March 17

Bronwen walked into the den after dinner tonight and told us to come and "do the elevator dance." She was in Lila's room, we were intrigued, so we followed.

The dance involves spinning around and around...until you get the sensation that you are on an elevator. Bronwen would spin and spin and hold on to the crib bars saying, "Whoa, I am riding the elevator!"

I cannot make this stuff up.

Playing Around

I have discovered that the girls and I really love playing on my bed. Bronwen, Lila and I will bounce on our knees--Bronwen will do it in front of the mirror so she can watch her hair going up and down. I can't really video that without making everyone seasick, so this is a taste of our bed-game shenanigans.

Garden Project

After two babies in two years, our poor little garden project has definitely suffered major neglect. It was time to remedy the situation, so this past weekend, T.J. and I embarked upon a major backyard overhaul.

Phase 1: Add new soil:



Step 2: Find a way to make your toddler do all the work:



Step 3: blow bubbles:

Spring Days

While it never stays cold long down here, I do admit that I still appreciate and welcome the spring. It was picture perfect these past few days, and the girls have spent quite a bit of time outside. I had a few errands to run the other day, so T.J. got Bronwen's old bike down from the attic to let Lila give it a try.

I just want to add that Lila had on matching pants earlier, but she had a slight accident, and someone decided these were acceptable. Not only do they not match, they are too small...
Bronwen looks on:Bronwen takes some pictures of her daddy and sister:


T.J.'s turn:

Learning New Things

Our sweet Lila has been gathering information at a breakneck pace as of late--I have mentioned before how she is waving and clapping. As of the 11th she can stand on her own--briefly so long as she doesn't realize it.

I decided to make some strawberry shortcake last week, and T.J. and I discovered that Lila has learned some other new things.

She can climb to the bottom step of the step-stool:

She can climb to the top step too:
She revels in the view for a bit, until...
She learns about whipped cream!

New Assistant

The rocking chair in Bronwen's room has a wobbly arm, so T.J. dragged it into the living room for some repair work. Lila was kind enough to allow him to assist her in her work.

Before Lila could get to work, she had to gather her various tools (T.J. is not being referred to as a "tool" in this context):

Next Lila had to figure out the problem:
She patiently instructed her assistant in the proper repair procedures:
In the end, Lila seemed quite pleased with the quality of his work:

Swamp Adventure--Chapter 2

Our second day of Swap Adventuring started off a bit rocky. Little Lila awoke with a fever and general malaise, so I decided to bring her to class with us rather than putting her through the separation anxiety. She was a super star, even though I had a time hauling her around on what can only be described as the world's longest toddler hike ever.The class today was about rocks. I know. Exciting stuff. They did give us free sippy-cups to start, so Bronwen was stoked about that. Here she models the cup while also showing off her rock creature:

After the craft we went for our walk--Bronwen didn't know I was taking this picture...
And this is her saying, "No, no don't take my picture!"
Someone was kind enough to snap a photo of us, despite Bronwen's dislike of the paparazzi.
We went back and had a snack and Bronwen got to pet two box turtles.

Bronwen's friend Owen was there too. Bronwen was so tired after class she refused to walk. Owen's grandmother told him to give her a helping hand, so Owen took Bronwen by the hand and the two of them walked the rest of the way to the parking lot. Now I know someone will comment about Bronwen's scrunched up face, but that was only because the sun was in her face, and we were taking pictures on the sly. Apparently Owen doesn't like his photo taken either. Bronwen at one point got scared of some bug, and I asked Owen if he would scare the bugs away for her. He started waving his other hand saying, "Go away bugs!" After that Bronwen was fine.

It was so cute, I almost couldn't stand it.
After we got to the car, Bronwen and Owen hugged and said goodbye.
Can't wait to see what we do next week!