Play

a few snapshots from my phone.

Most of them are blurry, but these kids are always on the move, and I thought this did a good job capturing "Play."

Nothing like dumping rocks into a kiddie pool to bring kids together...

And nothing is more fun than playing in a box.  Nothing.

with Caleb, Leah and James

The sand park is great for digging... and eating sand.

with James (Caleb and Leah's baby brother)

Even a trip to Target can be entertaining when sitting side-by-side. With a giraffe.

Trains are more dramatic with two involved.

with Averlee

So much so that two tracks may need to be set up.  Especially when little friends join in, too!

Long-forgotten toys can be re-discovered!

And new games can be invented... like "Fishing."  In which Brother dangles a string with a toy attached.  Sister bites on, and brother pulls.  All their own invention.

Elijah at 3... in his own words

Starting at age 3, every year on their birthday you ask the same questions and see how their answers change over the years.

1. What is your favorite color? Blue (and green!)

2. What is your favorite toy? MONKEY! Trains. And Duplos.

3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries, but no green on them.

4. What is your favorite TV show? Bob the Builder.

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? I don't know.

6. What is your favorite outfit? ...

7. What is your favorite game? Anything.

8. What is your favorite snack? Clif Z bar!

9. What is your favorite animal? Monkey!

10. What is your favorite song? ABC (we sing it teeth brush time) and "Backhoe Backhoe" (which we sing every nap and night time.)

11. What is your favorite book? "Bus Route to Boston" and "Jack Tractor."

12. Who is your best friend? Caleb and Leah!

13. What is your favorite cereal? oatmeal with sprinkles on it

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Dig in the sand. With tractors.

15. What is your favorite drink? Milk. And water.

16. What is your favorite holiday? ...

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Monkey!  My soft monkey!

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cracker Barrel pancakes, egg and sausage

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? I an engineer and build satellites and put rockets into SPACE!

Evangeline at 10 months

 Evangeline Elizabeth at 10 months

28 1/4 inches tall

17 pounds

 This girl is on the move.  She is constantly wiggling, crawling, cruising around holding on to furniture and  climbing everything in sight.

All this movement means that Eva is worn out and sleeps very well now.  We can generally count on 2 naps a day, for up to 2 hours at a time.  She sleeps through the night, too.  Very different from her brother in this respect!

 Eva can now stand by herself!  Sitting in the middle of the floor, cross-legged, she can bring herself to standing position!

 She has a great chuckle that she makes each time she is proud of her accomplishments.  I know when she is getting into something because of this chuckle...

She also does this cackle and squeal when David comes home.  What a great welcome for him!  She'll bounce up and down holding out her arms til he comes and picks her up.

 She reaches out for us.  Eva has started playing the game of passing something back and forth.  Anything Elijah does is of deepest interest to Eva, so we have started sibling sharing issues!  Didn't take long!

And doesn't her hair look red in the above picture?  In some lights we are convinced it is red, in others, it's more auburn.

Eva loves "real" food... anything she can shovel into her mouth herself is a favorite.  At a restaurant the other day, the manger walked by, and did a double-take, laughing, saying "Wow!  That one likes her food!"  It's true.  She's figured out a sippy cup and a water bottle... the key though is that she wants to do it herself.  Little Miss Independent already?

this one's a climber!

We have another monkey in the house.
The girl climbs everything in sight.
She scales the stairs, cackling to herself all the way, looking back at us (yeah, we're following right behind her) and grinning.  She can even climb down with assistance.
She climbs onto the fireplace hearth. She climbs onto the train table (we've got to get a picture of that.)
And here's here latest... pulling down the play kitchen oven door and using it as a stair to get the play food on top.

Definitely a thrill-seeker.
No sense of self-preservation.
And yes, my heart pounds to think of the future...

Flipping through a Magazine

A Double Decker
Elijah was sitting by me, flipping through my Real Simple magazine when suddenly he gasped, "Look! A double-decker!" I looked at the picture, expecting to see a truck or bus, but instead saw a loft bed.

"Mommy, this is what I want. A computer down below, a ladder for me to climb and my bed ON TOP!"

I suggested we show the picture to David. I ripped out the page.

"I don't want these other pictures," he mumbled as he carefully tore them off. He walked to the fridge and stuck it up with his Fridge Farm magnets.

David was impressed when Elijah showed him later. He told me he may build it for him (later.)

Awana Excitement
Earlier Elijah spotted a very fashionable dress, heels and jewelry and said, "Mommy! You could wear this when you take me to Awana!!" (I guess he wasn't impressed by my jeans and T-shirt when I took him to meet his teacher.) And it was a fabulous outfit. He is very excited about Awana starting! He woke up at 6:30 asking "Is it time for Awana yet?" (No, not for a week...) We are working on memorizing his first two Bible verses, though he keeps announcing "And now I will say it in a DIFFERENT way!" Guess the concept of memorizing is a little foreign, yet.

the things he says...

Elijah: Mommy. Let's make a decision. I will stay downstairs and play with my toys and not take a nap.
Me: It's rest time. We do this every day.
Elijah: That really breaks my heart.

Dinosaur Eggs

Jamie read about a great craft you can do where you use old coffee grounds, sand, flour, salt, and little plastic dinosaurs and make "dinosaur eggs" that Elijah can dig up. He loved it and waited for me to come home from work so he could open them up. The craft idea can be found here: www.playcreateexplore.com

 Here you can see the pterodactyle sitting on its eggs. Below Eli is using a spoon to open up an egg.

He discovered a baby T-Rex in his egg!