Domestic Bliss.

It has been a much better week this week, on many fronts. The kids are sleeping better and napping better, Hello Kitty hasn't gotten peed on as much, and the whining has been dialed back quite a bit. Part of it is probably that Ellie is waking up from her nap 30-60 minutes before Adam, and so she and I have that time to snuggle, read and play Play Doh. It makes a huge difference, and helps us all feel better. That's been probably the hardest thing about having two kids, is balancing their needs against my abilities. With Adam on the verge of walking, and out of sync on nap times, he's been out of sorts, but the past few days we've been in a better rhythm, so more time for my sweet little Miss.

Today after our walk and lunch we made some cookies for the Easter Egg Hunt we're hosting this afternoon. She is such a good little baker - she loves scooping and leveling the flour. Last night at dinner time she was thrilled to help me set the table, and she's good about cleaning up and clearing her place. My other favorite thing lately is hearing her sing along to songs in the car, songs other than Miss Elena songs or those damn songs from Frozen. She has been loving the songs from Adam's baby slide show, and it's funny to hear what she thinks the words to Feist's 1-2-3-4 are.

I also have been loving seeing the two of them together. She's been riding on Adam's little construction car and he practices walking by pushing her along. They wrassle while I fold laundry, they play blocks together, and any time they can play piano or family band, they're both playing along. So cute! On our walks, we go through a little tunnel and this week Adam has started getting in on the fun of hooting to hear his own echo. Today when he'd hoot, Ellie would echo him, and it made me laugh when I was so tired and sweaty and ready to lay down and die (seriously, this heat can go be elsewhere.)

Another sweet moment - yesterday morning everyone was awake, and when I came back from the bathroom they'd climbed in bed with Tim. Ellie announced loudly "DADDY IS THE DADDY LION AND YOU'RE THE MOMMY LION AND ADAM AND I ARE YOUR BABY LIONS!" and then we all curled up and roared at each other. Then when we're out and about (usually in stores) she will run a few yards away from me and pretend to be the baby lion who is looking for her mommy, and I say "where is my baby lion?" and she runs back and we hug. It's very sweet.

How can you not love this kid?