Tell the truth...

If you found your 2-year-old like this, singing her ABCs, would you think she was weird?


And when I went to turn off her light last night, I found her like this:


I didn't know she'd need a backpack for her trip to never-never-land.

She wasn't overly tired when she went to bed last night, so I guess she played a little in her room, and she does like to wear backpacks around the house. So I guess this shouldn't surprise me. I was able to unwind it from her arms without disturbing her too much and she went right back to sleep.

Kids.

A lot of pics...not a lot of words...

Obligatory zoo dino-egg picture:

Picnic at the park:

Mmmmmm...pb & j sandwiches...



Say, is that a tiger?

RUN!

Banished to the kitchen to eat popsicles...

Am I the only one who's thinking he just got kicked in the...uh...you know whats? He didn't, but it's funny nonetheless...

Frank, impressed as usual:

Bouncy bouncy kids:



I loved this part of soccer practice...chase the coach!

Enjoying a snack after what turned out to be the last game of the season:

Cuddly cousin time! Oh, and there's Wicket too!

Ella getting her Henry tattoo at "A Day Out with Thomas":

Ben's getting a Thomas tattoo, of course:

The kids with the main train himself...THOMAS!

Give her something to eat and she'll be good...

Watching the passersby:

Showing his tattoo to said passersby:

"Bye-bye!"

Ben would not look at the camera...too busy coloring:

Ben was on his own to meet Sir Topham Hatt...Ella was freaked out by him.

Random play at the train day (I'm sick of typing "A Day Out with Thomas"...whoops, I did it anyways.)

Ella in her big girl bed!

"Sssshhhhhh. There's a butterfly on my face."

Diggin'...

Scoopin'...

"Hi!"

Sleepy kids:

Cute kids:

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...

The birthday party...

We had Ben's birthday party on Saturday (yesterday) and, by all accounts, it was a success! Here are some random pictures:

The Diego Rain Forest Cake:


Baby Jaguar cupcakes:


Ben definitely approved!


The kids enjoying said cake and cupcakes:


Opening the loot!



I think that Ben had a really great time. The kids played downstairs (only a few minor scuffles!) and therefore the upstairs stayed fairly clean. Except for the wrapping paper fight that ensued while Ben was opening his presents (thanks for that, Uncle Chris!).

I can't believe he's 3 in just a couple of hours...

For those that are interested in Ella's sleeping progress, she slept right through the night on Friday, from about 10pm to 8am. Last night, she woke up at 5am-ish, and cried for about 25 minutes in total. I went in after 20 minutes, rubbed her back a bit, and left. Gord said she cried for about 3 more seconds and then she quieted and went back to sleep until after 9am. (I, of course, sought refuge in the bathroom.) We'll see how tonight goes!

Update to training:

It seems to be working. Ella was up only once last night, at 2:28am. I went in at 2:38am for a couple of minutes, then left. I hid in the bathroom (playing solitaire this time) and at 2:57am when I came out, she was quiet. She's just waking up now, at 8:30am.

However, now that I've blogged about it, the "curse" will take effect and she won't sleep through the night until she's 15.

Let the training begin!

Sleep training, that is. Last night, Ella went to bed at 8:30pm. At 10:00pm, she was up crying. So I went in and laid her back down. She wailed and sat back up. Now, imagine doing this about 30 times. Finally, I left her room. She cried and cried some more. An hour passes and she is settled down, back to sleep. So I go to bed. At 2:08am, she wakes up again. I go in and the process begins again, but I figure out (after 20 minutes or so) that I upset her more by doing this than I would if I just left her alone. So I leave and go to the bathroom, where I can turn on the fan and play some Kakuro in peace and quiet. I come out, and she's quiet. It's 2:42am. At 3:00am, she starts back up again, and who comes wandering into our room? Ben. So I take him back to his room and lay down with him, while Ella cries. She finally stopped around 3:20am. And she didn't wake up until 8:30am.

I wasn't quite prepared emotionally for this. Gord was reassuring me last night that it worked for Ben, and it's time for Ella to sleep through the night, and that I was doing the right thing. It's just that I started last night 'cause it had only been an hour and a half since she was last fed, and I didn't want to just stick the boob in her mouth to put her back to sleep. And then it just snowballed into letting her cry it out. Oh well, it's not like I'm weaning her. She still gets lots of boob time during the day.

I'm sure I'll get over it pretty quickly the first night she, and I, get a full night's sleep.

And now, for some random cuteness from the Sheppard kids!

She loves mealtimes!


And Cheerios...


Taking his turtle for a walk (he made the turtle at our playgroup):


Mmmmmm...chocolate...(she got a hold of Ben's ice cream sundae spoon when we weren't looking!)


Sleepy baby.


A nap is a nap.


When asked what the label said, Ben's response was, "B-E-N 5".


We are really working on the letters with Ben right now. He and I were doing a Dora puzzle yesterday and I asked him what the letters were. "D-O-R-A" he said. "And what does that spell?" I asked. He said, "D-O-R-A spells Dora and Boots!"