What's New...

What's new with Emily:

Emily's vocabulary has really taken off. She is quickly learning some Spanish words and often surprises us using a new word in everyday conversations. She is beginning to understand and identify colors(blue and green), identifies some upper case letters and their sounds, and speaks in two and three word phrases. One of my favorites is "Bless you" after we sneeze or even cough. She is very polite, always saying "Please" and "Thank you." She LOVES her milk, monkeys, jumping, babies, and hugging Sister. She is very dramatic and has developed the use of a undeniably pathetic sad face when she wants something. This face always gets her grandparents to give her whatever she wants. She recently got into an "argument" with her Daddy about whether there was milk in her cup. He asked her "Are you going to drink this or not?" She infatically exclaimed, "Not!" That's what you get for trying to reason with an almost two year old. She went through several phases of being "scared' of several things: giraffes, crabs, and dogs. We always calmed her fears by telling her they were nice. She just wanted to make sure they were "Soft?" and when she asked, as long as we replied in the affirmative, she was comforted somehow. She is still a great sleeper. When we put her in her crib, she lays down and goes quickly to sleep, usually without a sound. She loves interacting with people and watching their actions intently, often mimicking what they do. She is very affectionate, liberally giving hugs and kisses. She is Mommy's Little Helper and loves to assist with the cooking, sweeping, and vacuuming.

What's New with Abigail:

Abigail is now speaking in 4-5 word sentences. Her Spanish vocabulary is 35+ words, but no phrases yet. She can identify all upper case letters and 21 lower case letters(the n,h,q,a,d are giving her a hard time because if you'll notice the 'n' and 'h' look alike and the 'a' and 'd' look alike except for the "stems"). She knows most of the sounds, too. She is able to tell you an animal that starts with each of the letters. She knows what she wants and fortunately she is able to verbalize that now alleviating much frustration on her part, as well as with Mommy. If something if different than the way it usually is or someone says something wrong, she will correct it. Her Aunt Tracie was watching her eat dinner tonight and said, "Abigail, are you going to eat your noodles and beans?" She quickly corrected her, "These are peas." She absolutely HATES being put into her crib even when it is converted into a daybed, so she sleeps on her mattress on the floor. We recently discovered that she likes her leg being rubbed to help her fall asleep. She enjoys more independent play and will often disappear into their playroom for long periods entertaining herself(usually dumping all their play food, puzzles, books, and blocks into the floor). She is very good about helping to clean up her messes though. She loves to eat noodles, cheese, and, judging by the above picture, chocolate pudding.