A Day in the Life

“No more singing, Mom!”

N, not really loving her tummy time but demonstrating great head control anyway:

K’s constant companions: Baby and Bear.  

K, taking care of Baby.  She put the bib on all by herself.  

N. spending some time playing, too:

It’s Not Easy

…or being this cute!

Keeping the Doctor Away

I was intrigued that a girl who cannot tolerate the skin on slices of apples, and pretends to have difficulty eating grapes, requested to eat an apple, whole.  She made pretty good work of it.  I guess she’s growing up.

Chubby Bunny

Clean baby, post-bath:  “What in the world?”

Taking Turns

As much as I try to teach K. about taking turns, there are some times I wish she wouldn’t be so literal.  These are only two of the many outtakes from today’s photos, and K. and N. have each selected their own times to smile.

Have Its Day

K. got a hand-me-down poodle costume from her cousin and was anxious to try it on.  This alone encouraged me that we might have several options for Halloween this fall, but I digress.  She had a great time pretending to be a dog—she walked around on all fours and hung out with D. and G.  Look at her cute smile!      This girl has some crazy hair! 

Valentine Sweets

Happy Valentine’s Day!

N. exhausted after a long morning at church:

Among Toys

I love that my daughter, upon returning from church and while wearing an enormously puffy skirt, lays on the floor and plays with her cars.

And works on writing her letters on the magnet board.  And when I say letters, I mean “o” several times.  She can also write a capitol “i” proficiently.”“Here’s my car!”

Tiny Dancer

I subjected the poor little N. to dress up and look ridiculous for the sake of taking some cutesy photos.  I find them silly, but felt compelled to do it anyway for reasons I cannot explain.  I’m sorry, sweet N.  I’ll pay for your therapy when you’re older.

   Baby toes!

Playgroup Buddies

I don’t often get my camera out during playgroup—I’m usually taking advantage of the fact that K. is being amused by other kids and I’m with friends, so I don’t usually remember to.  Today was no exception, but at the end when S. asked to hold N., I remembered and grabbed my camera.

And notice that the girls have the same flower in their hair (well, N’s is “on her head” rather than “in her hair” so much).

And later the kiddos were playing upstairs (the moms were watching via cameras on the TV downstairs) and I noticed how sweetly the kids were playing together, so I ran upstairs with the camera.  K. doesn’t look happy to see me, but I don’t take it personally.  I think she dislikes the camera. K, preparing for her upcoming nap.  She’ll never admit to being tired, but once I see her thumb make a beeline for her mouth, I know it’s past time.   And a happy baby! Yes, her outfit matches her sister’s, and I failed to get them to sit together today.  I’ll try harder next time.

Lazy Monday

We spent Monday doing not much of anything.  As you can see, the girls were up and dressed in the morning, but I wasn’t ready for the day until about 6:30.  In the evening.

It’s funny that, despite her hoards of toys, K. plays with the most random items on any given day.  On this particular day, she filled her tote bag with the gears from one toy and the coins from another toy.  We played some type of game with them in the entryway of the house—some hybrid of divvying them up, counting them, and placing bets with them.      

Purple Floral Sunday

Would you believe that this is the same girl I dragged out of church, literally kicking and screaming?  My apologies, gentle reader, if you were someone who had to witness that.  She seems to be happy most of the time, though, and doesn’t have an excess of moments with a loss of control.  She didn’t sleep well last night, and I know that made a difference—we still heard her talking and singing at, like, 9:45 p.m.

The sweet sisters on a sweet Sunday.  I appreciate K. humoring me, which is really what she does.  She smiles for, like, a fraction of a moment and tolerates her sister’s nearness.  When she’s had enough, she tries to hand the baby back to me.  “Here.  Sister.”

“What.  If your mom had a camera in your face all. the. time. you would be annoyed too.”    And bear with me as I learn to use my new camera and learn about things like lighting.  I got it in the above picture; not so much in the one below.  The flash-optional world is new to me, and I am clearly trying to figure it out as I go.And an outtake of the two girls, just for fun.

Flying Saucer

N. has graduated from sitting as a lump all day long to being interested in looking at things (still not so much on the reaching out and intentionally touching, but she’s getting there).  Because I find them hideously ugly and difficult to store, but necessary, I borrowed an exersaucer from a good friend.  N. had fun in it already this morning, though I think she was mostly relieved to have a reprieve from sitting in the swing all day long or doing tummy time.

“Wow, those are some interesting things.”

And not to be left out, here is K. coloring.  She played briefly with the toys on the saucer, then decided they were a bit boring for her advanced age, so she asked to color.

She Shoots, She Scores

K. got a new basketball hoop.  Her last one was the nerf-type with the cardboard backboard and the net that never stays on.  With all of her young guy friends, it took quite a beating.  This one, which I’d had my eye on for a while, went on sale so we took the opportunity to make our basement even more little-kid friendly.

Your perception is correct: it is in the kitchen at the moment, but it moved downstairs shortly after its introduction to K.

She shoots…

…she scores!Happy about her slam dunking ability.  She’ll be less happy once I raise the hoop higher, but I’m all about setting up my kiddo for athletic success at the moment.