While Moses’ Biblical namesake was not much of an orator, we have been quite impressed by our 11-month-old’s verbal communication skills. “Num num” is what Moses says when he wants to eat or drink something. Usually, he will point his index finger at the object he wishes to consume and say, “num num num” until we figure out what he wants and give it to him. He will even refer to some of his favorite treats by name, saying “baaah-na num num num” while pointing at a bunch of bananas sitting on the counter, or “joooo num num num” while pointing to a glass of juice on the table. We are so pleased that Moses has figured out how to effectively communicate with us this way instead of crying (which is what a certain set of twins often resorted to when they were about the same age)!

Today we helped Papa celebrate his 70th birthday! Caleb and Joshua helped me bake a carrot birthday cake (Papa’s favorite), and Caleb assumed the honors of inserting the candles into the cake when I wasn’t looking (but that’s ok, he did a decent job). The boys also selected a gift for Papa–a toy red ‘57 Corvette, which was the same year as the red MG he used to drive back in the day. Maybe we’ll get Papa one of those for his 80th birthday

Moses’ gift to Papa was wanting to be held by him the entire evening. If anyone else offered Moses their arms while Papa was holding him, Moses would avoid eye contact, turn his head, and nestle it against Papa’s shoulder. He really does love his Papa! By the way, this evening Moses also set a personal record in the walking department, taking 13 consecutive steps.

Most people who know Papa cannot believe us when we tell them that he is already 70 years old. He is certainly the most youthful 70-year-old we know. Happy birthday, Papa, and may God bless you with many more years of excellent health! We love you!

Last week Moses and I went to Trader Joe’s while the boys were at preschool. As we were walking down the cereal aisle, Moses started pointing and fervently exclaiming, ”neh neh neh!” I looked and saw that he was pointing at the Joe’s O’s, Trader Joe’s version of Cheerios. Even though we only have Cheerios at home, Moses used his keen intellect to determine that the contents of those bright yellow boxes must closely resemble one of his favorite treats. His sweet enthusiasm melted my heart and I couldn’t resist indulging him with a box of $1.99 Joe’s O’s. I know, I know, today it’s Joe’s O’s, next it’ll be Thomas Trains, but when it’s an 11-month-old asking for generic breakfast cereal, how can you say “no”? As I handed Moses a box of O’s, his face broke out in a wide smile and he clutched it gleefully throughout the rest of the duration of our shopping trip. When it was time to check out, Moses reluctantly relinquished his box of Joe’s O’s to the cashier, who detected his infatuation with the cereal box and was kind enough to promptly return it to him immediately after she scanned them. We went to Trader Joe’s again today and it was like dejavu: the persistent pointing accompanied by “neh neh neh!”, resulting in the blissful possession of his favorite treat. Our Moses is definitely a boy who knows what he wants (and knows how to get it, too)!

Moses’ other favorite thing is his plush Restoration Hardware travel (i.e. baby-sized) pillow that Mimi and Papa gave him for Christmas. He loves to bury his face in it, hug it, and roll around the bed while clutching it, all the while grinning from ear to ear. When we lie him down on the bed to dress him or change his diaper, he immediately rolls over and looks for his pillow. Trying to dress or change him before he’s found his pillow is basically a futile effort. A few nights ago, he woke up in the middle of night whimpering. He sat up and groped around in the darkness for his pillow, found it, then thrashed around while clutching it against his body several times before falling back asleep. It’s definitely one of Moses’ favorite things.

Moses has been taking one step here and there for a couple days, but today he took 4 steps! He stood up and then walked towards his Daddy. He was so proud of himself!

This morning the boys and I, along with another woman and her daughter, got stuck inside an elevator in the church where our Bible Study meets. We were trapped for half an hour. Being the kind of person who steers clear of the long tunnel slides at water parks, it was quite possibly one of the longest half hours of my life. Neither of our cell phones got a signal, and after the other woman frantically pushed all the buttons multiple times in vain, I discovered a hidden door that opened to an emergency call box that connected us to an operator somewhere across the country, who then dispatched a repair man to the church. We breathed a huge sigh of relief, although we still had no idea how long it would take him to find us, especially considering rush hour traffic on a weekday morning. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. The boys and I bided the time reciting Psalm 91 and some other Bible verses we’ve memorized and thanking God for delivering us out of the elevator. I knew I had to maintain my composure for the boys’ sake, and as far as I could tell, they didn’t have a clue that anything was amiss. It probably helped that an elevator seems like a much larger space to a small child, and that they are yet unaware of what would happen if six people in a small airtight room ran out of oxygen. Needless to say, I don’t care how heavy Moses is getting… from now on we will be taking the stairs!

After that, I knew the day could only get better, and it did. This evening, Moses took his first step! I was in the kitchen rolling pizza dough at the time, but Joe witnessed him stand up all by himself in the middle of the living room and take one step forward. He was so proud of himself. Maybe he will be walking by his first birthday after all!

There’s no doubt about it–Moses has got great skills! While he may not have nunchuck, bow hunting, or computer hacking skills, he does seem to be somewhat advanced in certain areas. But it’s likely that we are just biased, so we’ll let you be the judge. Here’s a brief run-down of the kinds of things Moses has been doing that have impressed us:

• Moses can hold a pen and scribble. He enjoys drawing on the Magna Doodle.
• Moses likes to play “catch” and is quite good at throwing and catching a ball.
• Moses is very talkative, and unlike his brothers, who even to this day will speak nonsense in their own “twin language”, Moses speaks a few real words that actually make sense. For example, he can say and accurately identify his ”Papa,” and he says “ow!” when he hits something hard.
• Moses can feed himself with a fork or spoon. For example, the other evening during dinner, he grabbed Joe’s spoon and helped himself to soup. This morning, he used a fork to eat pancakes (putting to shame his 4-year-old brothers who were eating their pancakes with their hands). Moses is adamant that he should be the one maneuvering the utensil, and will forcefully yank it away from you if you don’t surrender to his grasp right away.
• Forget sippy cups. Moses prefers to drink water out of a glass that he is holding without anyone else’s assistance.
• Moses is very inquisitive and regularly uses his index finger to point to objects of interest and asks what they are by saying “deh?”
• Moses can crawl up the stairs, walk up the stairs while holding the railing, and he can scoot down the stairs on his tummy. We don’t have stairs at our house, but he has picked this up during the few hours a week when we’re visiting Mimi and Papa.
• Moses will eat just about anything. Some of his recent favorites have been chili, spaghetti, cantaloupe, honeydew, french fries, carrots, bananas, fried eggs, yogurt, and oranges. And don’t bother pureeing any of these delicacies for Moses–he wants to sink his eight teeth into big solid chunks.
• Moses pays close attention to detail. For example, the other day he removed the stem from a cherry, then carefully tried to put it back in the “hole” from where it came. Similarly, he removed a drinking straw from a Chick-fil-a cup, then diligently tried to re-insert it through the ”X” in the lid.

This last point is particularly noteworthy because Mimi likes to tell the story of my first birthday nearly 29 years ago, when I tried to re-insert a birthday candle into the tiny hole where it had pierced the cake. Legend has it that my Great Aunt Sinnie was so impressed that a 12-month-old would be captivated by such a subtle detail. Considering Moses’ interest in the proper placement of cherry stems and drinking straws, Mimi is convinced that Moses will take after his Mommy in more ways than just physical appearance, heavy birth weight, being a good sleeper, and having a calm disposition. She predicts he’ll also be scooping himself grapefruit with a spoon at 18 months… we’ll just have to wait and see!

The boys and I have started attending a Bible study at a local church one morning a week. It’s the same Bible study I have fond memories of attending with my mom when I was little, so I was excited to have the opportunity to participate again. Caleb and Joshua are enjoying learning about Jesus’ boyhood, singing songs, and eating goldfish crackers in their Bible class. I am enjoying reading the book of Acts and participating in a Bible study group for the first time since college. And then there is sweet Moses, who has not been so fond of being away from Mommy in the nursery. The first week, he was happy to explore his new environment and play with new toys, but the second week he knew what was going on and wasn’t too thrilled about it. I think next week I’ll try to minimize the trauma by waking him up extra early so that he’ll take a nap during most of the Bible Study.

Two of Moses’ classmates in the nursery are adorable identical twin girls who are about a week older than him. This past week I found myself staring at them and thinking, “Oh my gosh, that would be crazy to have two babies at the same time,” and then I quickly reminded myself, ”oh yeah, I had two babies at the same time!” I can’t say enough how nice it has been to just have one baby this time around… it has truly felt like a vacation!

Today the boys and I and the rest of Northern Virginia invaded Wegman’s in preparation for the impending blizzard. It was only my second time at Wegman’s and since the store was so crowded and chaotic, I decided it’d be best to put all three boys in the cart. I put Moses and Caleb in the upper seat and Joshua sat in the main compartment. This of course left very little room for actual groceries, and we were the subject of quite a few stares. As usual, I got many comments about having my “hands full”. One lady said, “wow, you’ve certainly got stair steps” and I told her that they technically aren’t since two of them are twins. “Oh, these two?” she asked, pointing to Caleb and Moses. I know that Moses is a little big for his age, but seriously? And of course the conversation couldn’t end before she told me that her daughters were born 17 months apart, which, according to her, “was just like having twins”.

The funny thing is that I hear this sort of thing all the time: “my babies were x months apart, which was even harder than having twins” or “my wife had our kids the hard way- one at a time”. Yes, people have actually said these things to me. Now, I am completely in awe of parents of triplets and higher order multiples, and I would never dream of telling a triplet mom that having twins and a singleton is just like having triplets. I’m sure the lady at Wegman’s meant well and was just trying to make friendly conversation, but unless her 17-month-old was nursing, pooping, crying, and spitting up all night long alongside her newborn, I think it’s safe to assume that her experience was nothing like having twins!

Shortly after Moses’ 9-month birthday, we had to retire his infant carseat because we could no longer buckle him into it. Joe managed to squeeze one of the twins’ old UVA carseats rear-facing into the back of the Santa Fe, which has alllowed us to postpone the purchase of a third extra-narrow Radian. The UVA carseat will not fit forward-facing, though, so Moses will probably be rear-facing for a while, even though his weight already qualifies him to sit forward facing. Apparently a growing faction of parents are passionate about “extended rear-facing” since statistics show that children are less likely to suffer injuries while secured in a rear-facing carseat. I guess we’ll just hop on the bandwagon!

Moses continues to be a sweet, calm, playful baby. People are often surprised to see how quiet and mellow he is compared to his rambunctious, loud older brothers. He loves to give us hugs and pats our backs while he’s hugging us. He’s also very generous. When I give him a cookie or a cracker, he alternates between gnawing on it and offering me a bite. If I don’t take a bite, he persists in offering it to me until I do. Moses is also very attentive to detail. If I put on a different pair of earrings, he immediately notices and wants to touch them and examine them closely.

A while back I had my first parent-teacher conference at the twins’ preschool. Let’s just say that a few decades down the road we’ll probably be more likely to find the boys behind a podium or pulpit than behind a pile of books or a microscope. While the boys’ listening and sitting-still skills apparently leave something to be desired, Mrs. Lavergne reports that Caleb and Joshua are exceptionally happy, sweet, exuberant boys who are well-liked by their classmates.

Every day when I drop the boys off at school, they greet each of their classmates with a loud, boisterous salutation: “Hi, Lucy! Hi, Mila! Hi, Connor!” etc. They also have all of their friend’s vehicles memorized, so when they see a small red coupe pull into the parking lot, they know to shout, “Hi Anais!” or when they see a green sedan, they exclaim, “Hi Auggie!” Then, when I come pick them up from school, as soon as I open the classroom door, the boys stop whatever they’re doing and start hopping up and down and shouting, “Mommy’s here!!! Hi, Mommy!!!” repeatedly at the top of their lungs before dashing towards me and lunging at me for a hug. I’ve been informed that prior to my entrance, they likewise announce the arrival of each of their classmate’s parent or guardian, gleefully yelling, “Bryce, your mommy’s here!” etc. Needless to say, from what I have observed, the other children are a lot more reserved than our boys. They’re no doubt happy to see their friends and mommies, but they tend to express their delight with quiet smiles or hugs as opposed to our boys’ raucous cheering and yelling from the rooftops. It’s no wonder that this past week Mrs. Lavergne referred to Caleb and Joshua as “cheerleaders for life”.

While it has never occurred to me that our boys would take an interest in cheerleading, since neither Joe nor I ever fit the “cheerleader” stereotype, with each passing day I gain an increasing realization that there’s no guarantee that our boys will turn out to be anything like us at all. What an exciting journey we’ll have ahead of us as we discover what great and unexpected things God has in store for our little cheerleaders.