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Adam and Danica are travelling together now.

March, 2005 - Adam had his 3rd birthday party. He is now 42 pounds, 3 1/2 feet tall, and leaving the growth charts behind. Danica was so sweet; she climbed into my lap and played there for almost an hour. She still likes to be held, unlike Adam. She is quite a crybaby, though.

May, 2005 - At Danica's 18 month checkup, we found out her growth rate is slowing somewhat. Though slightly below the 95th percentile in height, she is only in about the 60th percentile for weight. We really miss the kids during the week as they spend it with Evelyn in Pittsburgh. We just have them on weekends.

August, 2005 - As Adam closes in on 3 1/2 years old and Danica closes in on 2, we can see major changes. They are playing together now and communicating with each other. Adam is starting in his big brother role of being aware of what Danica is doing and either trying to stop her from doing things he thinks she shouldn't be doing or telling us. Adam generally hates eating now, except for french fries or cake. Danica's appearance is changing; she's going from a baby to a little girl. She smiles and laughs now. I got her a little baby doll which she loves. There is a little bottle, that when you put it up to the doll's lips, the doll starts making nursing sounds and the lips actually move. She loves babies, both real and fake. She is a gentle little girl, but she is sturdy enough to take Adam's roughness.

Adam and Danica: the team.

With Lyn's parents having an extended visit again, the kids are here all the time.

We took a trip down to Hearst Castle and back up the California coast. The kids travelled well except Danica threw up twice and Lyn once driving on the curvy road. We are making a little progress on potty training Adam; we have never pressed him on it. He oddly doesn't seem to be bothered at all by poop in his diaper. He stepped on the scale with his clothes on and it ready about 50 pounds. Isn't he too big for this?

December, 2005 (Adam 3.5 & Danica 2) - Lyn's parents have left again after another extended visit. They helped us with a lot of the child care, but now I'm trying to make some changes. I want to confine sippy cup usage to only bedtime, since I don't see them as being very sanitary. I also want to see the kids eating on their own as much as possible without us helping, coaxing, or threatening them. I have gotten rid of the high chair for Danica and hope to soon remove the crib.

Danica has developed into such a sweet young girl. She loves to cuddle in your arms. She wants to do all the domestic things like cleaning the baby (doll) with wipes, diapering the baby, cleaning the dining room table, and combing everyone's hair. Compared to Adam at the same age, her words don't seem as clear, but she puts words together better. She doesn't seem to have the interest or the aptitude for the computer, which so far is good so that we don't have many fights over using the computer. Danica seems to observe where Adam just rushes in. Danica seems to be more inclined to drawing.

One time, I was just outside the house for less than five minutes. They could see me through the window, then I disappeared. Almost immediately I heard this screaming and crying. I slowly forced open the door, pushing kids to the side, only to find Adam and Danica in tears saying "My Daddy", then the other one saying "No, My Daddy!", clinging to my legs and trying to push the other one away.

Obscene Photo! The above magazine cover was deemed obscene by some. I guess even a partial breast in the most natural and innocent position is obscene to those people. They would probably prefer women wearing berkas. Yes, if we play our cards right, we could end up with a morally strong country like Afghanistan under the taliban.

Adam came down with a nasty childhood illness call croup, where the throat swells and changes the voice quite dramatically. Their coughing sounds like a seal cough. Affecting the air passageway it can be dangerous. We noticed it rather quickly and soon had Adam in to the doctor who gave him some steroids and told us to humidify the bedroom for sleeping. He was soon back to his normal self, but it's so hard to keep everyone healthy.

Danica was finally tested for food allergies. She is "highly allergic" to milk (which would obviously include dairy products such as cheeses and ice cream), peanuts, soy beans (which would include most processed foods), and cat dander (bad luck for our two cats).

January, 2006 - Adam went to preschool! We went to one classroom and Adam immediately forgot about me and started playing with a toy truck. The attendant said Adam's regular teacher wasn't in yet so Adam would have to put the toy down and go to another classroom. Adam said "okay". At the second classroom Adam grabbed a truck and started playing. The teacher told Adam to put down the truck so he could have breakfast. Adam said "okay". Adam quickly ate breakfast and was told to put the empty bowl on the cart. Adam said "okay" and did it. The two teachers there were very impressed. Adam went to play and forgot all about Daddy. He attends school from about 7:45 to 5:45 and enjoys it very much. He has no problem spending time without Mommy and Daddy.

Without Adam around I can really get to know Danica. Now I fully realize how peaceful, sweet, and loving Danica is without Adam there to stir things up. I could go to the store and have Danica walk with me holding my hand (without me having to ask her to do it). She even seems to want to try toilet training now.

We realize that we need to discipline Adam more. He doesn't obey us all the time, acting like he doesn't hear us. This will stop!

April, 2006 (Adam 4 and Danica 2.5) - Adam had a gigantic birthday party and all the kids had a lot of fun. It was held indoors, in a big room, so the kids had plenty of room to run around in. Adam is pretty much potty trained now, even at night. He makes sure everyone knows when he has to peepee, jumping around and screaming out "peepee, peepee!"

I replaced the dishwasher and Adam wanted to observe every step of the way. He loves playing with daddy's tools and squeezing in between me and my work.

May, 2006 - Danica can now select things with the mouse on her own!

August, 2006 - Danica has now started preschool. Both her and Adam are going 5 days a week. Adam has always seemed an extremely friendly extroverted kid who seemed to feel everyone was his friend. Since he can come on quite strong and somewhat abrasive (because he's so physical and likes to bump into people), I've been afraid of the moment when he realizes people sometimes don't like him. I think he may have encountered that in school. Before, he couldn't wait to get to school and never wanted to leave. Lately, he's been very clingy and not wanting to be at school. He was that way this morning. At the school, I got him a bowl of cereal. Danica was already sitting down and eating her cereal with two other kids. Adam didn't want to sit down with them, but rather sat down at a table by himself. Sweet Danica, got up and switched tables to join her brother! At the end of the day, Adam was having a great time at school. I hope he can start enjoying school every day again.

We went through a week or so where both kids were very clingy, but now they seem to be okay about being left at school.

Adam in 1st grade & Danica in Kindergarden.

Also, you hope that your kid never gets into something that they shouldn't and makes an incredible mess. Adam hasn't done it so far, but now Danica has. One evening I was alone at home with Danica. I was cleaning in the kitchen for awhile and was relieved that Danica had finally given me a break and was being quiet. I soon found out why. Her hands, feet, and face were covered with Vaseline. She still had the nice dress on that she had worn for the party earlier that day. Fortunately, she was sitting on a mat, rather than the living room carpet.

I carried her to the bathroom, stripped her, and threw her into the bathtub. It was so hard to get the Vaseline off of her. I scrubbed and scrubbed. Eventually, I took her out, though I still felt she still had her slippery coating on. The mat was thorn out. The dress has been washed a couple times by Lyn, but it just sits somewhere. I don't know what Lyn is going to do with it and I don't know what state it's in.

February, 2009 (Adam 6, Danica 5) - Wow, it's been a long time since any entries! Adam continues to excel at reading and mathematics. At a school performance, Adam was one of two students in both kindergarden class chosen to read for the performance, while the others danced. Danica enjoys singing and art and prints quite well (maybe too much of a perfectionist).

Before Danica was considered the easy one to take care of; Adam just had too much energy. Now, Adam is content if he has a computer or Nintendo. Danica, on the other hand is fussy at times and hard to reason with. what will be their next incarnation. Kids change so much and so quickly.