What A Mug!

This little boy has the most wonderful smile. He's crazy busy and sweetness personified. He claps for his sister when she does somersaults. When he disappears for a minute or two, I can usually find him trying to play with the water in the toilet (I know-gross) or throwing himself head first into the bathtub. He crinkles up his nose when he smiles and laughs. He gives the best hugs and slobbery kisses. He puts everything into his mouth-everything--sticks, stones, lint, dust-that-I-don't-even-see.....the list goes on and on. He has just started to have little 'fits', when we take something from him or don't let him do something, but he's really not too convincing and needs to take a lesson or two from his sister. He loves to hold onto my hand and rub his little face into my shoulder.

Walking Along

Delaney's been spending more and more time out of her stroller and walking next to mom and dad. She LOVES to walk and really loves to walk like a big girl, while Elliot (and doll, of course) sits in the stroller!

Delaney is super challenging and super cute lately. Last week, Delaney informed me that I have a 'biiiiiig, biiiiiig hiney' and that I drink 'wine, wine, wine, lots of wine'. I can only imagine, with horror, what she'll be telling her preschool teachers in a couple of years!

This morning, Delaney kept telling daddy to change his pants-he was wearing his 'work pants' and she wanted him to wear his jeans, so she could be sure that he would be home for the day.

Delaney is really bossy and is always sure to let everyone know exactly what is 'hers', which usually includes everything-her house, her car, her table, her couch.....

Elliot repeatedly goes after Delaney's favorite posessions ALL day, and up until a few days ago, I really thought that he just was being a baby, but now I have a hunch that he is trying to torture her-or, put another way, he takes a little pleasure in her flipping out. Elliot always seems to touch / take her favorite toys when Delaney is like right in front of him. I'm certainly starting to notice a quietly mischievous side to his personality!

Obama Rally

Dave needed to cover the Obama rally in Reno for work this morning, so the babies and I tagged along. I was a little nervous and Dave was very, very nervous about taking Delaney and Elliot to a not-super-baby-friendly event, but it really was wonderful. Besides Delaney vehemently yelling-'NO, NOO, NOO'-at the security guard who used a wand to pat her down and Elliot eating lots of turf (from the baseball field where the rally was held), the morning went off without a hitch.

Delaney danced to the music, clapped and cheered-I think that she thought that she was at a baseball game, and Elliot crawled around like a maniac, trying to pull out all of the power cords for the cameras, mikes, and who knows what else. At one point, Obama's mike lost power and Dave looked at us in horror, but Elliot was sitting safely in his stroller, far away from any power cords!

If McCain comes to Reno, we'll take the babies too---you know, equal time and all. And who knows how Delaney and Elliot will feel politically or personally as they grow up, and I really don't care, as long as they question their beliefs and realize that everyone ultimately wants the same things, but I do think that it'll be neat for them to know that they saw the first African American presidential nominee speak.

Little Moments

This is what Elliot does when he is absolutely and totally exhausted-covers his eyes and rubs his head--as if to say, please, please just put me to bed! Elliot is super busy and not so snuggly right now, so I certainly appreciate any and all quiet moments that I have with him. Within the last month, he's been rejecting his bottle-only big boy cups for him-I guess that he is a pretty big boy now.

This is the 'smile' that Laney gives us when we ask her to smile. It's super-cheese; perhaps, she's getting ready for her Uncle Mat's wedding next month! She is very particular about what she wears and her hair--today she had me put in about six barrettes (at the same time - of course), including Christmas barrettes, Halloween barrettes, flower barrettes..... She was pretty happy with the result. AND, DELANEY PEED IN THE POTTY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

Taylor Creek

At the suggestion of a friend, Dave, Delaney, Elliot and I headed to Taylor Creek at Lake Tahoe to see the spawning run of the Kokanee Salmon. It was absolutely beautiful-the lake, the salmon, the trail, the creek, the trees, everything... We're so fortunate to live so close to Lake Tahoe, and every visit amazes me.
We put Elliot in the backpack carrier, which he tolerated fairly well, and Laney walked on her own. For a little girl, Laney has quite the stamina.

However, about halfway through our little hike, Delaney decided that she needed a water bottle and then proceeded to stop and take a sip about every two feet. Of course, she wouldn't use a 'little' bottle, and insisted on carrying an adult-sized water bottle, using both hands and having to concentrate very hard to make sure that she didn't spill any water. She was so preoccupied with carrying and drinking water that she kept veering off of the trail! But she was super persistent (as usual)!

She really behaved at the creek, resisting the urge to try to catch a fish and throw rocks in the water.

Elliot flirted with the older ladies (meaning older than 11 months), smiling and babbling away. He's so precious.

On the way home, we stopped to eat at Chili's (one of the few restaurants that we would dare to take the babies)-it was pretty much total chaos, but at least we didn't have to do any dishes when we got home!

Afternoon Brownies

Not much beats homemade brownies at 4:30 PM. Elliot and Delaney agree.


Elliot and I went out to run a couple of errands, so Daddy and Delaney made brownies. They were ready to be eaten when we came home, and were soooo good.

More Halloween Fun

Well, actually, it really wasn't that fun-at least not for me-but the babies had a good time. I managed to get lost on the way to the Tollhouse Pumpkin Patch in Reno-surprise, surprise-so, a 30 minute drive turned into an hour long drive. Elliot liked playing with the trucks and climbing on the haystacks, and of course, eating the hay.

Delaney played on a super-big bouncy house with super-big kids (they were probably 5 years old, but twice her height and three times her weight). She got knocked around a bit, and I almost had a stroke-a number of times-but Laney survived and had fun!