TIDBITS........

I have to rush through this post as I'm supposed to be getting ready to go out of town......but there are some things I need to write down so my already horrid memory doesn't forget just how sweet life can be. When I return from vacay, perhaps I'll try and organize these "thoughts" in a more mannerly fashion, but, eh....I doubt it!

*The girls are definitely digging being sisters these days....that's not to say they don't fight, but there has been a lot of positive play time going on. This leads to some really cute moments that make me get that melty-gushy feeling. For instance, we were swimming the other day, and Julia was talking about her purple finger (which Kate slammed the door on about 3 wks. ago). She loves to talk about her boo-boo, and mentions it to me at least 100x a day. Besides wanting the world to know her fingernail is, indeed, purple, she also wants to talk about how "door shut my finger", and how much it hurt. During this conversation in the pool, Julia looked up at me and said "kiss it all better." I assumed she wanted, me, the irreplacable Mommy, to kiss it all better (hell, we even have a song about kissing it all better). Nope, I got the toddler look of death from her as I tried to lean in for a smooch. At the top of her surprisingly mighty lungs, she yelled, "NO MOMMY KISS!! I want KAAAATE kiss better!" Luckily, Kate was in an obliging mood and all ended well.

*The same day, Kate decided that she needed a hug from Julia. Now Julia isn't as forthcoming with the cuddles as Kate, so I was a bit worried when Kate started bothering Julia with her non-stop, "Gia, hug Kate? Gia, hug Kate." Julia gave Kate a very sweet, and quite long hug, and then the shit hit the fan. Kate decided that since that first hug was so great, she needed another. And another. And....yeah, you get the drift. All hell broke loose as Kate chased Julia around the yard screaming for more hugs, and Julia screamed "leave Gia lone Kate" over, and over, and over. Kate would not be distracted and I seriously couldn't even find any words as she proceeded to have one of the most colossal meltdowns I have ever seen her have. Yikes.

*The following is a conversation that I had with the girls this week while driving home from the sitter.

Me: So, Julia, I heard you were crying a lot for Michelle this morning.

Julia: Yes. Buggy B crynin.

M: Why were you crying, Bug?

J: I sad.

M: But why were you sad sweetie?

Kate: Mommy, Gia crynin she miss Karen. Mommy Karen. Mommy, YOU be Karen. Yes?

*I'm so bad about keeping up with the girls' baby books (&, ahem, this blog), but I am so entertained by some of the words Julia uses--mainly b/c of her super-sweet girly voice, but also because of the typical mispronunciations that occur as she tries to figure it all out. Some of my current faves include: leakybug (ladybug), bubbafly (butterfly), cool (pool, as in "go simmin in new cool, mommy"), fider (spider), oppodots (opposites), and helipocter (self-explanatory, no?). My all-time fave, which actually isn't that new is "I carry you", which clearly translates to "pick me up".

*Time outs continue to be a success although there are still plenty of tantrums going on. Julia has gotten much better about apologizing, which she never used to do. Kate still spends a heck of a lot more time in time-out than Julia, but Julia will typically keep her sister company while she's serving her sentence.

I know there's so much more, but these are some of my faves. We're off to the shore for a week w/Scott's folks, so I won't be near a computer......hoping to get loads of good pics of our sugars to share when we return.

Heart hug.