Spring

Derek pointed out to me that Grace was sniffing the daffodils. Charlotte, anxious not to be upstaged by her little sister, insisted on posing for me doing the same thing. It is kind of a trite little shot, but I like her cute profile.

Windy

Grace in the backyard last night. She looks this happy because she is climbing up a little step ladder that Derek put out there. She was very pleased with herself.

Bribery

I made a deal with Charlotte that I would play her favorite game with her 3 times if she would let me take a picture of her new haircut. Her favorite game involves us repeatedly throwing her giggling, squealing little body onto a big pile of pillows while telling her "time to take a bath, Charlotte". Then, she crawls out and we have to say some variation of "Hey, you're supposed to be in the bath. Get back in there" and throw her again. It is kind of cute the first time. It gets old (and mildly back-breaking) really fast. Not for her, apparently.

Easter pics

I promised my mom some shots of the girls in their Easter sweaters. They sat sort of still for a couple of frames. They got a little enthusiastic about the hugging.





Two of Charlotte goofing around in the studio. I think she is stuck with that one-tooth overbite until her baby teeth fall out. I think it's kind of cute.

Shameless bragging

Today, Charlotte wrote her name on the sidewalk with chalk. There was no coaching involved. She spells her whole name, first and last, easily (and frequently). She knows all 26 letters and recognizes them and reads them on things. When she notices a letter from her name she says "L. L belongs in my name. C-H-A-R-L. L!" She mostly learned this from reading the sign that my cousin Allison painted for the door to her room that says "Charlotte's Room" (Hi Allison! I know you're reading! *waves*) So, if she sees an M she says "M. M belongs in my name, Charlotte's room. C-H-A-R-L-O-T-T-E-S-R-O-O-M. M!" Just to continue this little ramble, and so I don't forget it, we visited Louisa one day and I showed her Louisa's sign and asked what it said and she very confidently said "Louisa's Room" so she really is figuring these things out. She can also spell Goldfish and Colors, from reading the Goldfish bag. She eats alot of Goldfish.

Anyway, back to the sidewalk chalk. No coaching at all. She requested help from Derek for the O. Like a good proud mom, I ran and got the camera. The web-resize really kills the fine detail, and some of the letters are hard to make out (well, aside from the obvious reason that they were written by a three year old). Trust me, it was even more impressive in person.




One of my little friend Grace writing her name, er, I mean pawing in the dirt.

Sad eyes

Grace is particularly good at this sad little puppy-dog-eyes look. I think it will probably serve her well in life.



Here she is sitting with Derek after her bath. Grace is the cuddliest little baby. She fits perfectly in the crook of my arm and her warm forehead brushes up against my cheek and I can love on her while she watches tv and I look at the computer. I will really miss it when I don't have this little person sitting peacefully on my lap in the evenings.

My 100th post

Just some snaps from this week...

Gracie in the yard. She loves being outside. We have to drag her in most of the time.



I so struggle to get a picture of the kids' whole faces. This is Grace's version of the anti-paparazzi hand move. LIttle stinker. I actually think these are kind of cute.



Grace hard at work drawing.


Here is one way to get in some shots without protests.

Some from this week

We are so happy to be getting outside again. The kids are loving the spring weather. Grace and Derek were outside last week and I went to check on them. Derek was standing on the porch and it was raining lightly. He said to me "Turns out, Grace really likes puddles." Grace was down on the sidewalk splashing enthusiastically. Turns out, Grace loves puddles.



She was quick. Splash through one and then straight on to the next.


These are from the bath tonight. Charlotte has got the anti-paparazzi hand move down pat. In case you have trouble reading lips, what she is saying is "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"



She finally consented to have a picture taken of the 'whale'.



I love the little one in the background. When I was pregnant with Charlotte, we used to call her Bun. Sometimes we still call her that. When I was pregnant with Grace, we used to call her Little Bun. Here they are together, just like we used to visualize. Bun and her sidekick, Little Bun. Derek will get the reference for sure.