This Week

(ignore the slight snot-nose here, please. it was one of those times where it became dried before you even realized it was there,
and she wouldn't let me do the 'lick my thumb and wipe it' trick. shameful.)

We have been experiencing gorgeous weather this week! Needless to say, we've been spending a lot of time playing outside and blowing bubbles, taking wagon rides, going to the park, etc.Hannah showing us her latest trick! She even dangled with no hands for a few seconds!

Hannah wanted to take a picture of us. So, in a rare moment, the parents on the other side of the camera.

Hannah looking ever so precious at breakfast the other day. The girls are on a big breakfast kick this week; every day the girls gobble up two bowls of Nature's Path flakes each! Which is Mommy and Daddy's favorite cereal right now, as well. Needless to say, we're having trouble keeping the pantry stocked.
One of our crafts themed around "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Hannah wrote her name on the circles, one letter per circle. Then, she glued them in order onto a piece of construction paper, and added a face and antennas. Amelia needed Mommy to write her name and draw the face, but she very much enjoyed playing with the glue.
We also tried this craft from "No Time for Flash Cards" where you use cookie cutters dipped in paint to make shapes on your paper. Our cookie cutters are cheap plastic ones (Dollar Tree-- they were 6 for $1), so while we weren't quite able to identify every animal, it was still fun.
After a little while, and by that I mean 4 minutes, the girls just wanted to finger paint anyway.
Hannah has gotten fairly good at writing letters. Maybe half the alphabet? Either big, little or both. The only word she writes is her name. And our little lefty has started switching hands on me lately! Strange. She has a few 'sight words' she can read: 'a, I, no, on,' and 'all.' Hannah also is showing a natural propensity for math. When we are eating multiples of an item, say grapes, we will use subtraction as we eat. "I have seven grapes. If I takeaway one, that leaves me... six!" It's awesome to see children learn through simple play, with no stress or strict agenda.
Amelia has also made some huge strides in her vocabulary recently! In the last week, she has added the following phrases to her repertoire:

"I wu you!"--I love you!
"Boo!"--blue, or really any color. She will point at other colors correctly if you ask her to, but verbally identifies them all as blue.
"Na-na!"--Hannah! (this generally has a negative connotation)
"Dee-du, Mom."--Thank you, Mom.
"Okay, Mommy."--Okay, Mommy. (she replies to everything I say to her with this phrase)
"See Amy!"--Show me my dang picture, woman! (as she's pointing to the digital camera)
"Tickle me, Daddy"--Father, would you please engage in the sport of tickling me for my amusement?

Leaps and bounds, I tell ya!