And then it hit me...

Alice is TWO AND A HALF YEARS OLD today. Her favorite thing lately is "Mama, play? Mama, play?" which means she wants me to chase her, let her get away, hide, wait for her to come looking for me and then jump out and scare her. Like really scare her. It's best if she thinks I'm in one place and then I catch her from behind. She freaks out and throws herself into my arms and says "Again?" Okay, in all honesty it sounds more like "Mama, pay?" and "Na?"

When we're driving somewhere Alice likes to point out all the vehicles she sees, and sounds genuinely surprised when she sees anything that she can tell me about (which is constantly). She says "Oh! White car! Oh! Green car! Oh! Orange truck! Oh! Blue bus!" This, however, also requires a trained ear because it sounds more like "Ah! Whitey daw! Ah! Deen daw! Ah! Ahn duh! Ah! Boo buh!" And I'd prefer this over the constant "Doh! Doh! Doh!" (translation: "Go! Go! Go!") every time I'm stopped at a red light. We're trying to explain that when the light is red we have to stop and wait patiently (read: QUIETLY) for it to turn green, at which point we may proceed. It's a process.

We've taken a step backwards in potty training. Up to the last month or so Alice would periodically get on the toilet herself. Now she screams like I'm causing her bodily harm if I try to... gasp... put her on the potty! So my brilliant attempt at moving away from this tonight was to offer stickers. I put one on her hand after she used the potty and then taped a piece of paper on the door for her to put another sticker on. Yeah, that was pretty much the end of the world. Tantrum galore. Once she finally calmed down I explained that the paper will stay there for her to put another sticker on when she uses the potty again. Another tantrum. Oi. Then came the book-reading distraction. So thankful that sometimes distractions still work on this girl.

Emma will be TEN months on Friday. She's still comfortably wearing her 6 month sized clothes. A few 3 month items still fit too. BUT, there are some 9 month sized clothes that don't completely drown her! She's quite petite. And I love it. I'm thankful that my first baby was on the "bigger" side so both Andrew & I could get used to a baby without worrying about breaking her. And I'm thankful that my second baby is on the "smaller" side because I'm not worried that I'm doing something wrong based on her size. She's just little.

But her size does not slow her down at all. She's constantly on the move, looking for something else to put in her mouth. Today she figured out how to climb up the stairs and then was laughing hysterically watching Alice go up and down ahead of her. So cute. Emma is really starting to enjoy watching and learning from her big sister. She also responds incredibly well to Alice's "hugs" which may be more accurately described as "tackles."

Pictures from the first half-ish of November here. This includes Emma's first time meeting Grandpa Bill & Mimi. So fun!

Tonight they enjoyed their second bath together in the big tub. Emma LOVES when Alice splashes and Alice loves that her own splashing encourages Emma to join in. Stark contrast to the usual Alice repeatedly wrenching toy after toy from Emma's grasp exclaiming "Mine!" and causing the most horrible wail to escape from an otherwise mild-tempered baby. Ah, motherhood. Wouldn't trade this for the world.

A Good Mother

This post brought tears to my eyes. What a gracious God we serve! Thankful that He strongest in my life when I acknowledge my weakness and rely on Him.

Election 2012

Today is the election. It looks like President Obama will be holding his office. I'm glad that the Lord already knew the outcome of this election and isn't surprised. Also glad that the Lord has given us a hope that's bigger than the next president.

Today's episode of the Gilmore girls ended at the mall (again). Mom needed to take a walk, but the un-air conditioned out-of-doors wasn't too welcoming. During the 30 minutes of laps around the second level Emma snoozed for perhaps 10 minutes and then thoroughly enjoyed watching Alice play at the kids' "Playtown." It would've been excellent to videotape Alice playing with the other kids, if the video camera was in attendance. Alas, it was not. One little girl in particular really wanted to hold Alice's hand and drag her around the place. Alice complied for a little while and then got fed up with someone telling her what to do. Eventually she just ran away any time the girl came near. Oh yeah, it was a proud Mom moment for sure.

Today marks the fourth day of the maintenance guy (who doesn't work weekends) not fixing our screens from the break-in on Halloween night. Don't worry, as far as we can tell, only a few small things were taken--most noteworthy being our checkbook (the account has since been changed and put on alert) and Andrew's iPod. Bummer, but thankful nothing too sentimental was taken. I randomly walked by one of the managers today who told me that he fixed one of the screens but not the other. Yeah, that was incorrect. They both still have slits in them. She did assure me he'd be by first thing in the morning to fix the front one, which I kind of don't believe. Ah, apartment life!

Today is also November 6, which means in one week Alice will be exactly two and a half. Holy moly. She's been talking in sentences lately, but it takes a highly trained ear to decipher them. Even mommy's ear is sometimes insufficient. I'm told that one day language just "clicks" and they start speaking real words that normal people understand. Not to say mommy is abnormal. Well, I guess that's debatable.

And on that note, I must sleep!