Gem #2

I was helping Bronwen ride her tricycle today in the driveway as we waited fro T.J. to get home from work. We started to go down the sidewalk, away from the house, and she said, "No, no, I want to go home because I don't want to miss my family like John Denver."

We've been listening to and discussing "Country Roads Take Me Home" quite a bit lately.

March 9

Bronwen's question of the day:

"Do French people make French fries?"

I told her they did, because there are certainly French people who make them, but I also told her that other people make them too.

March 6

We went to Kadee's house for Jay's first birthday party--It's hard to believe that a year can pass by so quickly!

Quick pic of my girls and me before we left:
An abundance of cousins:

Yay for "new" toys!
Lila loved swinging!
Happy birthday, Jay!
While I was there, I saw some woodpeckers in the backyard and when we returned home, I had my bird book out for identification purposes.

Bronwen was quite interested in the pictures, and enjoyed looking at the woodpeckers in the book. She looked at T.J. and me and says, "I want to name that wookpecker Frederic Auguste Bartholdi." I made her repeat it twice to be sure...I asked her if she knew who that person actually was, and she told me.

She was right.

Go ahead, Google it. You know you want to know. Jana, don't spoil it :-)

Correction

This one is for you, Tiff:

Yesterday Bronwen was having a good time playing her recorder, and set it down to run around and do something else. Lila, naturally, hightailed it toward the recorder, and Bronwen started having a fit. I calmly told her that the recorder was not a toy that Lila could have (I try to give Bronwen a few things that are "just" hers), and I promised I would not let Lila have the toy.

Bronwen looks at me and says, "It is NOT a toy, Mama. It is a musical instrument."

Swamp Adventure, Part 1

I signed Bronwen up for a "Swamp Adventure" class that will meet every Wednesday for two hours throughout March. The class is for kids ages 2-5 and focuses on plants and animals found in, well, the swamp. Today was our first class, and it was a bit hectic to say the least. We arrived and got a chance to look around at different snakes, lizards and turtles in terrariums. Once the class started, we learned that today's class was all about trees. The kids first completed an art project:



After the art portion was over, the teacher took us all outside for a walk around the swamp to look at different trees, leaves, and roots. Here Bronwen is looking around:
Smile!
Finally back inside for a snack and a chance to touch an animal that lives in trees--a snake! I was so proud when Bronwen touched the snake very gently. She loved it so much, she even purchased a little wooden snake from the gift shop. I asked her if she wanted a bigger one, but she told me no, that this one was "just my size."

March!

Today begins the Toddler Swamp Adventure class, and I am really excited. I'll bring my camera, and hopefully the batteries will hold out.

Bronwen recently has begun making up songs and games that only she can sing/play. I'm having a great time listening to her creativity. Yesterday when we went to T.J.'s parent's house for dinner, she was adamant that we listened to her constant chatter in the back. It went something like this: "Listen everybody, listen to me, I see something, you know, that is kinda like a stump; I see something that is like a fountain. I also, you know, see something that is like a cow." The "you knows" are definitely a new addition to her vocabulary, and she was using them in the cutest, most informative way. She really was reiterating that we knew. :-)

The game was basically her version of "I Spy" except she was telling us exactly what she was seeing. So cute.

Then when we got home she was making up all sorts of songs--one was about getting on a rocket ship and playing in her Mom and Dad's bed.

Lila clapped her hands March 1st. She did it once, and hasn't done it since. But I saw it. Here is another trick Lila is quite proud of--and I don't mean putting her shoes in her mouth.



Yesterday I showed Lila how to put the eggs in the "nest" on her barn. She played this game for 30 minutes straight.



Someone wanted to join in...



And finally, Lila wanted to demonstrate her new high-five technique:

Amazon Delivery

Thanks to Aunt Jana for the Amazon surprise that we received yesterday. Bronwen loves her books, but I'm not sure you realized what else we received--I couldn't find it listed on the packing slip.