Updates

Here are some fun things I want to remember about the kids these days:
* James calls himself Jim, which is really sweet both because of how he says it and because his grandfather and namesake went by Jim.
* James acts like a little goat and head-butts things he loves very slowly.  Shanti is the one who receives these head-butts the most often.  It reminds me of a game Joshua said he played with Emily as children (grown-up-ish children)
* Alma is transitioning out of nap times still.  A few months ago, we thought she was done and she started reading for an hour instead of a nap.  Very quickly she went back to napping but it very late in the day (2:30pm).  About twice a week she will choose to read instead of nap.  Luckily, she is still in bed with the lights out by 7:30 or so.  The only unfortunate thing is that she sometimes wakes up at 5am from a bad dream.  Joshua is the champ as he goes in and sleeps in her bed.  If I went in her room, we would both stay awake chatting so that isn't an option.
* James still takes two naps -- one in the morning so I can work (9:45-11:30) and one when Alma naps so I can make dinner.  He will be transitioning to napping at daycare (around 12 noon), which I am feeling will be a good transition for him.
* Since Alma will be transitioning to a full day of school, I spoke to her teacher to discuss the details.  As we were making plans, the teacher said something to the effect of, "Well, if Alma doesn't like it, I'm sure I'll know."  I asked her to explain.  "She certainly gives me a look that says she is uphappy."  While this isn't the best news (Alma should be using her words instead of just making a mean/sad face), it is also just very like her.
* James is very verbal and can easily speak in three word sentences.  He also knows his colors and spends most of his day talking about the colors of things -- blue, red, green, purple, brown, black, yellow, orange, pink.  It is shocking how he is accurate about the color 95% of the time.
* James likes to have his shoes removed in a manner we call "horse" -- he leans over on the couch and lifts one leg at a time.
* Alma reads to James often and this is often a great help when I am finishing up dinner.  Her ability to remember the text of books is incredible. 
* When we go to the library, James yells "princess princess princess!" once he realizes where we are going.  They both love their princess books.  James also loves books about animals and construction trucks.  Alma loves listening to CDs of Asope's Fables and reading other traditional fairy tales (12 Dancing Princesses, Thumbelina, etc.)
* Alma still drops the beginning of a bunch of words: "formance" (performance), "ginning" (beginning), "brella" (umbrella)
* James says "nap" for milk which can be confusing as he points into his cup and say "nap!"