Easter Sunday

Easter had a little bit of something for both of us girls.

S loves to dress up and the more 'fancy' things the better. Yesterday, she wore her prettiest flower dress. Then she borrowed both a necklace and two broaches from her mom (like I said, the S is into quantity when it comes to fancy). Even better, we curled S's hair for the first time ever.

All the way to church, S talked about being a princess and how wonderful it was.

A has a different priority. She prefers the tasty treasures. While she also enjoys dressing up, she is much more excited when she is included in the play of others who are excited as well.

With that in mind, it will come as no surprise that A was very happy to play with her sister while hunting for eggs and wearing her new Hello Kitty back pack. Best of all for her, she ate as much candy as she wanted.

Nite Nite

One of my favorite games is "Nite nite." I force mom or dad to lay down on the floor. Then I cover them in blankets, get them a buddy to hold, rub their back, and make reassuring cooing sounds.

Last night both my sister and I were up too late and I played a modified version. Both my sister and I laid down in her bed and pretended to go to sleep.
One final question: Do we look like sisters? The cheeks, the smile, the squint of the eyes... mom thinks we look like sisters.

Dishes

I love doing dishes. Every day we come home from school and I wash my hands. After washing my hands I can spend up to 30 min washing and re-washing the same few breakfast dishes while mom and dad work on dinner.

That generally means I also have to change my shirt afterward, but since I love picking out and changing my clothes that is a win-win for me.

Merry Christmas Everyone

We all hope everyone enjoyed a very wonderful day.

Love Ya

I love my sister. I like to have what she has and do what she does. Most of the time, she likes me imitating her.
I love my cousin. I watch very closely as he flips himself over the side of the jungle gym or tries to climb up the steep slide. Someday I'll be tall enough to do the same.

I love babies, both real and pretend. I love waving 'hi' and giving them wet kisses. I recently started wrapping baby dolls in blankets and rocking them (just like my sister).

I love strangers. I am very attentive to everything happening around me. When caught staring, I give a sheepish smile and hide a little. But I love the attention and cooing I generally get.

It is good to be such a happy kid

Quiet Summer

Actually, it is anything but a quiet summer. Between a first birthday, canoeing up the creek, visiting numerous friends, and swimming as often as possible the entire family is very busy.

But I hope to get back to blogging regularly this month.

Vocabulary

My current vocabulary consists of:

• Dada: used interchangeably for either parent
  
• Mamamamama: a favorite babble word
• Uh ohhhhh: often stated just before tossing my sippy cup over the side of the high chair
• Aeee Ouuuu: said both as I hand you an toy and as you hand the toy back to me
• Uuu P: not said often, but when articulated that means exactly what you think it should mean

Words I also know include

• Foot: which causes me to thrust my foot into your face
  
• Hand: which results in a similar appendage thrust
• Fingers: during which I expect you to tickle my fingers
• Nose: which results in my finger smearing your glasses as I try to point to the middle of your face
  
• Steamroller: which causes me to immediately start giggling uproariously and crawling away from dad as he come chasing after me
  

Spring Walking

I'm continuing to practice my walking and balancing. I'm very good at walking while holding onto one hand. Sometimes I hold onto my sister's hand, although generally it is either mom's or dad's. But I can push myself up to a standing position from the middle of the room and when I'm taking my time I can walk across an entire room pretty consistently.

One of my other favorite games is what mom calls the "sharing game." I hand you something and you say 'Thank-you.' Then you hand it back and I say, 'Aee Whooo.'

Walking more than Crawling

I'm so intent on being able to walk that I just spent a weekend on 2 feet more than crawling on the floor.

Most of that time is spent scooting along the furniture or holding onto someone's hand, but I am working hard at spending more and more time pushing off and taking those 3 to 5 steps on my own.

I can do it!

Parade

Just further proof that I love to wave. Here I am in the big parade for my daycare flanked by two scowling boys and I spent the whole ride waving and smiling.

Life is good.

Walk and Wave

My favorite activities are walking and waving.

I have a beautiful princess wave that I share with anyone glancing at my direction.

I also still love practicing my walking skills. Mom pulled out the push-hippo toy and I now spend as much time as I can performing laps across the living room or kitchen. The only downside is that I depend on someone else turning the hippo around, and often my assistant tires of the activity before I do.

First Steps

I took two steps all by myself today.

I'm ready to go.

I just need a little more work on my balance.

Stood Up

I stood up today all by myself. It was just for a moment, but I did it!

Springtime

Spring has arrived. The sun is out, the days are warming up, and flowers are starting to bloom. I'm holding my first flower here, but now many more bulbs are flowering.

My sister is busy again turning over rocks and playing with bugs, worms, and any other creature that stumbles across her line of sight.

The change in seasons gives me a whole new world to explore, but I'm still not sure about the outdoors. When dad brushed my hand across the grass, I wasn't very taken with it and when I am given flowers (like the one in this photo) I immediately try to eat it (hence my mouth being open).

Da Da

Dad has reinforced the use of the phrase "da da" enough that I now say it all the time. In fact, one of the things I do while held is babble "da da" while patting the person holding me on the chest.

Dad is convinced that my first word must be "da da" but mom feels that I might not quite understand the definition of the word since I proudly pat her chest and declare "da da" too.

But I do understand words. I recognize my name and my nickname and can make the sign for both "more" and "all done." I also understand the word "no" but my standard reaction is to laugh and return to the prohibited activity.

Look Alikes? No More?

A few months ago, all we heard was about how much we look like each other. Recently, though, the frequency of such comments has dropped significantly. All of us have heard far less comments about how much we look alike. It still comes up on occasion, but not as much.

Perhaps people have finally tired of making the comment. Perhaps we are numb to it and no longer hear it. Perhaps we are starting to look like separate individuals.

Mom thought it was about time to compare a couple of photos. So for all of you curious folk, here are two photos of us girls taken within a couple of days of eight an a half months of age.

What do you think? Do we still look alike?

(By the way, the top is A and the bottom is S)

Big Girl Bath

I love bathing in the big girl tub. At this point I've graduated out of the infant tub entirely and spend bath time crawling after various toys. Of course, I also still love to splash my mom.

Smiling in Pink

We are still working through negotiating playtime and toys now that both of us can get into each others things, but yesterday we played very well together while mom did dishes. I can see a long and happy future of sibling fun.

Current Advancements

Every day brings something new.

I have decided that food is wonderful and love practically everything mom has fed me. I would like to try more, though. At every opportunity, I dive towards the table and the food mom and dad are eating. I even reach for my sister's sippy cup of milk in the evening, but no one is willing to share.

I have two teeth now.

I'm can hold myself up on all fours and if mom or dad move my knees I'll even crawl short distances, but I still am more interested in rolling myself around than in crawling.

Even more, I like being stood up and walking towards things.

Bust mostly I like smiling, giggling, and playing until I'm all tuckered out.

We Have Returned

After a bit of a hiatus, we are back to blogging.