Jonathan arrived a perfect first born: beautiful, robust and content. Since we lived in total poverty with the all time bonus of having no heat all winter, it was forty degrees in the house, he was a wonderful gift. He gratified our ego by responding early to commands, learning to read before the age of three, and rarely getting into trouble. The present finds him in possesion of an ample ego, a marvelous sense of humor, an intense interest in history and languages, and an ardent love and admiration for his teacher at Classical School. His two greatest childhood wishes, declared before the age of four, came true in February of this year. They were, to play the Star Wars theme music in an orchestra and to meet President Bush.
Caroline arrived two years later: red, wrinkley and howling. She distinguished herself quickly talking in sentences by age 9 months, and in being the snootiest, most stubborn Queen of the Bad Attitude. Although quite ugly when first born, by six months she was blond and beautiful, and continues to be skinny, petite and prissy. She shook our confidence as perfect parents, seemingly unwielding and unbendingly rebellious. As a two year old her goal was to meet Satan and drive a motorcycle. Not that one goes with the other, those were just her interests. Fortunately around the age of four she asked Jesus into her heart and was utterly transformed- it was miraculous. She is now sweet and mostly sunny, tends toward self-pity, is a good helper and adores her sister. Her sense of humor remains non-existent and she rarely delivers a witty, repeatable comment. She enjoys learning languages and will probably remain a cellist in adulthood.
Now I come to Charles. Charles arrived sweet, content and fat. By age 2 1/2 he still was not talking. He has always been the patient observer and has never liked the taste of most meat. Usually in a good mood, he can be exceedingly stubborn and obstinate if his ire is raised. Charles has decided to be a doctor and takes immense interest in anything related to the human body. Last year he went to the Bodies Exhibit twice. He progressed slowly through the exhibit with his audio tour, listening, observing and constantly concerned that he might have missed something. He plays the viola with equal attention to detail when he is in the mood to play, though on occasion he becomes obstinate and lazy about it. He responds very well to rewards and sticker charts with regard to chores or viola practice. Charles has the special distinction of having a large square head of which he is very pround. His greatest hope is to one day be tall and fat. If he ever sees a tall fat man (fat to Charles just means a thick build) he goes boldly up to him and introduces himself.
Oliver arrived sweet and content, but at 12 months he learned to walk and has enthusiastically terrorized the household ever since. He has a dreadful habit of waking around 5:30 or 6 in the morning and singing at the top of his lungs from his bed whatever song happens to be in his head. His greatest joy continues to be riling up Gabriel. He's passionately in love with Maya our dog. But over the past year this has diminished a bit since Maya has barked sharply at him a couple times. He believes himself to be an amazing violinist and insists on playing with the rest of us- a sound best enjoyed on mute.
Gabriel arrived quiet and easy. He loves to be at home, playing with his toys, and far away from Oliver. He's the first kid to rebel against my musical brain washing plan. I tell each of the children from birth what instrument they will play. Gabriel is going to play the cello, but he insists that he will play the violin. He doesn't get into trouble much, but he whines and screeches often and loudly- a rather annoying habit- and he tends toward self-pity. He has a rather odd penguin walk and is very clumsy. He first crawled at 12 months and finally began to walk at 19 months. He's sometimes called Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because he can go from happy to screaming tantrum instantly and vice versa. When he is in the "mood", he is charming, sweet and the dolliest of dollies.
Vivian is the exact opposite of her sister. She's big, fat, more a goober than beautiful, at 10 months has no teeth (Caroline got her first 2 teeth at 3 months and had a full set of choppers by 10 months) and she is always laughing and extremely happy. She looks like her daddy in almost every way- her dad is not a goober and has his teeth. If she crawls out of the nursery, she makes a beeline for Caroline's room. Vivian adores her sister and will laugh and clap her hands when she sees Caroline. She is quite the perfect caboose.
