Updating after a while.

It's been longer than usual since my last post, and we've been through some seasonal transitions as a family that give us hope that this rainy, cold spring is turning into the start of a warm summer.

• Maia had her first ever Last Day of School with her Triangle Co-op classmates. They did a cute little performance for all of the parents and other family members, and then had ice cream for a treat rather than the usual healthy snack. :) Maia's had a wonderful year at school--she's grown and matured a lot in the last nine months, and has transitioned into some behaviors and abilities that make her seem so much older. She's reading words and writing now, and she's built a great number sense in her brain that helps her figure out quantities and patterns in her world. She's playing interactively with friends her age now (rather than parallel-playing), and participates in complex imaginative games with large groups of her classmates. We are so very eager to see her go through another year at Triangle, and then she'll start Kindergarten the year after that. In some ways, it feels like she's ready for Kindergarten right now, but we know that another year at Triangle will be immensely valuable--there's no need to hurry things along.
• Eli's begun using verbal words in addition to all of his sign language words. He now has four: more, all done, bye, and hi. I'm pretty sure that he's also saying Mama, but that one is a bit less clear and contextual than the others. This is the same age--nine months--that Maia started talking; it's interesting at last to see our two kids follow a similar progression. They've been quite different in reaching their milestones thus far, but this one seems to be consistent.
  
• Eli has also started sleeping for nearly twelve straight hours at night more often than not. In all likelihood, that particular milestone will disappear again, but it's lovely while it lasts! :)
• Maia's begun her season of soccer on Saturday mornings just as she's wrapping up a winter/spring session of gymnastics classes on Thursdays.
  

That's a short update, and is enough for now. We spent the morning outdoors (at a big area Metropark), and we might very well find ourselves outside again this evening. I hear Eli waking up from his afternoon nap upstairs, so it's time to sign-off.