I am tempted to take down that 2 a.m. post because it is so dramatic and whiny in the way that things can only be in the middle of the night, but I'm going to leave it there. But I should also write a reminder to myself here that today wasn't that bad, despite getting less than 4 hours sleep, and it truly is never as bad as I think it's going to be. I wasn't super exhausted, I was able to work and focus, and I finish the draft of my grant narrative. And it's Friday, so life is okay. So of course I can do this, and it's never as hard as it seems in the middle of the night.

According to the twin whisperer, Nora came up to her today with two balls in her hands and said "two balls". I have not observed this behavior. I have seen Nora say "too", though, in the sense that when Milo is climbing up on the bed, Nora will try to climb up on the bed and say something like "Bed? Bed too? Nora too?" She has also taken to saying "Nora's turn!" when she wants to play with whatever Milo's got.

I am trying to teach the kids manners.  Right now we are working on please and thank you. Nora is doing well with please and, interestingly, she might ask for something 5 times in a row and then throw in a "please" when she's not getting her way. Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up please? I can't really get either kid to say "thank you" yet. Then there is Milo and please. It is almost impossible to get him to say please. At first I thought he couldn't say it, because with any other word, if I say "can you say _____ ?" he'll say it, but not with please. Can you say blueberries? Blueberries. Can you say thunder? Thunder. Can you say demilitarized zone? Demilitarized zone. Can you say please? (Silence). Please? (Silence). It is so weird. Why won't the kid say please? He did say it once, perfectly, and we clapped and cheered, but he totally refused to say it after that. It is patently clear to me that Milo is deliberately refusing to say please. He does not want to say it. But why? He can't possibly already understand what it means, right? Maybe he's more precocious than I think.