-HOT-HOT" (from Elmo’s rendition of the song Hot, Hot, Hot, which we hear way too often).  She still sometimes uses UP and DOWN interchangeably, but almost always attaches a PEEZ (please) to it. 

We find her refusal to use more than one name for our cats interesting (calling both Bert).  Despite continual efforts to teach her to say Brazil she makes no effort to even try and pronounce it, although she willingly tries to say most any other words.  And it's not that she doesn't understand that they are different pets.  She happily remembers the names of several people's dogs, though both of Aunt Rhonda's have the same moniker of Bubba in her mind.

Jane on slide

A very fluffy Maddie in March before getting her annual spring cut