Nathan and little Frankie, honey

Heavy precipitation (something between rain and sleet) kept us indoors for most of the day. (The current weather advisory says "freezing fog." The weather here continues to surprise me.) This afternoon Nathan and Maya painted, ate ice cream, and invented a game called whack-a-balloon. It is like silly-slapping but with balloons, and they both thought it was hilarious. Fortunately all balloons and body parts remain intact.

I like Maya's sweatshirt which was Nathan's Halloween costume two years ago. We love her sweet and spirited personality. One of her first words was "thank you" and now she says, "thank you, honey" to everyone. It makes us smile, and she thanks without any prompting, so polite. But the terrible-two's have arrived early. She responds to many things with: "no, no like" or high-pitched shrieks...or sobs...or just lying face down on the ground. I remember when Nathan was around this age, he laid down in middle of the mall once and refused to leave. Luckily they seem to snap out of these moments rather quickly and balance them with lots of affection and good behavior. (Kids grow out of their no-no-no! stage...right?)