Things are progressing nicely, but Char is getting tired pretty easily now. I was reading the other day that the babies are about 10 1/2″ inches long, which would be 21 inches of baby — with at least 15 weeks to go! No wonder she feels tired — that’s about the size that Jack and Lily were when they were born.

Here’s a tidbit on their current development:

“Your baby now weighs about 12 1/2 ounces and is 10 1/2 inches long, head to toe. The eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed, and the fingernails are starting to sprout. Watch what you say from here on in: If you talk, read, or sing to your baby, she’ll probably be able to hear you.”

When Charie read this she said, “Shit!”

(Just kidding. For some reason, I’m the only person who thinks that’s funny.)

As you probably know, when you live in Indiana, almost anything can happen with the weather at any time. So it’s not all that surprising when the weather changed from 50 and sunny on Sunday to 3 inches of snow on Monday morning. But I think we forget what this all looks like through the eyes of a three-year-old.

When Lily woke up on Monday morning and saw all that snow she was astounded.

“Mom! It’s snowing outside! I can’t believe it!”

On Monday night, I was putting them to bed and called downstairs for Lily to come up. Instead of coming upstairs to bed, she ran to the kitchen door in her pajamas and bare feet and was working on the lock to open the door and go outside.

Charie said, “Lily, what are you doing? It’s time for bed.”

She responded, “I just want to go outside and throw one snowball!“

I was standing in the kitchen this morning coaxing Jack to talk like a pirate.

Jack, say “Arrrr, Matey.” He says “Arrr, Matey.”

Jack, say “Arrrrgggh!” He says, “Arrrrgggghh!”

Jack, say “More, please.” He says, “Mmmm, please.”

He had been eating some peanut butter toast and wanted some more. “Mmmm, please.” This has been going on for some time, and I think is a remnant of the days when he probably couldn’t pronounce his “R’s”. He can now, though, he just chooses not to. “Mmmm.”

I finally gave up and told him to walk the plank. Char came in and he said, “Arrrr, Mom. Walk the plank.”

I was cracking up. Mmmm, please.

The New York Times recently reported that the teen pregnancy rate “has fallen steadily for a decade with little fanfare, to below any level previously reported in the United States.” The percentage of students in ninth through 12th grades who report ever having sexual intercourse has steadily decreased since 1991, according to the Centers for Disease Control. More than half of male high-school students say they are virgins, a substantial increase from 39 percent in 1990.

Read the complete article.

Here’s another related item:

Virgins and Virtuecrats

The surprising drop in teen pregnancy may mean Dan Quayle was right all along

When conservatives in the past decade have declared that the key to reducing teen pregnancy is teens having less sex, they were mocked by liberals. That’s just old-fogey moralizing, many said. We should accept the ever-rising sexuality activity among teens as inevitable.

This week, the old fogies seem to have pulled out a win. New studies by the federal Centers for Disease Control show that the percentage of American high-school students who have had sexual intercourse declined steadily during the 1990s, and in 2001 fell to the lowest level since 1990. Today, it can be said that the typical American 12th-grade high-school boy or girl has not yet had intercourse. Meanwhile, teen pregnancy is at “the lowest rate ever recorded” in the United States, according to a government study.

Read the complete article.

This is probably the saddest story I’ve seen in some time. Almost unbelievable, but true. I wish there was something I could do for this Angel…

By David J. Cieslak, The Arizona Republic

January 27, 2004

A 3-year-old girl ate crackers and huddled with her mother’s body for five days before rescue workers found her inside a car that ran off the highway in a remote area near Globe, authorities said.

Angel Emery was airlifted to Maricopa Medical Center, where she was being treated late Monday for dehydration and severe frostbite on her feet.

Her mother, Patricia Marie Emery-Wade, 44, died in the wreck, which apparently occurred Wednesday afternoon on U.S. 60 between Globe and Show Low, authorities said. The family’s dog, a pug, also died in the crash.

Wade’s car hit a tree about 40 feet off the highway and 20 feet down an embankment, making it nearly impossible to see from the roadway.

Family members became concerned Wednesday night when the two did not arrive at Wade’s brother’s house in Show Low after leaving their west Phoenix home.

An Arizona Department of Public Safety officer discovered the car and found Angel and her mother after a passer-by saw the vehicle Monday morning, Sgt. Frank Valenzuela said.

“The fact that (Angel) was found alive is just remarkable,” Valenzuela said. “The only thing she could share with us is that she had been eating crackers and that’s how she was able to survive these long days out in the elements.”

Temperatures in the area dropped into the 20s last week.

Angel had been strapped into a child seat in the back of the car but somehow got out and crawled into the front seat, where she ate the crackers and curled up with her mother. Investigators suspect Angel may have gotten out of the car, which was on its side, and wandered at some point.”

You can go to USA Today to read the complete story.