Because everyone wants to know how the kids are doing

Penelope is wonderful. She and her sister have a blast together, and I am so grateful I have two of them to be friends with each other-- especially when we move to a new country or hemisphere or whatever. She is in a little co-op preschool with some other American kids. She has decided that when she grows up, she wants to get married with one of the other kids, Lucas. They like to play together, and he is very nice and shares his toys. She asks me a lot about getting married, why people get married, and why I married Dad. It's been fun to have those conversations with her.
Sometimes she wants to listen to my heart beep.
Occasionally she and Naomi will say "chau" or "obrigada" to people whom they know speak Portuguese. I really wish we had more opportunity to learn Portuguese, but we'll get there. Meanwhile, I need to keep focusing on Chinese at home. She's excited about that, and I need to encourage it while she is.
Penny knows how to read several 2- and 3-letter words. Sometimes we'll point them out in a book and have her read them. I'm excited for her to be learning to read.
Sometimes Penny disappears into the bathroom, emerging a while later with shiny brushed teeth, a freshly washed face, and silky brushed hair. Her hair is getting pretty long, and she's getting braver about letting me brush it when it's tangled. She wants to grow it as long as Rapunzel. We'll see...

Naomi has a gorgeous smile and a lot of energy. She loves to dance with her Dad after dinner, which usually involves a lot of spinning in circles. She lifts her feet for little Arabesques, and when she's feeling particularly emotionally vested, she'll close her eyes and turn circles. She and Penny are both very expressive dancers.
Naomi is very good at puzzles. I usually help her a little bit, but even without my help she can finish all of the puzzles we own or borrow from friends.
Sometimes she plays with her ponies or dolls and has them talk to each other. That's pretty normal. But she'll tag their dialogue, like this: "Let's go," says Cinderella. "Okay," says her mommy. "Oh no," says Beauty and the Beast.
I was confused for a long time when she'd tell me, "You be Beauty and the Beast, and I'll be Belle." I've finally figured out that "Beauty and the Beast" means "the Beast," while "Belle" means "Belle." But when she tells you to be the Beast, roaring is not always what she had in mind. It's more often dancing with the nice Beast (see above).
Up until recently, the first thing Naomi would do after waking up was come and snuggle in bed with me. If it was early enough, she'd occasionally go back to sleep, but usually she'd just snuggle with me and we'd wake up together. Sometimes Penny's smiling face would come join us. Lately, though, they get up with Dad, leaving me to sleep in as long as I want-- which means I'm still up before 7 AM. Bah!
Naomi is basically potty trained. It's been a long process-- she started about a year ago because she wanted to do things herself. She's been good during the day since last May, but only when I reminded her. Ever since we left Washington DC in November, she's been very reliable herself during the day. Just recently she started lasting all night, too-- but she's gone back and forth on this. She's close.

As for baby #3, he is a cutie pie. He sticks his feet under my right rib cage and wiggles and kicks. That's mostly what I know about him, so yeah, not much to go on. They say babies move around a lot, but he's been in this same position for a long time. I got to see an ultrasound last week, and he looked quite a bit like the other two, who despite looking quite different now, looked pretty similar when they were born. Last week he was more than 5 pounds, so I think he'll be a good size baby by the time he's due next month (a month from yesterday!). We have yet to decide on his name, though we're thinking Fisher would be a good last name.