My little sweeties are talking up a storm these days. Eleanor can say things like "thank you" and "good job" pretty clearly (we've been saying these things to Bradley a lot) and even repeats back "yes they dare" which is repeated a lot in one of our favorite books, The Spooky Old Tree.
Reading to my sweet ones first thing in the morning.
And I hate to share this, but can you believe that sometimes in the morning Daddy tries to leave Eleanor in order to take his shower? Child abandonment! It's just a good thing that Eleanor knows how to run after a person while crying so she can get what she wants.
Note the smug look in the photo on the bottom left
Heaven help you if you don't exactly feel in the reading mood around little Eleanor these days. Books are unceremoniously flung into your lap and then the little doll child turns around and backs herself up so she can plop down in your lap. The other day I was on the phone with a friend for a while and this process was repeated over and over again with a lot of hollering at Mommy for being unreasonable and not simultaneously reading to a little girl while talking on the phone.
Poor Eleanor. She suffers so.
A true sad face. Her water cup was way up there and she was so thirsty!
Fun Eleanor fact: when she gets upset we generally try to find a kitty to improve her mood. It works every time. She'll be crying until she notices the kitty we've hunted down for her and then she'll drape herself over the sacrificial kitty and bury her face in its fur. Instant comfort. Nathan thinks it's nice but he'll be happy when this doesn't also involve open mouth kisses on their furry sides.
Kisses are not just reserved for the kitties, we went to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead the other day and goats got some kisses too. Oh joy ...
Please note that she's also holding onto the goats ear
More goat love!
She chased down and kissed at least 5 goats. This is SO my little girl.
Hugging a giraffe at home. This girl is such a love.
Bradley's favorite things to say these days are "poofect" and "come get me!" I didn't realize how often I said things were perfect but it has become very apparent. The other day I foolishly cleaned off Bradley's marker mustache in anticipation of his upcoming nap and he had to let me know how wrong of a decision this was. So I let him draw a replacement mustache and he took one look at his fine work and declared it "poofect". It's just way too cute, I can hardly stand it.
FYI, this is what a perfect mustache looks like.
Bradley loves mustaches and taking pictures of himself these days.
Fancy two toned mustache
Pictures with Mommy. Heart!
Here's an example of good Bradley talking. We have a couple of new toy phones and we like to call our friend Eli and ask him to come play or call Grandma Kathy and ask her to send more cookies.
Eleanor and Bradley also like to mimic me when I'm talking to the other child and Eleanor will repeat me when I tell Bradley to "stop" something - complete with a stern tone. But she gets it back when she plays in the top bunk and Bradley uses a strong voice to help me remind her to stay on "knees or bottom!" I have such dear little helpers.
Coloring is so much more fun with a buddy
Every time Bradley gets put in timeout now Eleanor rushes to join him and bounces along as Nathan or I count to 30. This photo isn't of Bradley in timeout, I think she just likes to join Bradley whenever he's sitting in a chair. She can be his little shadow a lot of the time.
So exciting to eat right by each other
And here is an example of them talking to each other. No two children have ever been so delighted by the opportunity to holler "no" at each other.
It's been quite hot lately so I took them out for frozen yogurt last week. It's plus candy plus cool chairs just their size plus some bonus movie time. What is not to love?
It's fun that you can always tell if there is a tv on in a Bradley and Eleanor picture. We test drove a minivan last week. Can you guess whether or not it had a dvd player? We didn't buy one just yet, despite rave reviews from the youngest two members of the Scott family.
Bradley didn't need the headphones but he loved them, so he held onto them like this the entire time
The end of summer has been a hoot, we still play in a little wading pool on our back deck here and there.
Playing with our friend Gavin in our little wading pool
Later at our friend Gavin's house Eleanor discovered the perks of having a family dog.
For church last week we put Eleanor in her fancy dress that Grandma Kathy made for her and Bradley was very jealous and requested that we put the dress on him. I think Grandma is going to have to make more clothes for Bradley, it's tough to see an outfit with cool dog pictures all over it and not want to wear it.
Another Grandma Kathy creation. Both Eleanor and I love it.
Eleanor continues to give us amazing cuddles. I have no complaints.
I adore this little girl. I've been making a lot of angel food cakes with whipped cream for topping lately and I may have a new baking buddy.
You don't want to hear my argument for how whipped cream is healthy because it's basically milk with just a tiny bit of sugar in it. And anything that is homemade is probably healthy because it doesn't have preservatives. Okay, that's basically the whole thing. It's so good that I'm in charge of the nutrition of two young children ...
Eleanor has no complaints when it comes to Mommy's food philosophy
We've also been back to the farmer's market for more arm painting for Bradley. He got a dragon this time. Such a happy boy.
Here is a lovely picture of Bradley in what I'm calling his poo fort.
He set this up on his own, for privacy during a delicate time.
Hilarious.
We had our last soccer class where Bradley and Eleanor both made good friends with a girl and her little brother who were in the class with us.
Holding hands
We joined our new friends for a music class and we will go back every single week if it means I get pictures of my children dancing together.
Eleanor didn't really know what was happening - Bradley was basically just dragging her around while holding both of her hands - but she did know that it was wonderful and she loved it!
Children holding hands and dancing! Yes please.
Eleanor was a hot commodity at the class and Bradley and his new friend battled for the privilege of sitting with her or holding her hand. Bradley is not used to having to share his little sister. Eleanor LOVED all of the attention.
Eleanor has started this thing where she likes to try to stand on her head. I'm not really sure what this is exactly or where it is coming from. Sometimes I help her do a somersault, which she enjoys, but I think she mostly just likes to look at things upside down.
It's dangerous to do these things around the Bradley boy.
Colleen and Kerry visited this last weekend which was a lot of fun. The kids love being read to these days so they were in heaven with adult reading reinforcements.
We took them to Deanna Rose and we all had a pretty excellent time.
Eleanor gave Grandma Colleen so many sweet cuddles
Tractor fun! We're technically too young to ride on these but that didn't stop us from climbing all over them.
I love this picture
Both of my children are crazy into riding on the bouncy animals at the playground
Grandma helping Eleanor feed the goats. Eleanor loves all of this, I don't think most one year olds are as okay with goats nibbling on their fingers.
Deanna Rose is pretty impressive, there's a row of stores along a path where you can visit a blacksmith, a general store, and even a barber shop.
We think Bradley should go for a bowl cut next haircut
We love visiting the garden area, although we rarely look at the plants
It's a flower! Or a pig ... it's kind of a weird cut out.
Grandma also did a fun outside craft with Bradley where you make kind of a loose playdough and play with it. I think he was out there for an hour, he had a blast. We had a really fun day with Colleen and Kerry, looking forward to the next visit!
We also got to see my cousin Katie and her husband and kids this weekend. Bradley adored his cousin Owen and the first thing he asked me this morning when I went into his room was "Where cousin Owen?"
The best picture we could manage with four small children.
We were very impressed by Owen's ability to withstand the Bradley level of excitement and enthusiasm upon meeting a new friend. There were full on war cries (of joy) as Bradley chased after Owen and threw balls around the basement. I became the safety zone where Owen could hide when things got a bit too unruly, which was often. And as far as I know there are no non-blurry photos of any of this because things were just too wild. But Owen mostly loved it. What a champ. Nathan did his part to calm things down by throwing one ball down the hall and telling the two young boys to go get it, go get it! Thanks Daddy.
Taking a much needed vanilla pudding snack break
Both of my children also accosted Owen's little sister Nora with much loves. Eleanor did her trick where she draped herself across the baby like she was a kitten and gave her kisses. This was while Bradley was going for kisses on the face and poking at her hand. Nora also stood up admirably to the somewhat overwhelming amount of loves the Scott children are able to dish out.
Fortunately, it seemed the love was mutual and Owen was all about the hugs when it was time to go.
Goodbye hugs. These boys were so sweet together.
We followed up the cousin visit with a friend's Labor Day barbeque with a bunch of kids. Bradley and Eleanor have been exhausted messes all day today. Eleanor fell asleep for her nap an hour early ... like this.
Bradley was beyond delighted. And then he went down for his nap early too. Poor sweet kids, it's hard to have so much fun!
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