We didn't take any pictures from the first half of January, mostly because we've been passing around nasty viruses to each other like all families should. I managed to sneak in these snapshots in between my coughing fits. They'll do. Mallory got her first princess dress last week. I usually make her dress up clothes, and as much as she loves them, she noticed that her friends had "authentic" princess dresses and kept asking for one. I loathe paying good money for play clothes, so I found this one at a resale shop. She was delighted, obviously. 
As a joke one night, I held Max's baby monkey and pretended to feed it Max's night time milk in our rocking chair. When he saw me, he stuck his arms straight up and gave a gravelly shout, which I suppose was meant as a threat to scare the monkey away. I let him feed the monkey to pacify him. He caught on to the idea quickly, happily grunting and clucking the whole time. 
No pictures this week, but we were very excited to have Mallory go to Sunbeams this last Sunday. She kept on asking me if they had a car rug in primary which was a little perplexing; I have no idea where that came from. She was a little stressed when she saw how many noisy kids there were, but she found her preschool friend, Maya, and they sat as close together as they could manage. In Sunbeam class, they talked about being spirit children of Heavenly Father, and they sent them home with little spirit shaped cookies. When I asked Mallory what the cookies were, she said after a lot of thought, "gingerbread ghosts." I didn't stifle my laughter very well. Max is still attending "pre-nursery" which is held in the foyer with 4 other rambunctious toddlers. Lessons taught include: How to steal a toy and get away with it, Bang your head on the glass doors (rhythm technique), Mommy and Daddy love to chase!, and Sunday School: the 30 second lesson plan (Max believes that 30 seconds is plenty of time for mommy to learn all that she needs).
