Here’s some pictures for faraway Oma’s who mentioned today that they were longing for new pictures. A few interesting updates. Brynny has suddenly entered a new state where she is much less possessive and shares more. When Elijah was getting a hug and snuggle yesterday from Mama, she came over and laid her head on him instead of whining and attempting to push him off my lap. This is a big improvement! She was also bringing toys to another baby at the library today.

Today I was calling her my little “Bumble Bear.” I just love this cute age where they are busily bumbling about with their tummies sticking out in front of them, climbing everything very clumsily- little bumbling baby bears. So lovable and adorable. I can’t help but sweeping her up and kissing her soft cheeks (which receive probably upwards of 500 kisses a day).

Here’s a funny Elijah story. At church on Sunday, the lady in the nursery was telling me how all the kids were smelling her necklace- which had a big flower on it- and saying what they thought it smelled like. When Elijah smelled it he said “it smells like a head bursting into FLAMES!” Yep, he’s a boy.

That's Elijah!

The baby garden at Storyville.

Is this a real bunny?

Brynny and Elijah have opened their own grocery store!

This kitchen was just the right size for young 'uns. Mama had the bizarre feeling of being a 9-foot giant in this room.

Aunt Katherine comes to visit! Hooray!

Aunty Katherine had plenty of attention for everyone.

Katherine was a hit all around.

-Signed “down please” from her high chair today and said “down” at the same time.
-Insisted quite clearly on wearing her pretty shiny shoes with her dress instead of her pull-on slippers.
-Helped Mama stir the mixing bowl for the first time today.
-Helped Mama clean spots on the dining room floor with a wet rag.

My sweet baby Boodle is turning into a big girl!

Here’s a couple-a cuties for your cutie fix! Right now the kids are nicely occupied. Brynny is sitting on an overturned basket very intently trying to figure out the secrets of a wind-up dinosaur. Looks like she managed to get the tail off. Elijah is lying on the couch watching Bugs!, and educational sort of film that is pretty cool, following the lives of several bugs in the rainforest. It’s pretty good- and now Elijah will be happy to tell you all about what amazing hunters preying mantises are. This is the 4th or 5th time he’s watched it since we got it out of the library earlier this week, so he’s pretty much an expert now. I love how kids get totally into things. He loves to pretend to be a mantis sneaking up on a fly. There’s a pretty gross closeup of the mantis biting the head off a fly but that hasn’t made it into Elijah’s nightmares and hopefully it won’t!

In other news, I am happy to report that we are enjoying a breather in the naptime battles. I finally just switched Brynny over to one nap a day and that seems to have done the trick. She goes right to sleep (most of the time) without the standing and caterwauling. She was grumpy in the late morning at first, but seems to have adjusted. Elijah is still taking a nap, technically, but a lot of times he doesn’t sleep. His nap days are probably numbered.

It’s time to do a little writing. It’s been lots of pictures and few words lately, hasn’t it? So, let’s catch up.

Elijah, these days, is having lots of fun with rhymes. They do rhyming words every week at his preschool and he always comes home saying “you know what rhymes? Bear and pear!” but he loves making up his own. Today in the car it was “Ding dong, Wumpus chong!” He also likes alliterative sounds. For example, he likes to call Brynny a “Boodle Bomb!”

Brynny is working on her words too. She is very polite, she loves to say “Dank Do!” whenever you give her something. Recently she has taken an interest in an old Danish dolly of mind named “Lina.” She tries very hard to say Lina but hasn’t quite got the “L” sound down so it sounds like “Nina” or “Na na!” But Lamby still rules the roost as far as favorite soft companions. She is learning how to whine but does surprisingly well at stopping herself when you say “No whining, Brynny!” She is all about daddy these days too. I love that. When she hears him coming in the door there is one thing on her mind- to get into his arms as fast as possible. And should daddy have to put her down too soon, she is a very unhappy Boodle. Mama just won’t do for at least twenty minutes after he gets home. She especially likes how he lifts her up high to see what is on the tops of big tall bookshelves (and if she discovers something interesting, she well spend the next day at the bottom of that shelf pointing up and making indicative sounds that she wants it).

Often bed time is a challenge on the four year old front, as you parents out there are probably all too familiar with. There is every sort of possible delay and often much frustration ensues on the parental side when certain people shake their head around while you are trying to help brush their teeth and pajamas take what seem like hours to put on. Marc does Elijah’s bedtime most of the time but sometimes I do it too. I’ve really been praying for patience as I gear up for it, since I hate to end the day snapping at him. Part of my problem is by this hour I am more than ready to start having time to myself and I want to hurry it up. But lately I have been trying to take it as a time to just enjoy being with my son and not trying to rush. In some parenting book I remember reading how it is very good to cultivate bedtime as a special time to be able to sit and talk with your child- and that as they get older this will be a good time to connect with them and frequently they will open up more at this time than any other. It’s true, even now. Part of this, I know, is that Elijah will happily extend conversations as long as possible to avoid going to bed. At the same time, we can have more quality conversations than at other times. He is more focused and less wiggly. If we haven’t done our Bible story/devotions time earlier in the day this is a great time to do it- he listens much more attentively instead of ending up upside down on the couch and bothering the cat. Tonight we had a really good time. We did our proverb of the day and started reading Acts. Afterwards he was asking about when he asked Jesus into his heart since he doesn’t remember it (it was sometime when he was 2)… though he does always remember that Jesus is there. I said he could pray and tell Jesus he is glad He lives there and wants Him to stay there his whole life- and he did. He really liked that. These are special times. And I am glad I didn’t rush tonight.