Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! 

My parents sent the kids a package full of lovely gifts, and Eli and I got them each a book and some chocolate, so it was a big party at our house this morning.  I set everything on the table and when they walked into the kitchen, they couldn't believe it. 

Of course, things deteriorated quickly when Lizzie saw the lollipops on the packages from my parents ("no breakfast...lolly!"), and then we managed to make a large error when we gave Lizzie the plate with Rudolph (yes, that's the reindeer and I still use my Christmas mugs too) when Tommy had his heart set on it.  Anyway, it was otherwise a nice morning and the kids were very happy.  Tommy's (and Lulu's really) favorite gift was a container of buttons that my mom sent because Tommy was really interested in sewing when she was here at Christmas.  He has declared the "golden" buttons to be treasure and they were already causing all sorts of fights when I left this morning. 

We had a very busy weekend because we have moved all the baby things into the guest room with the goal of getting rid of it by the time visitors arrive on March 12 (we are all quite excited that Uncle Brett will be here for a week and overlap a bit with Sid and Ollie's visit later in the week).  We cleaned it all and photographed it, so that we can put it up on gumtree.  If it's not gone in two weeks, it goes to the charity shop.  (I'm not sure why we didn't just take it directly to the charity shop, but, well, we're a couple of hours into this project now.)  We also had a doctor appointment for Tommy on Saturday.  It turns out that he had a pretty bad infection and probably should have been on antibiotics (though he certainly has managed to beat it without them), and that his ears are very clogged with mucus.  This comes as a great relief to his parents, who thought that his hearing was deteriorating.  He is still a bit low energy, but definitely coming out of it.  Tommy is on half-term this week, so he has loads of playdates as well as more time than usual to relax (no homework, no reading, etc.).  I think he needed it (though he does miss his girlfriend, Sophia). 

The Lu spent all weekend talking.  She is only quiet if you ask her to say something in particular, otherwise she is constantly narrating.  This morning at breakfast, she told Eli that he is a monkey.  "Daddy...monkey."  "Who's a monkey? Me?" "Yes! " and then laughed.  As Mandy says, Lulu is a determined child.  She will not be deterred from her agenda, no matter what.  Mandy is certain that this will serve Lulu well in the future; I am certain that it's going to kill me long before there's a meaningful future.  We are having a lot of consequences these days -- she did not eat anything over the weekend other than fruit smoothies, so she didn't get sweets.  When served with her meal, Lulu leans back in her chair, looks you in the eye and says, "no like it" in the most dismissive way you could imagine that being said by a two-year-old, and then sits patiently until she thinks up something better to do.  (Mandy said that Lulu ate a HUGE lunch yesterday and no wonder.) 

I hope your days are filled with lots of Valentines. Xoxoxoxoxoxo 

PS:  My friend Karalee sends out Valentines instead of holiday cards and when I received mine last week, I was delighted!  So much fun!  I'm considering copying the idea, or at least using it on the years I can't get holiday cards out during the holidays.