Vol. 16.11 Updated October 14, 2001

Not for the JPEG Impaired

SEATTLE -- Kyra and August Keller are learning to ride their bikes. Kat is thriving in her new school. And all three are very excited to report that they visited the "exotic" country of Canada for the Memorial Day weekend.

Kat is now nearly five. After her first year of school, she is a completely new person. She has thrived at UCDS (University Child Development School), and is confident, outgoing, fiercely loyal to her classmates, and much more willing to try new adventures. Before attending UCDS, Kat had a tendency to shy away from trying any new activity that she felt she might not be immediately competent at. She often talked of her fear of people laughing at her if she wasn't able to achieve immediate perfection. One day last summer, when her mom wanted to take her and a friend mini-golfing, Kat first needed a half an hour to discuss her fears, and much reassurance from her mom that everyone there had at one time been a first-time mini-golfer. Only when she felt reassured that the other golfers wouldn't laugh at her would she agree to give it a try - and, of course, had a wonderful time. Since perfectionism is a trait that both of Kat's parents also battle, they felt very fortunate when Kat was accepted into UCDS. UCDS is a school that motivates kids to strive even if they don't "succeed" all at once, that encourages student-to-student mentoring, and that works with each child individually to create a learning environment that works for that particular child (if you'd like to learn more about UCDS, you can visit the school's web site at www.ucds.org).

Kat's writing skills are improving every day. She loves to mail notes to her friends, or to send email postcards. She continues to worship books (as do her parents), and is starting to figure out words for herself by sounding out the letters. She is becoming more and more interested in music, and recently asked for her first non-children's music CD, "Europop" by Eiffel 65, which includes her favorite song "Blue (Da Ba Dee)". If you are so inclined, you can listen to a snippet of the song on Radio Disney (www.disney.go.com/radiodisney). Or you can call either of Kat's parents and ask them for a rendition, as they have each heard the song at least one thousand times!

Newly exposed to the wonderful world of learning, Kat was not necessarily looking forward to the day that school was done for this year. But with her siblings and her parents, she is certainly enjoying another beautiful summer to remember - keep checking for new pictures and movies as our family's summer adventures unfold.

Kyra and August change dramatically day by day. Though twins, they are nothing alike - in looks, spirit, or personality. Kyra: petite, deliberate, independent, and an engineering whiz. August: tall, strong, sensitive, jolly, and the family mathematician.

Kyra finds great joy in discovery and is a very happy child. Especially when in the company of her brother. Weighing in the mid-20 pound range, she is so... spunky! That is to say that she is so very independent, so very stubborn, so very "two", that at times she seems to be the quiet ruler of the family. Because she is a twin she has learned the importance of respecting others, sharing, waiting for turns and working as a team. Unlike many children her age, Kyra has no interest in showing off. While most two-year olds delight in displaying their increasing vocabulary skills or can't wait to tell their parents that they have mastered a new song, Kyra seeks approval only from herself. She delights in the praise she receives from her parents, but does not seem motivated to master a skill or learn a new task for any reason but to satisfy herself. This sense of independence and self-confidence stands her well against the sometime tirades of her much bigger brother and sister. While they have the brawn, Kyra has the cunning to hold her own. Kyra is also a skilled engineer. She will take apart anything and often successfully reassemble the item. She can figure out any type of lock or latch. And, when she doesn't have the physical mettle to master something, she will show her twin brother how to do it, borrowing his strength for her own ends. Traditional childproofing is no match for Kyra's wit; she figured out how to open all of the childproof latches in her mom's house, and then shared her knowledge with her brother, whose greater height and strength afforded them both entree into all of the previously taboo cupboards and drawers. Crackers, gummis and juice boxes are now stored above the refrigerator.

August's main interests, center on numbers and letters. He knows the alphabet, can figure out which letter words start with, delights in repeating every thing he hears and then later uses new words or phrases appropriately. August loves the sounds letters make and has made the leap from the phonics of language to the abstract representation that letters have in words. He recently approached his dad with the question, "F-A-C-E, that spells face, right?" He is thrilled with numbers, can count to twenty, and is practicing his adding skills constantly. He delights in considering two piles of marbles, for instance, counting each pile separately and then in total. His current favorite word is "actually," as in "actually, Mom, I don't want to go to bed now," or "Actually, Dad, that's not a boat, it's a tugboat." It can be hard to resist! August is a big boy, at nearly 40 pounds - substantially outweighing his 4-1/2 year-old sister Kat (although please don't tell her, she is horrified that her brother may end up bigger than she, and is in complete denial on the subject!) He is also nearly as tall as Kat, and growing taller seemingly before his parent's eyes. With his language skills and height, he is often confused for a four-year old. The confusion doesn't reach to his parents however, who know intimately just how TWO he is! August is completely absorbed by the computer. On one recent morning, his dad awoke at 5:30am to the sound of music playing and walked down the hall only to find August's bed empty. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he wandered downstairs to find his son quietly sitting in front of the computer. August had made his way downstairs, pressed the spacebar on the keyboard to rouse the computer from its night of sleep, clicked on and launched one of his favorite software titles from the desktop, successfully found his name on the list therein, logged on, and was happily playing "Find It," his favorite part of the game. Undoubtedly, he'll soon be sending international email! As long as he's not hacking CNN's mailserver his parent's will be happy.

Since both Kyra and August are following in their older sister's footsteps, thirsty for new knowledge, Leanne and Drew put a lot of consideration into whether the twins should be in part-time preschool this fall. After much deliberation and a thoughtful written application, Kyra and August have enrolled into a part-time preschool, Northwest Child Development Center. The philosophy seems to fit in well with Kat's school, and we are hoping next year we can get everyone into the same school. A pleasant thought. In the meantime, we all look forward to a summer of rollicking fun and frivolity, with trips to the beach, parks, favorite city wading spots, and many days of running through the sprinkler in the backyard. Watch for new pictures in the "Twins Photo Album" and in "Kat's Photo Album" as we enjoy fun in the sun in Seattle (should we actually ever see any sun!). .

Life continues to change for our little family with events large and small shaping our daily lives. But like all families we adjust to the changes and get on with the challenges of raising three wonderful and busy people.