too cute

 

One of Micah & Hugo's last play dates together.  I predict they will still dance like this in college.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Micah has learned a lot from his buddies this year. And we are just now seeing the fullness of it this week. Hugo and Luca have been rambling in English and French for at least a month now and Micah has self-assuredly kept to the vocabulary he established back in November. ("green, uh oh, up, down, and in" being most frequently heard).  All of the sudden, Sunday morning, he decided he was going to start saying all the words he had been storing in his head.  Sunday and Monday he repeated back whatever word we would ask (within his pronunciation zone) and by Thursday he has been making up phrases of his own and asserting more and more of his desires. Wow! It seems like he has aged a year! His favorite phrase the past two days had been "Come Mom (sometimes with Please)".  "Spin Please" also ranks pretty high after diaper changes. (referring to being swung round and round til we both fall down dizzy). Very cool. A whole new phase of parenting...as it becomes harder to "not understand" what he clearly tells us he wants. :)

antics

 Whoever said M&Ms melt in the mouth, not in the hand? I'm here to tell you, they melt in the hand, and on the head. Don't ask.

Micah was seeking out a bit of personal space yesterday. A hat box was the perfect spot.

2 months!

Wow. It seems like it has gone by so very fast. Lydia is smiling more each day. She has more awake time and “play time” with the fam. She is sleeping fairly well at night – only waking once or twice between 9 and morning. During the day, she only sleeps in the front carrier – which we hope to break her of when we get a new stroller in the States this summer. (We’ve tried the bouncy seat, the crib, the swing….to no avail! L ). She likes to watch Micah drive trains and cars. She is beautiful and we marvel at the miracle she is in our lives.  I have had to practice saying her name more often, as "Peanut" has been fairly firmly established as her Mamma's name for her. (This is in homage to Great Grandma Sally Peterson....who wanted to call Micah Peanut.)

finger painting

 We attempted painting again.  Awesome fun. And clean up was just as good!

market day

One of the things we loved about living in Holland, MI was the weekly farmers market. Here they have such markets all year round. BUT, we are now coming into prime fruit season for the summer...cheap strawberries and apricots...and much more to come! This is the treasure I hauled up the hill yesterday with my two kiddos. My back is killing me, but my tastebuds are satisfied!  Plus, I can say I have now had the pleasure of de-pea-ing my first kilo of pea pods. If anyone knows the proper term for that, let me know.

playground

 Ivy does nursery rhyme time with the kids on the playground. She is amazing. Instantly 4 little kids running around are playing together - swinging arms, jumping up and down, etc.

The boys.