miscellaneous good life

Addie's being particularly cute and funny lately. Paul and I are pretty sure she's the goofiest little kid we've ever met. She loves experimenting with silly faces and, although she talks much less than our other two kids at this age (translation: she doesn't talk at all), she "tells" jokes with her facial expressions that leave us all giggling, which in turn makes her bust up laughing, then she'll make a new face to try to make us laugh more, which usually works...it's a wonderful cycle.

She loves playing with Carson & Layla, especially with toys that "do" something (light up, make noise, etc.). The older two call her Booster and Tank (thanks to Paul for teaching them my brothers' pet name for me when I was a baby, which C&L LOVE and decided to bestow it upon their sister), and we hear lots of deliciously happy shrieks and laughter when the three of them play.

Sadly for babysitters, she's not as fun-loving and silly when mom & dad aren't around...in fact, she's downright ornery. Dah well. She'll grow out of that. But in the meantime, we hope she doesn't change too much -- we are loving who she is right now!

(You wouldn't think it's on purpose, but Addie loves to "pose" with her eyes closed [above, top left]. It's funny every time, to me. And she'll sit for extendo periods of time with her legs pointed back [bottom left]. In making her silly faces, she's developing an underbite [bottom right] that I hope doesn't become permanent.)

Lately, my kids have been such good playmates. Bathtime is a little crowded, though, and C&L often request that Addie be removed early so they can play better. I dunno, it's not always like this (and we still have our fair share of fights and tears), but the kids are just having a good time being a family lately. I don't think I need to detail how that makes me feel.

I've discovered that I'm a lazy home-body at heart (embarrassing to admit it, but I'm content, for the most part, to hang out at home in PJs all day given the chance), which makes me so grateful to have friends who are creative and proactive in doing stuff. One Saturday afternoon while the men were golfing, Amanda initiated a picnic to Ryan's Place Park. The kids had a fabulous time, and I loved hanging, as always, with Amanda (aka Mandy Norton).

Some highlights: (1) Carson and Macy were being "bullied" (their words) by a 6-year-old girl who kept coming up to them and, with a stupid grin on her face, waving and yelling "au revior!" They actually had a fun time trying to avoid this girl, and after the girl left with her mom, we all made a game of shouting "au revior" at each other. (2) Layla and Polly loved the Cinderella cement blocks; they ate their lunch on them and would touch base on them periodically during their play. (3) Carson wanted the camera to take pics of his favorite cement blocks. I told him that would be fine. I had no idea that his favorite blocks consisted of ALL the shooting stars ones... (My camera contained more than the three you see below.)