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May 6, 2000

May 6, 2000

Hi everyone,

Today was CJ’s fourth birthday party. It was wonderful! The party went as well as I could have imagined, and I am so relieved. You never know if kids’ parties will be meltdown city or what. The trick was to have fewer kids (and adults) to make it less overwhelming for everyone, but especially for the birthday boy. It felt just right with five kids and the babies (Cassie and Jules). Too many more and it gets out of control. My friend told me the "formula" for the number of kids to invite is the age of the child plus one. Bingo! That’s what we had. I recommend it to all of you – everyone had more fun that way.

CJ had a great time. We had been talking about his party all week, and he was looking forward to it. We had a Blue's Clues party – his favorite theme at the moment. Alvin and I made copies of and cut out Blue’s paw prints and put them all over the back yard. The kids had to go find them, and the one who found the most got to pick which prize she wanted, but all the kids got prizes. We were able to stay in the backyard for the whole party, including our pizza, salad and fruit lunch, which was so nice. The we went inside to eat CJ’s Blue’s Clues ice cream cake. It was the perfect day.

Then we spent the afternoon in the yard in CJ's little swimming pool. He had a blast, splashing around and running through the sprinkler and spraying Daddy with the hose. When Cassie woke up from her nap, she went in the pool, too, though she wouldn’t go in at first. She was pretty nervous about it until Alvin drained about half the water – then she felt safe. She was so cute in there, walking around and shrieking when CJ splashed her. I feel bad that Jules missed out on this because she was sleeping, but I know there will be lots more pool days this summer. They’re at a great age to hang out in the backyard like that.

I can’t remember if I have mentioned before that the girls love to dance. As soon as they hear music, they start to move and sway and turn in little circles. They have innate rhythm – I think all kids do – and they do what feels natural, unlike us inhibited adults who are afraid of looking foolish. I try my best to go with the flow and encourage them to dance with me all the time. I never want them to lose that joy. When the song is over, the girls clap. They really enjoy music.

Cassie and Jules are saying lots more words these days. At their 15-month doctor appointment last week (even though they’re 16 months old), the pediatrician said that at this age, five to 15 words is normal, and they’re definitely within that range or higher. She was pleased with their progress, but because Julianna in particular still exhibits an allergy to milk, we’re going to have them both tested for allergies and see what’s going on.

They are solidly built little toddlers. Julianna is 23 pounds, 7 ounces (50-75th percentile) and 32 ˝ inches (75th), and Cassandra is 22 pounds, 15 ounces (50-75th) and 32 ˝ inches (75th). She’s catching up to her sister in weight – now there’s only a half-pound difference between them rather than a pound and a half! Cassie’s head is still half a centimeter bigger at 47 ˝ vs. Jules’ 47, though they’re both in the 75th percentile for that. Hopefully the girls won’t be too much bigger than their older brother, who usually is in the 50th percentiles. :-)

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you! Read my Reflections on Mother’s Day to see what it means to me.

Elisa