I finally get you matching outfits, and this is what happens.

Kissssss. 

Kisssssssss!

Where are you going?

Mom, Geneva won't let me kiss her. 

Well, maybe she wants to sit beside you. 

Kisssss. 

KISSSSS. 

LET ME KISS YOU. 

I'MMA KISS YOU GOOD JUST YOU SIT HERE A MINUTE. 

ROWR NO MORE OF THESE KISSINGS THANK YOU

The girls have started playing 'chase' and it is the slow-motionest game of chase in the world, but my house is RINGING with shrieking laughter and delighted screaming 100% of the time both girls are awake. 

Portrait of a three-year-old.

Eleanor and I have been experiencing some tension. My god, the whining. I cannot handle it. And the DEFIANCE. I have become The Mom That Yells Sometimes. Part of it is being cooped up together all the time, part of it is her age ('threenager' isn't just a hilarious portmanteau. It is ACCURATE), part of it is her getting less attention because Geneva is teething/sick/crawling around the house and wreaking total havoc. She's registered for preschool in the fall, and I am going to like her so much more when our faces aren't adjacent for most of the day.

But so I've been trying to get outside more, and to give her more attention whenever Geneva is sleeping. Yesterday I interviewed her, which I meant to do on her birthday but whatever. Anyway. Eleanor will tell you that:

Her favorite color is pink.

Her favorite foods are oranges and pears.

Her friends are Logan, Tyler, and Josie.

Her favorite toy is her monster blocks.

Her favorite books are the Big Blue Book (a Disney anthology I finally bought from Value Village after she spent three consecutive trips there leafing through it), The Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake, and any ABC book.

Something that makes her happy is Snuggles.

When she grows up, she wants to be a policewoman.

Her favorite thing to do with dad is to go to the bookstore.

Her favorite thing to do with mom is to read books, and be doctored.

Her favorite thing to do with Geneva is give her toys (she's actually super good at this).

Her favorite song is Twinkle, Twinkle.

Her favorite clothes are winter boots, winter dresses, and ballet shoes.

She is really good at making towers and cuddling and reading books and playing.

Her favorite animal is ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS.

Her favorite movie is Cinderella.

Her favorite season is all grass seasons. 

Her favorite holiday is movie day. Also Christmas. 

Her favorite game is tag.

Her blood pressure is 35 36 35 37 38 (she got really into the interview process and kept demanding that I ask her more questions).

Her favorite body part is the ribs.

I will probably have to keep her. 

Tasty treats.

We made snow ice cream because we had a bunch of the ingredients lying around. 

HAHAHAHA GET IT BECAUSE WE HAVE SO MUCH SNOW RIGHT NOW. 

Anyway. And then we had tea because it is deadly cold today and we're not fools. 

WINTERRRRRR. 

SNOW DAY

So, I dunno if you heard, but we got a lot of snow. It is, as I speak, still snowing. 

And then for DAYS it was too cold to go out and play in it. We could barely make it from the house to the garage. Geneva's car seat has this cover thing to keep out the worst of the cold but she's getting too big for it and whenever you look down, an arm.

Dammit, Geneva, it's freezing out here. Anyway. Having a car has made all the difference this winter because we were still able to go SOMEWHERE. But there's been a lot of Being In Our House and Grinching At Each Other and I'm almost certain Geneva's getting some teeth, so she's been a bear and I have been a little in the dumps about my life.

But today was a balmy -4. SO WARM. We went to the library even though we were just there because I wanted to walk. I'm a very indoorsy sort of person but having kids has accustomed me to a certain level of outdoorsness. And then Eleanor woke up from her nap just as Geneva was going down, so we went out to PLAY IN THE YARD.

And Eleanor was just so happy. We were out there for well over an hour, in the ceaseless, uselessly busy way of toddlers. Burying sticks in the snow and then digging them up. Clearing all the snow out of the playhouse and then bringing more in. Rolling around. Playing chase.

Eleanor is pretty sedentary and bookish, so I don't always think of her as needing exercise, but this afternoon reminded me of what I love so much about summer. Open space and free range children! 

A good day's work. 

Sisterly love

Geneva was sitting in the kitchen looking for floor scraps while I cooked dinner (she's basically the dog I think I want but cannot handle right now) and Eleanor came and sat down beside her and she was like

THIS PERSON RIGHT HERE IS THE PERSON I LOVE ABOVE ALL PERSONS. 

These two. 

Valentine's Day

Valentines Day! Is a thing that happened.

Eleanor and I glued a bunch of buttons to a paper heart, for pretties.

She made her dad a card.

We ventured out into the snowstorm

because brunch.

And then I very slowly came down with the barfs. I kept feeling like if I ate the right thing, I'd be ok, but nothing worked. I took a Gravol and went to bed and woke up like a thousand times. The snowstorm petered out in the evening and our neighbor ran his snowblower under our window at 9 pm. It was hard to be mad, because he was snow-blowing our walkway, too.

I woke up at 11, too sick to live. Barfing didn't help, which is the worst, because then you're out of options. Joel got the girls up and dressed the next morning, and Eleanor kept sneaking in to give me kisses. It was very sweet, but toddlers are not gentle cuddlers, and when they left I slept for what felt like days.

Now I am better, and today is FAMILY DAY. We went ice skating.

There were carriage rides.

The thing that Eleanor can't stop talking about is the giant dancing ice cream.

'He held my hand SO MUCH TIMES.'

It was almost unbearably cold.

I'm a super cool dude, wearing my sunglasses over my regular glasses because I have an eye infection, and can't wear my contacts. We survived the weather, and came home for soup.

Vive le holidays.