Standing Alone!

Helen surprised me one day by standing by herself outside. Of course, I did not have the camera and she does not do it inside. So Poppy was ready the next time we were outside and caught this great action of her standing. Now, she's cruising and really loves me to walk her around. More pics of that later.

Dance Class

It's hard to believe but Carys expressed an interest in dance classes when she was two years old. The instructor has recently announced a larger program so Carys will be able to take classes year round if she wants. Carys loves this class and frankly, I don't know what kid wouldn't. I just can't wait for Helen to tell me what she's interested in, I'm so curious. Poppy took these great pictures during class.

Zoo

We LOVE the zoo. We are members and since it's so close it's a no brainer to take the girls there on a nice day. It's open 365 and every year I say that I want to go when it's snowing to see it in that environment but I always chicken out. This is a really neat part of the zoo, they have special kids activities and it costs a bit extra so it usually keeps out most visitors. It has a great family restroom and even a nursing room, a new mom's best friend:) Plus it's a place where I can let Helen crawl around uninhibited except by other little kids running over her.

Spring Smiles

It surprises me every year how affected we are by the winter. Wintertime is a bit depressing, just trying to get warm and the lack of sunlight is physically depressing. However, we always come through it and when spring comes, it literally lifts our spririt. This year it was interesting to see that Carys was going through the same thing. We were working on the front yard and she was running up and down the sidewalk yelling "Summertime, Summertime". Well, not quite but it sure does feel great!

Grass

We've had some warm days to go out and enjoy the yard. Helen is experiencing grass for the first time ever. She doesn't like it. She's holding her leg up so it does not fall in the scratchy grass. Now I lay a blanket out and she crawls around it and picks aat the grass from her soft oasis.

Baby Play

Carys enjoys pulling on Helen and Helen enjoys the physical contact with her sister. Carys is surprisingly gentle with Helen and this interaction did not end up with crying babies. Actually, I sort of broke up the fun by trying to take pictures. They were playing and giggling for about 10 minutes before I showed up and ruined the fun:)

Spring has Sprung

Little Helen is enjoying the first sunlight she's seen in a LONG time. Actually we all were. We were able to do a little gardening this week-end along with a little earthworm farming (Carys's favorite:)

Dancing Princess

Carys had a big day today. She went to her first dance class this morning. She really enjoyed the play format of the class and listened to the teacher. It's a contemporary dance class with imporvisation of movement. The teacher is very good with kids and she actually taught Carys two and a half years ago at the YMCA, gym class. Carys could not even walk then. I had a big goofy smile on my face while observing the class. It was so enjoyable to watch her interact with the teacher and other toddlers. She did a great job. She's a little less outgoing than I imagined but I think after a few classes, she'll be ready to show off her improvising movement to the whole class. One great thing is that even though I was there, she was not clingy and did not even start looking at me until the class was almost over. These are pics at home b/c I did not know if I would be able to take some at class. I will probably bring the camera next time and turn off the flash.

Shedd Aquarium

Saturday we went to the Shedd Aquarium, the world's largest indoor aquarium. We had a busy time seeing all the fish of the world.