An accountable tortoise

I don’t know if I should let that girl go 24 hours . . .

Christopher spent most of sacriment meeting calmly looking up at Gina from his car seat,
Lily spilled most of her meal underneath her chair this evening,
When Elsie wants my attention to be on her instead of the computer, she sits on my lap and then presses buttons that change the web page I'm trying to read,
Timmy likes to ride to church alone with me while the girls ride with Gina (we still need to buy an 8 passenger car),
Abby finished "The Book of Three" and was appalled to learn that we don't have "The Black Cauldron,"
Kate took her little body through a 24 hour fast, finishing it off with a semi-nap on the couch,
Gina celebrated a working oven by making brownies in the evening and puffy oven pancakes the next morning, and
I had a lot of fun this week learning about numerical calculations in Sage and using Scipy.

Christopher began smiling at his mother,
When Lily was a bit upset and I told her that she was cute, she screamed back saying "No! Mommy says that I'm adorable!"
Elsie got out the big mop and cleaned the kitchen floor yesterday,
Timmy's been reading voluntarily for the first time–it turns out he likes science and nonfiction better than fiction,
Abby's been giving us chapter-by-chapter of "The Last Battle" and now "The Book of Three,"
Kate's been making elaborate worlds out of colored clay and keeping the kids laughing with stories that take place in them,
Gina's been avoiding all milk products, broccoli, and legumes to see if her abstinence will make Christopher more comfortable [since we still don't have an oven, she's having to get fairly creative about meals], and
I've been learning how to talk to different pieces of equipment through serial ports, GPIB cables, and usb cables using Python.

Christopher started looking us in the eyes,
Lily got the peanut butter open, hid under the table, and melted it onto her hands and up both arms,
Elsie brushed her hair without using water. She came and proudly showed the result and rather than be amazed, people laughed at her lion-like mane and it took awhile for Kate to sooth her and fix her hair,
Timmy spent time just playing with his calculator and looking at patterns,
Abby read "The Silver Chair" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,"
Kate learned a lot about Japan,
Gina managed to feed us without a working oven for the third week in a row, and
I got to jump on the trampoline with the kids in the snow.

Gina and I are doing well. I keep writing and Gina keeps people alive. We got a video camera this week so I'm letting the kids speak for themselves:

Christopher's eyes are looking like they'll probably be brown,
Lily spent her time with her younger friend Olivia trying to get Olivia to help her tease and pinch Elsie,
Elsie was amazed that her teacher knew to frost cupcakes with pink frosting. How did she know that Elsie and her 4 prima donna friends would like pink?
Timothy stood up to a 9-year old boy to protect Elsie,
Abigail asked for a concrete explanation of how babies are made and got it,
Kate wrote a talk during sacrament meeting and then delivered it with aplomb during primary,
I asked Gina what she was thinking about Tuesday evening and she told me she was planning her next labor and delivery!
I abandoned a budding beard after only 13 days.

Christopher lost his cord and tried out size 1 diapers for the first time,
Lily went back into diapers,
Elsie was pleased to be like me in that we both love avocados, lemons, and limes,
Timmy quietly did the dishes for Kate several times,
Abby solved "the mystery of the missing toys" at her friends' house,
Katie decided to go on walks with Gina to avoid getting S.A.D.,
Gina is managing well despite the little sleep that she seems to be getting at night, and
I've had fun playing with a 3D modeling program called Blender.

Christopher Sheldon was born at 7:43 pm on Monday, December 21st, 2009,
Lily received a large, soft, stuffed dog that she named Christopher, explaining "there are two Christophers,"
Elsie received a magnetic paper doll set,
Timmy used his new stop watch to time himself setting the table,
Abby used her new crochet needles to crochet a friendship bracelet with her grandmothers help,
Kate used her new loom to make a hat for Christopher,
Gina shared her new little boy with the rest of us, and
I am extremely grateful for a healthy and recovering wife, for 5 beautiful and loving children, and for a new, handsome, and healthy son.