Dear Blog,

I haven't forgotten you. I realized the other day that I had not posted in awhile. I can't say a whole lot of interesting things have happened in the meantime, but the main reason I have failed to post is mostly because I have felt just plain exhausted. Luckily, I don't have many more weeks before I get back to normal---or something close to it. But enough about me...I know the real reason people visit this blog is to see what's up with Anna and Brooke.

They're doing well. I must admit they've been a bit difficult to handle this last week, but I think that has more to do with me being tired then them being harder than usual.

Anna, at present, is under the weather. I'm not sure where it came from, but she has some kind of intestinal upset. Not pretty. But, despite her malady, she somehow manages to maintain most of her exuberance, as pictured below...

















We got an American girl magazine in the mail the other day (how did they know to send that here?) and Anna was enraptured by all the dolls. I asked her which one was her favorite, and without a moment's hesitation, she pointed to the one in the picture below. Unfortunately for her, it will be a few more years before she gets a $100 doll.













Here is an update on Anna's flesh wound. It is healing wonderfully. I removed the sutures myself last weekend. There was no way I was going to take her to the ER again to remove them when I have removed at least a million sutures as a vet tech. She did very well, and sat very still for me---much better then any of my canine and feline patients ever did. We are faithfully putting cocoa butter on it, but it's not something that you can see unless you are really looking for it. Besides, scars add character, in my opinion.













As far as logistical updates, she's talking great, and can be given directives that are very helpful to me. (ex: "Anna, can you please hand me that towel?" "Okay. Here you go, Mama.")

She is in a size 4 now!! I actually got her jeans for fall/winter from the regular girls section! It almost brought a tear to my eye...until I saw how much cheaper regular girls clothes are to toddler clothes. Good grief! It was a full 4 dollars cheaper per pair to buy size 4 girls jeans versus 4T jeans in the toddler section. I feel used.
She does a great job of enter-
taining herself, so I don't have to constantly preoccupy her. She loves her little baby doll, she loves sliding down and playing on her slide, she loves to color, she loves her kitchen set, and she plays with almost every single toy she has every day. Her newest phrase is "Look at me, Mama!" She wants to make sure I am aware of how special she is ;)

Another thing she loves is her sister. Sometimes she's, shall we say, a little rough, but I don't think it's entirely malevolent. She talks to her, and plays with her. She calls her "baby sister," but when I ask her "Who's this?" pointing at Brooke, she says, "That's Brooke, Mama," with a tone that indicates my level of stupidity. Overall, she is such a joy, even as we walk through the usual 2 year old issues.













Brooke, too, is becoming more and more self-sufficient. I have started giving her those biter biscuits to gnaw on---under close supervision. If the amount of messiness is an indicator of pleasure, obviously Brooke thoroughly enjoys herself.














The picture below is worth at least a few words as it pertains to Brooke's emerging personality. I am so blessed to have such happy children. There is no angst or reserve as of yet.
She is saying "da-da" and ba-ba." No "ma-ma" as of yet, but I am not one to push that sort of thing. I don't need the verbal reinforcement. I know she loves me, purely because she follows me around like a little puppy. If I get up and walk into another room, she takes off crawling after me. And if I don't stay in her line of sight, she makes me well aware of her displeasure.

Here is a short video to show you some of Brooke's linguistical accomplishments, as well as offer you an insight into her super cute personality. I love baby talk and big baby smiles :)

So, blog, I hope your feelings aren't too hurt about my 10 day absence. As you can see, there's not too much you missed.