In the Making: a Copy of Us

Oh, man! Oh, my goodness! Good grief! ...The expressions that kids pick up from us... And those are the good ones :) The other day PJ climbed on top of the file cabinet, so he could reach the curtain rod to fix the blanket over it in Ophelia's room. Ophelia walked in and gasped :"Ah! Papa! What did you do? Get down RIGHT NOW!" The expressions of her face are priceless: crinkled brow, stern look in the eyes, her voice low-pitched. And then I realized that she is copying me! That is the exact thing that I would've said had she been the one who climbed on top of the filing cabinet :) so funny. I guess the expressions and the voice thing must be mine too then. We just don't realize how quickly kids pick up on things! Nowadays Ophelia understands almost every word in the conversations between PJ and me, so we are having to spell out words like i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m and c-o-o-k-i-e. Last night she overheard us at the dinner table as we were making plans to watch a movie and make cookies after she was asleep for the night...She said questioningly: "We are going to watch a movie and eat cookies?" To which PJ responded that no, only papa and mama are going to watch a movie and Ophelia was going to bed. Logically, a fit followed. We were able to compromise on having cookies together after dinner and telling her she can watch the movie the following day. Oh, the little lessons in parenthood! We have to use charades and round about words to talk about things we don't want Ophelia to know...

April started with General Conference, so here is a picture of our new family tradition: eating popcorn, while watching it on TV. We never eat food in the living room, so it is really special for Ophelia to be able to do this. So, now, whenever she wants to eat popped corn, Ophelia asks if we can watch General Conference :) Makes sense, right?

The Easter weekend we traveled down to Oatmeal for Justin and Evie's wedding. It was a crazy weekend, actually. P.J. had three job interviews that Friday (ACC, seminary and institutes, and UT), the results of which won't be known till the end of May. Saturday was the wedding in Austin. I realized why we were the only ones with two kids there - it's hard to enjoy the party when one kid is running around getting into things and the other one crying in your arms because he can't fall asleep. Note to self - get a babysitter next time :) It was nice to have grandparents there to help out and also Mark and Camille having reserved a hotel room on the premises, so we could breastfeed, rest, and let the babies sleep there. Here is Ophelia at the wedding:

Here are the cousins hanging out in the hotel room: It was Ophelia's idea to hold hands with the babies :)

Here is a Ophelia's rendition of the lollipop song:

LOVE this picture of the kids:

Curls...crazy curls! People ask me all the time if I curl Ophelia's hair. Hmm, yes, every morning we get up and I spend 30 minutes curling my two-year-old's hair :) Umm, no, actually, I struggle to find time to brush my own hair sometimes, let alone curling my toddler's hair! Nonetheless, her curls are adorable. We have no idea where she gets them from and if they will stay, but we enjoy them! Here are the curls in the morning right after she wakes up:

Here are a couple snapshots right before church. Nowadays, I can actually pull Ophelia's hair into a ponytail (curly tail).

This video is historical to our family, because this is exactly the way me and my brother were when we were little: I was dancing around and my brother would just stand by the wall and watch me, trying not to get hit. So, here is Ophelia and Emerson doing the same thing :)

And here is Emerson, our happy little fellow. We are finally arriving at the baby stage that is sweet and happy. Emerson spends a lot of his awake time smiling at us and cooing. I don't remember Ophelia being this smiley when she was a baby. Plus Emerson is only 2.5 months and already so interactive! He still wakes up every 3 hours at night, but feedings just looks at me and smiles and agoos. So sweet! Love this cuddly baby stage! Here he is just kickin' back and relaxin':

Emerson hanging out with Daddy:

Ophelia loves her little brother! She calls him "my sweet little boy" and always wants to hold him. She gives him hugs and kisses, turns the vibrating chair on for him, talks to him, and has tells me: "I am a big sister. I take care of baby Emerson." Emerson recognizes Ophelia's face too and smiles at her. He enjoys watching her in whatever she is involved in. I hope that I can keep nurturing this precious sibling bond that is developing between them, so that they grow up not only to be playmates, but also good friends.

One time Ophelia was "taking care" of her doll, which she calls "sister baby" (she has a "brother baby" too, and sleeps with both of them), by lifting up her shirt and putting the doll's face on her tummy, then singing a russian lullaby to her, reading a book, and putting it in a swing :) Another thing she learned from watching me! Someday she will make a great Mommy!

A couple of Ophelia-isms:

• Upon seeing a rather large-nosed cartoon book character: "He has a lot of nose!" 
• One time when she needed to wipe something, she went to grab a tissue and called it a "bless you napkin". Makes sense, right? Good idea for a new brand of tissues :)