When Wil had trouble sleeping saturday night, I got him up out of bed for a little while and took him in with me to lay in our bed (we hadn't gone to sleep yet). He settled down immediately. I love lying with them when they're sleeping. I said 'Wil, Daddy loves you.' I think he mumbled 'and Momma and Eh-beh.' (that's the usual litany).

They're perfect (in terms of what kids should be). They drive my crazy sometimes. They constantly put my selfishness in stark relief. But I love them very much. They're perfect in my sight.

Since the have to share, the twins are really big on 'turns' and 'picking'. It's understood that when one picks a book or a video, the other gets to pick next. This can be problematic when we want them to watch only one video. We try to say 'You can pick next time.' and that sometimes placates them.

Anyway, they were picking videos saturday morning and I wanted to get my reservation made. I said 'Daddy picks next, and I pick football in an hour.' (the Oklahoma-Nebraska game). When their video ended 15 minutes later, Elizabeth said 'Daddy pick now.' I said 'I pick football in 45 minutes.' They seemed to be okay with that. They still talked about watching other stuff and about picking, but they were ultimately content to let me watch football. Right on.

Later, when we walked into Schlotsky's to see if they were still distributing candy (on the lackluster parade attempt), Elizabeth said 'More suh-baw.' Sure enough, the tv had football on. We've got these kids cultured already.

One of my many nervous habits is holding a pen between my thumb and forefinger and shaking it rapidly back and forth. The other day when I was doing it Wil said, 'A butterfly!' That boy is smart and imaginative.

Well, as you can see, I finally figured out basic ftp and img src so we can have a picture on this site. Now I think, 'Well duh, that was easy. Why couldn't I figure that out sooner'. But I didn't.

Elizabeth put her poop in the potty chair today. You might think that's gross to talk about. But, as parents, we think it's FREAKIN' AWESOME!

Christine says it just goes to show that kids will potty train when they're ready.

Elizabeth was singing "In the Highways" at bedtime. "Sing Bunny Song, E'beh?" asked Wil. "I sing Kids Sing," she said. They repeated this conversation at least twenty times. Sean said he wished Elizabeth was that patient with him.

Lots of new pictures! Run (do not walk) to Yahoo! photos!

Wil has a nasty cough this morning. Probably he's allergic to cats like me and his Mama and we stopped at Josh's house last night after the inglorious parade event. We even gave him his antihistamine after the visit. Alack.

We wanted to go out to the Halloween festivities in our neighborhood yesterday. We put the kids down for naps early because they were so cranky and Wil was lethargic and wouldn't eat. They proceeded to cavort and scream happily in their separate cribs for more than an hour. So they didn't get up until four. By the time we got to the festivities, they were over. But they didn't know, and we didn't promise them anything. As far as they're concerned, a parade is where you go walk and see other kids in their costumes and stop in at The Delta Cafe for your very own dish of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles.

Yesterday we ate lunch out. While waiting for our food, Elizabeth said, "Look Dada suh-baw!" Sean turned around to catch a glimpse of football on the TV and asked her, "What do we say when we watch football?" "Go eye-in!" (go Vikings,) she said, complete with fist-punch.

They fell asleep in the car on the way home this afternoon, so they're having a hard time settling down for real naps. Right now they're singing "dadada" to the tune of Jingle Bells. Watch Sesame Street's Elmo's World for reference.

Both kids, but especially Wil, have picked up on the affirming things we say to them. Yesterday in the car Elizabeth saw something out the window and Wil said, "Good eye, E'beh." At home eating snacks, he said "Good bite, Dada."

We're working very hard these days on asking for things by saying 'please' instead of whining. This morning I said to Wil, 'How do you ask for something nicely?' 'Ni-lee,' he replied.

This morning while we were watching 'The Toy that Saved Christmas,' Elizabeth kept asking what happened to Christmas. After a couple attempts to give her an answer, I realized she thinks the toy is 'Christmas.'

Their behavior last night was monstrous. Christine had a bunch of paperwork sorted in the study that they threw on the floor and danced on. Putting them to bed was horrible. I guess they were overtired. They could not calmdown. We were done compromising.

Wil's favorite video right now is VeggieTales 'The Toy that Saved Christmas'. So, of course, I woke up with the songs in my head this morning, and they're still running through it:

Could that be Santa? Could that be him?
Could it be the one who brings presents for a cucumber like me?

Things you never want to hear your kids say:

"I no like Momma." (Wil just meant he didn't want me to help him, but it still hurt.)

"You obey Wil." (Wil to Elizabeth.)

They were really hard to get to bed tonight - overtired.

The kids watched 'Elmo in Grouchland' in the car. The plot revolves around Elmo losing his blanket and trying to get it back. The twins were very distirbed abou this and cried when Elmo lost his blanket. Wil said 'Elmo need his na-na [blanket].'

We arrived in Iowa in one piece. The kids did really well. We left at 5a and arrived here at 4p. That stretch from Kansas City to Des Moines is the worst.