2 Years, 8 Months, 2 Weeks, and 1 Day

Charlotte & Ruby are 2 years, 8 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day old today. They like to sound out words randomly throughout the day, as in "Slide, sssss, sssss, slide. S is for slide!" to find out what letter the word begins with. They can count up to 29, sometimes into the 30s if we help. Enjoy the photos!

We went to a park on Saturday morning expecting it to be warmer than it actually was, but we still had fun and they got to go on the seesaw they've been talking about for weeks:

Charlotte discovered the joys of feeling your stomach drop if you swing high & fast enough, and it makes her giggle:

Ruby climbs up the play structure to go down a big slide:

Charlotte hangs from the trapeze rings with Bob's help:

Ruby ran around the park most of the time, pausing when she found these purple flowers:

At home, they lined up some of their toys on an insert from one of the cubes and said that they were cleaning up:

Using the new (and more challenging) tanagram boards when Ava came over last week:

2 Years, 8 Months, 1 Week, and 1 Day

Charlotte & Ruby are 2 years, 8 months, 1 week, and 1 day old today. Coloring has always been enjoyed, but now we spend about an hour every day doing it in the afternoons. Clifford The Big Red Dog is now a favorite, both the books and TV show. Sadly, and not just a phase this time, naps are over. They do not need the extra sleep any more, as bed time was getting ridiculously late. Despite having no nap now, their temperaments are perfectly fine all day with only the standard occasional toddler crankiness. We have yet to truly experience the "Terrible 2s" luckily, but there is always the chance of the "Challenging 3s" to look forward to instead. Enjoy the photos!

A rare occurrence of them next to each other on one of our morning walks:

For normally it looks like this with me in the middle telling one to slow down or wait & the other to catch up:

Charlotte decided that stirring a small patch of mud with her stick would give the pigs some place to live (there are no pigs in the reserve that I am aware of though):

Ruby took her giant stick, decided that it looked like a broom, and began "sweeping the clouds":

Charlotte looks into a tree in hopes of finding a nest (there was not a nest):

Ruby is happy to find 2 tiny stones:

On the way home, they stopped to watch some ducks swim:

After saving these beginner jigsaw puzzles for a day when Ava came over to show them how to do it (I knew that Ava is efficient at completing them), both Charlotte & Ruby were able to do it on their own immediately instead:

Ruby concentrates on a book:

We went outside late Saturday afternoon once the weather cooled off a bit:

This is Charlotte's favorite dress ever (red AND ladybugs is a winning combination for her):

Wandering over to the big tree:

They looked at this:

And instantly discovered this, a bug that is not a ladybug but instead a cucumber beetle, though I did not have the heart to correct them in their excitement:

2 Years, 8 Months, and 1 Day

Charlotte & Ruby are 2 years, 8 months, and 1 day old today. As of late, Charlotte has wanted to accompany either Bob or me to work by saying "I want to go to work too!" when we are saying goodbye. It happens more often with me, as I leave in the evenings before dinner or weekend mornings during breakfast and Bob is usually gone before they wake. Plus, they know I go to a bookstore that has a train table to play with, though once we mentioned that Bob draws pictures at work, that made his job more desirable as even Ruby decided she would like to go to work with him to draw all day. Ruby makes up her own songs about what she does not like, as in "I don't like combing my hair...." or "I don't want water in my eyes....", while it is taking place. Enjoy the photos!

On a rare hot & humid day we went for a walk with Ava, Jacob, & Melissa:

In the gazebo having a water break:

Running about the gazebo park in our neighborhood:

Wearing their first nightgowns and being silly before bedtime during the brief heat wave last week:

Bob reads them 2 stories every night before bed (or I do if Bob works late):

Playing their first board game, Candy Land Castle, which proved to be far too easy as they know all their shapes & colors that it is meant to help teach, despite the 3&up age range, though they still had fun taking turns:

Outtakes from their 32 month old photos (it is getting harder to get photos of them with straight faces while looking towards the camera, so I end up with mostly outtakes these days):

Their plants suddenly sprouted overnight and they are quite happy to check on them every morning to see how tall the leaves are getting:

32 Months Old!

Charlotte at 32 months old:

Ruby at 32 months old:

2 Years, 7 Months, 3 Weeks, and 3 Days

Ruby & Charlotte are 2 years, 7 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days old today. I realized that I have not done a general schedule post in quite some time, so here it is. They wake between 7:30-8am each day. On the days they do nap, it can last from 30-90 minutes. Bed time is 7:15pm, though as of late they can run amok in their room until 9pm before finally settling down to sleep, no matter if they napped or not. They get to watch 30-45 minutes of TV each day after dinner, with I Spy or Little Bear being the current favorite DVDs. The rest of their day is spent playing, and going outside for walks or activities when the weather is nice enough. We have one case of daytime diapers left, and once those are gone, potty training will commence. Enjoy the photos!

Our first day of using sidewalk chalk in 2011:

Trying to figure out how to color their own shadows:

Walking on the alphabet that I wrote out for them:

Ruby jumps:

Charlotte consistently gets close asking me to draw something with chalk while I try to photograph their antics:

Early attempts at teaching them hopscotch (they mostly stomped/jumped on top of the grid):

Studying the flower seeds that we planted last week which are just beginning to sprout, much to their delight:

I brought out some jigsaw puzzles for them to try, but in the end I assembled them all by myself:

Putting magnets on the refrigerator with Ava:

2 Years, 7 Months, 2 Weeks, and 3 Days

Ruby & Charlotte are 2 years, 7 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days old today. The weather is slowly warming up so we can take almost daily morning walks (and those ensure good naps will be had later). They really enjoy I Spy books, along with a TV show that I found on DVD based on the books that is done in a Gumby-like stop motion clay animation. Enjoy the photos!

On one of our walks down our street, they stopped to point out the letters on some manhole covers and asked what it spelled:

A neighbor planted tulips much to their delight:

Looking for swimming ducks:

Running back home:

Charlotte face planted on the asphalt of the nature path at the start of one of our walks but toughed it out and said she wanted to continue the walk instead of going home:

At the mall play area:

Running:

Ruby gets ready to chase Charlotte:

Climbing on a giant tube of toothpaste:

They discovered how to climb up the wall (and learned shortly afterwards that it is not allowed):


Bob & I cannot figure out what this thing is supposed to represent, but they like climbing in & out just the same: