Hello Mr. Turkey, how are you?

We've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus of late - but we've been up to plenty. That is, the kids have been up to plenty. I'm not sure what day it is half the time, honestly (how DID my grandmother do this with so many kids?!) but time is marching on and it's always good to step back and remark on it, even if you'd rather be in bed sleeping because god knows Reni will be up at 4:30 a.m. again (like, for the day) and Anika shortly thereafter.

A few random thoughts on this post-Thanksgiving, pre-cyber-Monday Sunday.

Anika learned a Thanksgiving song at preschool, to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It," called "Hello Mr. Turkey, How are You?" She wanders around the house singing it to herself. Also, Christmas has officially thrown up all over every major retail store and on all the houses in our neighborhood. Anika is enthralled. "It's Christmas!!" she shouts, loudly and merrily, every time she sees so much as a piece of tinsel. We have yet to decorate our house, but geesh, can't I at least wait until December, people?

Anika can put together puzzles. On her iPad, but still. Puzzles with at least 8 pieces. I dunno, maybe I'm a puzzle idiot, but this fact makes me proud. She's also quite inventive - the other day, she wanted to wash her hands in our bathroom (which does not have a step stool), and, without missing a beat, she opened the door to the cupboard below the sink, stood on the shelf inside the cupboard, and voila! she could turn on the water spout and reach the soap and the towel. I also love how this girl can take her babies for a walk one minute, and then use two of her little mini dolls (the ones that go with her dollhouse) as hammers. Look mama, I'm fixing the wall! she will say, and then make hammer noises as she crushes the dolls into the woodwork. Today, she made her first-ever pillow fort (she called it a "castle," of course) and jumped around in her zebra-striped tights from one pillow to another as she stormed the castle walls.

When you ask Reni if he's hungry, he will say "Yes!" and make a beeline to the kitchen. He'll then either a) get a snack cup from the drawer in the kitchen, open up the pantry door, choose a snack, and then attempt to fill said cup; or b) grab a pan out of the cupboard, look at you while holding it up as high as he can, and say, "Make! Hot!" and smile that toothy adorable grin of his. Lately, he's really been into oranges. And pasta ("Noodles!"). He's also getting really good at playing by himself. Sometimes, I won't be able to find him, and there he will be, sitting in his room, concentrating on a book or a puzzle or a toy. My favorite is when he brings a stuffed animal to you and mimics the animal noise. He loves to bark and moo and he will laugh that bubbling-over laugh for minutes on end if you sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and cluck like a chicken. He also - and he gets this from both his mom and his dad - loves, LOVES shoes. He wants to pick out his own pair each day and is always excited when it's time to go on an errand because it means he will be wearing shoes. Sometimes he'll just stand there and rock back and forth on his feet and admire his shoes.

Reni is still suffering from major separation anxiety, but he is always aware when we're driving by Anika's preschool ("school!" he will shout, triumphantly) and when we are doing our drop-off by the cubbies, he always makes a run for it, straight into the Brown Bears classroom, and makes himself quite at home. He may be ready for school next year (hooray!) Anika, meanwhile, is looking forward to inviting all of her school friends to her upcoming birthday party and is constantly playing imaginative games with her toys that include "going to Maya's house" or "making a cake for Katie," or any number of ways to include her friends. She's also a bit too aggressive in trying to make Reni play stand-in. He ends up with a princess crown crammed onto his head, a tutu around his arm, and a piece of fake food in his mouth.

Sometimes, though, I can sit back and just watch them run around and around and around the house, from the living room through the kitchen and down the hallway and back again, giggling and giggling and giggling some more. I think I am most thankful for that.