Those there children of mine...

It seems to me that it's been a little while since I've posted updates on what's new in Elaina and Lincoln's world lately. So, no time like the present...

Elaina likes to play "pretend" all of the time. Did I say all of the time? I mean all of the time. Any time I ask her not to do something, she says "Okay Mommy, juss peetend." Like that's going to get her off the hook from doing something that she is told. I love her vivid imagination and her creativity but seriously, we have to draw the line about when it comes to listening to what she is told for real. Any suggestions on how to handle that one?

Another favorite game of Elaina's is right up Peetend Alley. You can often find Elaina sitting at the dinner table or in the bathtub (or anywhere) shouting out new roles for every member of the family. It goes something like this:

Elaina: I da Mommy, you be da Baby, Daddy be da Grandma and Lincoln be da Kitty. Okay Honey? You a good girl Honey. Mommy, I mean Baby, juss peetend.

Wanna stop over some time to visit? There's a pretty good chance that you too, could be selected to be the doggy sometime or even the big sister. WhooHoo!

While I'm a little behind on putting this down, Elaina has mastered singing her alphabet and knows her colors and is even working very diligently on potty training. The first time I mentioned potty "train," she asked where the train was and if we could get on it. Do you think someone may have watched Polar Express one too many times? On Sunday I put together a calendar, which we're using for nothing more than square boxes to fill and every time Elaina "goes" in the potty, she gets a tiny, shiny, glittery sticker to stick in a box of her choosing and when her squares are all filled up (30 of them) we're going to "Chuckeecheezez." You know the place. We're a little bit slow going at this whole process, but our babysitter is totally on board with helping her out and Elaina just needs the incentive and motivation to want to do it all of the time. My master plan is a 3 day weekend (coming in February) with no plans and not leaving the house and go into full force potty training boot camp. The way I see it is that we're easing into the big finale over a gradual period of time before getting all out serious. For three days. Wouldn't it be nice if she is finished with diapers before that even? Can't see it just yet.

And how about that little Lincoln of ours? I really think my little guy gets more handsome by the day. He's growing more hair fuzz, which is almost a distinguishable color similar to Elaina's. As of late, he's been working on growing a second tooth for his single bottom-tooth friend. Side by side, his smile is so cute! At just 8 months, he's not crawling yet but he loves to stand and hold onto everything and he scoots across the floor pretty much anywhere he wants to go. He's been in the crawl position several times now and I can see his desperation to get a toy just out of his grasp and he fusses and turtles everywhere on the floor in attempt to attain his prize. It's just a matter of time before he really sees what he's capable of and decides to take off crawling.

Other than that, Lincoln has been (Thank GOD) healthy; no more croup, no pink eyes, no random crud. He's been happy and despite his constant running nose which accompanies his new teeth, he's been content and smiley. He loves story time and loves to hear his Mommy sing silly made up songs, (he doesn't quite differentiate the good from the bad yet) and his mommy and daddy know all of his tickle spots which evoke giant belly laughs from our little guy.

However busy our life seems to be right now and how fast our days go by, we seem to be keeping up and sharing as much happiness and laughter with our kids as we can possibly consume. And we're loving every minute. (Even if I have to be the doggy and the kitty is crying and the grandma isn't home and the "mommy" is being a slight bit bossy, I'll take it!)