Shopaholic?

I think Lexi likes shopping. For the Veterans' Day weekend, we went on a road trip to Princeton, NJ and Valley Forge. (FYI - Natalie didn't travel as well especially late in the day - much crying ensued even though she was fed and clean. Hoping that she grows out of this phase quickly as we won't stop traveling but hate the hollering.) Lexi had brought along her own money. We spent some time in a mall where Lexi picked out a new purse and some headbands. Then she and I went in a grocery store for a snack and they had some toys displayed so she came away with this small plastic fantasy castle complete with prince and princess (whom she named Anaratka and Edward). She is SO pleased with these purchases: she immediately switched her stuff from another purse to the new one and held the castle in its box on her lap almost all the way home. She is not interested in buying clothes really but "things" seem to make her excited. Of course, on the clothing front, all she wears is white shirts and black/navy blue pants. Seriously, I keep washing the same 4 shirts and 4 pairs of pants and the rest of the very nice clothes that she has in her drawers just stay there.

Natalie is smiling a lot more and having more awake times though is not always very happy during those awake times. She is fairly consistently waking up once in the night and then up around 5:30/6:00. I am starting to think about how I can handle the morning routine once I go back to work in mid January. It just takes some time to get us all ready. (Side note - I do find it odd that Lexi never complains about having to go to bed before Natalie. Maybe she is too young to notice that disparity. Or maybe it is because Lexi is a pretty good sleeper and rarely complains when we tell her it is time to go to sleep.)