Nathan was a line leader this week

Nate and Daddy after rolling down the hill at the middle school

Ellie on the tricycle

Ellie and her neighbor friend Alina

Nate in the leaves!!

Daddy about to throw nate in the leaves!

Just had to blog for that one statement. I am such a proud mom. Tuesday was the big day and his teacher commented on what a good line leader he was! So cool! He is still quite the ladies man...all the girls in his class love him and today he went to a play gym and had another lady following him around...very cute. We have started to tell stories at night rather than reading and Nathan comes up with the topic, like "windows," or "pandas and lions," and then we take turns contributing to the story. Of course Nathan always throws us for a loop...like "the kid fell from the tree and got a big boo boo...your turn" which makes my brain scramble but all stories end with "they lived happily ever after" and he then throws out the topic for the next night's story. Tomorrow it is "pictures." Cool to see how his brain works and I get a kick out of the storytelling, as does Scott.

Also new is his continued independence. Everything is 'I do it myself' which is so awesome but sometimes results in a clogged toilet or five pairs of pants on the floor as he decides what to wear and also decides he can wipe his bottom by himself. Keeps things interesting and of course we want to encourage it, just keep it clean. : ) As an aside, a very funny thing that happened this week was Nathan finding out boy's underwear has a hole in it, for easy access. Has made me laugh several times - "mommy that is so cool". It's as if we discovered chocolate or cured world hunger or something. God I love my kids!

Big transition this week for Ellie too - I decided we are giving up bottles. Yesterday. Boy has it been rough, but I gave up two times before and so I am determined to see it through. Ellie has thrown her milk cups at me, spit milk at me, thrown tantrums....and REFUSED to drink milk all day both days. Good news is that she is eating a ton to make up for it so I think we are doing ok from a nutrition standpoint. And she is still getting her bottle at night before bed (do you blame me for not wanting to ruin a good thing?!) so she CHUGS that as if it was water on a desert island. Just a baby step towards regaining the upper hand with my daughter. : )