siblings and funny faces

I just put a bunch of pics from the past few weeks up on the computer. One thing's for certain. My kiddos can make some damn funny faces. Especially that Sol. He's a nut! And Els and the hair and the perpetual changing of costumes. It's really, really sweet.

So instead of making choices, I'll do a funny face marathon. They're all too good to pass up.

Other than funny faces, there's been a lot of playing between these two lately. Like real kids. Brother and sister. Eliana loves to climb into Sol's crib and get crazy. It's wild to watch. Like WWWF (though I've never really watched that, I imagine the gist...). Sol goes for the hair and Els goes for the full body tackle. I go for the screams and no's! Jeff's more likely to cheer them on. We spend a lot of time in Nana and PopPop's walk in closet (aka, Sol's room) where the games get wild.


We also spend a lot of time in hot water. Bathtubs, hottubs, showers.

Solomon poops more than ever imagined possible, often blowing out of his diaper. In fact, his diaper rash is so bad that I actually had to ask the doctor to prescribe special cream. But other than an extreme wipe sensitivity, Sol's fun-loving, wild man spirit prevails.



He continues to be into everything all the time. He loves to eat and enjoyed his first Baby Burrito the other night. He ate more than his sister did. Jeff proclaimed Sol was the happiest he'd ever been. I spent the next 24 hours wiping undigested black beans from a rashy bum. But there are worse things...

In other winter news, it's been really, really, really wintery. And cold. And gray. And uninspiring. The kind of weather that makes people curse. The flip side of that is when the sun comes out and it's like time stops and the whole of this little valley lifts their heads to the sky. The power of the sunshine is certainly something I took for granted for most of my life. Now she shows her pretty face and I can't help but smile, leave love messages on my friend's voice mails, bring the kids at school outside with clipboards and pencils so they can write it all down.


What else? We finally had the family Snowbowl day that Jeff dreams about. Sol and I happily spent most of it cozy in the bar with buddies and pizza, but I did manage to take one, gray, chilly, freaky run. When all is said and done, I don't really care about my ski progress that much anymore. I'm pretty content to watch my kiddos and let my man have his fun. But I will have a lot to keep up with real, real soon. Els is unstoppable. She skied down Sunrise Bowl, a run that totally freaks me out. She's fearless; points her skis down and charges. Her mama, on the other hand, continues to traverse ever so slowly and carefully from right to left, never just up to down. I'm so proud of that kid. So glad that she'll get to grow into the badass that I'm not. What a gift to give. She and Jeff are total BFF. She said the other night, How about Daddy and Eliana are best friends, and Mommy and Soli are best friends but we're all best friends together? Sound good to me.


Not a whole lot more to report. Sol's digging his new girlfriend, Alina.





They have some sweet times together and I think he's learning not to try to take her face off every time he sees her. Els too is digging hard on her buddies.


Our new favorite family thing is the family friendly Thursday and Fridays at the Top Hat, or as Elie puts it, The Dance Party. She dons whatever weird get-up she deems appropriate for that night (and unfortunately it's not always the super cute, tutu-ish outfit I want her to don...), saddles her way up to the bar for a Sprite (yup, first one ever, at the bar and now she can't let it go), gets insane on the dance floor (dancer friends, think floor work), messes with the pinball machine, and checks out every last disheveled little elf that walks in the door. I happily indulge in my love for on the rocks concoctions while people take turns holding Sol. We can actually talk to our friends because the kids are entertained. And the music has been awesome. Only in Missoula. A damn good place to be.