Now Entering: The Land of the Toddler.

I promise I have a good explanation for the lack of posts recently. Actually, I have two. First, I wasn't home. I was in the land of the Island-folk, resting and catching up with family and kids and friends alike. It was a good trip, with the exception of the big void that was the absence of the hubby. Alas, he was off doing that thing called 'work', which apparently needs to get done in order to make it with two kids. Who knew?

Reason two: My children grew up. Really quickly. Eli has grown to the point where I feel silly calling him a 'newborn'. He's HUGE. He's awake all the time, he smiles, he talks. He's wearing 3-month clothing... which Alex didn't do till she was about 6 months. But this is not the big news.

My little girl. My little almost-17-month old little itty bitty wittle girl. She's grown, almost overnight, into a pint-sized little person. She is officially a toddler.

And what is it that I am using to judge her advancement to toddlerhood?

Just LOOK at her!

She eats corn! While it's STILL ON THE COB!

And that's not even the half of it. Two days before we left Michigan, she decided she was through with the pack-and-play she was sleeping in. She crawled right over the top and landed on her head. I will say right now that that was probably one of the worst noises I have ever heard in my life. One that I wasn't willing to chance hearing again. So she slept in our room the next two nights, in her pack-and-play but within an arm's length so I could throw her leg down everytime it popped up. And the first thing we did when we got home was go out and get a toddler bed. ... A BED. FOR A TODDLER. THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY RESTRAINING BARS ON IT.

It's probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I was very nervous going into the first night, especially considering that we were coming off of a ten hour road trip. We were already tired, and this bed meant that there was probably not a full night's sleep ahead of us. (which... I don't get anyway, but it's nice to go into the night with the illusion of a good night's rest.) But, after about 45 minutes of picking her up as she ran down the hallway and putting her back into bed, she passed out. It was.... well, I don't know how to describe the absolute euphoria one feels when her child goes to sleep. Especially when there's more than one. My spirits were dampened a little by the 6:20 wake-up call the next morning, but really, that was more than I expected anyway. Then, first nap, went down without a peep. Second nap, only 30 minutes of chasing her down the hallway. (Which is amazing, because before this we weren't even getting a second nap.)

She's fallen out of it only once, which is good. She learned within the first 30 seconds of being up there that she shouldn't play the spin-until-you-fall-down game. Because the fall is alot longer. But, it's not as long as the fall from the top of the crib.

So, all in all, the transition is going smoothly. She's been on of the most adaptable children I've ever seen. Hopefully this continues.

I will try and post some pics from my last few weeks soon. Thanks for being patient. :)