That's how you know it's love.

Occasionally I catch Connor and Sophia having a lovable moment together. A moment like this little cuddle on the couch. 

Most of the time, however, my kids kind of look like this. These are the faces they made when they realized I was taking pictures. 

And one...two...three...

Connor is a special kid. And I do mean special as in kind of strange. He seldom does what I expect him to do and is frequently doing things that I never imagined he would be doing .

For example, last week I woke up and came out into the living room only to find Connor already awake and watching television. This is not wholly unexpected, he does this a lot. He wakes up around 6:00 am and I am more of a roll out of bed at 6:30 am girl.

What was unexpected is that he wasn't watching his usual favorite cartoon, Curious George. He was instead watching a PBS show called Classical Stretch and...well...he was kind of into it.

He was actually doing a pretty good job of exercising along with the host. He was enough into it that he didn't even notice that I snapped this photo.

Being Connor's mom is many things, but dull is never one of them.

Girls, they wanna sing.

I am discovering that there are many and various ways that Connor and Sophia are different. Some of these differences may just be differences in personality, but I am starting to think that some of them are a result of the difference between boys and girls.

Here are some of the things that I am discovering about Sophia that seem like they may be more than just personality quirks.

1. She is a less messy eater than Connor. 
2. She cares more about hygiene than he does. Sophia hates to be messy. If she spills a little bit of something on herself she immediately wants a paper towel to clean it up. She comes and asks to have her hands washed if they get dirty from playing outside or eating a snack. 
3. Sophia can brush her teeth without toothpaste getting all over the bathroom. 
4. Sophia puts her own clothes away. Not always in the right place, but they end up in a drawer. Connor...not so much. 
5. Sophia cares for babies. She wraps her babies in a blanket, takes their temperature, rocks them, changes their diapers, and shares her drink with them. It is like she is a little mother in training. 
6. And my personal favorite...Sophia sings. All. The. Time. She loves to sing. What is most remarkable is that she has learned songs from her favorite movie, Tangled, and will sing along with them when we watch the movie. Connor likes to sing too, but more in a I just made up this song and now I want you to sing it with me, even though you don't know any of the words kind of way. Which is also fun, but different than singing songs from a movie. 

Perhaps these things are more universally true of girls, or perhaps they are just part of what makes Sophia the way she is. I suppose a couple of years from now I'll have a better idea of the answer. After all, a couple of years from now I will be able to report on Elinore's burgeoning personality. 

Finally, some snow.

It has been a very mild winter in Fort Wayne. We finally got our first real snowfall of probably two or three inches. Even though it was a bit chilly yesterday, Connor just couldn't wait to go out and play in the snow. 

 Bundled up and ready to go out. 

 A winter wonderland ready to be explored. I think his favorite part was that no one had walked through the snow yet. He made short work of putting a million footprints in the yard. 

Nothing is better on a cold and snowy day than some hot chili. I made a bowl of Southwest Chicken Chili and it was pretty tasty. Perfect for warming you back up after playing outside!

Yeah...I should have known better.

Last week I had a bit of a baby scare. To be more specific, I hadn't felt Elinore move for a couple of days and it was starting to freak me out.

I get freaked out pretty easily when I am pregnant, but luckily, because of my history, my doctors always take the better safe than sorry approach. As such, when I called and told them that she hadn't moved for a couple of days, they said "get in here."

Ben and I went to the doctor and they did a sonogram to make sure that she was doing just fine. And, of course, as soon as I laid down on that sonogram table, she gave me a huge "you worry too much" kick. Still, the sonogram tech...sonographer...sonogramer...whatever they are called...went through, checked everything out, and pronounced our baby to be very healthy. Elinore was so bored by this whole ordeal that she actually yawned in the middle of it. Which, as a parent, was totally awesome to see. It made the entire freak out almost worth it.

Since that point in time, she has stopped moving for approximately fifteen minutes. I see this course of action on her part as her way of saying "you want movement, I'll give you movement."

After giving birth to, and parenting Connor and Sophia, you would think I would be more careful about saying things like "I just wish she would move more." Maybe some day I'll learn, but after 32 years, I'm skeptical.

Thank goodness.

Connor put a new sign on his door and I, for one, am very relieved.

I have never felt so safe in our house.

For those of you who can't read six year old creative spelling, allow me to translate: No dinosaurs allowed. I tried.

I am not sure what the I tried is about...but that is the beautiful thing about the inner workings of Connor's mind. I never quite know what any of it is about. I do, however, know that it is often a fun surprise.

I kind of like these kids.

It turns out that against all odds, and definitely against their behavior on a regular basis, that I kind of like my kids.

Okay, okay, I totally freaking adore them. I think they are two of the worlds cutest children and I just want to kiss their faces all the time.

Seriously though, don't you kind of want to kiss their faces a little bit?

Yeah, I knew you would.