This year we downplayed their
birthday by not scheduling a big birthday bash. Instead, we
essentially celebrated birthday week by having three separate mini
birthday parties at various friend and family gatherings.
Happy Birthday 2003!
Three years, six months, twenty eight days old (Christmas Letter)
Greetings everyone,
We hope that you had a good year and are enjoying the holidays with
your loved ones. As the year comes to a close, it is the perfect
time to look back, reflect on our challenges, celebrate our milestones,
and count our blessings.
Christopher, Alyssa, Emily, and Nicholas are a little over
three-and-a-half years old. This year was one of getting out and
about. They took in quite a few new experiences: amusement park,
miniature golf, bowling, horse back riding, fireworks, and swimming in
a big pool, to name a few.
The quadruplets have all shown excellent development. They have
each grown to be about 30 pounds, plus or minus a couple. They
still enjoy getting out of the house three days a week to attend
daycare where they have lots of fun learning and playing with other
kids and their teachers. Fine motor skills and vocabularies have
greatly improved. They can recognize colors and are beginning to
learn how to write and recognize numbers and letters. They can
count to ten in Chinese and they know a large repertoire of
songs. Arts & crafts, reading, watching TV/videos, playing
outdoors, and creative role playing are among their favorite past
times.
Potty training was the biggest milestone achieved this year. We
thought it would never happen, but it finally did. The kids still
need a little overnight protection, though. Another big milestone
is the elimination of the girls' thumb sucking. Band-aids wrapped
on the thumbs were useful to curb that habit. The cribs have been
retired. Currently, they sleep four to a room. At home,
afternoon naps are a thing of the
past but they continue their afternoon nap routine at daycare.
Teddy bear Christopher continues to adore his videotapes and
DVD's. He has graduated from Baby Einstein, Veggie Tales, Barney,
and Pooh to his latest phase: Star Wars. His day revolves around
Star Wars. He and Nicholas pretend to have battles with light
sabers, or
"light savers" as they call them.
Limber Alyssa can still easily touch her toes to her head. She
has become quite the artist, often drawing the sun, people, flowers,
grass, etc. She loves to sit on the kitchen counter to help mommy
cook. She likes to act like a mother hen, often sounding like
mommy. Over this past year, she has become a bit less attached to
mommy's hip.
Princess Emily still has the market cornered in tantrum throwing.
She LOVES to draw, color, paint, dance and sing - even in
Tagalog. She enjoys getting a Miss America ride every night on
daddy's shoulder. Her stuffed toy menagerie sleeps with her every
night.
Smiley, big eyed, Nicholas can dribble a ball with his hands and with
his feet. He is ambidextrous, using his left hand for some things
and his right hand for others. He is a daddy's boy, always
finding daddy's lap when it is available. Formerly very shy, he
recently volunteered to perform karaoke and didn't want to give up the
microphone. He nimbly peels a clementine and cuts intricate paper
shapes with scissors like a pro.
Other big news is that we are currently building a house. We
expect to move sometime around summer of 2004. The process of
moving will be quite a challenge; the hardest part is moving a little
further away from our wonderful neighbors and friends from church who
have very generously given their love and support to our family through
the years. Our heartfelt thanks to you all!
Amidst the many changes and challenges, our lives are enriched with
God's many blessings. There certainly is much to be thankful for
and to celebrate. We wish you love, joy, and peace this Christmas
season and in the new year.
Love,
Pam, Lee, Christopher, Alyssa, Emily, & Nicholas Deschler
"Light Savers"
- by Christopher
"Hand with Tatoo"
- by Alyssa
"House with Christopher, Alyssa, Emily, and Nicholas"
- by Emily
"Letters"
- by Nicholas
12/03: All smiles. Happy
Holidays!
April 3, 2004
You hide them, we'll find them! Happy Easter!
The quad squad broke the record this year, participating in four Easter Egg Hunts.
May 9, 2004
Getting to know our farm animals...
Christopher, Emily, Nicholas, and Alyssa have fun getting up close and personal with the farm animals.
Christopher and Alyssa on horseback.
Emily and Nicholas on horseback.
The quads are enjoying a nice
horseback ride at Gram's ranch on a fine sunny day. They'll be coming
around the mountain when they come... Yee-ha!.
