My kids are cute.

Even though this time of year is crazy-hectic-busy, I don't want to let myself disregard the fun things the girls have been up to the last couple of weeks.

• Like Josie talking. Not a lot, and not full sentences or anything yet, but lots of words and phrases. She pulled out "vacuum" this morning at Betty's - that was a new one. And she's always giving things to people and then saying "there you go!" We're in an upswing with the manners, too... she's using "thank you" and "please" quite nicely. For the time being, at least. Although we have had a few time-outs due to hitting issues. Just us, and at home, so far - nothing at daycare or with other people, yet.

• And like Josie running. She is fast. And takes off at inopportune moments, like when you're trying to get her dressed and only have the top half of her pj's on. Then she giggles and giggles when you chase her around the house to finish getting her dressed. Oh - and she put on her own shoes the other day. When did she learn that??! And she got her hat on by herself, too. It's exciting. But a little bit sad, too.

• And like Eve eating cereal and applesauce before bed and sleeping soundly all the way through the night and not waking up at 11:00 pm and staying awake until 2:00 am like she did to us the other night or waking up at 4:00 am like she did a few mornings in a row a while ago. Mommy and Daddy were not pleased. So now we fill that kid up before bed, and so far, it's working.

• And like Josie pointing out every Christmas decoration and every set of lights on every house we pass while driving to and from daycare. And we must ooh and aah and be equally as amazed as she is.

• And like Eve just being so happy. SO happy. She's awfully fun right now. She wants to sit on her own and stand and move and grab things so badly, but just can't quite muster the coordination, yet. Although she is able to grab things I don't want her to, like the spoon when I'm feeding her and my arm when I'm getting her dressed. Then she just smiles and smiles. And so do we. Her good humor is quite contagious. And she's got a chuckle that cracks me up to no end. And a shriek that can split eardrums, but we are hearing less and less of that, and more of the chuckling. Thank goodness.

• And like Josie just being such a... little person. She's getting taller, and smarter, and she's coordinated now and wanting to do everything that we do, and to help. All the time with the helping. It's funny how long it can take to get something done when you have so much help! And you ask her a question and she'll stop for a moment and think it through before giving you an answer and you can tell she's actually weighing out the options and it's amazing.

"Drop that rhinoceros!"

That's only one of the phrases uttered at our house lately that made me stop and think "what if someone caught bits and pieces of conversations around here without knowing the full context of what was going on?" For example, "Drop the rhino" was meant for Brewster. He is the big brother Josie doesn't have. He loves to antagonize her by going into her room, picking out a stuffed animal and parading around the house with it in his mouth while she chases and scolds him. Here are a few other phrases, and the context of the conversation in which they were used:

"Is the tree done whooshing?"
*** We got a Christmas tree on Saturday. A real one. According to Pat, they need to "whoosh" before you can decorate them. We always had a fake tree at my house growing up, so I am still somewhat new to real tree etiquette. Kinda like when Pat and I lived in our apartment downtown St. Paul and we blatantly ignored the rule that you're not supposed to have real trees in apartment buildings because of fire hazards or something like that. Oops.

"You're silly, Evening Poodle."
*** Pat's nickname for Eve. Although probably better than my nieces' calling her Beve (Baby Eve.)

"Yes, that's where the elephant goes potty." (Substitute basically any animal for elephant - and we've probably said that, too.)
*** Josie is fascinated by anything "potty"-related. She wants to see the poop in her diaper, insists on throwing diapers away herself, makes her "that's gross" noise (kinda like eew eew eew, said very low and with a disgusted look on her face) when she points to Brewster's wee-wee, still runs in to sit on her potty chair when I go to the bathroom. She turns over toys and stuffed animals to look for their girl or boy parts, only to be disappointed that they are not anatomically correct. Although she still makes the aforementioned "gross" noise and points. All of this has been going on for months... I'm starting to wonder if the fascination will ever go away?

"Would you like to leave Santa down your pants?"
*** My personal favorite. This was said by Pat - and directed at Josie, so get your minds out of the gutter. When digging out Christmas decorations, I found a couple of stuffed Christmas toys - a Santa and a reindeer. Josie was playing with them the other night, and I guess Pat shoved one down the back of her shirt, and the other down the back of her pants. All I saw of this was Josie running through the kitchen with them stuffed down her back and backside. Pat attempted to take them out for her, but she didn't want them out, apparently.

As I mentioned before, I feel like we've had a lot going on lately - although, I'm not really sure what. Getting and decorating the tree, finally. And the weekend before, the female Gronaus and Ed came over for a playdate and lunch (if you can call my meager attempt at a meal, lunch!) on Friday, then my mom and niece, Emilie, came up later in the day to stay for the weekend to help out with the girls while Pat and I went to a Minnesota Wild hockey game Friday night and a wedding for a fraternity brother of Pat's on Saturday night. We also did a family outing on Saturday to the Mall of America so Em wouldn't think the whole weekend was totally lame. :) Then Sunday was the annual cookie bake with my bookie-girly-friends. God bless 'em. Not to mention the tasty treats - we just keep getting better and better every year! And there's the usual work, eat, sleep routine to keep up while battling getting ready for Christmas. Oi.

Eve is, finally, healthy. For the time being, at least. But I'll take it! She continued to have bouts of throwing up on and off for about a week. We switched her to soy formula, and she seems to be doing better. So now we're gradually slipping some regular formula back in, and we'll see how she does. Either it was just a bug, or there's a formula issue that will resurface once she's back to full strength. So now we're just battling the usual runny noses here and there, and that, we can handle. Although we don't handle the snot nearly as much as my mother would like... she's a Kleenex Nazi!!

OH - Eve rolled over! Last Saturday morning. Poor kid - everything they say about the second child is sadly true. Less hoopla around their milestones, fewer pictures taken, hand-me-down clothes... anyway - she rolled. Yea, Eve! You're one step closer to getting into Josie's toys :)

That's all the time I've got for today, folks. Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season!

Busiest time of the year?

Sure feels like it! As you can probably tell from the lack of posts lately, we've been busy. Just wanted to check in and say that we're all healthy and happy. We've had a lot of fun stuff going on lately, and I promise to tell you about it someday. :) Just not today! How's that for a tease?