Kinda in Love. Can You Blame Me?

These are my kids. Yup, they're mine. Some days I am blown away by how lucky I am. . . and then there is potty training . . . Henry is closing in on 8 months old. He is seriously the happiest little kid I have ever known. He has this open-mouthed smile that melts my heart, but he shares it with everyone. He makes old men behind us in checkout lanes chuckle when he smiles and coos at them, like they are his long lost brother. He makes ladies swoon and pinch his cheeks when he giggles at them just for looking his way. We were walking down Midway Main during Swiss Days (translation LOTS of people) and everyone coming toward us kept smiling and pointing. After about 1/2 mile I looked down to see Henry sharing his million dollar smiles. He makes everyone feel special and funny (he laughs at pretty much everything).
One thing is for sure, he definitely saves his most enthusiastic smiles for dad when he comes home and there is no one he prefers more than his big sister. He will stare at Ellie with a pasted grin just waiting for her to acknowledge him. The moment she looks his way he shoves his fists into his mouth to stifle his squeals of delight. It is so fun to watch these two interact more and more.
His tooth count is up to 5. He has learned now that it is not a fun game to bite, but in the beginning he sure got a kick out of it.
We are not sure his limit in the jumper yet, but he has been known to spend upwards of 1/2 hour with non stop jumping, still laughing.
He isn't quite so chubby anymore, but he is in no way skinny. His cheeks offer him a well-fed look but he is definitely stretching out.

Ellie is a sweet heart. She is learning how choices and consequences work, which can be a tough lesson. She is so sweet when she says sorry and for the most part is pretty compliant. I am grateful for these times when I can tell she trusts us. I hope somehow I can keep that going.
She loves to wear dresses and "dancing skirts." Whenever I start working on a new dress for her she will come into my sewing room and say, "Oh thank you mother."
She has recently been exposed to a vast number of Disney Princess movies and it is quite interesting to see them take shape in her personality. A few months ago I caught her giving Woody a very Rapunzel-like kiss. And our nightly good night kiss morphed into her placing my face in her hands and slowly leaning in for a sweet peck on the lips. It is very romantic. Almost everyday we talk about how Dad is my prince and we got married in the temple. She loves that story. As much as I love her sweet kisses and romantic ways, I have begun to limit her princess exposure (hopefully I'm not too late).
More than kissing, she loves rides in the trailer. We have found our favorite spot to ride our bikes to down by the river. There are plenty of rocks to throw for Annie and Ellie always gets soaked. She loves it. She also loves music class, and swings, and running races. Almost everything becomes a race. It is a great tool in getting a doddling toddler to pick up the pace.