Who they are right now

Tyler:
- Tyler is so smart when it comes to technology. It doesn't matter what it is, a computer, ipod, wii, xbox, phone...
-He's becoming such a tease. He is constantly joking and teasing. I think I might be his favorite target. He likes to hide stuff in my shoes or if he sees me doing something wrong (like putting Madee's shoes on the wrong feet) he just laughs at me and won't tell me what the deal is. Punk.
- As much as he loves playing video games and with friends, he is still very imaginative. He and Jax can play in their own little world for hours.
- Ty has only gotten below 100% on a spelling test twice (and both times he only missed one). He is rather arrogant about his spelling skills.
- He is never shy or quiet. He is very outgoing, and makes friends wherever we go.
- Tyler is a really good kid. He doesn't like breaking the rules and is almost always honest. The other day we were at the Clark Planetarium and the section where you can pretend to walk on the moon or mars was all closed off. There was nobody around so I told Ty to just run over really quick and I would take a picture of him on the moon. He looked at me appalled and said, "No Mom! I don't want to break the rules!".
- He doesn't like chocolate. He doesn't even like chocolate milk. Should I be worried?

Jaxen:
-He is so rarely himself. Every day he is something new. Today he was a wolf, and kept howling at random. A few nights ago while he was in the bath, he informed he he was a parana. I told him I had to get Madee out so the parana didn't eat her. He said, "Parana's don't eat humans, they eat meat!"
Other things Jaxen often pretends to be are: a mailman, a beaver, Venom, spiderman, a chef, Pete the Cat, and an elf (but don't touch him or he'll lose his magic!). He usually won't answer to Jaxen, you have to refer to him as whatever he is at that moment. Frequently, the rest of the family is assigned characters to correspond with whatever he is playing. It's exciting.
-He loves preschool. He has a secret crush on his teacher, Miss Kelly.
-He recently learned to whistle. Although it's a really quiet whistle, he is really proud of it.
- Jaxen gets grossed out easily. He can't handle Ratatoulie. The whole movie grosses him out. Especially the idea of eating garbage...
-He loves to draw and is getting really good (not that I'm biased or anything). He has filled several notebooks just with drawings. He even draws on himself  sometimes. If you ask him, he'll tell you he's an artist.
-Jax can be very charming when he wants to be. He is quick to dish out compliments ("I like your hair" or "You smell good") and he says very sweet things some times.

Madee:
-She loves socks. She likes to wear them on her feet, but her greatest love is to wear socks on her hands. I don't get it, but I think she's pretty great so....
- Madee loves bananas and honey nut cheerioes. Although she calls cheerios shloops. We have no idea why.
- She is FINALLY weaned. It was not her idea. In fact she was pretty upset about the whole situation, but she was 17 months old, and I was 20 weeks pregnant... it was time.
- Madee's vocabulary has exploded over the last couple of months. It's pretty rare that she can't express what she wants, and she is constantly cracking us up. She says "yes" instead of "yeah" and I love it. But my favorite thing she says (obviously) is, "I love you much".
-She licks her fingers after eating imaginary food.
-She never really took a binky but she sucks on her blanket. The past few months she will not accept any blanket except the Aden and Anais swaddle blankets. She will not sleep without a blanket, and is not a happy camper in the car without one (as we learned on Christmas Eve...).
-Madee has so far been our most adventurous, fearless child. She climbs on everything. It takes a conscious effort to keep her off of Tyler's top bunk and she's recently (tragically) learned to climb out of her crib. We just moved her into a toddler bed this week. If I'm being honest... she can be exhausting.
- When I go in to get her in the morning, or after her nap, the first thing she always says when I come in is, "I sleep good!" She says it so happily and usually there is some jumping and clapping involved.