update

I've been away a while. We have had a lot going on and I have not made time to update on the blog.

Here's the short update. Todd got a new job in Singapore. We moved to Singapore last November and had a baby in May. I think I covered all the high points here.

As for other news, my mother died of breast cancer. It has been over a year, but it still feels like it happened yesterday. I miss her terribly. There is just not too much more I can say about it right now.

Caroline is now 6.5 years old and attends a local school in Singapore. It's an all girls' Catholic school where she is immersed in Chinese every day.

Isaac is now 4.5 years old and he is in a Chinese kindergarten. It's a full immersion program and he is definitely learning both how to write and speak Mandarin.

Anna, now 3, attends the same kindergarten (different class) where she is also learning Mandarin. I haven't heard too much Mandarin from her, but I trust that she is learning some.

Patrick is 19 months and doing all the normal toddler things. He is very athletic and is also very musical. He does not talk very much yet, but he can sing and has been singing since before his first birthday. It's really something to hear his rendition of "Singing in the Rain" and his favorite "Make 'Em Laugh".

Julia Maxine Lewis joined our family on May 24th, 2011. She shares her birthday with me, which is quite special, I think. I will post her birth story soon, as well as some photos.

Isaac gets dressed.

Isaac's newest trick is to pick out his clothes and dress himself. He is getting good at both tasks. His opinions on what looks good together, however, are very interesting. He loves his sweater vests. And his button up shirts. And he loves wearing sweater vests with button up shirts with his swimming trunks. I don't understand it, but he has his own sense of style. And confidence. And I see no need to get in the way of either. The only clothing he is particular about matching is his pajamas. He likes to match tops and bottoms and usually insists on color coordination. I am quite delighted at this new found self-sufficiency and I hope it carries forward to other things like potty training. :)

Wow! Has it really been this long?

Let me first say that the little ones are fine. We have been busy, all of us, doing fun things like learning how to read (Caroline) drawing on the floors/walls/furniture with marker (Isaac) and cruising around the furniture (Anna). Seriously though, Isaac has a knack for coloring. He loves markers and most importantly loves to connect them end to end into long poles. When he's not making light sabers, he's coloring on the walls! Boy he is quick! I leave to change Anna's diaper (which has been extremely unpleasant this week, by the way) and he's turning our wall into Picasso's canvas. How do you get marker off walls? I have no idea. Anyway, things really have been going well.

Caroline is starting to read the Bob Books (volume 1) and she is really excited to be able to sound out small words. She knows how to spell her name now too. One morning, she said to me Caroline C-A-R-O-L-I-N-E spells Caroline. I have no idea where she learned that. She can spell some smaller words to, like Cat and Sam. Since she is turning 4 in December, I'm starting to think more about homeschooling and what specific things I want to teach her this year. Reading and counting/math are at the top of my list. Caroline can add and subtract small sets of objects if it is in front of her.

Isaac is learning the periodic table of elements and trying to keep up with his sister (who, by the way knows the first 54) and he knows all the planets in our solar system (Pluto included), shapes, colors, animals but his favorite thing now is trucks and cars. When we walk to the playground, he identifies everything. Yesterday he saw a concrete mixer and a tow truck and a taxi cab. The other day it was a crane, a bus, and a helicopter. Sometimes he will be looking out the window and he will be able to point out "the Staten Island Ferry" and "cruise ship."

Anna Sophia is going to be walking soon. She is cruising around furniture now, but she has her sights set on being more independent. Anna weighs about 16 lbs now, so she is still small, but she is starting to get chubby cheeks and fill out into more toddlerish proportions.

She is starting to wean, which sort of makes me sad. I really want her to breastfeed for at least a year. She is comfort nursing at nights mostly, but there is too much action going on during the day for her to nurse. She simply doesn't want to. Oh well. She is healthy and growing and I really shouldn't complain about it.

It has been a lot of fun these last few weeks. All the kids in our neighborhood are in school, the tourists are not around as much, and the weather is gorgeous, so we are really taking advantage of the empty playgrounds.