23 Months of E

Ack! It's already 9 p.m.--I should be in bed, but I wanted to tell you about my sweet girl and share some pictures. We're one month away from being TWO! Did you hear that? I've been putting this post together in my head all day to tell you what she's been doing (climbing the fence, jumping off the bottom stair, going up and down the stairs indepedently except when she wants me to hold her hand, taking her clothes off during naps and sometimes [unsuccessfully] trying to put them back on, communicating complex ideas) and now I don't have too much time to explicate.

I'm still so amazed by the language explosion ("I got you shirt, Mommy!" as she's tugging on my shirt) and interaction with Oscar ("I got you Ah-kur!" as she's touching him on the head). I sat down on the bed to feed Oscar this evening and she brought me the remote control and asked "Wan watch TV?" It was definitely a question the way she lifted the last syllable. Amazing. Her ability to pretend is also increasing exponentially. We went out in the front yesterday and she kept saying "sheck maaal" over and over again and I couldn't figure out what she wanted. Then it clicked. Oh. Check mail. So I let her go "check" the mail, and she brought me back some imaginary envelopes from our mailbox. "Here you go." Thank you, Elsie. She's also attempting to repeat longer words and phrases now, too. We were eating clementines (small oranges) and I was telling her about it being good for her, with all the Vitamin C, and she looked at me and said, "Vymin See." Yes, I told her.

Not to totally jinx it, but since Eli left, she has let me brush her teeth 90% of the time. There's still some tantrums when I just have to sit down and bend her back over my leg and brush her teeth while she's screaming, but for the most part she doesn't fight me. I think she likes the taste of the toothpaste, and she for sure loves to spit.

This month, perhaps because it is warmer, has brought a fascination with water. Water from the bathroom sink (she stands on the training seat to reach the sink), water from the refrigerator, and water from the yard that has been collected in otherwise empty flower pots and frisbees. She likes to try to pour water from one container to another. Most of the times she is unsuccessful. I can't leave a cup of water laying around because she'll pick it up and either fish the ice out of it or drink it, and then pour it all over the place. Nice.

So, here are some pictures. I was playing around with an app that a friend recommended called Instagram. You can filter your pictures through various light schemes. These are all different filters.

Today, Elsie was eating an orange. She was not going to open her mouth to show me. No way.



Bath night last week consisted of a rare sighting of the bare-bottomed reverse-horned unicorn:




It always makes me smile to see Coco curled up with my girl:



I mentioned Elsie's water obsession? This was today. She climbed up on the bench at the breakfast table, grabbed my water cup and tried to pour the water into a clean cup she had plucked from the dishwasher that I forgot to close. Then Oscar, who was playing on the carpet, rolled over to investigate and ended up being the human mop for this mess. He was not happy about it.



Saturday I took the kids to Sam's club to eat samples for lunch (I know, we're living large with Eli away). This marked the first time they they ever sat in a cart together. I have another equally impressive photo of Elsie grabbing something from a screaming Oscar.




Of course, you know if I have a sleeping pic of little girl, then I have to include one of little boy:




This was taken this weekend as my little man sat in the grass. I really like this filter. Striking.




I was trying desperately today to get a pictures of O's curly locks that are coming in. It all starts with one little curl.




And finally, Eli's peach tree flowered about three weeks ago. I was out there today and saw little furry fruitlings:



We're surviving here at home. It's getting old. I'm ready for my other half to be back in proximity.

Y'all have a good one.

Cheers.