Latest Learnings

My girls have been making me happy lately with all they are taking in.  Of course, children are sponges, and Cate and Charlotte have really been soaking things up.

Charlotte, who has some odd affection for the dishwasher (as seen below), has surprised me with how much she understands.  While she only says a few words--Mama, Dada, hi, bye bye, dog--she gets what I'm saying all the time.  I can be anywhere in the house and if I ask her if she wants milk, she'll immediately go to the fridge and start trying to open the door.  If I tell her it's time to wake Cate up, Charlotte goes right to Cate's room.

We've been working on the names of things, particularly facial features.  I've taught Charlotte eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, chin, and ears by pointing to what they are--real advanced parenting here, I know :)  Today I asked Charlotte to point to my nose AND SHE DID.  Then I asked her to point to my eye...genius child did that too.  I was so happy I screamed!  She's iffy on the mouth and cheeks but I'll take it.  It's probably because she's around a 3 and 1/2-year-old all day, but Charlotte still seems like such the baby to me.  To watch her begin to learn questions and commands is crazy--I love it.

A couple weeks ago I was drying dishes and turned to find this little surprise waiting for me :)

Cate got her first report card from preschool and (gasp!) I had to go to a parent teacher conference to get it.  Cate is doing really well in all areas and is on a 4-year-old level.  The next thing she needs to master is looking at a letter on a piece of paper and, without prompting, say what sound it makes.  She easily identifies all the letters and if you say "what sounds does a T make?" she can tell you.  It's just taking the step from seeing a letter on paper and saying what sound it makes isn't second nature to her yet.

Upon hearing that, Rhett sat down with her last night and, in about five minutes, she had it down ;)  This morning, I used Pinterest for the millionth time and created a little rice tray for her using an old cookie sheet with taped letters to the bottom.  She used a paint brush to "discover" the letters and had to tell me what sound they made as she found them.

Well what do we have here? 

Uncovering some real treasures.

Then, on her own, she decided to trace the alphabet in the rice.

I know this is basic stuff, but it's very rewarding to watch little kids mastering new skills :)

Playground Bliss

Ahhhhhhhhhh...

It was so nice to get to the playground today.  We have an amazing spot about ten minutes away and we soaked up as much time there as possible.

Cate was in heaven in a bouncy pink car.

Cate told me "I want a real car just like this when I'm older."  

 Charlotte climbed on anything and everything.  She is fearless.

So happy for some fresh air!

Cate and Charlotte's favorite part of the playground was the playset that looks like a fire engine.  Cate went down the "fire pole" over and over.  She could do it on her own, but was too nervous to.  The funny thing was, we got to the point where I could put one finger on her and she'd go down fine.  I wasn't doing anything, she just needed the reassurance.

Cate also finally went down a corkscrew slide by herself today--it only took her three and a half years to get up the courage.  It took Charlotte 14 months--today was also her first day solo on the corkscrew.  She could not be denied--she was more or less begging to go.  It was grunty pleading, but it was begging nonetheless.  I'm sure the other moms thought I was crazy (fair enough).  Just picture me holding Charlotte at the top of the slide and coaching little Cate to catch her at the bottom--true story!

We had a total blast though and it's days like this that make being a stay at home mom so incredibly fun and rewarding.  The girls could not have been happier.

Sparkly Ponies and Other Discoveries

I am not going to start this post by complaining about the weather, but seriously, coldness and frigid rain, I am so, so, so done with you!  Luckily, mother nature agrees and, at least for the next couple days, we can get outside.  Cue the chorus--HALLELUJAH!  Tomorrow you'll find me at the playground.

Here is a recap of our activities for the last several days:

Wherever we went, it was bundle-up time.  New discovery: Charlotte HATES mittens.  She finds them seriously offensive and a sign of awful parenting.  To her it's like, how dare you put those things on me??!?  Given her love of continuous eating, I think she thinks those pesky mittens really get in the way.

Mitten free is the way to be!

On one of several trips to Target over the past week, Cate was determined to spend the remaining $17 of her birthday money on new pink, sparkly shoes.  I know, I know, her birthday was forever ago, but originally she spent some cash on her most wanted item this summer--popsicles.  Then she wanted flip flops but try finding those come August/September.  Then we sort of forgot about it until her preschool friend showed up with the shoes that she must, must have, like now, mooooooooom!  

We agreed to spend the balance of her cash on the pink sparklies so off we went to get them at Tar-jay. Long story short, we were rolling around the store with pink shoes in the cart when we passed the toy aisle and Cate laid her eyes on a wall of My Little Ponies.  She looked at me and said "I don't want to buy these, I want to buy those."  Those were sparkly ponies and they have now taken up residence in Cate's jewelry box.  Her favorite one?  Pinkie Pie--I swear I did not make that name up.  She's holding old Pinkie in the shot below. 

"My little pony, my little pony..." You know you watched it when you were little!

We have played with every toy in our house.  I got desperate a few days ago and, after looking in the garage, discovered a tub of balls, like the kind you'd find in a ball pit.  The balls were a big hit and I let the girls rummage through the tub and toss/roll them around the living room.  Soon plastic items dominated all floor space.

Not pictured: me waving a white flag.

Today I caved and took the girls to lunch at Nordstrom.  Have you ever eaten there?  Best $28 lunch date of my life.

Yummy food--check!  Happy kids--check!  Content mama--check, check, checkitty check! 

Quote of the Week

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Speed Demons

We hit the nearby basketball court again today for what will likely be the last time for quite awhile we can emerge from our house without hearing shrieks about "waaahhhhh...it's soooooo colddd out hereeee...I'm freeeeeezing."  I'm sure the girls will complain about it too--haha.

The weather forecast for Tuesday is says the high is going to be 22.  As in ten degrees less than freezing.  The low, and this pains me to type it, is going to be 16.  Our move south in a couple of years is looking more and more attractive.   Bring on those hot, humid summers!

So, today we let the girls race around the court to their heart's content.

Cate is surprisingly speedy and coordinated on her bike.  I told Rhett I thought she'd be fine without the training wheels.  He looked dubious.

Charlotte LOVES that little red car.  She rides, pushes, and pulls it around the court FAST.  And, given that peek-a-boo is her favorite game, enjoys the non-stop entertainment that the little yellow compartment at the front of the car offers.  I put a milk cup in there today and she was all business about hiding it from herself over and over.

Cross your fingers I make it through the next week alive.  Come on spring!

Boredom Busters

Ohmygoodness I have such a newfound respect for stay at home moms that have been doing it for awhile.  Winter brings some nasty weather and it can make everyone ca-razy to stay inside for days on end.  Anyone who can manage through it has my respect.  Even Charlotte has been climbing the walls.  Ok, not actually climbing walls, but any piece of furniture she can shimmy her round body onto (which a surprising number of pieces).  And, Cate is only so happy to boost her up onto anything out of reach when my back is turned.

We get outside whenever we can for however long everyone can stand it.  Today at least there was sunshine, so Cate and I raced around our tiny back porch.  The neighbors must think I'm nuts...and, at this point, I sort of am!

Cate craves novelty, so here are the things I've done to switch up our regular routine and activities:

Art
Art is an obvious attention-getter for preschoolers and Cate especially loves to paint, glue, and cut.  What is the crazy attraction for preschoolers to scissors, by the way?  She took the three pairs of plastic scissors Santa gave her and has been cutting up a storm.  Fantastic investment of $4.

I also found a good idea to create Mondrian art on the No Time for Flashcards blog.  We bought some canvases at the craft store and rummaged around the house for painter's tape, acrylic paint, and brushes.  And voila...

This is fine art, my friends.

For the another canvas, Cate had the idea to paint monsters with, what else, googly eyes.  

Pop quiz: which one isn't a monster?  Answer: the blue one in the top right corner.  That is a duck, OBVIOUSLY.

Science

Some desperate googling for something to do inside that didn't involve a plastic toy with some awful, high-pitched music coming out of it led me to the ivory soap trick.  Tons of websites and blogs have it but I had never heard of this.  Have you seen it?  You put ivory soap in the microwave for a couple of minutes and it expands like crazy.  Cate was wowed--so was I!

Cate said it felt like tissue paper and I agreed.

Trash to Treasure

We fished a couple of items out of our recycle bin and came up with ways to use them.  First, we rescued a couple of shoe boxes.  I cut a slot in the top of one and gave Charlotte a deck of cards to slide in one at a time--big hit.  Cate took the other and made it into a mailbox.  This was an idea from the Unplugged Play book I mentioned a week or two ago.  She used construction paper to make "mail" complete with sticker stamps and addresses.

I hope the USPS accepts Dora and Diego stamps because we've got some mail to send.

I also took a rinsed out coffee can from Costco, cut a slot, and gathered some things for Charlotte to push into it.  Another hit.  This is probably mainly because Charlotte is a good baby and generally content no matter what, not because any of this is actually cool.

Getting ready to make those markers disappear.

Singing and Dancing

We've done a ton of dancing and singing lately.  Charlotte observed at first, but has joined in lately and it is hilarious to watch her start to dance.  None of us have any rhythm, in fact, Charlotte probably has the best moves of any of us.

And then Cate has staged some very elaborate storytelling escapades.  Below is a shot of her story set-up when she was talking all about Major and his "babies."  The girl has an entertaining imagination and I can't help but giggle at her.

Things We Love Right Now

Here is what we've been loving lately...

Winter has driven us inside, so we are making the best of it with our indoor activities, especially crafting.  Cate LOVES googly eyes.  In fact, when she was younger, she used to pull the goggly eyes off all of her art projects and walk around with them in her fists.  She'd lose them, of course, and get upset, so I gave her a baggie to keep them in and she carried it everywhere.  When strangers at the store would ask her what she had in her hand she'd say plainly "A bag of eyes." Lovely.  Thankfully now the eyes stay on the projects. 

It came to this--a "No Whining" jar.  A glass bead is added for good behavior (i.e. unprompted sharing) and comes out for whining and bad behavior.  Two thumbs up for this idea.

Aren't these crayon gems awesome?  They're from Target!  I bought two and can't decide whether to use them as gifts or on our bookshelves.

I'm not sure when it started or how I allowed it, but the girls are obsessed with small plastic toys right now.  Here is Cate's arrangement on her nightstand.  She's got a Minnie, a pink kitty, kitty's food and water dish, and a mini blue My Little Pony.  Also pictured are a little wooden bunny and Cate's most used items during the day--a pink sippy cup and her princess chapsticks.  When I'm tucking Cate in, she asks that I say goodnight to all of these things, including kitty's food and water dish.  I put my foot down at her sippy cup--a mother has her limits.

Rhett has been looking through old pictures from 2012, like the classic shot above.  He's making us a photo book to recap the year and all the wild changes that came with it.  Isn't that nice?  He's also really, really good at it.  Smart, creative, and sweet.  Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Speaking of being a good husband, Rhett is watching Downton Abbey with me.  How good is that show?!?! 

Charlotte has been getting better and better at feeding herself--look at that happy face!  Mashed potatoes have been easiest because they stick to the spoon.  The cutest thing is that she loves feeding others more.  Whenever she has her sippy cup or spoon her in hand, she will point it toward my mouth or Rhett's and start smacking her lips as if to say "Eat up!"