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Hi, everybody. Have I told you how our kids are waking up at 5am these days? We have tried EVERYTHING, including very ugly blankets hanging over Lulu's already heavy and dark drapes, waking Tommy up to go potty before we go to bed, white noise ... any suggestions? It's really starting to kill me, especially as my anxiety about going back to work (less than two weeks!!) has kicked in and keeps me up at night.

I know.

But, we are surprisingly cheerful around here, considering our lack of sleep. (Lizzie doesn't count as she has been napping three hours per day.)

We had a very nice visit from Aunt Sue and Uncle Ben last weekend. They swooped in, bearing Legos and other very fun toys, and then played with the kids for hours. Oh, and took us to lunch and to a carnival. Tommy is still talking about them. And Lulu would be if she could talk (lots of "WOW" from her these days, though, and she does use it appropriately). Here is Lulu with Aunt Sue:

Our other big news is that Tommy is signed up for two weeks of crash-course swimming lessons. As my dad said, this is good news given his absolute confidence in the fact that he can swim, when in reality, he cannot. (Did I tell the story about how I jumped into the pool in Palm Springs in my clothes because he let go of his floatie?) Let's cross our fingers that he at least can float on his back by the time the two weeks are up. (These are daily, private lessons, so my hope is he'll be able to actually swim. But no pressure, swim instructor.)

Tommy has been in time out for two days in a row when I picked him up at school, for running in the classroom. He also had three breakfasts, two lunches and an amazingly huge dinner tonight. Growth spurt? Or is he using a lot of energy running in the classroom?

Another cute thing about Tommy: he got some chapter books from Ovie and he LOVES them. She sent four, we read them in a week, and now we've read them multiple times. They are the Magic Tree House series, and I recommend them to all of you with kids Tommy's age (all three of you, or whatever). Super cute, and so impressive that he can imagine his own pictures.

I'll leave you with photos of our children in the shower (nothing explicit). It's their new favorite thing.