Yes!

It's so funny - Gemma just recently started saying "yes". Up until now, most often she would just repeat your question in an answer form, but now she says yes and understands perfectly what that means. It's so funny to hear - I dunno, I guess i'm just used to the "no"s more than anything.

Leni has also started to laugh more. Before, it was SOOOO hard to get her to laugh out loud, but now, she knows when we're playing with her and even laughs at some of the things Gemma does. 

First night without mom went surprisingly smoothly and we successfully got the kids in bed even earlier than usual. Unfortunately, Gemma woke up at 6:30, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because she had an hour and a half nap in the afternoon! Leni slept 12 hours straight and is only now having her first real nap. I don't know what is with my kids and why they don't like to nap! Anyway, I've even surprised myself by not having a pile of dishes in the sink and I even have the chicken brining for supper tonight (I highly encourage you to brine your chicken when roasting - what a difference!). Maybe I CAN do this!