2 Years, 4 Months, 1 Week, and 2 Days

Charlotte & Ruby are 2 years, 4 months, 1 week, and 2 days old today. Charlotte is starting to show her clever side. Sometimes when she asks me to do something for her, like draw on the chalkboard, and I am in the middle of something then I will say that I am busy and she needs to do it by herself instead. Her reply is "No Mommy, Charlotte is bizzzeee, Mommy do it." Ruby has mastered all the verses to "I've Been Working On The Railroad", or at least through the "Strumming on the old banjo" part thanks to a classic Sesame Street album and Johnny Cash. Enjoy the photos!

We are officially done with highchairs, we gave ours away to a family with newborn twins that really needed them, then bought a new kitchen table & chairs to accommodate the booster seats and fit in our eat-in kitchen space:

Drinking water out of open cups for the first time:

Playing in the tent with Ava:

Charlotte pretends to wash some dishes in the sink:

Ruby reenacted Grover's classic skit of near and far from Sesame Street while watching her reflection on the oven door:

They are very excited to put money in their piggy banks, so Bob found a bag of pennies he had and this kept them busy for quite some time:

Using their new wooden cutting food:

2 Years, 4 Months, and 2 Days

Charlotte & Ruby are 2 years, 4 months, and 2 days old today. When I came home from work on Sunday afternoon, Bob told me that he had discovered the kids coloring on their beds when they should have been napping. It seems that they had sneakily put a few crayons in their pockets earlier in the day. I then had another moment of parenthood where you say something to your children that you never thought you would have to say: "Beds are not paper and you do not smuggle crayons." Enjoy the photos!

Testing out their new car seats after I adjusted all the straps (Charlotte is quite excited to "drive" while Ruby tried to touch the carpet with her toes):

Watching the garbage truck with Ava:

More chalkboard adventures:

I drew a snowman for them, and they made a joint effort to draw their own next to it:

I like to color more than they do at this point (special thanks to the self timer and tripod for this photo):

Charlotte loves to slide:

Ruby smiles:

Bob reads to Charlotte, Ava, & Ruby:

1st time experiencing Play-Doh:

28 Months Old!

Charlotte at 28 months old:

Ruby at 28 months old:

2 Years, 3 Months, 3 Weeks, and 5 Days

Ruby & Charlotte are 2 years, 3 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days old today. I think that Bear in the Big Blue House is their favorite show to watch in the evenings now. They are quite engaged with it while it is playing, smiling and giggling throughout. I am attempting to teach them how to color pictures in, instead of just scribbling all over it. Lucinda & Delia came over to play yesterday morning, and while Ruby continues to be shy, Charlotte followed them around doing her best to be a part of whatever they were involved with. Enjoy the photos!

Playing with a castle that Lucinda & Delia were kind enough to let them have:

The chalkboard still gets a lot of use each day (unless chalk has been confiscated because they wandered off with it instead of leaving it in the tray - though I've found that it is easy to clean off of other surfaces):

Charlotte had no problem climbing onto Nancy's lap to hear her read a story with Delia & Lucinda:

While they listened to the story, Ruby was content to play on her own with the Sesame Street figures & house:

Lucinda & Delia joined Ruby later though:

Charlotte looks at books with Delia & Lucinda:

2 Years, 3 Months, 2 Weeks, and 5 Days

Ruby & Charlotte are 2 years, 3 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days old today. They speak in longer sentences and use "I" instead of their names consistently, as in "I will go get the purple car now." We have also entered the era of "That's MINE!" and "It's MY turn!" despite our efforts to always promote sharing and taking turns. We have introduced more TV shows on DVD, including Bear in the Big Blue House and Blue's Clues in addition to the much loved classic Sesame Street and Word World. They still only get to watch TV in the evenings after dinner though. We have noticed that watching the shows that we allow has expanded their pretend play during the days when they re-enact scenes with their toys. Enjoy the photos!

They like to trade socks:

Using chalk on the easel is a favorite past time (and yes, I will take credit for drawing that amazing caterpillar):

One of their new games is to take a dress up scarf and run around the room with it trailing behind, saying "I am flying a kite!" (Kite flying was seen on Word World):

The mouse houses still get lots of play when they are out: