They Grow Up So Fast - Part 2

Pickle has started Word Building and as this picture shows, she is very excited. The reading process in the Montessori program begins by learning the phonetic sounds of each letter - we are not allowed to "name" the letters - and then they move to putting these sounds together. JP got to see her in word building action last week during his observation visit. The teacher tells her a word and then she uses the letters to build the word on her mat. Once she completes all of the words she then gets to write them which at this point is simply tracing the word. You can also see that she uses cursive letters instead of block print which is another aspect of the Montessori classroom. Cursive letters are actually easier for children to learn because they do not have to pick up their pencil. Pickle loves to write and is anxious to learn to actually read. It won't be long now.

How we entertain ourselves at the Egg Hunt

Pickle - 4 months

New Kid - 11 months

Hunting Eggs

The kids were treated to 3 different egg hunts this year starting with the a rainy afternoon at Cee-Cee's

Listening intently to instructions

The Human Crane

The Annual Easter Luncheon and Egg Hunt at the kids' Montessori school is always one of our favorite events.

Bubba and his friend from school whose brother also attends CMS.

 
Finally the Easter Bunny visited our house and the kids did some hunting among the broken concrete and backyard project.

 

They Grow Up So Fast - Part 1

New Kid had a fabulous time in the backyard by herself the other day and I was able to catch her glee on video. I don't think she was ever going to tire of this activity.

She has been full of energy lately and loves to be chased and to attack whoever is on the floor. It is a great game to her to pretend to escape and then she will stop and turn back to make sure you are watching or coming after her. She just squeals and giggles.

Hello From Colorado

Sunday's drive to the mountains was a "quick" trip considering the lengthy drives we put the kids through over the summer. Door to door was only nine hours and that included one stop to change Pickle's clothes and one stop at the Durango Wally World to pick up some flashlights. As far as a 9 hour car ride with three kids go, it was perfect.

Forty minutes into the trip and kid two throws up. She was in a defiant mood and didn't want to eat any of the breakfast that was provided. This, coupled with the fact that she was force fed orange juice at home before we left in an effort not to waste the freshly squeezed stuff, meant that the contents of her stomach were ripe for egress. JP refused to stop the first time and I did my best to contain it and clean her up, but when the second round started there was no salvaging the clothes. I couldn't force her to sit in vomit-stained, wet clothes for another 7 hours. We pulled over between Payson and Heber for a quick change and a quick introduction to some very cold temperatures!


The rest of the day was relatively uneventful and we pulled into Pagosa Springs right at 5:30pm. During check-in I discovered that JP's Aunt and Uncle were also here for a night so we enjoyed a short visit with them after dinner.


Day one of our vacation was very laid back as we wanted to get everyone acclimated to the altitude and have no forced activities so we could be sure to have some good blocks of time for naps. The day was filled with brief trips to the playground - the wind was vicious and parental units could not stay out there very long - coloring, lego play, and puzzle time. I know the boys were extremely bored but I think it was nice to have a day to do nothing.


Today we are off to find some good snow in which to play!

She sits on cubes

There was a post a couple of years ago, when there were only two spawn in the house, discussing nurture vs. nature, link.
It seems that our luck did not stop with #2. New Kid's newest trick is to climb on the corduroy cubes and dance and bounce. This behavior is no doubt a learned one and learned from her older sister at that.

Hi Darth

Of the two oh so adorable turners pictured above we only have one. The all powerful Darth! He is a huge hit in our house and every time he makes an appearance Pickle says, "hi Darth," in the cutest little voice. He has really been personified to the point that he is not the spatula, or turner, named Darth; he is simply Darth.

On an unrelated note whatever sickness made the rounds here 3 weeks ago seems to be coming back. New Kid has it the worst and her nose is a snot faucet right now. On a 10 month old that is absolutely horrible because she doesn't have the wherewithal to wipe on anything so it is just constantly flowing. Probably not the image you wanted but it isn't the image I wanted either so I thought I would share.