Jonah’s a boisterous boy nowadays, a situation made none-the-better by constant weeks of rain. He is remarkably full of energy, and on days like today where the cold and wet weather dictates we be primarily inside, getting him sufficiently exhausted can prove a real trick.

He’s very smart—though obviously I’m inclined to think so—and especially good a problem-solving in ways that his parents don’t anticipate. Just the other night we were talking to him about being the first one finished with his “go to bed” routine (brush teeth, use the toilet, get in pajamas, etc.) because being first is a huge incentive for him and his getting to bed is starting to take longer than we want. He loves to be first whether it’s in going someplace, getting in the car, eating food, walking around or whatever. So we asked him what we could do to help him be first in being ready for bed. His answer? “Stop Elisha.” Not exactly the answer we were looking for.

The Sprague twice a week preschool has been working out great. It’s active and involved, and with a high school student to preschool student ratio of 1:1, Jonah gets all the attention he needs while working on the various project and activities. I couldn’t be more thrilled with it, especially the low $100 per semester price tag.

Outside of class we’ve been working on letters and numbers. Jonah’s long known his ABCs, but writing them takes some pretty fine motor skills. He’s been going at a dry-erase alphabet tracing book for a few days and already we’re seeing some improvement. Probably be awhile before he can write legibly without tracing a pattern, but I will say that his fine motor skills are much better than I expected. (I wonder if this is at all related to eye-hand coordination, because he can throw and catch an appropriately sized football like nobody’s business.)

On the number end of things we’re trying to get up to 100. He doesn’t have all the 10s yet—meaning coming up with 30, 40, 50, etc. is still elusive—but the give him 30 and he can easily get to 39. I’m guessing that if he works at it he’ll be able to get to 100 within the next week or two. I’m hardly a child development expert, so don’t hold me to it.

Elisha remains sweet, sociable, and cuddly. We anticipated her talking sooner than Jonah, but this turns out not have been the case. Only in the last two weeks has she really started consistently saying understandable words. On the other hand, her comprehension—in both English and French—is excellent, and her French comprehension is likely better than Jonah’s at this age (because Erin is using more French with her, and she hears more advanced French when Mom talks to Jonah).

Elisha is pretty athletic. Definitely a runner. Jonah loves running the upstairs circuit and Elisha is right there with him going around and around. She’s not bad with a soccer ball, either. She’s taken in recent days to lifting heavy toys and moving them about.

She likes to look out at the park and point at dogs, cats, and squirrels. She finds them all very exciting. She enjoys holding hands when we walk places but also likes being picked up. She’s not terrifically picky when it comes to eating, and I think she’s gotten it through her head that tossing food and drink from her tray is not the proper way to indicate “I’m done.” That’s been a little vexing. She sleeps pretty well and re-settles herself on most nights. (The exceptions are a killer, though.)

I mentioned her sociability. She loves people. Just loves people. Even today started saying “hi” to strangers as we carted through Fred Meyer. When I had to help Jonah with a bathroom break, I left Elisha with Christine, the Playland attendant, and she exchanged toys and stickers with her happily and perhaps didn’t even notice my disappearance.

It is a joyous journey which we are upon.