Little sketches of my kids...

Did you ever hear the story about how having kids is like having your heart walk around outside your body? That's what I think of when I look at Sophia. She's 4-and-three-quarters. She stuns me, almost every day, with something new that she comes up with. Sophie has this long long brown curly hair that she can sit on when it's wet. She's bright, inquisitive, and everything she feels shows on her face immediately. She's like a little elf, some bit of magic that I can't believe came from me because she's so totally her own quirky little self. We haven't had her tested, but we already know from others that she is Off The Charts. A typical dinner conversation with Sophie contains references to animals, her artwork, which numbers are odd and which are even, Spanish vocabulary, the 8 times table, and the workings of the central nervous system. She has begun to play the piano and have lessons from Daddy, and now plays "Jolly Old St. Nicholas", with two hands, actually reading the sheet music, with great seriousness. Then she flings herself off the bench to do the most dramatic bow ever. She tells me, "The ponytail has to flip over my head for it to be right." I could go on and on about how smart she is, how talented she is, and none of it would be good enough to explain the beautiful spark of life that she has in her heart.

The twins are 3-and-three-quarters. Peter is just such a hoot. I've read things I've written about Peter last year, and he is still so solidly Peter - so many things are the same. Peter is passionate about cooking; he wants to know everything there is to know about it. He pretends he's cooking, he takes cookbooks to bed with him, he loves nothing more than to help stir, mix, set the table... and he will gladly tell you what he likes to eat, which is pretty much everything, but tortellini is his favorite, followed very very closely by pierogies. His latest thing is for us to watch cooking how-to videos on youtube, especially the ones about how to make sushi. Not that he's ever had it, but he is completely fascinated by it. Petey is the only one in our family with blond hair, and he has these absolutely gorgeous hazel eyes (like Daddy!). He's totally going to have our phone ringing off the hook when he gets older. One of the greatest things about Peter is that he has the most awesome laugh ever - it's completely infectious. He laughs this deep deep belly laugh that sounds like it's coming from an old man, and you can't help but laugh with him, which only makes him laugh harder... He's bright, he's very very silly, and it's easy to forget sometimes that he loves to snuggle just as much as he loves to run and jump around. Here's a perfect Petey snapshot: when he has ants in his pants, he will run over to me and ask me to put on "Shake Your Tailfeather" so that he can dance it all out. (His other faves are "I Feel Good" and Rockappella's "Falling' Over You".) While I love dancing up a storm with him, I love his hugs and smooches even more.

Angela is so completely her own person. She has this gorgeous cloud of dark curly hair that she pulls on because she wants it to be longer (like Mama, like Sophie). She got glasses this year, and on Sophie they would make her look owlish, but on Angela they're pure glamour. Angela, while sweet, adorable, girly, and having a huggability rating off the charts, has a streak of pure willfulness that's making me very afraid for her teen years. One morning at the breakfast table she wanted something, like a pear, but we didn't have any and told her so. She got really angry and yelled, "But I WANT A PEAR!" Again, we said we couldn't give her something we didn't have, and how about an apple? She slumped way down in her chair and gave us the nastiest evil glare ever. Paul and I laughed so hard we almost fell under the table! It was a total fast-forward to Angela at 13, when I tell her she can't wear that skirt. I've written before about Angela and being strong-willed, so I don't want to write more about it because she really is a sweetheart. She has a great imagination and loves to play creative games; I can totally see her being an actress some day. Angela snapshot: the other morning I asked her "And how are you today?" and she said, in all seriousness, "Gorgeous." She loves to draw, and she can write all the letters of her name, although not necessarily always in order. Angela is frequently the first one up and about in the morning, and she will come into our room with her arms up in the air, huge smile on her face, singing, "Good morning! Time to get up!" And then she comes over to my side and says, "Good morning, sweet bunny!" How could you possibly ever get up and have a grumpy day after that kind of love?

When the three of them were all tiny (and they were quite tiny), everyone would tell me how blessed I was, but I was kind of too shell-shocked to agree. But now I know it, truly and fully. And I am so, so thankful for them.