This month:

1. Carissa got her first taste of cookie dough. Her first taste because she’s allergic to eggs so I’ve never given her a taste of any kind of batter or dough that has eggs in it. But she clearly wanted to taste whatever I was mixing, so I looked up a recipe for eggless chocolate chip cookies. Instead of eggs it calls for cream cheese. Other than that, it’s a pretty standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. Instead of butter I used coconut oil, which is a healthier fat option. And they turned out great! Soft and chewy. Carissa was a happy cookie-dough eater.

2. Carissa learned how to use scissors. And boy, is she good! It’s a milestone that makes me happy-sad. Happy because “scissor skills” (as the schools call it) is an important skill to have, especially as she enters school later. But sad because her older brother Wes has such a hard time with the scissors still, and he’s three years older. She picked up the skill so quickly, without me even realizing she was learning it. Wes likes to try to use scissors, so he’ll get it someday, but he needs a lot of help. This isn’t unexpected or anything, for a child with Down syndrome. It just blows me away sometimes how fast she can learn something when it takes Wes so much longer. He gets it in his own time, in his own way.

3. Carissa has started to ask questions. “Why, mom? But WHY?” It’s cute. So far. She also asks things like, “What is he doing?” It’s another notable milestone. Wes has never asked “Why?” but he does ask sometimes, “What is that sound?” He’s not big on questions.

4. There has been much kissing of the baby. Elizabeth is 2 months old. She’s smiling and getting bigger. She weighed in at 10 lbs at her 2-month checkup, with a healthy rate of growth. Wes likes to hold the baby’s hand like she’s waving at us and say, “Hi mommy!” He is very gentle with her and is good at replacing her binkie and saying sweet things like, “It’s OK, it’s OK.” Carissa likes to play with the baby’s toys. She lies next to her on the floor and basically thinks Elizabeth’s play things are her own.

In November, right before Elizabeth was born, Wes got to spend an hour with the BYU baseball team. He loved it, of course.

After Elizabeth was born, Carissa was eager to include her new baby sister in all her activities, like reading.

My mom and dad came to visit, and the kids had lots of quality time with Grandpa.

I tried to get a group shot of all three of my kids together. Tricky!

Wes and Carissa upside down.

One day I finally let the kids play in the snow. They loved tromping around the back yard.

In December we attended a Christmas party for families with kids with special needs. Both Wes and Carissa got to visit with Santa. I really thought Carissa would be too shy, but she was willing and hopped right up on his lap. And they both got suckers at the end.

One of Carissa’s outfits.

Wes and Carissa discovered another use for this old playpen.

Impromptu family photos.

And the latest news is that Elizabeth (who turned two months today) occasionally smiles. It doesn’t seem to be on purpose. They’re kind of spontaneous and not aimed at anyone. She only rarely looks at people’s faces, so she’s not very social yet, but I’ll take what I can get.