Lucy and Ellory recently.

Lucy and Ellory are almost 3.5! They were both just looking at their baby pictures this morning. Time flies! What a wonderful, growing three years it's been! Obviously, it's more work to have two than one, but I'm so thankful for God's hand at work over our lives in giving us twins. Lucy and Ellory have been the most beautiful addition to our family. His plan is perfect!

Lucy and Ellory have done super well during this COVID time, because they spend almost all of their time at home anyways! They definitely missed their activities like library story times and such, but they did really well staying at home for those few months. They do well wearing a mask when we go to a public indoor place. We are thankful that some summer activities have happened. Lucy and Ellory have enjoyed swimming at our pool a few times, and were excited to do the parent/child swim class. We have been doing the outdoor summer family Kindermusik class too and that's been fun! They both enjoy it- Ellory participates more, Lucy watches more. They were both super excited to be able to do Blastball this year! They both enjoyed it and were excited to go, but Ellory was fine with just being there. She liked hitting, but preferred to draw in the dirt during fielding time. Lucy was so into it! She voluntarily practiced at home and tried so hard during the games, both in hitting and in running for the ball. She has the drive! They are both very excited to start preschool soon! We have been doing a couple pages a day of a preschool workbook this summer, which they love because they feel like a big kid.

Lucy and Ellory recently went to the dentist. Ellory was a little nervous, Lucy sat so still and even did x-rays! I wrote in her last update that her permanent tooth was coming in on the bottom (from where she lost it months ago when her and Ellory bonked heads on the slide), but the dentist confirmed that it was not her permanent tooth but just a leftover piece of her baby tooth. What do I know? Just in the last month, Lucy has stopped napping. They will both still take an occasional nap here and there, especially if we are traveling in the car, but most days neither nap anymore. I have been giving them a few more toys in their room and just doing rest time, which has gone pretty well, considering they share a room. Lucy sometimes pokes her head out to tell me random things and I have to remind her to stay in, and sometimes they fight/yell at each other, but it's actually gone better than I thought it would overall. And the plus to not napping is that they go to bed super quickly at night! Lucy has been dry consistently for awhile, but she has still been sleeping in a pull-up just in case, but she could probably stop that soon. For my own mental sanity, it's easier to change a pull-up than wet sheets! Ellory is still wet most mornings. Since visiting the pediatric GI specialist back in March for constipation issues, her poop has been much softer since the colon cleanses, but we are still working on consistently pooping in the toilet. They are both wearing 4T clothes and Ellory is wearing size 9 shoes, and Lucy is wearing a mix of 8/9 shoes. Lucy is my best eater, but they all do pretty well. Lucy loves to take her vitamins and Ellory needs a little encouragement.

They both love when Kley comes home from work! They like their allotted screen time. They have the PBS Kids and Nick Jr. apps on their ipads, and Ellory's favorite is Paw Patrol and Lucy's favorite is probably Peppa Pig (which I personally think is weird). Daniel Tiger is a favorite of both too. Lucy loves to help and do acts of service for others. She is good at cleaning up! I think she loves physical touch and quality time. Ellory loves to give and receive words of affirmation. She is good at noticing details about others and giving compliments. They both love to ride their bikes and scooters (Ellory has gotten a lot better at riding her bike!). Ellory loves chalk, and Lucy has been more into coloring lately and loves to write pretend letters and draw rainbows (like just drawing repeating lines of color all over the page). We are practicing name spelling and writing for preschool. Lucy will draw an upside down L and a mark for each UCY, and Ellory will draw two Ls and an O for her name (sometimes the O is in front and sometimes in back of the Ls). They know their colors and shapes pretty well.

Lucy and Ellory, you are deeply loved! You bring so much joy to our family!