Where does the time go?

Wasn't it just Christmas a few minutes ago?!  

I guess we've been busy.  Nothing out of the ordinary, tho.  Just life.

The weather has finally warmed up (ish) and we went for a walk.  

Or, a ride, as it were.

Isaac says the greatest stuff.  Like:

"I love corn dogs... they're kind of like ice cream cones."

"Mom, you know why ice is so cold?  ... Cuz it's ice!"

(talking about Uncle Master Chief and Future Aunt Crocodile's impending matrimony) 

"Married?! When you get married, then you get OLD!"

"You almost made me FREAK OUT!!"

And one day Eli was licking the top of an empty beer bottle, Isaac screams,
"Eli, don't drink that!  It will give you a big beard!"


And then there's Cheenah.

What is Cheenah? Well actually, I have no idea.

It's a word the boys use.  One they clearly made up.  From what I can tell, it seems to apply to medication, syringes used to dispense medication, and also poking someone in the back.

And seriously, the boy is OBSESSED with paper airplanes.  If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Can you make me a paper airplane?"  Or "Can I have this paper?"  or "Mom, watch this!" only to have a paper airplane whiz past my head or catch in my hair or fly in some generally haphazard and unpredictable direction, then I'd have... a lot of dollars.

One day I picked these up from around the living room.
I think the final count was 14.  I'm not sure they all made the picture.

Not to be left out, Eli says some awesome stuff too.  

(And he also loves him some ice cream.  

And by virtue of his proximity to Isaac, he also loves him some paper airplanes.
Also real airplanes, helicopters, and school buses.)

Like when I was getting Raya dressed for Easter morning, and Eli walks in and says "Raya Princess!"

(Oh yes, she knows she's The Princess.  Make no mistake.)

He also routinely tells her that she's pretty, if we are doing her hair, for example.

Ah-Kwahs.  Any time something is on his head (a fresh diaper, a piece of paper, etc), he is Ah-Kwahs (Santa Claus).  Usually accompanied by a hearty "Ho, ho, ho!"

And my favorite Eli-ism:  "Helpa-you."  Meaning "can you help me?" I hear this often.  Helpa-you zipper.  Helpa-you toothbrush.  Helpa-you Mommy?  

And lately he's taken to calling Ray "Baby Girl."  I think John often calls her that, but it's so funny to hear "Baby Gee-al" when he's not much bigger than she is!

Raya has taken to running these days.  There are brothers to be followed, you know!  

(Proud of his new sunglasses, which are, as usual, upside down)

And she's given up sleeping.  She gets so angry and screams so hysterically you'd think she was in some sort of torture chamber instead of her cozy little crib.  She stands up and gnaws on the bar (there are tooth marks the whole way across by now) and screams blood murder until you come and rub her back and sit there in the rocker until she falls asleep.  She doesn't really want to be held, because then she just plays.  She's fine to lay there in the crib, but you have to be within her line of sight lest she unleash the shrieking eels once again.

She loves waving to herself in the mirror.

She currently has a few words, her favorites being "uh-oh" and "ababa."
She also says "bah-bye" (often followed with blowing a kiss), "mama", "Isaac" (I-yah), "bubble" (she loves bubbles!) and she signs "more" and "please" which is ultra-cute, but I'm pretty sure she thinks it means "give that to me now" and can be applied to anything.  You're suppose to intuitively know what she's referring to.  When  I do not, this may end in a visit from the shrieking eels.