Words.

"Mom, I said 'Hi' to my soke-detector! Did you know that soke-detectors are really nice?!"

London was terrified of her smoke detector. For weeks, she woke up in the middle of the night, crying, screaming, that her smoke detector was going to get her. WHAT?! We tried everything we could think of to reassure her, and finally found success in convincing her that the smoke detector is an exceptionally nice friend. And now my daughter talks to her smoke detector.

Elle is blossoming into quite the little personality. It is amazing to see how different she is from London. London was dainty, docile, proper, and quiet. Elle is bubbly, vivacious, chatty, dramatic, and messy. London cried if her hands got dirty while eating a meal, and would literally pause and wait for me to wash them. Elle plays with her food, banging her hands on her tray, and throws her food all around her, with the most delightful smile on her face. She is so ticklish that I can't even put socks on her feet without her squealing! All day long, she brings me stories to read to her over and over again. She starts to whimper each time I say "the end" and set the story down. These are the words she knows so far...

Hi
Hello
Bye
Dad
Mommy
No (it is my FAVORITE! Like, I need to record her saying NO because I can't handle how cute it is!)
Boo (her nickname)
Puppy
Go
Wow
Yeah

London's vocabulary has suddenly exploded, too! Out of nowhere, she started using words like:

extraordinary
terrific
imagination
outstanding
enormous

Each time I hear her say a new word, I get so excited!

London asked me the other day, "Mom, what does 'love' mean?"
"Love is when someone is really special to you, and you want to be with them all the time."
"Oh."(pause)... "I love Taylor."

At their soccer party.

The whole adorable team!

London was thrilled to be Snow White for Halloween. As I was curling her hair, she said, "Oh, no! Mom, Snow White has black hair! Not RED hair!" She went trick-or-treating with her cousins--- and collected candy in her "Halloween purse-hat".

Church Halloween Party.

A few weeks ago, an ad for Disney On Ice came on our TV. London immediately jumped up from her seat and came running to me. She cried, "Mom, Minnie Mouse is coming to Washington! Can we go to Disneyland Ice?! Please?! I really want to go to Disneyland Ice!" She counted down the days, the hours, and the minutes, and then I took her, dressed up as Ariel, on a Mommy-daughter date, to "Disneyland Ice".

 If you're thinking about taking your daughter to Disney On Ice, stop thinking, and take her. It is a three-year-old's paradise. For two entire hours, London was completely enthralled by the show! She sat on my lap, laughing and singing and clapping, and when it was over, she asked if we
could watch it again!

The finale!

Joy: A feeling of great pleasure and happiness

Last weekend, my dad and baby sister flew up from San Diego. Maeci is twelve years younger than me, and lives one thousand two hundred and forty-eight miles away, but oh. my. goodness. how I love her! She is considerate, kind, humble, patient, positive, tender, brilliant, beautiful, hilarious, and so much fun to be with. She fills me in on all the important things- like snap-chat, and that facebook is no longer cool, and that it's embarrassing to have a crush on someone who is younger than you. She kept saying, "I can't believe you actually live in the forest."

My dad was meant to be a grandpa. London followed him around all weekend, knowing that he would give her whatever she asked for if she said "Um, Popi?" in just the right tone of voice. 

At London's soccer game.

At Thomasson Farm's Pumpkin Patch.

We drove to Enumclaw, which is this tiny town thirty minutes from me, with the most picturesque farms and quaint, colonial-style homes. Each home sits on acres and acres of rolling green hills, all against the backdrop of an evergreen forest. There, at Thomasson Farm, we picked pumpkins, jumped in a pit of corn kernels, and the girls enjoyed a petting zoo.

"We're going on a walk, we're going on a walk..."

I miss my family. It's harder than I thought it would be to be more than just a car-ride from their open doors. And so they fly to see me---okay, it's mostly just to see London and Elle--- every few weeks. And I get to show them my forest, and they play with my red-headed angels, and, in turn, they leave me utterly full of joy.  

Stay this little.

The picture we used for her invitation!

Elle is currently following London around my house, an apple slice in one hand, a puppy in the other, and saying in the cheeriest voice you've ever heard, "HI! HI! HI!" -----She has now dropped the puppy and replaced it with a kitty, and is bouncing up and down, hugging the kitty with all her baby-strength, and laughing. And this is my one-year-old baby.

My dad and baby sister, Maeci, and Kyle's mom all came for Elle's first birthday. It was an ice cream social, and I loved the way it turned out!

Setting up...

The finished product.

Ice cream play-dough. It was a hit!

I love my sweet, affectionate, absolutely bubbly, baby girl. Kyle made this video for me for her birthday, and I cried/laughed my way through it! This is who she is, and I just watch in wonder.

Because Nana is so special...

For an entire hour after we dropped my mom off at the airport, London sobbed, "But I really, really, really miss Nana! And I really want her to come back now! I am so upset!" And all my reassurings that we would see her again at Christmastime did nothing to console that three-year-old broken heart.

My mother turned the big 50 last weekend, and spent her birthday here! It was her first time visiting us since we moved in February and her first trip ever to Seattle. 

Before my mother flew in, I was an absolute stress-case. I re-dusted and re-polished every surface of my house, fluffed all the towels, and organized my spices. Even as a grown up, I crave the approval of the woman I aspire to be. 

My mom's flight got in just after London's bedtime. I was going to leave her at home with Kyle and Elle, but London told me she could stay up late and drive to the airport with me. She said, "I want to come wis you because Nana is so special." She tried her very hardest, but as we pulled off the Sea-Tac exit, Taylor Swift songs from the back seat became the light snore of sweet London.

The whole drive home, my mom and I kept saying, "I can't believe you/I are/am actually here! It feels like a dream!" 

The next morning, we walked the reserve along Lake Wilderness, mostly because it's my favorite thing about living here.

We drove to Downtown Seattle on Saturday to show her the Seattle Center, which includes the Space Needle, Science Center, and the International Fountain.

And London had her first soccer game!

She watched London tap and leap at dance class, and we celebrated her birthday at the Black Diamond Bakery and the Nutty Squirrel Gelato. 

Of course the activities were fun, but what I loved the very most was my mom in my kitchen. She has this grace about her, while she is cooking, that is seriously fascinating. Maybe in twenty years or so, I'll figure out how she does it!

And then there was London, who wanted to be in my mom's arms for the entire weekend. I laughed as they spent hours pretending that London's stuffed animals were talking to one another... "This is Marie, and she is my Dad! And my name is Pickles. Pickles is my first name, and Pongo is my last name!" She even insisted on cuddling in Nana's twin bed to fall asleep at night. London loves her Nana. But I think I love her even more.