Rowing

Emily loves music and nursery rhymes. Emily says "row, row, row" when we sing Row,Row, Row Your Boat. She clicks her tongue like Claire and I do during Hickory Dickory Dock and says "down" at approximately the right place.

Emily likes to hold lots of things in one hand. It seems sometimes as if she is trying to see just how many things will fit in her tiny little fist. she also likes to carry something in her hand as she crawls along even if it is quite large like a purse.

She is very interested in paper and turning pages. The baby bug pages are just the right thickness for her to turn independently.

She is developing strong opinions and a firm agenda and will let us know when we are not following her plan. Her main goal for each day seems to be to spend as much time with someone walking her around as possible. (Try doing this with someone who is a mere 2 feet tall and you'll see why I am eager to avoid doing this for any length of time.


It is so interesting to see the differences in how our girls are developing.
They learned to kiss at about the same time. Emily learned to drink from a straw the first time she tried it (today) while Claire tried it for a couple of months before she could do it. Emily is able to push small buttons on a phone or toy at 13 months that I'm sure took Claire much longer.

cat food stacker

Claire likes to :
stack cans of cat food whenever we bring home the 24 pack.
jump up and down
climb
say rhymes and sing songs
ask questions
look at books
listen to stories
take a bath
wear costumes
go to play group

Emily likes to:
Open and close doors
pet the cat
walk while holding mom's hands
play with balls
eat crunchy foods
go outside
listen to music
click her tongue
play in the bath
repeat favorite words: mama, dada, baby
put on bracelets (or canning lid rings, etc.)

other news:

Sometime in October Emily grew two new teeth bringing the total to 6 teeth. She has another on the way.

We have an appointment with the pediatric cardiac surgeon at Children's Hospital this Wed. Nov 18. This will be his first time meeting Claire. It will be interesting to see what he recommends for Claire.

Costumes

Claire is wearing a "mermaid" costume right now that she got along with a bagful from friends at church. She loves dressing up and changes from mermaid to princess to ballerina etc various times during the day. photos on flickr.

Froggy nurses

Claire is really interested in sewing. I picked up a couple craft kits at the 99c store to make felt hand puppets. She had a great time putting the plastic needle through all the pre-punched holes around the edge of each puppet. I was surprised at how long this captivated her attention. I would show her the next hole after each stitch otherwise she would want to plunge it in randomly. When we were done with the second puppet she wanted to do another one.

I've been using some activities from the book Teaching Montessori in the
Home: The Pre-school Years and have picked up some learning games and toys from the thrift store and Lakeshore. It is always interesting to see which activities she gravitates towards. This week she was really interested in playing Cootie. This is a game where you roll a die and get to pick various body parts to create a "Cootie" bug. It is still a bit difficult for her to put the pieces in and take them out again when we clean up she is starting to pay more attention to the dots on the die and figure our which part to pick after she rolls.

Emily's favorite activity is having someone hold her hands so she can walk around. This is a real back breaker since she is so short. She also loves her stuffed animals and is very affectionate with them giving them hugs and kisses. Yesterday after her nap she nursed and when she was done she put her stuffed animal (a frog) up my shirt so he could have a turn.

chit chat

New picts on flickr tagged october09.
Mark and Claire are at the zoo today.
There were several things I thought about adding to the blog during the week but now I can't think of them...
Emily's new word is "happy". She has a dozen words in her vocabulary now and three signs. It is so fun to communicate with her and see her express herself. She recently started handing things to others. She is very interested in music and usually will bounce or dance a bit when it goes on or when someone sings. She has had a little cold the past couple days but it hasn't slowed her down at all. She will crawl all over the house now from one room to the next.

Went to the NICU follow-up on Wed with both girls. We had to wait for an hour before it was our turn. UGH!!!!!! Emily is healthy and on track with all her skills. She is gaining weight... now 14 lbs 14 oz. Her height is now ahead of her weight on the curve. Claire had a melt down after spending 2 hours there and then being told she couldn't touch the therapists toys. Poor girl.

Claire has been asking the same several questions over and over and over.
"Is my hair long enough for braids?" "is Daddy's hair long enough for braids"
"Am I big enough to go up kids stairs?" (the ones at California Science CEnter are for 4 and up and lead to a loft.)
"Are you a boy or a girl?"
"Where are Jesus' clothes?"
"Do you have kids?"
I've taken to asking her the question or answering her in Spanish.

Pumpkin fest

First a recipe. I've been doing this a lot for lunch lately
healthier "nachos"
microwave refried beans with grated cheese on top add diced tomatoes and eat with whole grain crackers. I dip in Ryvita Dark Rye crackers. Claire likes it with just beans and crackers.

Today we went to the pumpkin festival at CalPoly Pomona.
It was great! Claire got to ride a pony for the first time ever. She and I went on a big slide and we all went to the petting zoo (Too bad Emily was asleep for this.) Claire selected a pumpkin and spaghetti squash and butternut squash to bring home. Yum. (sorry, no photos-- we forgot the camera.)

Notes on what to take when you spend the day out on a hot day.
1. water for everyone incl. sippy cups for both girls
2. hats for everyone and sunscreen
3. back-up food for Claire
4. ergo pack and stroller
5. diapers and wipes
6. cash
7. one or two small toys
8. hand cleaner

By "take" I mean have these items packed and on your person after you park the car at the event. Unbeknownst to us, the parking for the pumpkin patch was a 1 mile shuttle-ride away from the event itself. Also, the weather turned out to be a bit different than it seemed. We weren't the only ones sweating it on Saturday.