Facelift

It was high time I got a new look around here. I was really tired of the garish blue and green and wanted something a little more me (or, more accurately, a little more monochromatic). The downside of Blogger, though, for novices like me anyway, is that the choice of backgrounds is a little bit limited. So. I did some Googling and landed upon The Background Fairy. (There is also a companion site, The Graphics Fairy.) Both are full of pretty and FREE clip art, blog backgrounds and other various treasures. And the bonus is that everything is accompanied by clear, easy-to-follow instructions. (And now, my HTML-proficient husband is probably shaking his head at my computer ineptitude. I hate to do anything computer-related near him because I can physically sense his overwhelming desire to just take over the job, kind of like you feel watching a kid struggle with something you can do easily.)

So. Here we are. A little more neutral. Will took one look at it and asked for the blue (bwue) back, as I knew he would. All he really wants, though, is to look at pictures of himself here and say, laughing hysterically, "That's really funny."

There's really not all that much going on around here right now, just school and resuming swimming lessons after a break for a few months. Laura is still working on pulling up on everything and I'm still working on letting her do it, letting her fall sometimes (well, not letting her as in intentionally watching her get hurt). She's always been so attached to me, and me to her, truthfully, that it's surprising to me every day to see her starting to test her separateness. She is still so sweet, so happy to be around the ones she loves, but I'm beginning to watch her do more and more without us, all the while looking to us for approval after her hard-fought little victories. Will was always so incredibly independent that this part of his babyhood wasn't so jarring. It was just what he did, going at it full force without looking at us at all. It's still what he does.

Speaking of, Will has in the past few weeks (and I almost hate to even write this, but here goes) become much more cooperative and willing to comply without the endless questioning and/or fit-throwing. Thank goodness, because I was ready to just give up and look into military school or something equally harsh. Not to say that he's perfect or anything, since he still struggles (I just typed "struffles") with some things behavior-wise, like respecting others' physical boundaries (of which Will apparently has none--he's a "close talker"), but we're getting there. Bit by bit. Small step by small step. I finally feel like I can fairly easily go out with both of the kids by myself now and not break out in a cold sweat at the thought of having a meal in a restaurant with them. Progress.

And now I need to make some progress house-wise. I've been woefully lax this week about keeping up with the more mundane parts of my job around here. More soon...