We're still here!

In case people are wonderin'.

What's been going on here? Lemme think.

Ben ended up being sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick on Friday night. We came home from our evening out with some friends and the kids were still awake. Ben said that his boobies hurt. Then he came to me and said that he needed to go to bed. So I willingly took him (Holy crap! He ASKED to go to bed!) After I tucked him in, he decided to barf all over himself, the bed and me. Of course, I stick my hand out, to catch the barf, I guess. Reflexes...they aren't what they used to be.

So it was a long night, me and Ben, up every 3 hours or so. We think it was all the pool water he swallowed at his swimming lessons on Friday night. A lovely thought.

He's back to his chipper self, terrorizing his little sister, refusing to eat, acting like a maniac. We were worried there for a bit on Saturday morning, when he was very cuddly and relaxed and low-key.

Knock on wood, but Ella is starting to say some words. She understands absolutely everything you say to her, but she just didn't say things herself. Here are some of her recent accomplishments (words that she'll say most of the time):
- Eye (Hi)
- Eye diddy (Hi kitty)
- Deeeez (Cheese)
- Doh (No or Go)
- Dap (Clap)
- Bwoooo (Blue - she said it this morning)
- Duh-dowww (Touchdown! BTW, Vikes win again! And maybe next year Bombers!)

And she signs lots of stuff still too. She is becoming quite emphatic with her "eat" sign. Very cute.

We were playing a game today where I would say "Go" and Ella and Ben would run and dance and shake their booties until I said "Stop" while holding my hand out. They would stop, and Ella would hold her hand out like mine. Then I would say "Go" and the game would start again. It was absolutely adorable.

Three of Ella's eye teeth have finally cut through...one to go. This girl is a cranky teether, believe me. Just when I get comfortable sleeping all night long, she decides to get really cranky and wake up for an hour and a half in the middle of the night. Just 5 more teeth to go...

OK, I'm tired and I need to go to bed. Here are some pics to round out this post...

Funnies!

While I'm thinking about them:

- Ben takes swimming lessons at a pool in the city - right by the pool, there is a big hill that overlooks a man-made lake. After lessons, Ben usually likes to run to or up the hill. Tonight, he and I ran up the hill, looked around, and ran back down. When we stopped running, I asked him to give me a high-5 for a fun run. He looks at me, says, "I'm all tuckered out" and then very weakly gives me the high-5 I asked for. I laughed out loud and said, "Bug, you make me laugh!" and he says, "Mommy, YOU make ME laugh!"

- About a month ago (yeah, yeah, I'm late blogging about it), Ella had been playing with Gord's keys (she loves keys). The next morning, we were running around trying to all get out of the house on time, and Gord can't find his keys anywhere. No biggie, we'll just use mine until we find them. So we looked again that night, no luck. The next day, I decided to actually empty the sinkful of dirty dishes. And in the bottom of the sink, with all the dirty, wet cutlery, under the dirty, wet plates and cups? Gord's keys. The "lock" button is still a little squishy, but we figured out her hiding place.

- Ella does the cutest little signs - for drink, eat, sleep, baby, flower, please, etc. Adorable. Too bad we don't ever videotape her. Ever. Gotta fix that.

Off to bed...zzzzzzzzz...

Once upon a time there was a dragon and a chicken...

Ella the chicken:

See here for a picture of Ben in the chicken costume (it's a hand-me-down)...

Ben the dragon:


Starting out:


Doesn't this picture look spooky? It's a ghost...woooooooooo!


Actually, it's just 'cause the lens fogged up when we got back in the house. Ella was a little eager to dive into the haul!

Both kids surveying the loot: