Kiddos

 He looks like a little cave man to me :) 

These two...wish I could have recorded what it took to get this shot! One of these days I'll have a prime lens and their faces will be crystal clear!!

 I'm trying to gently ease myself back into using my big girl camera. Johnny is at that wonderful age where just a teensy bit of silliness on my part produces smiles. Big smiles! Galina is at an awkward stage where she is slightly aware of herself, and wants to look good, but isn't sure how to accomplish it. She does want to be silly, but can't quite let herself go as easily as she used to be able to. It takes a lot more work to get smiles from Galina and that's difficult when I'm trying to keep one eye on her through the lens and one eye on Johnny, who is most likely doing something dangerous. Whenever I do get around to it, I'll either be by myself or armed with another adult! 

Anyhow, just wanted to give an update on the kiddos. Galina is still as sweet and sassy as ever. She's a big helper, loves Princesses, pink, purple, flowers, earth worms, bird feathers, rocks, dresses. She has an unbelievable memory! She's got a lot of adventure in her, but just as much reserve. The past week she's been wearing a 'Punisher' t-shirt to bed because Brian told her it was a strong shirt and would keep bad dreams away. The slightest scariness and she'll be having nightmares. We don't watch commercials, we don't read spooky stories. I think she just has too much imagination! 

Johnny is a monster. The best kind. He's everywhere at once and into everything at once. He loves to open the fridge and help himself. He can also, however, unlock and open the back door. More than once (a lot more than once) he's walked into my bedroom stark naked. He's also such a cuddle bug and loves to give goodnight hugs and kisses, especially to Galina. He has a little repertoire of songs that we have to go through each night at bed: ABCs, I Am Like a Star, Wise Man/Foolish Man, Twinkle Twinkle. Sometimes he'll add Popcorn. He's talking more and more each day, but still not really talking. Words that he says on his own: Mama, Daddy or Dadda, Eee-uh is Galina, Nani is Johnny (although he prefers to say "Me!!" when referring to himself), Bow as in bow and arrow, None for done, Peas, Help, Up, Bye, Hi, Toodles, No (in a big way...), and probably more that I can't think of. He'll say whatever you ask him to say, or he'll say, "No." Most of the time, if he wants your intention he'll just grab your leg and try to physically move you to where he wants you to go, or he'll tap you on the arm and then show you with his hand that he wants you to come. As soon as you stand up he runs to where he wants you to follow - generally the pantry because he wants a snack that he can't reach. He drinks orange juice constantly, as opposed to Galina and her "white milk" - just in case we were tempted to put chocolate in it.

In short, they are both loads of fun and I love that I get to see them all day. Granted, we like it when Daddy comes home too :) 

Fall is coming so I'm sure I'll have more pictures sooner or later :)