many faces

Howdy folks,

Mama bear is under the weather so Papa bear had to jump in yesterday after a shortened work day to save the day. I came home early and decided there is no point in all of US staying inside just because she wasn't running on all cylinders. So I loaded up the twins in the Chariot and strolled over to the local park. I learned a few things so let me jot them down for NEXT time so as not to repeat the same mistakes...

1. bring apple juice. This will avoid 8 minutes walking home hearing them scream for apple juice at such a high pitch dogs were barking inside the neighbor's houses as we strolled by.

2. bring diapers AND wipes. duh. I don't know what people did before wipes. I am SO glad to be living in this century with the technology and advanced cleanliness.

3. put shoes on Layla, not Crocs. The poor girl had to stop every 30 seconds and sit down to pick the wood chips out of her Crocs because the playground is covered in mulch.

4. don't eat Cheetoes in front of the twins as we stroll. They don't need a daily dose of MonoSodium Glutamate, but it's a tough sell to say, "You shouldn't eat these chips! they are bad for you." when I'm eating them myself.

Our time at the park was half observation and half playing. Easton pointed out every ant, dog, cloud, as well as the moon... several times.

The highlight of the trip to the park was hearing Easton and Layla use their "oustide voice" on command as they happily swung on the swings. The neighbors jogging by burst out laughing.

Easton is getting so big that he has to duck down when walking under the play structure. That's new.


However, he's still way too young to climb the big boy stairs, but that didn't stop him from trying. I give him a A+ for effort! His adventurous spirit is taking shape.


Layla's personality is so accentuated and flamboyant it is difficult to capture in pictures. Yes, she is almost 2 years old and still has a pacifier at night when she sleeps. I can tell you in this next picture she was saying something like, "don't even THINK about taking my paci away!"


We've talked about this ad nauseum with no real consensus for how or when to break the paci addiction. It could involve an "intervention" and be aired on the network reality TV series.

Layla also has a way of giving the best smiles and hugs I could ever imagine. Makes me want to give her the world.

I'm amazed how long her hair is finally growing. We've been waiting on her bald head to fill in since the day she was born and she looks more girly all the time with the long hair. I see the progress every night in the bath tub as I wash her hair and pour the big cup of water over her head. Her hair straightens out and I can see it growing down past her neck.

One other side of Layla is the rough-house angle. As they run around like crazy monster's while listening to Old MacDonald she caught and tackled Easton. His only defense was to combat her with the bouncy ball across the head. They both fell down giggling and I called it a tie.


One last side of Layla is the sweet, shyness. She jumps on our bed, lays down, and says, "cover up?" So I gladly throw the quilt over her.


After looking at this picture several times, it reminded me of another similar picture taken about a year ago. She has such beautiful eyes and that same sweet look of innocence. Here's the Way Back Whensday picture of the week:


With much less hair and chubbier cheeks. :)

My mom arrives in 5 days so the countdown is on! I miss my mama...

See you soon!