Archive for April, 2009
Little Orphan Flora and Fly Boy Charley
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Monday
Monday, April 27th, 2009
Mondays are “Mommy and Fu” days (well, Chi too, but Flora usually forgets to mention him), and we spent the bulk of the day playing outside in the sandbox, climbing on the climber, and taking our lunch al fresco. Charley didn’t mind snacking on a sand appetizer. And Flora managed to get pretend pie all over her face (above).
Mess
Monday, April 27th, 2009
This is what happens when Mommy schedules a conference call when I am supposed to be sleeping.
Boulton’s Fifth Birthday
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
Our little friend Boulton turned five this month, and held his birthday party at Lil Folk Farm in Holliston this weekend. The kids got to mingle with goats, sheep, rabbits, and chickens in the petting area, do laps around the barn riding on ponies, wack the candy out of a pinata, and of course eat pizza, cake, and ice cream. Flora’s favorite thing was the cake and ice cream (as usual), and Charley loved watching all the big kids run about.
Wanna Lick?
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
Backyard Fun
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
It has been in the 80’s (!) here, and Flora and Charley have been having a great time playing outside now that spring is finally here. Flora’s favorite thing to do is ride her bike along the driveway where we’ve chalked big roadways, bridges, stop lights, street signs, and places to visit like the coffee shop and zoo. Charley’s favorite thing to do is to get into everything he’s not supposed to. Victoria, our neighbor, came over to play this weekend, and the girls had a great time making “pies” and “oatmeal” with the sand and playing on the climber. And Charley held his own and kept pace with the two big girls.
Flora’s Skeleton and Ghost
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
I seem to remember from art school that the first object kids universally create is a circle with lines radiating from it, and it symbolizes either a sun or a person. I found this drawing developmental timeline online.
Flora’s Scribblings
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Flora learned to recite the letters in her name and has started to show a real interest in letters, letter sounds, spelling, and rhyming. This morning she just started writing different letters all on her own, mostly from her name, and squealing, “I made an F! … I made an O! … I made an X! …”
And she’s been drawing more scenes with recognizable people (in the upper right hand corner: the circle is the body, the lines are the arms and legs, and the two small circles are the eyes) and objects. I asked her what all the other markings were, and she said: “the person is me, [the little lines underneath] are birds, everything else is snow, and the guy in the [bottom left] corner is a ghost.”
Chocolate Bunny
Monday, April 20th, 2009
The ears are the best part.
Spring Safari
Monday, April 20th, 2009
Charley really LOVES to be outside and explore (i.e. get into everything). He has no fear, and thinks he can keep up with big sister, Flora. This weekend, he got to take a spin in Flora’s wagon, examine worms from the garden, and sniff the daffodils. He didn’t seem to think they tasted too bad, either.
Picnic Lunch
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
We finally had nice weather on a Friday when we’re home, so we walked down to the playground for a picnic lunch. Flora enjoyed a hummus sandwich with lettuce and onions (I kid you not), plums (above), and chips. Charley even got in on the action with some cooked egg yolk, cheese, and crackers. He is way into feeding himself these days.
Gross Motor Skills
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Charley figured out how to climb (4/14) and we can hardly keep the little menace away from the stairs. He tries to get that chubby knee up onto everything now. He has also “let go” while standing (4/15), and balanced for a few seconds before falling. He’s started to cruise a little along the furniture this week, and takes VERY big steps if you hold his hands or position him behind the walker. Nothing and no one is safe from his clutches! But the cutest things he started to do this week was shake his head yes in approval (4/16) , and stick his tongue out to be silly (below).
“Legs Like a Pretzel”
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
We surmise that Flora is going to be a teacher. She loves to read to us (here she is with this month’s Highlights High Five magazine), and it goes something like this: “OK, when I read the book, you need to listen. Legs like a pretzel. Hands in your lap. OK. Hey! No talking …” and then she starts to string together sentences of her story that don’t necessarily make sense as a whole, but the pieces sure do. She loves to be bossy, and tell everyone else what to do.
Snuggling
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
I walked into the kitchen and caught Charley snuggling Flora’s favorite guy, Rusty. I think Charley is definitely going to be a lover, not a fighter, as he loves to snuggle, cuddle, hug, and kiss.
Pink Stripes
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
I love layering Flora in stripes and dots, and mixing and matching patterns. She hates cooperating for pictures now, but will amuse me every now and again.
Big Top Toof
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
There it is … and its buddy next door is on its way out, too.
Silly Sleeping Bags
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
The shipping box was almost as fun as the new sleeping bags!
Happy Easter!
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
Easter Evening
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
And to end our Easter festivities, we made sort-of-egg-shaped calzones for dinner. Flora stuffed hers with sauce, mushrooms, onions, garlic, spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella — and promptly devoured the fruits of her labor.
Easter Best
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
We got the kids dressed in some Spring garb — too bad it was only 35 degrees this morning! But the sun called Flora outside for a few spins on her bike before her hands got too cold to hold on anymore.
Easter Baskets
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
The Easter Bunny came when the kids were sleeping and hid a basket for Flora on the potty and one for Charley in his play pen. Flora had no trouble finding both. They got new dishes, a DVD, books, chocolate bunnies, crayons, green nail polish, barrettes, puzzles, window clings, candy, and more!
Easter Morning
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
We began our Easter morning with the annual hunting of eggs. Each plastic orb held various sweet treats for the kids — M&Ms, jelly beans, gummy bears, animal cookies, peanut butter cups, and then some! Flora scoured the living room high and low, and upon finding each egg, promptly sampled its contents. Charley even got in on the action and gummed a marshmallow peep. I’m not sure the latter is an approved baby food, but he sure enjoyed it. After all the eggs were found, we had a breakfast of bunny pancakes and blackberries. Yep, even Charley had pancakes, too — his first Easter and his first taste of pancakes.
Big Apple Circus
Saturday, April 11th, 2009
Daddy and I had a special date at the Big Apple Circus in Boston. They set up their tent in Government Center Plaza and perform rain or shine (unfortunately for us it was rain, but I did get to carry my Dora umbrella). It’s a one-ring circus with only sixteen rows of seats, so there isn’t a bad view in the house. Our seats were directly in front of the stage and at the very end of an aisle, so we had an unobstructed view. There were silly clowns, trapeze artists, jugglers, acrobats, horseback riders on horses, dogs jumping through hoops, and my favorite … pink cotton candy.
Easter Eggs
Saturday, April 11th, 2009
Easter weekend has officially begun with the dying of eggs this morning. Flora dyed a dozen, and could have dyed a dozen more, but who could possibly eat so many hard-boiled eggs? So we painted some pictures with the leftover dye instead.
Top Tooth
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009In Charley news, his top, left tooth has partially popped through, while he still works on the top, right. I’ll post some pics when it pops all the way through.