What's up?

Well, that's a good question.  What is up?  How we can be so busy with ordinary things is always a mystery...  We've got a busy July ahead of us, but we're thankful that the "busy" is fun.  That's always a perk.  Here's a little of what we've been up to lately.  Yes, it's so exciting.

* OBX trip over Independence Day.  SO fun.  We visited with friends and spent a couple of nights down there.  We enjoyed the beach, the park, and lots of good family time.  We knew it was truly a successful getaway when 2 full days seemed like a week  :)

* Birthdays!!  We've had some "little" friend's birthday parties and also had extra fun celebrating my nephew's birthday on Sunday.  He and my niece are now FIVE, and my mind often drifts down memory lane...  Crazy how long that lane is getting!  Shiloh had a beach party, and I was especially glad to see that my toddler is overcoming her intense fear of waves.  YES.  Em has not yet developed a fear of being filthy, which is kind of sad.

* Parks & More Parks.  We've been frequenting the park often, and though Elyse is having a blast, Emily just wishes she could walk.  I'm really hoping she'll brave a few steps soon, but I'm not going to hold my breath :)  She will try and try to get around, but when she fails, she'll just start playing in the dirt.  I happen to know from a little experience with my eldest that chasing a toddler around is actually worth it!  Em's doing well cruising around, so I hope she will get a bit more daring soon.  They both love the swings, but Elyse could go up and down slides all day long.  Yes, her going "up" slides takes a bit longer, but it's fun to watch her look of accomplishment.

* Swimming!  We've been swimming a few times this summer, and I'm thankful both girls are enjoying it.  I seem to vaguely remember days of lounging in beach chairs by the pool, but I think I'm getting an extra workout keeping two kiddos afloat.  That's good, right?

* SHARING.  We've been working a lot on sharing lately.  Emily's getting to that age where she's more persistent, and Elyse has been at that age for a while.  It's kind of hilarious to watch them both persist, but they can get quite loud.  I made the mistake of bringing home a toy yesterday that I got on clearance at Target (one of those plastic balls that bounce and light up...) for the girls to share.  It took all of 1 minute to hear how that was going down.  After numerous talks about sharing & generosity, I resolved to accomplish the task of DINNER, so I set the egg timer for 2 minutes, and we started the routine of taking turns.  Elyse was very puzzled at the beginning of the experiment, but she then started standing in front of the egg timer to wait for the "ding."  After a turn or two, she started giving the toy to Emily during her turn, just so she could wait for the "ding."  She ended up forgetting about the toy altogether by the time we served dinner.  Oh, my.  Emily obviously learned nothing during that whole process :)

* Jordan overheard Elyse having a "picnic" with Hippet (her little stuffed blanket animal) at bedtime the other night.  Her imagination is really getting active!  She stretched out a blanket on the floor in her room today, invited Emily ("Emmie, come here!") and spread lots of books out for them to read together.  I knew the camera would ruin the moment, but I had just had to record it.  Elyse had an eye exam today, and it was the first exam that they could ask her to tell them what she was seeing.  The eye chart consisted of lots of objects, most of which she knew right away: birthday cake, hand (she said "five" for the 5 fingers), a duck, a truck, etc..., but one picture seemed to stump her.

She finally came up with "birthday chair," so that's what it is to her :)  ???  Speaking of Hippet, today Elyse asked me where he was born.  Hmm...

* Emily's talking is cracking me up.  She uses so much inflection to say so little.  I have no idea what she wants to say, but it comes out as just a series of soft little noises with lots of expression.  She pulls out "Daddy!" all the time now, and I quite like it.  I believe I heard her say "Mommy" today, but it's unconfirmed...  She's also being quite a ham lately.  She'll close her eyes and rest her head against the back of her highchair while she's eating.  The food sometimes makes it into her mouth, and sometimes doesn't.  Elyse loves to remind me to pay attention to what Emily is doing.  Why, thank you, dear.

That's what's up.  See, I told you it was exciting!