Denis took the girls to the school playground today while I was working, and then I met them there after work.
After we managed to pry them away from the slides and tunnels, we took Carrie to the shoe store, where we discovered that she has crossed a threshold: from toddler & preschooler style shoes to Big Girl shoes. She picked these out – the one pair in the store I would have never, ever guessed she’d want.
My little big girl is getting so big!
We’re loving the warmer weather around here! We pretty much spend every afternoon from when Carrie gets off the bus until Denis gets home from work out in the front yard, doing fun things like riding bikes, blowing bubbles, “chalking” (like coloring, but with chalk), and playing with the “flowers” (aka pinwheels).
We love spring!
We had a lovely day filled with family, fun and food! Anna really enjoyed shaking the plastic eggs and asking people to “open it!” and the jokes I filled the eggs with were a huge hit with Carrie and her cousins.
Anna has big-girl bike envy, and suddenly the little pink ride-on car is nowhere near cool enough.
So I got out Carrie’s trike to see if Anna could ride it. She’s still a little too small to reach the pedals comfortably, even on the smallest setting, but she does love to push it!
I have a feeling we’re going to be spending a lot of time outside this spring and summer…
We’ve had this cookbook for a while, and used it a few times, but never to make the title recipe.
Today we made Salad People for dinner.
Carrie couldn’t decide between making a person, robot or alien, so it’s a combination of all three. And I’ve discovered that the kids don’t even like cottage cheese when it’s in fun people form. The rest was a hit, though!
We picked up a new (to Carrie) purple bike with training wheels from a Craigslist seller today, and stopped at the bike shop for a new helmet and a new purple bell. And then Carrie got to ride her first two wheeler. (With training wheels, of course.)
Doesn’t she look so big?
The pinwheels I bought last year have definitely seen better days, but the girls still love to play with them. Anna calls them “flowers” and holds them up in the sky to try to get them to spin.
I think I’m going to have to look for some new pinwheels soon!
Shockingly enough, this was our ninth annual St. Patty’s Day party. Next year we’re going to have to do something super special I think!
Anna insisted on wearing the blue dance skirt all day, and Carrie had a blast hanging out with all of her friends.
I forgot to buy a silly hat this year, so no silly hat pictures. :(
Today was our big first ice skating lesson day. Carrie started Snowplow Sam, and I’m in the Basic 1 class, for ages 6 to adult.
I am the biggest “kid” out on the ice. Which I felt a little self-conscious about for the first few minutes. And then I realized, I didn’t actually care what any of the other parents thought. I mean, really, really, didn’t care.
I only fell down once. Well, twice, but the first time was on purpose.
Carrie made a new friend in her class – it’s pretty easy to make friends when you’re five: just have identical bike helmets!
Dear Anna,
Today you are 20 months old. That’s a lot! I feel like I can’t really say that you’re one and a half anymore, because when you’re only talking 20 months, 2 is a pretty big percentage of that.
You now have 13 teeth. And you *love* to brush them. Of course Daddy or I get a turn, but you’d chew on that toothbrush for hours if we let you. You also really love bathtime. For a while we were doing nightly baths, but it’s not really practical with the amount of time we have between dinner and bedtime to do them every night. But you certainly would not complain if we did!
Your language skills are improving by leaps and bounds. You now say “Nikki” instead of “Nee-Nee” when we’re having a playdate with your best baby friend. It’s a little sad actually…Nikki’s mom and I were expecting you to call her up in high school and say “Nee-Nee, do you want to go to the movies with me?” You will also jabber entire conversations. Only one or two words might actually be recognizable, but baby, do you love to talk!
Your favorite foods this month are fish sticks, apple juice and coooookies! You are my little carnivore, and will frequently pass up bread or fruit for more meat. Or cheese, can’t forget the cheese! You still eat quite the variety of foods, but I have to be slightly careful what order I offer them to you in!
You love slides. You haven’t had much of a chance to use them – actually, really only at the kids’ haircut place, where they have some toys in the waiting area. But you don’t call them “slides”, you call them “wheeee!”s. Kind of makes sense, really. I guess we’ll have to get out our baby slide once we’re sure winter is over and done with!
Your most very favorite toy right now are Lego Duplos. I just recently got out our big bin of them, and you can spend forever with them: dumping, picking them up, playing with the Duplo people. I have also seen a change in your play – you starting to do imaginitive and role types of play, putting Little People in their car and driving them around; feeding baby dolls bottles and carrying them around.
It’s so much fun watching you grow and learn and blossom. I can’t wait to see what each new month brings!
Love, Mommy