Two-year old update

One day I'll figure out how to puts words and pictures in one post and have it look right, but in the mean time....

Elaine is now two years old!! She loves Elmo, and as you can see from the pics below we had an Elmo party for her at the park. Among attendance were Aunts Jennifer & Charissa, Pappaw Bingham, "Uncle" Josh, her little friend Peter (who's mother is Mommy's long-time pal, Melissa), and our friends the White's (which was fun for Jackson, too, because their oldest son Kilan is fun to play with). Jackson taught her the in's and out's of opening presents (she is now well prepped for Christmas), and she had her first juice box (complete with the expected squeeze-and-squirt they are known for). She has been busy enjoying her new toys ever since! (And so has Jackson.)

If you ask Elaine how old she is, the chances are better that she'll say, "Paci's," instead of "Two." For weeks now I've been telling her that when she turns two the paci's will go bye-bye. Since Saturday night we began cutting the pacifiers, until eventually (in a week or two?) they will be cut down to nothing and be fit for the trash. So far she seems just as happy sucking on half of a paci. Send your prayers our way for when the final weaning comes! We don't want to lose those precious naps.

I read something wonderful from a parenting email I receive. It said that the "terrible two's" are a wonderful time in that, you always know what your child is feeling. This is certainly true of Elaine right now, who wore a bib at breakfast that appropriately read, "Sweet & Sassy." She is also learning to talk more (finally!), which will undoubtedly help with her frustrations.

Here are some of Elaine's biggest interests at this two-year point in her life:

-School! She now cries when Jackson gets to go to school and she doesn't. She points at the school playground and cries, "Schoo....Eh-ya-ya-ya?" (*translation: Eh-ya-ya-ya = Elaine)

-She is changing her obsession from Elmo to Nemo. Jackson's love of Spongebob has also peaked her interest.

-Ice cream. This girl has ice cream on the brain, requesting it for breakfast or any other odd time of day. (It should go without saying that Mommy certainly does not give in to these untimely "requests.")

-Daddy. Ever since we went to Disneyland and spent 5 whole days with Daddy, Elaine has become a Daddy's girl! Sometimes she says, "Daddy...work," and cries. When he comes home she goes nuts!


-Friends. Elaine is a very social creature (not unlike her Mommy) and thrives off of the "big" crowd playtimes that Sunday school and Bible study provide.