roadtripping

best quotes...
luci: if you want to go somewhere, take a magic cow! (at the cow-shaped bench outside a Penn State creamery)

gary: wait! turn back to that station! that was bryan adams!
mad: oh, pleeease. why don't you put on some black jeans and peg them...
gary: don't tempt me.

lij: ahh daah! (in a sing-song voice)
mad: i think he just said all done! why?
gary: (sniffs) oh! he just pooped!
lij: ahh daah!

best moments...
watching lij with his first ice cream cone (held by himself)
lij trying to tiptoe off undetected into the ocean at rehoboth beach
luci and me playing like mermaids in the water
taking pictures with luci's fisher price camera
the mountains
the countryside at sunrise... and sunset
the car dvd player with 7 straight einsteins episodes burned (a life-saver)
wesley's baptism... denouncing satan 3x while facing west
coffee to go
watching lij gasp and laugh with all the windows rolled down, hair blowing
collecting shiny rocks on the beach with luci
later finding those same rocks in her pocket
chelle's awesome room dedicated to kid toys
$63 in dimes, $82 in cash we just happened to find in a blue piggy bank

19 months old

he clings to my leg when i walk through the door. later he's at the fridge, holding the water dispenser button down, soaking the floor and his shirt. i change him, then lock the gate to the kitchen to keep him out. i start making dinner. he turns his attention to the tissue box which is parked on top of the couch. i hear an "uh oh" from big sister. the tissue box is now empty and our couch is white. i stuff the tissues back in the box and take a couple to wipe the sweat from his face. dinner is starting to burn. now sister has to go potty; so he runs in too, throwing the soaps and shampoo bottles from the sides of the tub into the tub. crash. i divert his attention from the bathroom, leading him away. he grabs the toilet paper roll on the way out, giving it a good yank. on the way back to the kitchen i notice a small wooden train parked halfway into the vcr door. i take it out. "no!" i say. "no!" he repeats. i put him in his chair and feed him eggs. he loves eggs. "mmmm!" he murmurs with each bite. i turn to get a napkin. he puts a handful in his hair. later he giggles as i hold him over the trash, gently shaking the crumbs from his clothes. he cries when i bathe him because sister's not bathing too. i go to fetch his milk. minutes later i find him standing in the front bedroom with fistfuls of vaseline, watching it stretch and glisten in the sunlight between his fingers. this time i call in back-up. "gaaaaaaarrrrrrryyyyyy!" we later carry him upstairs to get him to sleep. he needs medicine but refuses to take it. yesterday he vomited after we gave it. tonight he starts gagging at the sight of the dropper. we decide to sneak it into his mouth after he's asleep. but first we have to get him there. so i hold him very close. he wraps his little arm around my belly and closes his eyes. i wait 15 minutes before i start opening his bottom lip. i'm almost able to get this slim straw-like appendage in before he twitches and spits it out. then as i'm hovering precariously over him with the medicine, barely breathing, gary starts cracking up, which makes me laugh and shake the bed. lij opens his eyes and looks at me, then falls back asleep. "he's not relaxed enough. let's set the alarm for 2am so we can give him the medicine then." "okay," i agree. it seemed like a good idea. beep beep beep beep. 2am. lij and gary wake up; i don't. who needs medicine anyway?

heyo?

elijah's never really said much. he does certain things so you know he's understanding things. he's now coming into his own, and i've finally deciphered some of the things he's saying. heyo? = hello? (stealing one of our cell phones); ashtebah = basketball; ije = lijah; ooshi = luci; mmMA = grandma; nana = banana; cookee = cookie; choochoo = choo choo; mami = mommy; dadi = daddy...

i came home yesterday. he came running, "yaaaay mami," burying his face into my abdomen. luci has many things to say nowadays. but she always asks, "mommy, when it's good morning, are you going to go to work?"

sigh.

luci took creative liberties at her first dance recital. her partners kind of forgot their moves, and were just standing there. so she proceeded to spin a couple of times, stop, then blow kisses to the crowd. goodness. she had such a... glow... about her when i met her offstage.

Lord, please help me to raise them the right way.