Random stories

Ellie really likes Genie in a Bottle, we've discovered (or, as she calls it, The Song From the Game). She kept chanting "There's a price you have to say" earlier this week. I thought it was maybe from a song she learned at the retreat last weekend. Turns out it's from Genie in a Bottle. Now she knows several lines: If you want to be with me there's a price you have to pay. You gotta rub me the right way. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, my body's saying, "let's go." Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, but my heart is saying "no". Yes, she knows the redeeming line of the song now. She wants me to sing it ALL the time, which I'm reluctant to do, but it's just so funny. And bad. Mostly funny. But still bad.

Also, it finally happened. I mentioned before that Ellie's baby dolly tends to develop at the same rate as Matthew. She discovered yesterday that Baby Dolly can sit up, scooch, hold cereal (Matthew can just hold it. He spent, like, 5 minutes trying to get it in his mouth, then have it stay there.), and say Mama. Last night, though, Baby Dolly started breastfeeding. I was wondering when it was going to happen. I think Ellie finally acknowledged the breastfeeding because it contrasts with the actual food eating that Matthew's doing now. Anyway, her teachers told me that at school today she nursed a doll. They thought it was hilarious.

Ellie has yet to get back to normal after our two weekends away from home. For two nights, she had tantrums exceeding 2 hours at bedtime and ended up sleeping after 11. Crazy. Matthew, on the other hand, was never really on a regular schedule to begin with, so he's just fine. He goes to bed around 7 these days, which NEVER happened with Ellie. Anyway, Ellie's craziness is making me crazy, too. I think the sleep deprivation is getting to her, though, because she keeps telling me she's tired. She used to always just be in denial that she ever needed sleep at all. And last night she fell asleep at 9. Peter and I were shocked at how early it was when we were hanging out last night. Hopefully this will stick...

On a higher note, Ellie has figured out opposites. We got a Blue's Clues book from the library last week that had about 6 examples, and she totally got it after we read it once or twice. Next time you see her, ask her what the opposite of something is. Of course she wouldn't do it for her teacher, but she really does know it. She got all frustrated when she asked me what the opposite of "remote" was, and I told her there was no opposite. She also says the opposite of Matthew is Daddy and the opposite of Ellie is Mommy.

So Matthew has discovered scooching. He actually is pretty close to commando crawling. Meaning, it takes a long time, but he can travel pretty good distances. I guess napping on the bed is no longer an option for us. He's excellent at rotating around. One thing he's figured out is that there's always a pacifier in the bed with him when he sleeps. It's pretty great, actually, because he'll wake up, look for it, find it, stick it in his mouth, and go back to sleep. What a nice boy.

Speaking of nice boy, I have both kids sleeping now. I've gotten fairly good at manipulating their schedules so the naps coincide. I gotta use the time wisely. Gonna go watch Felicity and eat chocolate. Yes!