Eric, at the dinner table

Disregard the smoothie that's all over his face. (That's why I originally got the camera out. He used a straw, and we were blown away by the incredible amount of stuff that he somehow got all over himself.) But, the bigger question is - what in the world is going on in his head?!

The next day - I just showed Eric these photos and asked him what he was thinking in each of them. He happily told me, "Nothing!" for every one.

our volcanco

While most craft activities are supervised by me, Brian seems to spearhead the science experiments. Nana and Grandpop gave Sarah a volcano for Christmas, and the three of them painted it, made it active, and watched it erupt. Next time, Eric plans to surround it with dinosaurs.

the two of them

They bicker. They irritate each other. They get angry and yell. They make each other cry. Sometimes, they would rather spend time with anyone else.

But they also make each other laugh hysterically. They play make believe. They defend each other. They tell stories and listen to each other. They draw pictures and make things for each other. They give compliments and enjoy each's other company. And, sometimes, they even hold hands, without a suggestion that it's the nice thing to do.

The Magic Afghan

See that lovely afghan? The one covering Eric? Who just happens to be taking a nap? In the middle of the day? Grandma gave it to Sarah and Eric for Christmas, and I think she must have knitted some sleepy yarn in it, along with the regular stuff. It's been at least a year since he took a nap, and although we paid for it that night, it was sweet to see him all snuggled up on the sofa, under Grandma's afghan.

Eric's Monsters

So, I made these little books for Sarah's birthday party, and included monster stickers, so that everyone could go home and make their own monster books. Well, Eric got right on that task. He was so focused while creating his monsters and (of course) had stories to tell about all of them. He showed Sarah when she got home, and Brian when he got home. It's not often that he's proud of his artwork, and I was quite happy to see this happen, without any prompting from me. I love the random eyeball all by itself - he said that monster was invisible. And what about that last one - with the eye floating around the weird mouth? He kept laughing when he showed me how he placed everything. "It has an eyeball on its mouth, Mommy. And its bellybutton is right under its mouth! See?" Yes, yes, I see that.

The Day After Christmas

Sarah's anticipation of our New Jersey trip and Christmas got the best of her. After waking up early many days in a row (at 5:40 on Christmas morning) and going to bed late many nights in a row, she slept until 8:30 the day after Christmas. (And she would've slept longer if Brian hadn't woken her up.) After (an extended period of) bouncing off the walls and driving us slightly insane, she lounged around for most of the day on December 26th. We had no complaints - she was much easier to deal with, as long as we avoided stepping on her when she was lying on the floor!