Might As Well Call It White Jack

Happiness!

Mean Scarlett Deceiver

I actually put on a smidge of makeup the other day, and Andrew decided to get in on the action. He's big into smelling everything, like, say, brown eye shadow. I hope you can see what a lovely shade of lip stick he selected. I talked him out of the mascara.

He's also been enjoying drawing circles. He did this all by himself (the lines inside are his attempt at coloring it in). I know I'm a little biased, but I was really impressed! That's pretty much what my circles look like.

Elsbeth has had a better week as far as fussiness goes. We haven't gone many places, but she's only cried part of the time in the car (and has even fallen asleep!) She has high-maintenance times when she likens being set down to being set on fire, but I feel like we're getting more and more stretches when she's enjoying just looking around in her bouncey seat. She seems a lot more alert, and she sort of smiled at my torso yesterday. She has the most beautiful smile!

Rachel, you will be happy to know that this is a photo taken earlier today of Andrew helping prep my bathroom for hideous wall paper removal. Taking down the hideous wall paper in the other bathrooms was a piece of cake ... it's looking like this one is going to be beastly. Blast. (Please take note of the socks.)

We had a few days when the weather got rather chilly at night, and Andrew fell in love with this green blanket. He now carries it all over the house with him and wants it draped over him every evening even when it makes him sweat.

Which brings me back to the smelling thing. Really, he wants to smell everything, and then he wants me to smell it, too. I've had to smell that green blanket 10 times this week. Other things he's smelled (and asked me to smell) recently: Shiloh, outside brickwork in Decatur, Beeden, wooden food ... ahhh, my mind is going blank. There were so many more bizaro things.

Oh, and here I am with my Nib in the Moby wrap. It's pretty easy to tell there's a baby in there when she's hanging out, but when I've got her all bundled inside, it kind of looks like I'm pregnant really high on my body. I get some funny looks when I'm in public, but it's worth it. She loves that thing.

I debated posting this last picture, but it's funny and it's late and I'm a little loopy, so here goes. Look at what Precious has proudly stuck to the front of his shirt:

He found them in my bathroom and was desperately curious as to what they were. I wanted to be sort of honest, but as vague as possible, so I told him they were like giant band-aids. Well, that was all he needed to hear. He LOVES band-aids and decorates himself with them on a regular basis, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he decided to wear one. I had a good laugh and let him go around the house like that for a while, but when we were leaving to go to a friend's house, he really didn't want to give it up. I finally traded him two Spiderman band-aids for it.

(He found and wore another one a few days later and asked me politely not to laugh this time.)

I Got Sick On An Imported Swiss Water Once

The Precious had a doctor's appointment this morning - first one since his 2nd birthday, and this with a new doctor ("doptor"). He's been complaining off and on for weeks about his tummy, so we went to check it out. Nibblet slept the entire time (1.5 hours!) in the Moby, and other than being crabby about the stethoscope, Andrew did great, so the outing was not undoing of me that I feared. Doctor Herrmann is having us take all lactose out of his diet for the next couple weeks, so we'll see if that makes a difference. The photo at the top is Andrew showing off the awesome Spiderman tat he got at the end of the visit. Can you believe how old he looks?

I may have to revise the "laid back" label I gave Elsbeth a couple weeks ago. :-) I knew making such a comment at 2 weeks was dangerous. But you know, she's only 5 weeks now, right at the brink of what the books warn is an infant's fussiest time, so I'll refrain from any new labels for the time being. I'll just quote Phil and say that she's "more particular than Andrew was at this age." Here are a few things she has shared with us recently:

- The car seat is the devil

- Being changed (diaper or clothes) is the devil

- Being put down is the devil

- Waiting more than 3 seconds for food when hungry is the devil

It's really not that bad. She is nearly always able to being comforted with some combination of being held, rocked, given food or a pacifier, so no hours of crying so far. Just days where she requires my arms most of the time and dramatic car rides, and still not loads of sleep.

But look at how cute she is! She's totally worth it.


Apparently hats are also the devil.


Cool thing: Andrew's caterpillar Mike hatched from his cocoon! I really didn't think it would happen, but I was hoping. Andrew was so cute, checking in on him from time to time, waiting for "something with wings" to appear (I wasn't quite sure what might come out). So when Phil looked in the jar a couple days ago and saw a moth, we were so excited! This is Andrew and Daddy on the front porch freeing Mike, who flew across the yard and into a tree. Very National Geographic.

These days Andrew sometimes has opinions about what shirt and pants he wants to wear, but he always has an opinion about his socks, sometimes changing them 2 or 3 times a day. He tends to gravitate towards colored, stripy numbers and often pairs them with shorts.

And here's my girl at 5 weeks. Look at those wide eyes - she's waking up! I'm eagerly anticipating her first real smile.

What You Do Not Smell Is Called Iocane Powder

That has to be one of my favorite pictures of all time.

I love my flower children.


My sweet blossom wore the wool soaker I knit for her for the first time yesterday. The leg holes are so tiny ... perfect for her skinny newborn legs, yet I fear it won't be wearable for long. I don't care. I'm just so proud that she was able to wear something I made, even once. The tie-dyed onsie is appropriate for my granola girl, don't you think?

The Precious loves to lounge in the bouncey seat when the spot is open. When did he get so big?!

In other news, I went on my first outing on my own with the 2 of them this morning. I had planned never to leave the house again, but situation was desperate. No butter, no cream, no brown sugar. Here's how I scored:

- Had my teeth brushed, +5

- Didn't shower and forgot to put on deodorant, -15

- Nibblet slept entire time in Moby Wrap, +20

- Precious rode in cart without complaining, +10

- Resisted doughnuts, +5

- Failed to resist brownie mix, ice cream & BBQ potato chips, -15

- Was not mobbed by people pausing to gush over my children, - 10

- Got several double-takes as people tried to figure out what in the world the Moby was, -2

- Got several kind smiles from people appreciating the cuteness, +7

Total: +5

Success!!