Click! Click! Take a pic! Pic!

Lately, Miriam has been fascinated with the camera. More specifically that they take pictures. And even more specifically that she can control what pictures are taken. For a while, I would pick up the camera and there would be twenty or so red-fade-to-peach shots of her fingers over the lens.
Then she got better and there was a whole bunch of this:

I'll spare you the hundred or so other virtually identical shots, varying only in which portion of face is included and the degree of overexposure. She for some reason kept pointing the camera at herself. It may have been the egocentric take-pictures-of-yourself thing that all the kids are doing these days, but I don't think so. For one, she would say "SAY CHEESE MAMA" as she was doing it.

Anyway, her aiming skills have improved dramatically. When I picked up the camera the other day, there was a pictoral diary of her day. I loved seeing the things she found important enough to document by photo. See for yourself. And don't worry, I've trimmed it down from about 30 to just a few.

Her pink bear Zeebo:

Her dirty clothes:

Her baby doll "Baybuh Baybuh" sitting in the doll stroller:

Herself in the mirror:

And... her brother Eli:

There were lots of pictures of Elijah. The first one he was clear across the room, just in the corner of the shot. In the following ones he got bigger and bigger until he was the main subject. I love that he is important enough to her to be so prominent in her picture-taking. And I love that she is important enough to him that that he's watching her in most of them. I wondered a little bit why I wasn't in any of the pictures. She must have known that I would have taken away the camera.

Good Eater

The other night at dinner after polishing off two and a half baby food containers (the Gerber 2nd Step size), Elijah was still not satisfied. He finally took the spoon away from Brent and carefully put it in his mouth. Each time Brent took it away to put more food on it, Eli would break down. But once he he got the spoon back he was all about the concentration again. This kid is four and a half months old and already feeding himself! That's genius if I've ever seen it. Treat yourself to another Moore family post-dinner video. Bon appetit!

The happiest sound in the world

The hardest part is figuring out which is Elijah and which is Miriam!

Two-year-old logic

EXAMPLE #1
We are on a walk with Elijah in the sleepy wrap when Miriam vacates the seat of the stroller and is now pushing it. She stops on a regular basis to pick up rocks and sticks and other sundry items to put them in the undercarriage part of the stroller. I realize that she is trying to crawl into the area, which is made of a thin canvas-y type of material upon which is stamped very clearly that it is not to be used as a baby carrier.
Me: Miriam, don't crawl under there.
Miriam: I want to go under there.
Me: You can't fit under there.
Miriam: Yes I can fit.
Me: It says it's not for little girls.
Miriam: Oh.
She immediately stops trying to get in and turns to me.
Miriam: Put Eli down there? For little boys?

EXAMPLE #2
We are in Boise with Miriam crying in her bed. Due to the facts that we are transitioning to no naps and that we are on vacation, I get her out. When it's time to go back down, I lay her down to change her diaper and find it is completely dry.
Me: There's nothing in this diaper. It doesn't need to be changed.
Miriam: Yes! Change my diaper!
Me: But there's nothing in it.
Miriam: Yes! Change my diaper! Clean diaper please!
I show her the empty diaper.
Me: There's nothing in it! It IS a clean diaper!
Miriam: There's toots in that diaper.
I changed the diaper. Without letting her see me rolling my eyes.

Great book. Not so great movie.

A while back, I listened to "Marley and Me" on my ipod. It was absolutely wonderful! I loved Marley and thought about him all the time. I also loved John and Jenny and completely felt like a member of their family as I listened to the book. I laughed right out loud at times at the crazy situations that Marley would get himself into and imagined how I would react. The writing was fabulous, the story flowed, I laughed right out loud at times and I got a little choked up at others. I would and do recommend the book to anybody.
As soon as I finished the book, I requested the movie from the library. It came this past week and we watched it over the weekend. It was one of the worst book-to-movie transitions I've ever seen. Honestly, I couldn't stand Jennifer Aniston as Jenny and Owen Wilson was just not John Grogan. It seemed like the whole plot of the book was Owen Wilson (and I say Owen because it wasn't John) wanted a different job and didn't want to be stuck with his wife and kids but by the end he realized that having a family was great. Oh and he had a dog named Marley. Owen spent the whole movie wishing he was a news reporter, whereas John in the book loved being a columnist. Sebastian, his movie best friend who goes off to Columbia to write a big article on drugs was not to my knowledge a part of the book. And maybe because it's just the movie, but you really don't see much of Marley at all. Yeah, he gets kicked out of obedience school and he chewed up some couch cushions, but that was about it. You don't really see how he's the "worst dog in the world" or how he just loves the family he has. I know it's hard to put an amazing book into two visual hours, but it would have helped to stick with the plot and have more about Marley. That could have been done with a simple narration. The point is I really didn't like the movie. But I LOVED the book. So don't let the movie keep you away from one of the most enjoyable reads I've had for a long time!

Lovin' this boy!

Elijah is officially one of the most amazing little four month olds ever. We had his official appointment on his official fourth month birthday, and the doctor said he was a "perfect specimen." Yep, those were his exact words and nope, I don't think he's ever used them about any other kid before. He lands delicately into the 80th percentile for both height and weight, making him a perfectly proportioned little big guy. Although four months old, his 9 month clothes are getting pretty snug. The doctor commented about the congestion, which he has had virtually all his life causing the growly breathing that first led to one of his nicknames being "Beast," but that didn't affect his perfect rating at the end. Miriam was an attentive older sister, telling the doctor that Eli's favorite color is blue and demonstrating how he grunts. She also was extremely empathetic, crying as loudly as he did when the shots came. He quieted down as soon as I had him wrapped up in the sleepy wrap with his binkie. It took a sticker from the nurse for her. Either way, it was a magnificent appointment for a magnificent little boy. I LOVE THIS KID!

Five Six Seven Eight

Miriam attended her first official dance class this morning accompanied, of course, by her Mama, her Daddy, and her brother Eli. It was at the community center and advertised on one flyer for kids 2-5, on another kids 3-5. Either way, it was a pretty big span of ages and I was afraid my little 2.5 year old would be the littlest and most immature one who wouldn't follow directions and would make all the other kids and parents mad. Especially if they had the 3-5 flyer. But when you go into something expecting it to be rather awkward, you're usually pretty pleased with the results. Positive negativism, as I always say. Miriam did great. She was one of four little girls. One girl is three and a half, exactly a year older than Miriam, and the other two were twins who are three turning four. All of them were extremely attracted to the wall-sized mirror and the barre. I was glad that both the other moms and the grandma had cameras. Miriam was the second tallest of the four, the only one not in a leotard, and usually the first one to raise her hand and say "I KNOW" when the teacher asked a question even if she didn't know the answer. She followed directions during stretching and was able to at least attempt the things. She did fantastic at walking on tiptoes across the floor with her arms up in a ballerina position. She did surprisingly well at the gallop step. Skipping was an issue, but she wasn't aware that she was just running, so all is well there too. She was a fabulous hip-shaker, partly I'm sure due to her love of the Wiggles. They hip-shake quite a bit. Brent's favorite moment came when one of the twins seemed sad and was standing apart from the group. Miriam walked up to her and threw her arm non-chalantly around her shoulders. She looked at the girl and gave her a big cheesy grin. I could not but laugh. The class was scheduled for 45 minutes. Forty two minutes into it, Miriam turned towards us and lolled her head to the side, her body virtually limp. That's always a sign that she's not going to be doing anything anybody asks her anytime soon. Sure enough, she made a beeline for the sidelines and said "ALL DONE!" She collapsed and watched her friends finish the last three minutes. All in all, it was a perfect class and Miriam was a perfect little lady.