Shameless

Today was a particularly not fun day; I have (another) nasty cold, Delaney and Elliot woke up from their naps soooo cranky, and it's Friday, so I'm more than a little burned out. So, I did what any mother of two small children would do to get through the day....

I bribed them with lollipops and gummi bears-repeatedly. I would NEVER have given Delaney a lollipop when she was 12 months old, but I guess Elliot benefits from being the second child-I have no choice (except to have him flip out for half an hour-which really wasn't an option for me today) but to give him a lollipop if I'm giving one to Delaney.

And the afternoon seemed just a tad bit more sweet!

Partners In Crime

Well, it has taken 12 months, but Delaney & Elliot are becoming little buddies. They pal around the house together, playing with toys and chasing each other up and down the hallway and in and out of every room. They absolutely love to play under the kitchen table with a bunch of their toys.


And Delaney has started to become quite protective of her little brother. When we're at a play date, Delaney makes sure that no one takes any of Elliot's toys (after all, that's her job!), and that everyone knows that he's 'her baby'. It's adorable and so sweet; I could live off of these little memories forever!

They certainly have their brawls and there are days, when I feel that they literally fight every single minute of every agonizing hour, but there's no doubt about it, they're also buddies.

Artists

Delaney really has been into art lately-she loves to draw, color and scribble, and will sit to do any type of craft that I can think of!

Of course, Elliot wants to do whatever Delaney is doing, so today, I put him right up to the table with Delaney, giving him a few crayons and markers. He was in heaven, eating about 1 1/2 crayons, chewing on markers, ripping up paper and throwing everything on the floor about a hundred times; Delaney was absolutely appalled and kept saying-'No, Ellie, don't do that, don't chew, no, no, no'!

Elliot Starts To Walk!

I've always been a little unclear about the famous 'milestones'. Like-does dragging himself across the floor qualify as crawling? And, what exactly does walking mean?-the first tentative step or two or when he can walk across the room?

Well, tonight, Elliot walked almost across the room and walked back and forth between Dave and myself---so, that's at least 'starting to walk', right?? He took his first step or two a couple of weeks ago and then three and then four steps a couple of days ago, but tonight was the first time that he started to toddle around. What a big boy!

Tree Lighting

I bundled up the babies and met Dave in town to watch the Christmas tree lighting in front of the capitol building. Despite Dave's best efforts, I bought the babies matching monkey hats and mittens-they're just too cute and I know that they'll only go along with matching accessories for so long! We arrived just in time for the countdown for the tree lighting; there were decorations and lights, and local children's choruses sang Christmas carols.

I love these small town events-they're so much fun for the kids (and us!), and there's really no hassle--everything is so close, there's no traffic and there's always accessible parking. And more often than not, we run into acquaintances and friends.

One Year Stats

Elliot had his one year old well baby visit today. It made me a little sad-my baby is getting so big! He's a definite one year old-waving, clapping, imitating, saying his first words, starting to throw little fits when he doesn't get his way and getting into EVERYTHING. He's figuring out how to torture his sister and certainly doesn't back down to her. He's precious.

And, for the grandparents (and Jodi!), here are his one year stats:

Weight: 19.06 lbs (5%)
Length: 29 inches (25%)

He's a handsome little peanut. But he seems so big to us-he's 3 lbs bigger than Delaney was at one year. Delaney wasn't 19 lbs until she was 21 months. However, and I can't believe that I'm putting this in writing, but I swear that Delaney has had a little growth spurt--Her 18 month clothing fits perfectly now, and I think that she'll be in a 2T soon.

Thanksgiving

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. Dave and Laney started on the stuffing right after breakfast, and it was a definite favorite at dinner. Laney is a great liitle cook and follows directions really well.

Delaney is a little verbal sponge right now-soaking up tons of words and all sorts of phrases. Her favorite right now is-'Ellie-don't do that, don't do that, no, no, no'. She very definitively knows what she thinks is 'yummy' and 'ooh, yucky', and lets everyone know it! Yesterday she was 'chatting' on her phone, telling 'Gramma' all about how Elliot pulls her hair. It's adorable.

While we were visiting family, Laney, Elliot and I were sick for-oh, about 2 1/2 weeks of our 3 1/2 week trip. However, Grandma B and Pepah took good care of us, and in a way, it was easier to be sick away from home than it is when I'm at home by myself with the babies. By Thanksgiving Day, we were all (finally) feeling a lot better.

Delaney and Elliot had a great time playing with their cousins. It was really cute-Delaney tagged along with Hannah and Andrew and would have followed them anywhere. Andrew read books to Laney, and Hannah played 'horsey' with her. Andrew and Hannah were so sweet to Laney and Elliot.

Since we live so far away, we rarely are able to celebrate holidays with our families, so we very much appreciated and were grateful to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with Lynde, Sang, Sang's cousin Dorrey, Julie, Chuck, Hannah, Andrew and Ken and Terry, and Grandma and Pepah.

Dave and I certainly can get caught up in all of the daily hassles of life-fussy babies, too many bills, too little sleep.... But we are so grateful for our lives-our babies are happy and healthy, Dave has a good job and we have so many wonderful friends and family. We are very, very lucky.

And we're so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country. I was so glad to see the wide open skies and feel all of that sunshine when we arrived 'home' yesterday!