He has 4 teeth on top in the front, and 2 on the bottom front, and he just cut a lower molar on one side! 

He is starting to say some more words (mama, dada, please, cracker, all done, eat (which he may actually mean sleep), yes, no, and bye bye), and his smile warms my heart! He clearly understands almost everything I say, even though I can't always understand his babbling responses! He's fairly compliant, and so far tends to come when I call him (though not perfectly, of course).

At his doctor checkup, he measured 35" tall (99%) and was about 24 lbs (I can't quite remember). He loves balls, and loves to take the lids on and off of markers, water bottles, or anything with a lid. He can stack a few blocks up, and of course, gets great joy out of knocking them over again! He navigates stairs really well (goes down feet first on his tummy), and I can let him play in the basement with the other kids now without me present, which is fabulous! It is super cute to watch him with a crayon, and see the wonder and joy on his face at the sight of his scribbles. He also loves to chew on toothbrushes and carry them all around the house... I think he's got some teeth coming in soon. He has stolen just about every kid toothbrush off the bathroom counter! I'm going to have to go buy new ones.

At bedtime, he likes to read That's Not My Kitten and point to Peter's Nose and Mommy's Nose when we read about the kitty's nose. He's starting to learn where his tongue and ears are, too. He also really enjoys the baby faces book, and will sometimes mimic their expressions. He likes to turn the pages, and make the dolphin squeak on the Ready, Set, Laugh! book. I really enjoy having a few minutes just with him before bed to read a short book or two. It doesn't happen every night, but a couple times a week at least.

I also love to hear him sing! He will sing the E-I-E-I-O part of Old MacDonald, and sometimes will make his version of a dog sound (starting to sound more like a woof than the growly thing Quiller used to do). He also started singing a recognizable melody of the ABC/Twinkle Twinkle song! He does the twinkle motions, too, which is very cute. And whenever music comes on, he almost always starts dancing and clapping right away. He's even tried to imitate my snapping. I love it! 

He bit into something and his tooth came out this morning while I was at the women's retreat! He was so proud, feeling so grown up. Madeleine had made him a little paper box to put it in, and he used that and put it by his pillow. Madeleine played Tooth Fairy for him - it was so sweet! But then in all the excitement and the inefficient construction of the paper box (which was like a rolled cylinder of paper with circular caps taped on), we lost the tooth! Later we found it on the floor in the hallway, and we put it in my bathroom, and now (a few weeks later) it is lost again, I think this time for good. Ooops! 

Yesterday at Ellen's, Peter took 10 steps- the most I've ever seen him do. Then today at home he got close to 20 steps, and crossed about 3 feet of floor! It is very encouraging and cute to see him finally finding his balance. Hooray!

Today was an interesting day for other reasons: I went to the doctor to check out these light-headed spells I've been having, and to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack (woke with tightness in my chest and tingling in my arms). We think my blood pressure is a little low (96/70) and that can cause the dizziness, but we're not sure why the blood pressure is low. So they did an EKG and took blood for some tests, and I'll find out next week if anything is amiss.

Also, the other kids all got stung multiple times by hornets at Ellen's house! Poor Ella was so tired she couldn't stop screaming for 1.5 hours. Poor Ellen had to deal with it while I was at the doctor! Anyway, aside from minor swelling, looks like the kids have survived the ordeal. 

We had a great day today, finally cool enough to ride bikes. I took of Matthew's training wheels, and despite saying "I can't do this!" repeatedly, he really did well on his first try! He has a good strong "power pedal" so he was able to stay up for 5 seconds or so on his own before I grabbed him to prevent the fall. He went out again in the evening with Daddy and did even better!

Madeleine also make great progress today - she rode totally on her own along the street about 5 houses worth! And she was able to start practicing using her brakes instead of just bailing and putting her feet down.

In other exciting news, Peter said "baby" today, and did the ASL sign for it! I actually understood the word once, but when he repeated it, I didn't get it except for the sign. So now he says "mommy", "daddy", "doggy", "baby", "uh-oh" and "dat!". He also took 3 forward steps yesterday! Maybe he will eventually decide that walking is worth the effort. 

I've seen it coming... but yesterday I just completely forgot to let Peter nurse in the morning, and that wasn't the first time it happened, so I guess we're done. I nursed him this morning just for my comfort (although I really wasn't producing much, anyway), and I hereby declare it the last time. Movin' on, and growing up!  

That boy just wanted to chew on the bottom of his sippy cup today, so I felt around in his mouth, and sure enough! He has a new tooth coming in on top! He has also started saying some new words - including "hi" (sounds more like "ha!") and "up", and when I ask him if he's all done, he says "yah!" with a big smile which is very cute. He has also pointed to himself a few times and said something that sounded like "me" (or at least "ee"), and also made sounds like he's trying to say "Peter" (while pointing to himself). The other thing he says pretty clearly is "Ella"! But he won't play the "point to the family member" game yet, so I'm not 100% sure he actually knows he's saying his sister's name. Still no real steps on his feet... 

I went to the party at the Millarow complex with just the twins, and we had a blast in the pool! It's so nice that they don't need floaties anymore. I was working on teaching them how to dive, and Matthew did really well! He dove into the deep end and swam all the way to the little end! Madeleine's dive is still mostly a feet-first jump in in a somewhat horizontal position, but she is swimming very confidently, and especially loves swimming with flippers. Zoom! 

Today Matthew swam on his back (doing a modified version of backstroke - arms underwater like flapping wings) all the way across the pool, and then back! He had to stop a few times when water splashed over his face, but he got right back on his back and kept going. I am so proud, and so glad he's finally gotten over his fear of having his face in the water!

Madeleine is a little fish, and has been swimming like crazy this summer, too. She has figured out how to dive to the bottom to grab dive rockets, and today she managed a handstand on the bottom! Both of them are starting to do something like freestyle - although it seems hard for them to get their arms out of the water very effectively, and they have to stop to pull up their heads for a breath. They are really doing great! 

I saw him move his feet today for the first time while he was standing! It was a side step, and then he threw the ball and then sat down. Walking has got to be coming soon! He is later on this developmental milestone than all the other kids, but it is super cute to see how happy he is when he stands up with a ball in his hands!