Artwork

We are fully into the swing of things this school year.  Millie is still loving it and seems to be thriving!  The potty training is back on track, as well.  Phew!

 I only have to pack her a lunch on Thursdays, so I try to make it fun.

 She seems to be okay with it ;)

blue and yellow make green!  she's very excited about this discovery.

Random...just LOVED this picture of Cayden on Instagram!  Miss that boy.

Syd Pid is also really enjoying school now that she's realized I will, indeed, come back to pick her up.    When I show up, I can watch through the window, and I've enjoyed seeing her interact with others in the classroom.  She's doing great and really seems to have hit it off with her Monday teacher, Mrs. Bridgett.

this was a picture in the school newsletter <3

Photography Class

Tonight is my last night of Digital Photography 101.  It was a tad more basic than I realized...seriously, like "here's how you load your memory card".  So...I wouldn't say I've learned much, but I've gotten more comfortable with my camera.  And now I'm ready to do a little learning on my own through the trusty internet.  I'm not looking to become a professional; I just want to be competent.  Wish me luck.

JKK hangs with the girls when I go to class...you can tell they miss me.

Our class had to turn in weekly homework, and nothing I've taken thus far has been great...but I've had such a good time working on it, especially with my willing subjects.

16 Months Old

Pid Pid is 16 months old!  

Books, books, books...this is her absolute favorite thing to do right now.  I was so worried when she turned a year old because we hardly read with her at all.  It just never became a habit, but I'm proud to say we have turned that around completely.  She brings us books a dozen times a day to sit down and read to her; she loves to sit in our lap or her little rocking chair and listen to us.  We also now read before nap time and bedtime.  She loves the Llama Llama books, Chomp!, Goodnight Gorilla, Goodnight Moon, Peek-a-who, Elmo books, touch-and-feel books, and especially open-the-flap books.

Playing out back is another of her favorite things to do.  She loves to swing, and recently, she's started riding this glider!  I'm shocked by how much she can do on her own.  She even goes up the ladder to slide all on her own.  Here's some Video of Millie giving her a little push.  Yikes.  Good thing she's tough.

I think she looks so grown up here.  She's really good at naming some body parts now: nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, hair, eyes.

And this is so her.  She laughs out loud about everything.  Even when it doesn't make sense. ;)  She's the happiest lil kiddo, and she definitely lightens the mood around here.  Here, I'm sure she's talking to her duck friends down by the pond.  We feed them almost every day, and both girls love it...mostly because they eat the bread they are supposed to throw.

Little Gym time!  She's so coordinated and fearless.  I'm more than impressed.

Sweetest face you ever did see <3  She finally got her other top tooth (left central incisor) this past week.

Not only is her hair a different color than Millie's, but it is also a different texture.  It is really wavy!  

See?!  Happy happy happy.  She entertains herself for hours every day.  She's the best.

Dressed for school.  She's been doing so great with drop off the past week.  No tears the past two times I've dropped her off, which is a huge deal.  Strangely, she cries when I pick her up, but I think it is just because she's so relieved I came back. ;)

Shape sorters are all the rage right now...she even gets it right sometimes.  She's also loves practicing her animal sounds: cow, monkey, kitty, sometimes a duck.  She refuses to attempt a puppy dog though.  She's talking all the time, but we can't understand most of what she says.  She seems to enjoy talking to us though, and she's an active storyteller.

Syd's current likes:
playing with Millie (they play great together!), feeding the ducks, feeding herself (food is probably her favorite thing in the whole wide world), swinging and sliding, listening to music and singing (she attempts to sing along with me...she loves that song "It Isn't Any Trouble Just to S-M-I-L-E"), Little Gym, playing chase, any type of fruit, pushing baby dolls in the stroller (or Millie), pretending to feed or love on her baby dolls, walking up and down stairs, going to sleep (you ask if she wants to go night night and she heads for the stairs), snacks, Yo Gabba Gabba, climbing and exploring, cucumbers, turkey hot dogs, dancing, eating things off the floor, any sort of outing where she gets to see the outside world, the Itsy Bitsy Spider song.

Best hugger, hands down.  She somehow molds her body to yours and puts her arms around your neck.  It's the best feeling ever.  She also likes to kiss with her tongue out, especially the pets.

she's quite the climber

Best Friends.  I'm not just imagining it...they really love each other.

Happy Birthday, JKK!

Daddy JKK turned the big double 4 this week!  He requested his favorite cake, the Momofuku Milk Bar Birthday Layer Cake, so I spent a good portion of Monday whipping this beast up.  Worth. It.  It's the most delicious thing in the world...it has these crunchy crumbles in it that actually stay crunchy days later.  Mmmmmm...here's the recipe, if anyone is interested in making one themselves.
Recipe: Momofuku Birthday Layer Cake

Happy Birthday, Sugar Bear!  Here's to you...

Tonight, we get to go to a celebratory birthday happy hour while a babysitter stays with the girls.  Watch out, it's been awhile since we've been out on the town!

The Little Gym

The girls Little Gym classes started up this week!

Mondays are my day alone with Millie, since Syd is at MDO.  So Mills gets to go to a Little Gym class that day.  It's kind of a big deal because this is the first time she's gone to a class without me.  Now that she's 3, she gets to go to the Funny Bugs class...and I sit out in the lobby with the other moms.  This is good for both of us...last Spring, we quit going to the mommy and me class because she wouldn't listen to me and had kind of outgrown that format.  Mr. Stephen is the teacher of her Funny Bugs class, and she loves it, of course!

Tuesdays, while Millie is at preschool, Syd and I get to go to the Birds mommy and me class.  Also a big deal because this is Syd's first official Little Gym class.  She's been to the LG a lot in the past for Millie's classes, but she was always sleeping in the Ergo carrier.  She must have felt comfortable though because she pretty much owned that place...

...specifically, the balance beam.  This was, by far, her favorite activity and she had no fear.

She wouldn't let me touch her as she walked across it on her own!  And she only fell off once ;)

Bubbles!  I was so happy to have her there in her own class.  It was so much fun for both of us!