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Yes, it’s been a while since we’ve posted anything. We all had a solid week when we were sick, like 102 ° F chills, fever & sore throat sick, with one of the most tenacious bugs we’ve seen (throat better? now your ear’s plugged! ear’s better? now your throat hurts again!).

bleah!

But, we’re pretty much back now, trying to get the house back in order and back to plans made before the coughing started. Autumn has started running, to get back in pre-pregnancy shape, and will be doing a 5k in a month or so with her brother and friend Sonja. I’ve mostly been busy at work, but also have 3 different web sites in various stages of production. Probably no money in it, but nice work anyway.

Ella is growing like a weed - a dress that was ankle-length in early fall is practically a knee skirt now. She has been doing lots of imaginative play and loves playing with her new leap pad. She’s also enrolled in a neighborhood preschool for this fall, a very nice little montessori program right next door to our favorite library.

Fiona is getting huge too, and is getting close to sitting on her own. She’s an incredibly vocal kid, singing and talking up a storm when she’s in the mood (which is often). She’s also a big laugher, especially when her big sister is entertaining her.

In the house, we had to fairly small projects done, new glass in the front door (replacing the awful and rattly plexiglass), and new glass block replacing the windows in the basement. They all have little ventilation doors, but the basement should be much less drafty and it’s quite a bit brighter too, especially in the laundry area. The good news is that the ice dams that everyone had for a week or so have melted away in our 40 ° days of late. The snow’s not gone yet, but 40 feels like spring after a solid week below zero not long ago.

Next on the todo list is tickets for the Vegas trip

well, its winter now. we’ve been cooped up in the house for weeks, with just a few outings a week compared to our daily trips to the library and park.

fiona is already 4m old. she is about 15 lbs now…and i have her length written down a piece of paper somewhere. funny how these milestones seem less important with a second baby, while the small daily events carry so much joy. she is a very happy baby. she laughs and smiles often, and her sweet disposition helps keep us all smiling in this cold cold weather. hope to have some new films of her up soon. in the meanwhile, here are some recent pictures.

ella is now 32 months. she has been busy playing with her new ‘my first leap frog’ and her ‘bob’ reading books, and has started to read words on her own. we are starting to look at preschool and k-6 options for her, and are considering some montessori programs as well as the possibility of home schooling. she has also been very busy dressing and undressing her groovy girls. last week, when it was to cold to go out, ella and i made a little play house out of the big box our new pillows and comforter came in. bill and i have been reading tolkien lately, so i asked if ella would like a round door and windoes like the hobbits. she was very excited to have her own ‘hobbit hole’ to play in by herself, and also with her friend ben. last night, we picked up a pair of very nice atlas snow shoes for ella on clearance at rei. we had been hoping for some snow, but didn’t want to buy any snow shoes before there was PLENTY to shoe in (since the last few winters have been sparse with snow). ella took off as soon as they were on her feet. she’s a natural! we had so much fun tromping around the back yard and neighborhood last night.

that’s the title of Ella’s new hit song, written tonight right before bed.

after that song was done, she started singing “Undies, undies, undies!”