Isn't she lovely?

Our Miss Lillie....

I DO love Emmett's new Flip :-)

This Flip thing is so simple and cool...I wish I could figure out, though, how to make the videos stay clear when they are uploaded to youtube...somehow when I put them on youtube they lose some of their clarity. Overall - this little video camera is the coolest, simplest thing ever.

So - here is another video for your viewing pleasure....Twins Playing. :-)

Liam loves to bounce

Lillie is going to be crawling soon...

Interactive twins

This video is from a month ago, but fun to see how they are starting to notice each other already and how their personalities are showing already...

New Hair

Yikes!!!

5 month photos

here are photos our neighbor (and babysitter) Cristine took of L&L...although they are almost 6 months, I'm calling these the 5 month photos...

A Time for Change

It's funny, the first Presidential election I voted in was Bill Clinton's first election. I was at Jon's parent's house and they were decidedly unhappy about the results of that election. I, on the other hand, was jumping around for joy. I think back on that now and have to admire their patience - I can remember that Jon's Dad was just happy that I, as a young voter, wasn't apathetic. I had made the effort to go out and vote and actually be engaged in the process and I guess that was enough for them. Still, when I remember that evening I remember the grace with which they handled that situation.

This election was so different for me. Yes, I'm happy. Yes, I think Barack Obama is going to be a wonderful President. I'm incredibly proud of my country that we stood up for change and really showed that anything is possible here. I could talk for a long time about why I think the best candidate won and why that alone makes me so very happy. And so I would have been joyful tonight regardless of the historic nature of this campaign.

I also know that race shouldn't be an issue in determining President of the United States. It shouldn't matter what color Barack Obama is. But it does. When I saw the lines of African American voters in Detroit that waited (some were saying 5 hours?!?) to cast their votes, the looks on their faces, it does matter. At one point during the coverage of the victory celebrations they panned in on this elderly black man who just stood there with tears pouring down his face. When I saw him and thought about what he must have seen and how this must feel for him...there were tears pouring down my face, too. The suffering, the humiliation, the pain and discrimination that black people have faced in this country throughout it's history. The hard fought battles to be freed from slavery, to be able to testify in court, to be able to vote, to be able to attend the same schools and use the same bathrooms, dine in the same restaurants, as white people. I am so proud tonight of my country that we CAN CHANGE, we can grow and learn. I am so proud that we have judged a candidate by the "content of his character" and not the color of his skin.

I could not stop crying tonight. Thomas kept asking me why I was crying if I was happy and it was so hard to explain to him. Seven years ago my father (biological father, that is, not to be confused with my always loving and supportive step-father, Jerry) predicted all kinds of dire things would befall my baby and I because of his mixed race heritage. When Thomas was born, this became something of a joke because of his blonde blonde hair and bright blue eyes. But then Liam was born. Beautiful baby Liam with his deep brown eyes, silky brown hair and golden skin. Would he have the same opportunities available to him as blonde haired/blue eyed Thomas and Liliana do? Tonight I feel I can definitely say that he will. And I can imagine the mothers across the land who can say without reservation that their children can truly be anything they want to be in this great country.

God Bless America.

Love,
Melissa

Yes We Did

Congratulations to President (elect) Barack Obama and Vice President (elect) Joe Biden.

I Can't Resist

I have been resisting blogging too much about politics, which has been hard in this very exciting election season. I am going to be on complete pins and needles tomorrow, especially knowing that, as of this morning, the momentum seems to be shifting a bit - the wrong way. We will see.

Henry sent me this youtube clip - he knew I'd love it because of my love of Evita and my history of singing this song at parties after I'd had a few :-), so I couldn't resist sending this along...

It's all about teeth

I'm very late in posting this - seems like there is always something demanding my time these days - which is life with 3 kids, I imagine. Still hard to believe sometimes.

A couple of weeks ago - I think it was on Emmett's birthday, October 14th - I noticed that Lillie was drooling and crabby and chewing even more than normal. I didn't expect teething yet, it's a bit early and they are usually a few weeks behind, but I started poking around her mouth and lo and behold, there was a tooth!! Not in the normal place, though. It's a molar in the back on the right side and poking out of the side of her gum rather than the top. Poor girl. I called the dentist and the pediatrician and both assured me that if it doesn't bother her (above and beyond the normal teething stuff) or impede her ability to eat that there's nothing to be done. Except open an account for her orthodontia. Ugh. I wish they had those plans for braces like they do for college where you can lock in today's prices by committing to a certain school and paying now - we could decide on an orthodontist now for all 3 kids and begin paying on the bill now.

When Lillie finally went in for her doctor appointment this past week the doctor initially thought it was a cyst because it's in such a weird spot, poking out there. But then we he was able to feel it he realized that it is, indeed, a tooth. So there's a milestone - one day after her 5th month birthday she popped her first tooth.

But wait, that's not all...the next day after Lillie's tooth, I took Thomas to the doctor's office for his follow up flu shot. Afterwards we stopped at the little cafe that's in the building and got him a popsicle. As he was biting down on the popsicle he bit down inadvertantly on the stick and his tooth fell out. It's the bottom front tooth on the left side. So - within 24 hours of Lillie getting her first tooth, Thomas LOST his first tooth.

Thomas was VERY excited about losing his tooth. He wanted to call everyone to tell them. The reason he was so excited is because he knows from his school mates that when you lose a tooth the tooth fairy comes.

At work that night I pondered - how much does the tooth fairy pay these days? I asked around but the answers varied. No one seemed to know definitively. I looked online but again the answers were scattershot. After much asking around and poking around online it seemed that the most reasonable thing to do is to give a $1 gold coin. So, after much discussion about how I was going to get $1 gold coins at 1am, someone pointed me to the postal machine that's on campus and accessible all night long. So - I bought the cheapest thing I could and paid with a $10 bill, so I had a whole bunch of gold coins.

I got home and Thomas was up and on the couch, so I sent him back to bed, but as he was climbing back into his bed, I asked him how much he thought the tooth fairy might bring and he said, "oh, 5 or 6". Wow. Dollars?!? I didn't press him further, but then I felt like I didn't want him to be disappointed or think that his tooth wasn't worth as much as his friends teeth. So - I bundled up 5 of those $1 coins (beating myself up the whole time for completely overdoing it) and waited for him to fall back asleep.

I cracked open the door and from his breathing I could tell he was sound asleep. I crept up close to his bed, cursing the creaking hardwood floors the whole way! - and tried to reach around under his pillow until I felt the tooth. Finally I got the tooth and managed to put the coins under the pillow without waking him up. It occurred to me that whoever invented the tooth fairy was really playing a joke on the parents - how hard is it to retrieve the teeth without getting caught in the act. I was freaked out especially because I kept thinking, if I get caught with this, then he'll know that I'm the tooth fairy and next he'll be questioning Santa and the Easter Bunny. We've actually never been too into the Easter Bunny at our house, but I'm not at ALL ready for him to not believe in Santa yet!! So...thankfully I got away with it.

December update - Thomas has two more loose teeth! Yikes! I hope he keeps them till after the family Christmas photo...

Well, better run...took me almost 2 months to finish this entry. Things are just way too busy these days.

Love,
Melissa