Update

So, it's Spring. Or, it's supposed to be. I hope it is somewhere in the world, because it sure doesn't seem like it here. I had hoped this was a cruel April Fool's joke when we got snow on April 1st, but it's snowing again right now. How rude. By the way, this is Jeff's parents' house as I drove in.


We have had some nice days mixed in with the rainy/snowy ones, and even though it hasn't been very warm, we have still tried to get out and do things. We went to the library twice this week, as well as the park. We were the only ones there, and Allie was freezing, but it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit.


Damon: Has discovered that he can read chapter books and a whole other world has opened up to him. I am so happy for him, and hope that he will always share my love of the library. It's so fun to see his reading really take off, and I spent one night lying in bed thinking of all the books I loved when I was growing up, trying to come up with a list of books to get for him. I definitely want to read Tuck Everlasting with his this summer, as it was the most magical, wonderful book of my childhood. What were some of your favorites that I could offer him (or read to him myself)?

Damon is also in charge of taking care of the animals every morning. Basically, he gets Ricky (the dog) water, feeds and waters the rabbits and takes care of Jeff's lizards. He earns $4 a week for doing it daily ($3 from grandpa for the dog and rabbits, $1 from dad for the lizards) . Pretty sweet deal! Here he is removing the lizards from their hiding spots and putting them underneath the heat lamp.



Allie: My friend, Holly, mentioned that most of the pictures of Allie lately have been pouting pictures. I hadn't thought about it, but I'm sure that's accurate. I did manage to catch her in a good mood the other day (park day), when she let me comb her hair without too much crying. Another one of her great outfit combos--dress with red leggings, pink coat and sandals.

Allie's favorite thing to do lately is to lock herself in her room with her cd player blasting away. You'd think we had a teenager in the house, until you realize that the song she is blasting is, "We'll Bring the World His Truth." I may be sick to death of hearing it, but I'm never going to tell her to turn it off. :) Recently, I got a Disney mix from the library, and she has taken to that extremely well. Her three favs are #1-I'll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan, #2-I Won't Say I'm in Love from Hercules and #10-Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Last night, I was rudely awaken at 3:00 am, and could hear her singing at the top of her voice, "Let's get down to business, to defeat the Huns!" Amazingly, because we share a wall with Allie, Jeff slept through it all, but when I went in to tell her she needed to turn down the volume a little bit, I was greeted with this pleasantry, "I'm not going to sleep. Ever."

I've heard this before, and it didn't bother me. "That's fine," I said, meaning it. "As long as you stay in bed and keep the sound down, I don't care if you stay up all night." I knew I would probably regret it today (and I might later tonight), but so be it. At 4:00ish I got up to get my headphones and listened to music of my own, having already heard #1 and #2 at least 5 times each. Not my idea of a great night.


Kyla: Although she still has nearly two months before she turns two, Kyla has decided that she would like to go ahead and start her terrible twos now. Her new favorite response to my requests is, "no way." It's cute, but only the first couple of times.

She climbs on everything and purposely dropped my butter dish (which shattered) because she was made I was making her get off the counter. For a while now, she has dug her hands into her dirty diapers, to show me what is inside. We thought we had this taken care of when I bought giant onesies and put her back in them. Recently, though, she has decided that she'd like to join a nudist colony and is constantly undressing herself. The onesies are no longer an obstacle. I found her one day at the computer, having discarded her pants, diaper, onesie, shirt and zip-up fleece. As you can see, she had to work hard to get all the layers off, leaving a mark on her leg.
She is also constantly taking her shoes and socks off. Well, her right shoe and sock come off more than the left. Don't ask me why. But I put them on her feet at least a couple dozen times a day.


But there are times when she is so much fun. She is talking so much (our favorite phrase is, "Listen! No more candy!"), and trying to sing (she also loves "feat the Huns"). She is very expressive and will show you happy, sad, mad, tired, silly and scared. She also likes to pretend she has fallen asleep in her carseat so that I will call her Sleeping Beauty. Then she smiles like this, and I say, "Wake up!" It's a fun game.


Jeff and I are pretty much the same. No update there for now, because KyKy is standing next to me crying like only she can, begging to sit on my lap. She and Allie fight over who gets to sit on my lap. It's like they don't get to see me very often. But that's it for now. I'm going to give in to the manipulator...