Life With Toddlers

Having recently arrived back from vacation, which entailed four days in a minivan passing out goldfish crackers as if my life depended on it, my cognitive functioning can best be described as "compromised". My thoughts occur in bullet points. Since I am no longer on Facebook, where some of these anecdotes would make great status fodder, I'll list them here in no particular order.

• Mikayla learned all the words to "Patty Cake" recently and has been enjoying doing it "on my own!" This morning we took turns saying the words and doing the motions. She sang, "Mark it with an Eeeeeeee, and put it in the oven for...horse! and book!" I am not at all sure that we have explained the concept quite clearly enough.
• Isaac has learned how to shake hands. Today at breakfast, I asked him to shake my hand, which he did quite readily, and landed a few kisses on my fingers as well. That boy possesses a charm well beyond his years. He then proceeded to look at his hands, and I saw the light bulb go on. He grabbed his left hand with his right, and gave himself a hearty handshake. Yes, I suppose it works that way, too.
• Mikayla is showing interest in potty training again. Today she insisted on wearing undies. She kept them dry and wanted to wear them during naptime, too. The deal was that she had to go on the potty and make sure her peepee was all gone, and then she could wear undies for her nap. That girl wanted to sit on every potty in the house (that makes five, counting her little ones) but decided she didn't like any of them. She cheerfully placed her undies back into the dresser drawer so that I could diaper her for naptime. I am ready to eat sprinkles by the spoonful at this point.
• Nothing makes a mother's heart sink quite like the sight of the wooden block bin...completely empty of wooden blocks. This just after I spent the morning tidying, cleaning, and vacuuming. I did find a large cache of blocks underneath my bed, in a location that defies the physics of my children's arm length. They were right behind the book I had hoped to take and read on vacation. Last week. New favorite hiding place? Add this to the list right behind the living room end table drawer, under the kitchen buffet, and inside my shoes.
• The sweetest for last: Today as I cleaned, I could hear my children giggling and talking to each other as they toddled up and down the hallway together. Mikayla loves that Isaac is getting steadier on his feet so that she can drag him around dance with him, and he is just happy to be a part of her shenanigans. I spied them at one point with arms tangled around each other, partially off-balance, staggering toward Isaac's room, absolutely squealing with delight. Not only are they bonding as siblings, but Momma has some newfound freedom to get things done during awake time! Win-win!

God is good. Vacation was great. More about that, perhaps after I receive an email with photos and videos from the grandparents. I, shamefully, captured zero memories, but in my defense it is difficult to take photos when you spend four days essentially pig wrestling two toddlers slathered in SPF 50. I was thankful for the sand that stuck to every inch of their greasy appendages, as it gave me some traction for the post-beach journey back to the timeshare. Thank you, Gramsie and Papa, for a wonderful week and for snapping some evidence that we were there!