anna is absolutely huge. she is officially out of her 0-3 month clothes. when she is fed, well rested and dry, she spends most of her time smiling and laughing. she is still quite soft spoken, preferring to stare at you and quietly say "goo...ah goo...glah gooo" and "ooohhh...oohhhh...allloooo" (which of course sounds like hello) in a teeny tiny voice. and of course "aabllllleehhh"

my only major concern is that she still does not appear to have tears--there was a point where her eyes watered early on, but that stopped, and now she seems to get an inordinate amount of crusty gunk, and i am wondering if her tear ducts are blocked. she has a well-child visit soon, so i will ask then.

carter is currently making snickerdoodles. technically i am helping him, but he has been tasked with filling the 1 cup measure with sugar, and i can't watch. i will just end up hovering and saying "no. no! noooo! careful!" as the sugar goes everywhere, and since that is completely inevitable no matter how much micromanaging i do, i think it is best that i not ruin the atmosphere and step away.

anna was congested all week, but no fever or anything other than a stuffy nose, but i called the doctor anyway, just in case. they said they wanted to see her, so we traipsed to the office again and as expected, she is fine, and as a matter of fact thriving. in 4 days she managed to gain half a pound, and is now a solid 10 lbs. that made the visit worthwhile.

we spent the weekend at the paul smiths pool (pauls smiths is a local college), and the kids were in absolute heaven. it is really great there--very relaxed, fun, the lifeguards all seem to love kids, they cheered carter when he went off the diving board (a real springboard about 4 feet or maybe more off the water), -- more to the point, they actually HAVE a diving board, and they supply a ton of floatation and swim accessories for everyone to use.

tonight, i was helping carter put on his jammies, and i said "you know, we really have to get you doing this yourself...you know how..." and he said "but mom! i am only half older now." i queried this, asking him to explain. he said "i was 1, then 2, and now i am 3. half older than when i was 2."

i sort of stared at him, trying to figure out if her really had grasped the concept that he was describing and i truly think he did. the other day, he looked up at the clock at the arena and announced "it's 2 o'clock!" and it was. but the most hysterical thing he does is to 'help' ava with her reading. every night i try to have her read a book to us -- sometimes she wants to, other times no. but when she does, if she pauses even for a nanosecond, carter fills in the words for her--or even the whole line. he has probably 30 books completely memorized, and he won't let her actually read them--he narrates to her. as expected, this pisses her off. i think it is a riot (though i don't dare let on), and he has even done it to me--there was a book that had the word "stupid" in it--"stupid something or other"--and i edited it out--"something or other". he immediately corrected me--"no mommy, it is a STUPID something or other..."

ava has a cold, and now carter and anna have it. both of them are snotty and miserable. we have been up since 4. carter frightened me at breakfast when he just looked terrible--pale and lethargic and refusing to eat. i am used to ava and what she looks like when she is sick, but carter never is sick, so i was unprepared. then he rallied and ate a ton of food about 2 hours later. seems to be ok, other than runny nose and cough. anna is all junky, and i really ticked her off when i used the nose syringe.

we actually were just at the doctor's the other day, because her eyelid was swollen, but the dr did not think it was serious. but we did get a weight and she is 9lbs 9 oz. so she has gained 2 lbs.

we are preparing for ava's first competition. it is very nervewracking for me, but she is totally excited. we are trying to keep it FUN. not serious. but the time, money and effort is hard to ignore as an adult, and i have to constantly remind myself that this is not something she can even begin to grasp or appreciate.