Dear Grace and William,

Spring is here -- and we only had snow one day this week.  Big snowflakes but amounted to very little as the temperature was too high to stick.  We enjoyed week #2 of nicer weather and over the Easter weekend, temperatures were in the high 40s.  Harry dragged us again for a walk on the Eastern Promenade.  He was such a good dog, very excitable, and loved playing with the other dogs on the beach.  

Natasha was on break from school this week so she was with you all week except Wednesday.  Mommy stayed home with you on Wednesday and Teresa came over for PT.  She was happy with your continued progress.  Grace, you have figured out to crawl forward but by the end of the week, you had forgotten so you are back to crawling backwards.  William watches you and then tries to keep up. That brother of yours is content to "be" -- on his back, sitting up (with little help), sometimes on his belly.  

You both are teething like there is no tomorrow with drooling like a faucet.  No teeth yet.  It seems that Grace, your first tooth might be a top tooth, maybe the eye tooth.  William, you first tooth seems like it might be a bottom tooth, not in the center either.  This activity has been affecting your sleep a bit.  Thank goodness for baby Tylenol and Motrin (for Grace only).  

William, you continue to sleep fairly well.  In fact, Friday night you went down for a nap about 3:30pm and did not wake up until 5:00am the next day.  We were a bit worried but when checking on you,  you were snoring loudly.  Grace, your sleep is more broken.  Mommy asked Dada during the week to let you cry more, not to be mean but to enable you to put yourself back to sleep during the night.  So far, you have done quite well.  You seem to wake up once or twice and go back to sleep within five minutes.  You roll over onto your stomach and enjoy sleeping this way all night.  When you are overstimulated, sometimes we use a weighted blanket to help you get to sleep.  It helps put gentle pressure on your trunk and legs and smells like lavender and generally does the trick.  

Grammy sent four books, from local (CA) authors and illustrators and rabbit hand puppets.  You both seem to really love the books, especially the turtle book.  Mommy and Dada have a few more developmental toys for you and cute baskets.

Mommy is on the (Maine) First Lady's Taskforce for Early Childhood and from there has been invited to sit on the Maternal, Fetal and Infant Mortality Committee. This group, managed from the Bureau of Health,  has been funded by the March of Dimes, the organization that fights birth defects and prematurity.  Mommy decided that we are walking as a family on May 1st in Portland to march out birth defects and prematurity. Since you came eight weeks early, the registration is in your names.  We decided to send short notes to friends and family asking them to consider sponsoring you on this walk.  Hopefully we can raise $500 as a family for this great organization.  

Next week is our last week of cobbling together a nanny schedule -- yea, Elizabeth will be with us full-time during the week of April 4th. Hopefully we can coordinate schedules with Natasha and Elizabeth so they can spend time with you both and together since they will be caring for you during the week (on different days).  

Mommy and Dada are thrilled to be closing on the new house next week, on the 31st.  And then the fun begins -- painting, new carpet and windows in your rooms -- and of course, moving too.  Since the closing on this house is not until April 28th, we have some time to get moved out and then moved in.  We think we will officially move out of our present house around April 15th and then all of us will have more room!  

William, your bruise on your left elbow progressively got worse this week, with Dada and Natasha taking you into the clinic Friday.  The clinical staff do not think you are having a joint bleed, just a surface bleed so no Factor yet.  You do not seem to favor it and it does not seem tender either (or swollen). We continue to monitor and ice throughout the day.  

Pray for spring weather -- and then Mommy and Dada will be searching soon for two single all-terrain strollers (Harry will be happy so we can take you and he can go for walks at Twin Brook Park).  

We love you,

Dada and Mommy

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