Just a few here and theres

I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just start typing.  Right now both babies are napping and Mike's sleeping off the midnight shift.  There's a Diet Coke on the table next to me, surrounded by crumbs from the last brownie.  The washer and dryer are performing their usual hum and tumble in the utility room, and all is right with the world.

We went blueberry picking the other day.  Riggs snoozed in the sling while Avery picked every green blueberry she could find.  

 And Avery adores the zoo.  It was such a hit we decided to buy a family year membership.  Maybe once the kiddos wake up we'll take everybody to the splash pad.  The tiger slide is a big favorite, as was the train.  When we went through the tunnel, Avery insists she wasn't scared, but her eyes became so big you could see white all around the iris.

As I sit holding one or both babies, I hope to have developed the habit of jotting down funny, sweet, good memories (there are so many it's hard to remember them all) on my cell phone to write in more detail.  Here are a few of the latest goings-on:

 - Riggs giggles when we suck out his nose or wipe his face.  He thinks it's hysterical and belly laughs so hard it's difficult to accomplish the task.  Maybe that's all part of his plan.

 - When I ask Avery for a kiss, she always plants a big happy smiling one right square on my lips.  I guess it's because she sees Daddy and me kissing like that, and I don't mind.  My heart melts into a puddle when she then turns to Riggs and says, "Riggs kiss," planting one gently on his head.

 - I have to bathe both kids together.  I could just bathe Avery, but if Riggs is in the bathtub, so must she be. After a few moments of sheer panic on my part, she's proven to be very soft with her brother, and I always let her help me bathe him.  I'll sit him up and hold him while she scrubs his back, and he comes out squeaky clean every time.

 - Avery has an impressive grasp on the English language, but sometimes her enunciation could use a little work.  A few months ago she and I were in the Kroger.  I turned around to find her standing in the seat of the buggy and immediately said, "Avery!  Sit sit sit!" which of course she repeated enthusiastically and loudly... only from her mouth it sounded like "Shit shit shit!"  And of course one of my DAR sisters was right around the corner.  You should hear her say, "fork."

 - She counts too: "One, two, fee, six!"

 - Her favorite songs to sing are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABC song, Jesus Muvs Me, and the Itsy Bitsy Speyter.  She loves "speyters" so much she often asks me to draw one.  There's a worn-out cardboard box in the living room right now with a spider army drawn all over it.

 - And to my surprise, she has memorized several of her board books already, including Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, I'm a Big Sister, I am a Bunny,  Happy Birthday Little Pookie, and Goodnight Moon.

 - The other day Mike was in his underwear, looking for his pajama bottoms.  He leaned over, and Avery's patted his butt with her little hand and in her sweet 2-year-old voice proudly said, "Daddy panties."

 - Riggs contentedly hangs out in my lap or his Moses basket and takes note.