#mykidsaresoweird

Avy: "Ellie's not allowed back at the table yet! The timer hasn't gone off yet!"

Ellie: "Thank you Avy! Good job!"

#stuffAvysays

Avy to her toy phone: "It's not connecting, but don't reboot my house please."

#stuffAvysays

Avy: "When you throw two balls at once it takes a lot of energy! ... and gas! ... and poop! Like parents!"

.... I really don't know where her brain went this time.

#stuffElliesays

Ellie: "Mom! I want to do a smeariment!"

Me: "A ... what?"

Ellie: "A smeariment! With the testing and the hyper-the-sises."

Me: "Ooooh an experiment."

Toddlerhood, Advanced Level

Now that family has gone we've decided to up our challenge level a bit. Behold:

Yep. We removed the baby gate. Lily hasn't stopped going up and down the stairs. Theo is more trepidatious.

Yes, that's her on the coffee table. She pushed a box over and climbed up. I put her on the ground and Avy moved the box back to the other side of the room. Undeterred, she pushed the box back, and climbed back up. Oh joy.

The no-baby-gate thing is going to be fun, I can tell. Lily just joined me downstairs....

#stuffElliesays

We're all running errands together and Daddy takes a moment to remind them how to act in the car.

Daddy: "Girls, what are some examples of polite car behavior?"

Avy: "Not yelling in the car!"

Ellie: "Not bonking other cars with your car!"

... well she's not wrong.

#stuffAvysays

As I wash vomit off her chair from her morning's illness:

Avy: "Thanks for taking care of me, Mom."

Darling girl, I will always.

Post-Christmas Merriment

It's been a good day post Christmas - the big girls and Daddy ran errands and went grocery shopping while toddlers napped and Momma cleaned up the post-Christmas debris (it looked like a tornado had swept through our living room). Everyone was cheerful and offering new toys to each other; a very calm day overall :)

Toddlers "sharing" sweet potatoes with each other.

Mmm, sweet potatoes.

Getting ready to brave the cold! Kisses for luck.

Not sure you'll need the sunglasses....

Aww :)

They're ready to brave the sub-40 temperatures ;)

When Daddy fixes you dinner, you get apples with caramel. Momma's never allowed to fix dinner again.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas y'all! We had a great one here, girls opened their presents super slowly, savoring each one. That time will pass, I'm sure :)

Ellie showing Theo how his new piano works (the old one got left out in the rain a few months ago).

Lily wants to try!

Stockings!

Stacks of gears - you put them on the pole and they spin the direction the pole is held.

The kids got a set of pretend doctor's equipment (heard enough about them being "doctor's offices") - this was far and away the favorite. They were giving shots to everyone.

Dr. Avy gleefully tells Daddy he needs a shot.

Even more gleefully applies it!

Dr. Avy skeptically checking Daddy's ears for his brain.

I'll admit, I got these for my inner child (resin cast insects). The girls loved them though and they went perfectly with the toy microscope they also got - they kept looking at the bugs through the microscope.

Random shot of the merry chaos :)

Lily was happy, I swear. She just wanted Ellie's toy.

Each book they unwrapped: "Can we read?" "Don't you want to open the other presents?" "No, read!"

Hi sweet girl. What are you wearing?

Hi my little dinosaur ;)

Not-annoying musical toy from Bungie. This was a hit with everyone.

Glasses came with the doctor's kit. Hilarious.

Mad Doctor Ellie!

Avy will be a nerd queen one day.

"I will rule them all!"

Dr. Ellie is checking Daddy's heartbeat. In his hip.

I only had one child who would let me dress her for Christmas (and had the clothes), darn it she was gonna be festive!

Theo doing his happy-bounce-dance:

Lily Lou Hoo.

Hmm, Theo, you can't conquer your sister.

Can't ride her either...

Now Theo, Theo is a born dinosaur.

In the afternoon we had our cousins Michael, Diep, and Evelyn come over for dinner.

Mmmm, prime roast.

Wonderful having family over!

The kids got along great. Lily and Evelyn especially liked to wander off into a room together and play.

Ellie is teaching Evelyn how to play her new game.

Overall, a really fabulous Christmas. Hope everyone's was wonderful as well! Much love to you all :)