For the sake of completeness

After seeing my photographic comparisons of Ted and the Fab Four yesterday, friends have been asking to see side-by-sides of me and all the kids, too. And since we're nothing if not equal opportunity around here—here you go!

Suzanna at 2 years old, Isaac at 2.5 years old

Suzanna at 2 years old, Lucy at 2.5 years old

Suzanna at 2 years old, Jude at 2.5 years old

Suzanna at 2 years old, Dahlia at 2.5 years old

We already knew that Jude and I are twins, but I think Lucy resembles me a lot here, too. Which is weird because, in my last post, I was sure she looked like Ted. I guess she must be the perfect combo!

Daddy's turn

Since I posted photographic proof that Jude is my mini-me, several people have wanted to know which of the Fab Four most resembles Ted at this age. Naturally, I couldn't resist digging up his 2-year portrait to compare to current photos of the kids.

While most people say that all four of them look just like me, some maintain that Isaac is Ted's carbon copy. As for us, we've always thought that Dahlia is the one who favors her daddy the most. Looking at these comparisons, however, I'm shocked to realize that Lucy might actually take after him more than any of the other kids—their eyes are different, but check out the nose and mouth. What do you think?

Ted at 2 years old, Isaac at 2.5 years old

Ted at 2 years old, Lucy at 2.5 years old

Ted at 2 years old, Jude at 2.5 years old

Ted at 2 years old, Dahlia at 2.5 years old

She's a baby

Lucy has entered a funny new phase—
Playing an infant is her latest craze.
Ted is her daddy; her mommy is Suzy.
Big girl prefers the name "Baby Lucy."

She wants to be cradled; she likes to be swaddled.

She drinks from a cup, but she calls it a bottle.

More than two years since we brought her home,

The pacis are gone, but she wants a chupón.

When she goes potty, I'm happy to wipe her—

But she better not ask to go back to diapers!

Baby Lucy then (3 weeks old) and Baby Lucy now (2.5 years old)

Da(hlia) Vinci

Dahlia's come a long way since I first introduced the Fab Four to crayons. For her, meaningless scribbles are a thing of the past, and when she puts crayon to paper (or, as is more often the case, magnetic pen to Magnadoodle), not only does she have a plan, but she also possesses the skills to execute that plan.

We first noticed her emerging talent back in April, when I found her drawing what appeared to be a bunch of balloons (note the real balloon in front of her). Based on her subsequent subjects of choice, however, I soon came to suspect that she was actually trying to depict our family:

Over the past couple of months, Dahlia has been working hard at refining her portraiture technique. First I observed her experimenting with adding hair, and more recently I noticed that she was getting better at placing facial features, such as eyes and mouth:

Not bad for a 2-year-old, huh? Still, her previous essais are nothing compared to her latest masterpiece. Yesterday, she wowed us with this picture, which she claimed was a self-portrait:

It's hard to say who was prouder, her mommy and daddy—or the artist, herself!

I'm not saying she's going to paint the Mona Lisa anytime soon, but ... maybe someday?

Mamá's boy

When the Fab Four were babies, people would often say that Lucy was my mini-me. As the kids get older, however, it seems that more and more people are sure that Jude is the one who looks exactly like his mommy. We've always thought that he looks more like my brother and dad instead, but when Ted saw Jude's snapshot in last week's nicknames post, he was struck by how much it resembles pictures he's seen of me as a little kid. Of course, when he told me this, I just had to dig up my second-birthday portrait and make a side-by-side comparison with the "Judo" pic:

Suzanna at 2 years old (left) and Jude at 2.5 years old (right)

Notice the eyes, the nose, the bow of the mouth, the shape of the face ... pretty freaky, huh?

Second time's a (potty) charm

They say that if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. So over the long Memorial Day weekend, that's exactly what we did: Five months after giving up on potty training Dahlia, we finally got back in the saddle and put her back on the potty. And this time, she got it!

"Welcome back, potty sister!"

Or perhaps I should say that we got it: If there's one thing we've learned from potty training multiple kids within a short time frame, it is that every kid is different—and not every kid is ready at the same time. Lucy, for example, responded wonderfully to the 3-day method just before the kids turned two. Jude, on the other hand—despite an auspicious beginning at 26 months—did not stay reliably dry until we made a few adjustments to the 3-day method, including putting him on the potty at regular intervals and coming up with a much better prize than M&Ms.

For Dahlia, we decided to once again follow the basic principles of the 3-day method. This time, however, we started with a few tweaks, right off the bat, based on what we learned about her during the first round. For instance, since her biggest hurdle is her insistence on holding it until she busts, if we know she needs to go, we now make her sit on the potty until she does. And guess what? It's working so well that she is even going #2 on the potty, something that our two veteran potty-trainees have yet to master. Go, Dahlia!

Names and other names

When I was pregnant with the Fab Four, one of the burning questions on people's minds was: "What are you going to name them?" And our reply was always the same: "We're not telling anyone until they're born." Although our family and friends may have thought we were playing coy, the truth is that coming up with eight names (four first and four middle) was a daunting task—so overwhelming that even we didn't know for sure what our babies' names were going to be until just a day or two before I delivered!

Two and a half years later, one of those babies (Lucy) has apparently decided that the names we so carefully picked out are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. To remedy this lack of parental creativity, she has come up with some snazzier pseudonyms for the crew. Allow me to introduce you to:

LULU

When the Fab Four were still babies and it became clear that Lucia would be more petite than her siblings, I would occasionally call her Little Lulu (after one of my favorite cartoons as a kid in Peru). I randomly used her old nickname a while back, and it seems that the "Lulu" part caught her fancy.

The only nickname that Lucy uses more than her own is:

JUDO

A few weeks ago, Ted joked with me that Jude's name in Spanish would be Judo. I didn't even realize that Lucy was listening to our conversation until about a week later, when she pointed at Jude and repeated what Ted had said. She now refers to Jude by his "Spanish" name so often that I've even caught myself calling him that!

Another nickname that is catching on around here is:

BIG GUY

I recently heard Lucy start crying in the playroom and ran in there to find Isaac unintentionally smashing her against the side of the school bus. As I rescued Lucy, I told Isaac that he needs to be more careful because his sister is a little girl and he is a big guy. Little Lulu must have appreciated the imagery, for she soon dubbed Isaac "Big Guy." Even Jude seems to think the name fits: When I told him the other day that he was a big guy, he immediately corrected me, saying, "Isaac big guy!"

Unlike the boys' nicknames, which are relatively new creations, Dahlia's goes back just as far as Lucy's does:

JULIA

When Dahlia was a baby in the throes of acid reflux, I used to soothe her during feedings by singing the Beatles song "Julia," substituting her name for the song's title. Now, every time we listen to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Lucy's song) or "Hey Jude" (Jude's song), the kids also insist on listening to "Julia," which they call "Dahlia's song." Lucy isn't fooled by my lyrical switcheroo, though. She knows the song's real name, and to her, Dahlia is Julia.

I'm sure these nicknames are the first in a long line of aliases that the Fab Four will come up with for themselves—but what they don't know yet is that Ted and I already employ our own code names for them. I wonder how long it will take them to figure out that we long ago assigned each a number according to birth order?

A Potato Head miracle

Remember how Isaac had to get glasses? And then they got smashed? Well, ever since then, he has refused to wear them for more than a minute or two at a time. Over the past couple of months, we tried all sorts of things to convince him to keep his glasses on—to no avail. It seemed that Isaac was doomed to a life of blurry surroundings and crossed eyes.

Then Mr. Potato Head came into our lives:

For those who don't know, Mr. Potato Head is an incredibly well-accessorized individual. And among his many possessions are several pairs of kooky frames, perfect for playing dress-up. All it took was a couple of days of seeing how cool Lucy, Jude, and Dahlia looked in their Potato Head glasses:

And BAM! Isaac decided that he wanted to wear glasses, too. Being a savvy mommy, I instantly traded his Potato Head glasses for his real glasses—and that was that! Today marks 6 full days since Isaac started wearing his glasses full time again, and he hasn't looked back:

Mommy is very happy that her little boy's eyes will no longer be crossing when he watches TV, and Isaac is thrilled to see clearly things that are nearby, such as books and people's faces. And because we invested in a pair of Miraflex frames for him to play in, none of us have to worry about him smashing his glasses anymore:

Thank you, Mr. Potato Head!

Character count

If you'd asked me yesterday, I would have told you that Dahlia knows about 10 letters of the alphabet. Last night, however, Tia Harriet quizzed her and informed me that she can identify many more characters than that. So this morning—in the interest of giving credit where credit is due—I got out our trusty Magnadoodle and sat down for a little informational interview with Miss D:



In case you weren't keeping score, that's 24 out of 26. Looks like Isaac won't remain king of the ABCs around here for long!

Man of letters

Wouldn't you know it? After I exposed the Fab Four's alphabetical ignorance last month, Isaac got busy and learned all of his letters before I even knew what was happening. Check out our little alphabet whiz:



For this clip, I had Isaac name the letters in order because I wanted to make sure that I didn't leave any out. Rest assured, however, that he can identify them out of order, too—anywhere, anytime. In addition, at barely 28 months old, he has demonstrated that he can already read the words "book," "cookie," and "Isaac." While the other kids are also doing great at learning their letters, right now Isaac is definitely at the head of the class!

Pucker up!

A couple of days ago I heard Isaac giggling in the playroom, so I peeked my head around the corner to see what was so funny. To my utter surprise, he and Lucy were kissing by the window! (Up until that point, the only other person he had ever kissed was me—more often than not during his dinosaur routine). So when I came upon Isaac kissing his sisters again today (yes, he was initiating the gesture), I hurriedly grabbed the camera in time to record some more smooches:



After I took this video, Isaac also kissed me and attempted to kiss Jude, who ran away laughing and squealing, "Noooo!" (must be a boy thing). Not sure what's gotten into the normally aloof Isaac lately, but I guess sometimes you just need to spread the love!

Backyard wonders

Our backyard isn't fancy, but to the Fab Four it's no wasteland: It's a wonderland.

After all, when you're 2 years old, not many things are more rewarding than to run around finding "lallow flawers" for Mommy:

Or to stand on your very tiptoes to pick the buds off of trees for her:

And few experiences are as exhilarating as scaling a great big climbing tower:

And then feeling the wind in your hair when you get to the top:

I mean, when you're 2 years old, what could be more fun than to test the sturdiness of the picnic table:

And verify that there is enough room for two on the bench?

To be sure, there can be no shortage of smiles:

When the entire yard is yours to discover:

Especially when Mommy even lets you see what lives under the drain pipe!

Yes, when you're 2 years old, you can play and explore until you're plumb tuckered out:

... but that doesn't mean you won't still scream in disappointment when it's time to come inside!

Fun with the abuelitos

April got off to a great start with a visit from my parents, who stayed with us for a whole week. As always, I loved, loved, loved having my mom and dad here, and the kids had a great time with their abuelitos! Not only did the Fab Four get a whole lot more personal attention while my parents were here, but they also got to do some really special things like ...

Take their first trip to the zoo! It was colder than we'd hoped (the kids had to wear their winter coats for most of the morning), but a chilly day meant no crowds and lots of opportunities to view the animals up close. We got to see penguins, seals, a polar bear, sharks, a bald eagle, lions, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, cheetahs, a porcupine, and more! The best part? My parents gave us a membership so that we can go back anytime we want. Thanks, abuelitos!

The Fab Four also ...

Got their first tricycles! Rather than put a bunch of candy in the mail at the end of the month, my parents chose to give each kid their very own Radio Flyer as an early Easter present. The chicos weren't quite sure what to do with the trikes, but the adults had a good time helping them to figure it out. I think we're going to have a lot of fun cruising the neighborhood trails once they get the hang of it—my problem is going to be keeping track of all of them! Watch as the Fab Four check out their new rides for the first time:



And, last but not least, the kids got to ...

Eat at Mommy and Daddy's favorite pre-quads restaurant for the first time! The night before my parents left, we all went out to eat with Tío Ner, Tía Harriet, Tía Glenda, and Glenda's brand-new fiancé, the soon-to-be Tío Bill. The kids were fantastic, and a lady at a neighboring table even took the time to tell me that she couldn't believe how well-behaved our four toddlers were. Let me tell you, I was one proud mamá! Here we are enjoying some chips and some Chavo:



Thanks for celebrating your 40th wedding anniversary a little early by coming to see us, abuelitos! We love you and can't wait for your next visit!

Saying goodbye to the abuelitos 
(left to right: Jude, Isaac, Dahlia, and Lucia)

We're swingers

While on a walk with the kids yesterday, I was thrilled to discover that our neighborhood now has a swing set! Since the kids had never been in a real swing before (we don't have our own, and my one attempt at taking them to the park last year was a huge failure), I was itching to put them in the swings and see how they liked them. There was just one problem: This particular swing set has only two toddler swings. Clearly the neighborhood association didn't take our family into account when deciding how many of those to order!

Undeterred, I considered my options: I could turn around and go home (no way, Jose); put two kids in each swing, back to back (nope, the kids are already too big for that); or put two in the swings while the other two waited in the choo choo (possibly tricky, but probably doable). I knew what I had to do.

The girls got to go first, while the boys looked on:

Then, when it was time to put the boys in the swings, I beeped (yes, you read that right) and switched everyone out:

Another mom who was there with her older kids remarked on how patient my kids were while they waited in the choo choo, so I explained my beeping to her: At home, we have a timer that we use to manage turns on our indoor trampoline, and I've discovered that—any other time I want someone's turn to end—all I have to do is make a "beep beep beep" sound, and they go along with it, as if I had used a real timer. I don't know how long they'll be cool with this charade, but so far it's been a lifesaver!

Oh, and by the way, all four kids LOVED the swings and can't stop talking about them. I have no doubt that we will be making good use of the neighborhood playground this year!

Oh, man!

Almost every time Jude tells us that he needs to go potty, he follows up his request with a perfect imitation of the "Dora the Explorer" villain's catchphrase: "Oh, man!" We don't know exactly why he adopted this exclamation as a potty mantra, although I suspect that, at some point—perhaps after the millionth "potty gin!" in a row—I might have given him the idea by saying, "Oh, man!" in exasperation. One thing is for certain: We hear, "Oh, man!" a lot around here—and it makes me laugh every time. What makes it even funnier is that the phrase is always accompanied by a signature arm move and followed by the proper citation: "Fox. On Dora." Check out our little comedian in action: