Kiddo Update

Tristan has been changing at an amazingly fast rate. He turned one on August 1 while we were in Turkey, so he got to open some presents before we left and then we did a cake and more presents when we got back. He thought the boxes were pretty fun, but his older sister soon helped him figure out that there were cool things *inside* them as well. He started taking a few tentative steps a few weeks later, and then in early September  he decide that it was time to start walking everywhere, so that is what he does now. As a result he seems to have forgotten how to climb backwards down steps, so now he stops at the top and screeches as loud as he can until someone comes to help him. When he does Amelia has started going over and saying "Tristan sit down and go like this," then she proceeds to show him how he is supposed to go down, what an amazing big sister! Of course at other times she walks over and snatches whatever he is playing with and leaves him screeching all on his own. He is communicating a little bit, with words like "more (pronounced "muh")," "uh-oh," and  "ja esta" (all done). He thinks that all animals say "quack-quack," and all cats are called Ba ba (one of our cat's names) but is starting to get the hang of "moo," meow," and "woof-woof." And he recently began to differentiate between "Mama" and "Dadda." While he doesn't say much, he definitely has opinions and understands a lot. If he hears the word good-bye he will wave at everyone and head to the door, or if you say it is time for nap or bed he is on his way up the stairs. He loves music, both making it and dancing to it, and I must admit there isn't much cuter in this world then a baby bopping up and down in their perception of rhythm.

Amelia seems to be growing up right in front of us. Some of the sophistication in her statements and memory truly amaze me, and I can't get anything by her anymore! She is going to preschool 3 mornings per week and her Portuguese is improving in leaps and bounds. Now when she is playing on her own I often hear her talking to her stuffed animals in either language. And she always keeps them separate except when she doesn't know a word in Portuguese she will just throw in the English one.  Pretty amazing. Now if only we could get rid of that binky!