Originally written 12/10/09

(Author: Sarah)

One of Carlie’s favorite things, besides dressing up with anything and everything and playing with Daddy’s credit cards - what a woman! - is giving stuff to people. She craves the adulations, thank you’s, ohhs, and ahhs. However, sometimes parents just do not cooperate. For instance, occasionally Arthur will be sitting in the living room doing homework on his computer. Carlie will try to offer him a toy, an article of clothing, or the smallest scrap of trash she can find, but Art will be too busy to accept it. Carlie does not approve of this! So she will PICK UP his hand from the keyboard, place the object under his hand, and then replace his hand over the item. Then, of course, he has to render plaudit. She’s just the cutest thing. In appearance, she reminds me of a cabbage patch doll. And now that she can walk, albeit with the gait of a drunken sailor, she is able to bring lots of ‘gifts.’ 
So, as I mentioned at the beginning, she loves to play dress-up. She loves things like hats, scarves, and purses best. And it doesn’t have to be opulent. You can improvise. For example, did you know that a roll of duct tape makes an excellent handbag? It’s true! And it’s just the right size for her shoulder. Unfortunately, playing dress-up by yourself doesn’t get you vast amounts of attention, so she has you wrap a blanket around shoulders like a shawl, then she takes it off, then you have to put it back on….
And she is thrilled to be on the couch with all the big people. She just gets the biggest smile on her face and kicks and kicks her legs, which I am sure is on an advanced abs-workout program. 
I have taught Michael and William the important phrases of: 
-No way, Jose
-See you later, Alligator.
-After while, Crocodile.
Alas, Michael ruins the phrases by adding something at the end, like, ‘no way, Jose, Sarah.’ Not quite as catchy that way. Another thing Michael says, which reminds so much of Kristina, is “NOT FUNNY!” Whenever Michael does or says something hilarious, we, of course, laugh. Michael does not like that. “Not funny!” Michael’s absolute favorite things are: jumping, running, jumping, jumping, and jumping. Wherever he is going, he runs, and then, for the final few steps, he hops or jumps.
I don’t recall if I have ever mentioned if before, but William reminds me so much of Calvin in the “Calvin and Hobbes” comics. He loves to pretend he’s a dinosaur, a jaguar, a lion-dinosaur-bear-hippopotamus (that one’s a really killer). And he loves to watch himself either with the looking glass or shadows. And he is so smart; it’s really quite scary for me. I mean, my gosh, this child is four years old, and he knows so much! He loves his school, which he calls his ‘bus-school’ because he gets to ride a bus, which is fun. And Jenny spends a lot of time working with him on his reading/letters. 
They are such sweet, dear children. It elevates my spirits, usually, to come home to them - though sometimes I would just like to lie down and pass out - because when I come home, there are three kids that want to be tickled, caught, dressed-up, or killed*.
*Sometimes, if I am too preoccupied to kill Michael, I will tell him I can’t, so he kills himself, which is so funny! He points his finger at himself and shoots. Then he jumps, of course, and falls down with an ‘oww! or ahh!’ (from the back of the throat). Though, when he is in a hurry, he will skip the shooting and go straight to the jumping.