Nature School

That last post from daddy was so sweet!

Here a few pictures from our hike through the arboretum today. We have been very fortunate to learn about this free school from one of Max's coop mates mom. Today was all about smells. We smelled moss....yucky....witch hazel.....lovely and daphne....also lovely. We learned that plants boost there fragrance in the winter to attract beneficial insects. We were also fortunate to see the Heron on our little hike! Max made this flower in the picture and also got to smell and play with cinnamon, rosemary and mint home made play dough! So fun!!!!

Viv at 14 months

Daddy here ... 14 month check in on some of Vivian's new words:

• Backpack
• Book
• Dow (for door)
• I go (when we're leaving, as she starts grabbing her shoes and jacket)
• Wawa (for water, she points to the fridge and says 'wawa' when she's thirsty)
• Nigh-nigh (what she says when she's going to bed)

Ever since that epiphany we had with Max when he was about 15 months, we've been waiting to see when Vivian would start showing us her awareness of things even if she couldn't say the word yet. And sure enough, if you ask her where the door, couch, fridge, chair, shoes and other things are, she goes right over to them and taps on them. When you say "Bathtime, Vivian!" she immediately makes a bee-line to the bath and starts pulling off her clothes. Today, I asked her in the kitchen to bring me one of Max's "men" (action figures), and she ran off to his room and came back with SpiderMan and Falcon. One of here favorite things to do is say "book", grab one, hand it to me and plop down in my lap. Ahhhh. Of course, she usually doesn't stay past the first 2-3 pages... she's on a perpetual hunt to find something to climb on. She is certainly not a "sit still" little girl. And she can already throw a ball pretty well.

I can honestly say that there is nothing that has given me any greater pleasure in this life than to see the development of my children's minds, and to see their personalities take shape. It is nothing short of miraculous to watch it unfold.

Snowpacalypse 2012

We have been in the house all week while Charles is in sunny California for work. It sure would have been nice to have him around but we did manage to have some fun! I really enjoyed not running around all week. Max had his first sleepover at his friend Sylvan's house. We got there by sled and foot! Viv and I stayed home for some nice bonding time. She is getting better at communicating with words and gestures. She lets me know when she is done eating. She shakes her head and says no no.

She has been walking around tapping her feet like she's dancing. It's really cute.

I remember back to a snowstorm when Max was about this age. It is so much nicer to have the two of them now. Charles always tells him he is the man of the house when he goes away.