A few memories for future reference.

Sometimes I just can't think of anything to say, some days there's so much happening that I wind up leaving out huge chunks of our lives as I try to keep entry lengths managable.

So, in honor of the fact that this is supposed to be a semi-journal for myself, as well as a blog to appease to my vanity (by getting myself readers!) here are some quick notes on recent big events in our lives. Feel free to skip this as being way too boring.

Gabrielle is growing so fast. She's finally getting teeth in the gaps in her little smile. For the longest time she had four front teeth, top and bottom, then a gap, and then molars. She finally has teeth growing into the gaps on the bottom, as of about three weeks ago, and teeth are starting to show through on the top as well. Yippee! I never really did quite get used to the way the molars looked with the gap. I kept seeing her smile and thinking she had something in her mouth. Well, duh, Jennifer, yes, she does. They're called teeth. Do try to keep that in mind for future reference.

She's also making amazing strides in learning to talk, although it takes some concentration and word solving skills to figure out what she's saying. Yesterday she kept asking me, "Sno-go? Sno-go?" I had to repeat it to myself several times before I realized she was asking me to snuggle. She loves to cuddle up with Mommy on Mommy's bed, the both of us wrapped up in a blanket, like when she was tiny and still nursing.

Gabrielle has also hit the Terrible Twos. Last Wednesday she threw a temper tantrum and she hasn't really stopped since. OK, that's a touch of hyperbole. She stops for a few seconds here and there to breathe. How long can one child scream before going hoarse? I think I might get to find out over this next year.

School supplies are on sale right now all over the place which has gladdened my heart (it's the writer in me coming out. "Look at all that blank paper and pencils to sharpen!) but greatly peeved Michael who is not interested in thinking about school preparations yet. Crayons have been 10 cents a pack at one local store. So have 70 page spiral notebooks, so I've been buying scads of both for the girls to use. I'm also thinking of buying a bunch of stuff and keeping it on hand for when the inevitable charitable drive for underprivileged schoolchildren starts up. There's always something along those lines every year.

Arielle has been increasingly lobbying to be allowed to play outside alone. She keeps telling me about friends of hers who are allowed to play by themselves. Sorry, little girl. You have a paranoid mommy, who is going to be a pest to you until you are on your own, and probably even then. Learn to live with it. It's better than the alternative.

She's started doing something that is becoming a bit of a problem, though. After we put her to bed, she will sneak out of her room and into the husband's and my room, where she will fall asleep curled up in our bedspread. The first time I walked in and saw her there I about had a heart attack. I'm not sure how to break her of this. I guess we'll just keep picking her up and taking her back to her bed when we find her, until she grows out of it. Maybe? Hopefully? Surely she'll grow out of this sometime, right? Before she starts kindergarten, at least?

I'm going out with a friend tonight to a Harry Potter party at the local bookstore. I've never been to one. I can't say I really care where I go, as long as I go somewhere. Whoohoo! Time out with a friend. That's almost as good as a date with the husband.