Christmas Decorating

We've pulled the decorations and the tree from the basement. The girls had a quasi fun time waiting for us to get the tree together and decorate it. Helen was sorely diappointed when she discovered the ornaments were not for her.

Baby Pantry

We're trying to set up a pantry for the girls so they can grab their dishes, spoons and cups. I don't think this will be fully functional until they are a bit older, but they are getting the idea.

Shopping

Carys and Helen are great at imaginative play. They went on a shopping trip a couple of weeks ago to get candy and bananas.

Snowstorm 2006

We had our first BIG snow which was fun for Carys. Helen, not so much.

Happy Thanksgiving 2006

We're off to our friends house for lots of food and company. We miss ALL our out of town family and friends and wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Cupcake Fun

We made cupcakes and the girls frosted their own. It was finger licken' good.

This Time Last Year...

Carys and Helen on the swings last Fall.

Quiet Times

Cullen and I have been cooking every weekend for a while. We spend almost the entire Sunday preparing meals for the week. This has saved both of us untold stress of week-day dinners.

It was quiet one Sunday afternoon. We peeked into the living room and this is what we saw. Helen was kind enough to give us a play by play of how she got up there once we took her down the first time. Carys is not pictured here because for some reason she was only wearing underwear, and I hate for ya'll to think I let my girls run around naked all day.

Twinkle Twinkle

Helen is rapidly developing language and loves to communicate with her hands and words she picks up. She's quick to mimic words, but she loves twinkle twinkle b/c she can tell the story with her hands.

Halloween Parade

We did the Halloween parade in Oak Park this year. The girls were dressed and we walked down one of the main streets in Oak Park and trick or treated businesses. As you can see we were not the only ones there.

Pumpkin Creation

Carys and I decided to paint and glitter our pumpkins this year. I initially thought we might have some traditional pumpkin faces on them but it turned out more free flowing which is just like Carys envisioned it.

Trick or Treat

Carys and Helen were CUTE in their costumes. Carys did go trick or treating with the group of kids assembled at Tiffany's house. Helen and I did not go this time, we stayed warm and snuggled in Auntie Tiffany's house.

First Field Trip "The Great Pumpkin Patch"

Sorry there are not pumpkin pictures yet. Carys took her first field trip yesterday and she had a great time. She's modeling her new cut.

Early Snow

Earlier this month we had our earliest snow ever I believe. Our friends were on their way to Vermont when their layover in Chicago was delayed due to windy conditions, not snow. I know they were surprised to see snow the next day but thankful that the conditions were OK for them to continue with their planned vacation.

Carys is very interested in the snow but Helen is close to being mortified. I'm not sure if it was the cold in addition to the cold white flakes landing on her. It dropped temperature rapidly while we were walking home and poor Helen cried the whole way. Mommy also did not anticipate snow or temperature drops or I would have had her in a bigger coat.

It's going to be a great winter, we are mostly looking forward to the hot chocolate.

Haircut for Carys

I just gave Carys her first haircut. Partly encouraged by the fact that I have a scheduled haircut for her on Saturday and the fact that tonight she finally said that I could cut her hair after days of me asking.

I did start to panic after I cut a bit shorter than I intended and I realized my kitchen shears weren't giving me a clean cut. But she tried her 3 year old best to stay still and let me finish. I realize that I need real cutting scissors but probably best not to have had them today, she might have gotten jabbed since she and I are both haircutting novices.

She did express an interest in cutting my hair as well. Hope we don't find Helen with a haircut in the near future.

Pics tomorrow, it's chin length and a cute bob.

Little Readers

Helen is developing a love of books and she especially likes books with babies and kids in the story. She identifies them with herself and almost always points to herself and says "baby"

Blocks

Two weeks after starting montessori, Carys now builds towers in an organized fashion, mostly according to color. Previously, she would randomly select blocks for her houses resulting in a hodgepodge of shapes and colors. Now before you start thinking she's being programmed, her paintings still reflect the fun, willynillyness of a little girl as well as her imaginary worlds. I'm not concerned about that but I'm interested to see her developing a sense of order to things.

Big Girl

Helen is so pleased to be able to stand at the sink like her big sister. If only she was just as pleased to brush her teeth.

End of Day

Some days we ARE tired at the end.

Goodbye Stroller

We no longer take leisurely strolls around the zoo enjoying the scenary. Now we run and jump and try to avoid the zoo tram, or is it the other way around?

Dresses are Pretty

Carys decided one day that she would only wear dresses. Before that I mainly put her in practical pants. I can say it's been a lot of fun finding cute dresses for her. She even gets more compliments than I do these days.

Baby Talk

No photo, just a note about Helen today. Her daycare teachers are teaching spanish to the babies. They learn the colors, numbers, simple words etc. Miss. Jeannette says that today Helen sat by Miss Letti (the teacher who is teaching spanish) and counted to three IN SPANISH. She doesn't talk yet but I believe it. She tries to mimic words and uses a bit of her basic sign language. Maybe she'll be a spanish speaker before she leaves the daycare.

First Day of School

Carys had a big day today, her first day of pre-school. We packed her lunch the night before and she had a good breakfast but she was still super tired when I came to pick her up and she even took a nap! She found two new friends, one of whom she tells me is a girl named Ostrich. I'm not sure about this but I'll find out during new parent orientation. When I ask her about her favorite activity, she says she loves them all. The pre-school is based on the montessori method and they have tons of fun "work" for children. I'll be sharing it on the blog as we learn together about her new school.

Her teachers said she adjusted well and Carys seems happy to return tomorrow. I'm glad she seems to be settling into this new program so well.

Bedtime Tent

Carys has always been a great sleeper up until a couple of months ago (hmm, right around the time my posting became spotty...coincidence?) Luckily we did not suffer too long because I have to get sleep so we quickly found a solution. The bedtime tent. I'm not saying it always works but it really has helped her feel safe and secure and she does go to sleep easier (most nights:)

Dance

Poppy's been spending a lot of time with the girls while he can. His work has calmed down and he can come home for dinner and a dance. Soon he'll have to work late again, but the girls are enjoying him while they can.

Feeling Down

We've had some down moments with Helen when she's not been feeling well or unable to communicate her needs. She's really had a breakthrough in her comprehension lately and her communication. She's using her signs for more and milk and she's really cute when she says pee (please) and rubs her chest. Now, she's not as quick to break out crying UNLESS she's hungry.

GROW

I remember these being a lot of fun when I was a kid. But I forgot that you have to get the water scalding hot so that the capsules will open in a timely fashion. Luckily, Carys is patient and after 30 minutes or so, we finally had our first shape revealed.

Catching Up

Let's catch up on what's been going on with Carys and Helen. There have been many good times, some great times with some not so good moments in between.

To begin, there's been lots of this.

Helen Uses a Spoon!

I know, I've not posted pics for some time. We've been having electrical work and the computer area has not been a very nice place to be.

Just an update and I'll try to post pics this week but we've returned from our vacation and Helen is using a spoon. Usually on the first couple of bites and if she's really hungry, it's back to grabbing and shoveling food with her hand. But she's making amazing progress. And it's interesting to note that Carys informed me of this new development even before I saw it with my own eyes. So Carys is observing Helen's milestones as much as we are now. Funny.