Christmas wonders

Christmas is coming and our house seems full of miracles.

Last night, Owen read us a book -- from start to finish. The book was an easy reader about Thomas the Train he'd picked out at the library just the day before. At first it seemed like he was just reciting what he remembered from our reading the day before, but it was very clear once we got past the first few pages that he was seeing the words and reading them on his own. For Amy and me, the moment was akin to walking on a tightrope, feeling absolutely spellbound at what this little boy was doing ...

This wonderful accomplishment comes hot on the heels of a weekend trip to the pool where Owen is all of a sudden very ready to start putting his head under water. This had always been very scary to him, and he is very proud of his new skill. It was the first thing he talked about the next morning with us, his teacher at school, and, I'm sure, anyone else who would stop to listen.

Maya, meanwhile, seems to be in almost full command of language. She's got lots of words and phrases, her favorite being "No way!" She helps us count, saying "six" the other day after Amy had counted from one to five. And this morning she was sure she saw Santa out the window. The red light at the top of a nearby tower did like Rudolph , but it's a good sign our little girl is looking forward to Christmas.

By the way, Owen (photo above) is looking at the tree through some 3-D glasses a friend gave us that make each light look like a little star. All he could say was "Wow!"