"Would you like a coke zebra, mommy ( Read more... )

When I was little, I have fond memories of these Roger Hargreaves characters. I think Arby's gave away little toy figurines of them in their kids meals. In 2001, when I was doing my study abroad in England, I found some of the books in a used bookstore. I snapped them up and held onto them for the future. (They were also good for stress relief, ( Read more... )

"I got hurt, mommy!" Elena is fascinated with places on her body where she has gotten hurt, weeks before ( Read more... )

I know that bedtime can be a highly stressful time for many families, so I feel a little mean sharing how easy it is with Elena. Occasionally she'll be so overtired and late for bed that she cries miserably, but overall we've established a very peaceful routine. Daddy's already laid claim to bedtime though, so I'll have to give over this special ( Read more... )

"The bees cooked it, mommy!"
- E in reference to Honey Nut Cheerios

I love this age!

Elena sang her way all the way through the ABCs!
I credit the LeapFrog magnet but the many ABC books we have didn't hurt either.
Now she probably won't do it again for a month or two; that's the way learning goes I think.
And she probably won't let me catch it on camera either.

I want to raise a child full of gratitude for the many blessings we have and the many people who love us. Karen has sent us lovely gently worn clothes from her daughter Grace, the grandparents and Aunt Julie send so many cute finds & cuddly animals, Daddy sends toys for his baby daughter... whenever Elena wears something or plays with something ( Read more... )

Yesterday the backyard hosted the Double Digit Days of Deployment.
So the party atmosphere combined with the teething fever meant that for a few hours I gave up & put E in pullups.
She'll be in pullups a little while today b/c I have to work and she can't go to school with a fever.

(this is mostly for myself now, btw, unless you're playing along at home or running a betting pool ( Read more... )

Another video favorite of Elena's - "the marching song" she calls it. She BEGS for it and my tolerance is about 2x a day. But I finally caught her on camera marching along with it. You might know it as "I'm in the Lord's Army." As she does the motions along with the video, I flash back to youth choir days & Mitch's kids learning the motions ( Read more... )