A cutie-patootie

Check out the adorable pictures of our niece, Sari, at her blog.

Harry countdown update:
Days until movie comes out: 5
Days until I'll see the movie: 8 (single digit - yay!)
Days until book is released: 15
Days until I buy the book: 15
Days until I finish the book: 16 (I'll stay up all night if I have to)

Ben is currently at Grandma & Grandpa's house for a holiday. He sure doesn't want to talk at length with me on the phone; here's how our conversations go:

Mommy: "Hi Ben! How are you?"
Ben: "Hi Mommy! Fine, thank you! How are you?"
Mommy: "I'm fine Ben."
Ben: "How's Daddy feeling?"
Mommy: "He's doing good. What did you do today?"
Ben: "What's Ella doing?" (he could hear her in the background)
Mommy: "She's playing with the magnets on the fridge."
Ben: "OK, so good-bye Mommy!"

This takes all of 8.2 seconds. So I get the full reports from Mom or Dad. Of course, I'm sure that they leave out certain facts, like that Ben is eating lots of treats, having ice cream for breakfast, going to bed at midnight, listening to rock & roll music, watching PG-13 rated movies, etc.

On Tuesday night, we went to the grocery store before supper. The kids (well, Ben, though I'm not so sure of Ella's innocence anymore!) know that at Sobey's, they get a cookie, so as we entered the store, Ben says, "Yay! A cookie!" I negotiate with him that we'll get the cookies but that we'll put them in my purse to have after supper. All's good. I put the cookies in my purse, which is sitting next to Ella (Ben is in the big part of the cart). I'm pushing them around, doing the shopping, and finally notice a weird look on Ella's face - a guilty look. As our eyes are locked, I see her hand slowly reach into my purse and then travel to her mouth. I'm stunned at first at my 14 month old's boldness! Here she had been reaching in, grabbing little chunks of whatever cookie she touched, and eating them! She'd probably only successfully eaten a loonie-sized piece, but still. What...a...sneak. However, she'll eat all her supper whether she has a cookie before or not, whereas Ben won't.