hugs

elenora is growing so much. in the last few days i've really noticed that when she hugs me her little arms now go almost completely around my neck, so it feels much more like a real hug than when she was a baby and i just cuddled her. she's so sweet when she throws her arms around me and says "are you holding mommy very tightly in your arms?"

we had her 2 year wellness exam this week. she was 34 and 1/2 inches tall, and 27 lbs 2 oz. she's still in the 75th percentile for height. 50th for weight. in the last 6 months she has only gained 1 lb. but i'm not too concerned because she has grown taller and has just kind of lost some of her baby chub. the doctor and nurses were all very impressed with her verbal abilities. she got one shot, but didn't cry at all. then they had to draw blood for a lead test, and of course she cried, but she recovered fairly quickly and was even thanking the nurse and saying goodbye to her as we left.

we had a busy week. monday afternoon m. came over with nathan for a short visit. she very generously gave me a huge bag full of beautiful clothes, which was such a blessing because i was just gearing up to go get some new clothing for myself, and now i don't have to. all her hand-me-downs are just lovely--good name clothing that i just would never splurge on myself but feel so lucky wearing.

i've been wearing them all week!

when j. got home monday afternoon he spontaneously took us all golfing in the late afternoon. we got a golf cart and j. drove the ball down to the green and i putted the ball in while ella held the flag (with a little help) and then she picked up the ball for us. it's the perfect family activity for us: j. is doing sports, i am outside, and ella is with her mommy and daddy.

monday night i had girls' night with s. and k. went to tapas for burritos. so good.

(i can't even remember what we did tuesday. hm.)

wednesday we had ella's doctor appointment in the morning and then in the afternoon we had a playdate with e. where we took the girls to the park on the ocean and she told me she is pregnant with baby number 2. which made me feel a little like i should be pregnant now, too, because it was so wonderful to be pregnant with her the first time and to have our girls the same age.

(but we're still waiting awhile longer.)

thursday i went to the dermatologist to try to figure out what is wrong with my fingers again. he gave me some topical ointments and told me to rub the baby wipes on my inside-elbow each time i use one to see if it irritates me there, too. i hope i can figure this out. the ointments have helped, though.

thursday afternoon we had a playdate with aurora and s. where we went to their house and walked to a park. i've had to teach elenora to "adamently" say the phrases "don't push me, rora!" and "don't hit me, rora!" we love aurora, but she can be a little too aggressive. so i'm teaching ella to be more assertive.

friday we met up with l.e. and went to crane beach. while we were at the beach we saw horses splashing along the ocean water. must be an off-season thing. ella took her shoes off and buried her feet in the sand. when the horses went by the first time, l.e. said "the horses can't see your feet!" about 1/2 an hour later we took a walk down the beach and we saw another horse and elenora said "they can see your feet!" and i had no clue why she was saying that until l.e. reminded me that her feet had been buried before. i swear ella has a better memory than me. also, as we walked along the beach she noticed that the thick grey clouds were thin in one place with the sun shining behind them and she said "those clouds are bright." then she looked at the rest of the sky and remarked "the clouds are blue today."

l.e. gave elenora an adorable toy with soft butterflies who live in a flower house. ella's been carrying the bugs around everywhere ever since.

today we took elenora to the pancake house before going to look at a home in rowley that turned out to be very small and in need of a ton of work. no thanks. it was a very rainy day, so this afternoon we went grocery shopping. ella is my little helper there and is so well-behaved.

now it's 2:33 AM and i've been tossing and turning in my bed since 11 pm. i have had such a horrible time sleeping over the past couple months. this week was a bit better, but this is the second night this week where it's taken over an hour to fall asleep. i don't even feel tired now, but what can i do? it's not like i get to sleep in. it's very frustrating.

this week elenora started singing songs along with us or with her cds. she also continues to put her own words to tunes such as "are you sleeping brother john?" and makes up her own rhymes.

she goes potty about once a day now. sometimes twice. she's not good about initiating needing to go. but if i put her on the potty she generally has no trouble "going."

i wish i had no trouble sleeping! okay. back to bed.