Odds & ends

I was reading along on a friend of a friend's blog, I don't know her at all but she's obviously a sweetie, and it was such a shock when this post about cancer followed this one, about a perfect day... I wanted to share to give everyone a chance to pray for this beautiful little girl and her family.

Makes one a little humbled by how well life is going, as long as we have our health and our loved ones around us. And very thankful, and content. And a little scared to post about one's own perfect days.

I was chatting with a Mom the other night whose baby is a month old. "You've made it through the hardest part - it gets better from here," assured the other moms at the table. I agree - it just gets better and better and better - and it was pretty amazing before. Curious little bundles of loud joy and shy cuddles, we love hanging out with you.

Vanh read his first words, other than "Vanh" and "Max". I brought home a new book he'd never seen before and he read the title "Mighty Machines". He recognized the words because he's seen them approximately 30,000 times - if you know the series you know they show the machines in a series of short clips, all of which are prefaced and concluded by the letters M-I-G-H-T-Y M-A-C-H-I-N-E-S dancing across the screen, so in 30 minutes of watching they see those words more than they see any actual vehicles. Still - he can read them, wherever they are written, in whatever font, without picture cues. I think that's pretty cool... for him. Kind of embarrassing for us. You remember, we were the new parents that gave our playroom TV away because our kids were never going to use it?

Max has given his brother the nickname Vanny. We think it's cute, although it may not last as he only allows Max to use it. Vanh occasionally calls Max Maxy, but we try to ignore/ discourage that, for obvious reasons.

People comment more often now how different the boys look from each other. We mix them up at least once a day if they are dressed the same (or in the bath). A few evenings ago I couldn't understand why Vanh wasn't letting me brush his teeth (he was Max and didn't want Vanh's toothbrush in his mouth). Then when we were putting them to bed, Daddy plopped Max into bed with a firm, "You're Max, and this is Max's bed," an indication of how often he gets one or the other mixed up. Trouble is he had Vanh. Do other parents of twins do this?

Finally... there is something else but I'll finish later...