Yearly update

Ok, maybe it hasn't been that long, but it's been TOO long - as is usual these days.

We are great!
We are having a wonderful holiday season so far. Thanksgiving was fabulous. St. Nicholas Day (today) has been great. Tomorrow we will celebrate Quema del Diablo (the Burning of the Devil). Christmas will be here before we know it! And before that - Eldana's birthday! Time goes so, so fast.

The girls are the best! They learn so much every day! Eliana and Abigia both have had a big change in their speech lately - significant improvements in intelligibility and complexity of communication for both.
Potty training was improving so much that I thought Abigi would start preschool in January.... but she's had a cold all week and dry diapers have been few and far between, so now I'm not sure. Eliana has no clue what the potty is for, but still insists on sitting on it several times each day so she can be like 'Abidia.
Eliana is starting to, hmmmm, love?, exploit?, her role as baby in the family, so we are trying to get a little more strict with her. She's certainly not badly behaved, but there are some tantrums now and then. Unfortunately for her they just make us laugh, so it doesn't really get her very far. We are going to REALLY start trying to get her back to sleeping in her crib. As in tonight, after she falls asleep in our bed I will sneak her over to her crib and pray that she stays there for at least an hour. We're in a deep snuggly hole of co-sleeping that is going to be hard to work our way out of.
This morning, when the girls came downstairs and Eldana realized that St. Nicholas had left treats in our stockings - she was so excited! It was so sweet to see her be so thrilled with a few trinkets and pieces of candy.
Eldana has been getting so excited for her birthday! She's been to several birthday parties since coming to the US and has been WAITING for her turn to come. So far her requests are: cake (funfetti) with large tapered candles, ice cream, a jello mold, grape juice, apple juice, water and milk.
The trouble with sparse blogging is that I never know what to write - there's so much to say that anything I do type out seems either insignificant or glossed over.

Christmas prep: Tree is 1/3 done. Other decorations: 2/3 done. Christmas cards: 1/10th done. Shopping: 1/2 done. Wrapping: ha! Baking: Haha!

Blog promise: I'll post again on 12/9.