The Little Mandingo and his Big Sister

Josh came up with "Mandingus" but I didn't like the "dingus" part and so I modified it to "Mandingo." Well, the Little Mandingo is doing pretty good. He is such a sweet and smiley boy. If he's not hungry, tired, or has a burp that's trapped he is so happy. I know babies change all the time and this might not be his permanent temperament and I know boys are more prone to ear infections (which can wreck things a little) but I'm enjoying it and I'm hoping he stays this way. Because he is making being his mommy so much fun. At this point he is talking (aka cooing) and laughing. He is also starting to bat at things and put toys in his mouth. We also recently discovered that he is ticklish. It's nice to get an easy laugh out of him. His sleeping patterns are still a little erratic at night but usually his pacifier and making sure he's on his side (I know I'm breaking the rules and not putting him on his back but if that's the only way he'll sleep I'm not going to argue with him) will get him right back to sleep. We just got Christmas pictures taken of him and Emily. They both did great. Color me relieved. As far as how big sister is doing, she is still her crazy little self. She is usually so upbeat and sometimes a little too upbeat. The girl has two volume levels : silent and loud. But she's a sweet child to her core and she says some of the most funny and endearing things. Now if only she could learn how to lower her normal speaking voice so I wouldn't have to constantly tell her to keep it down when her brother is trying to sleep (he does that a lot). She is still fighting us on pooping in the potty. We're now resorting to major bribing and it's not really working. We're also taking away her shows (she LOVES her shows) and that's not really working either. What's the most random of it all is that some weeks she will poop in the potty 2-3 days in a row but go right back to pooping in her pants or underwear. Gross topic I know but it's what's on our minds around here. Aside from Santa of course. This year she is so excited and so that makes me excited. She finally gets it to the point that she can truly get excited about it. She also still doesn't care about getting specific things so she hasn't asked for anything (well except for a big candy cane). But if you give her something she likes she gets so excited about it. So I've been able to pick out things I'm pretty sure she'll like without the pressure of getting a particular toy. I know it'll change but I'm living it up this year. I always have to post some pictures so here they are. They're from the past couple of months so it's got some from the State Fair and Halloween.