Out Out Out

Lily and Elsa would rather be playing outside than anywhere else. They can say the word "out" and line up like little puppies in front of the door. They also will bring me their jackets in case I don't get their more subtle hints.

They love to hold our hands and go for walks up and down our block. They are always on the look-out for doggies. Everytime they see a dog, they say "woof woof." Sometimes our neighbor, Fred, lets them pet his dog Quigley. That is a very special treat for the girls. Dogs make them very happy.



Sand is another thing that makes them very happy. Here's a closeup of Elsa in the backyard. I love those big brown eyes.


Elsa making a waterfall of sand.


Elsa makes a waterfall in the tub. They are really starting to notice the little details of life. Everything is wonder to them.


A very happy Miss Lily at the tot lot.


Lily gives another proud grin. She made it to the top of the slide all by herself.

A touch of spring

We've been treated to a stretch of beautiful spring weather in the Bay Area. This also being the high season for government holidays, meant that I had a wonderful 5 day weekend with my girls. Every day was sunny and 70 degrees. (Normal for this time of year is 50 degrees and raining). It felt like paradise. New Jersey, by contrast, is burried under a foot of snow. This makes us enjoy the weather even more.


We had a delightful family picnic at Tilden. Lily and Elsa basking in the sun.


Lily running across the green lawn with a ball on top of her head.


We took the girls on the old fashioned carousel at the park. They have neat toddler-size horses for the girls to ride. Parents sat behind on a bench. Elsa, L. Lily, R. The girls thought the horses were pretty fun. Lily and Elsa tend to be little daredevils. They love the swings, slides and climbing high.



Here's Elsa exploring her beautiful backyard. All the trees in our yard are blooming. Elsa has gone from crawler to expert walker in about 8 days. When she puts her mind to something, she doesn't mess around. Wow.


Mommy's sandbox queens. (E,L) Playing in the sand is the new favorite activity. We've been playing in the backyard or at the tot lot every day.

The girls will be 17 months tomorrow. What a golden age! They are so excited about life. We love to see them explore their world, language and develop their sisterly relationship. Every day brings a new adventure.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
XXOO

Trade you

A miracle has occured at our house. Lily and Elsa have learned to say "trade you" before they have learned the word "mine." Oh, happy day! The girls are into trading everything. They are really adorable. They go up to each other and say "trade you." Then they switch toys and stuffed animals. They have even applied this concept to food, plates and sippy cups. They'll be halfway through a meal and decide to trade their forks, or chicken nuggets or scrambled eggs. It is getting pretty wild around here.

Of course they still fight and steal each other's toys. It can be a one-sided negotiation depending on how badly the other wants the object. But, at least now the grabbing is prefaced with a polite "trade you."



Elsa holds the toy trumpet, while Lily blows. (and yes, they are still obsessed with the cardboard boxes). They've figured out how to make the trumpet make noise.


Mark was so excited that he excavated his trumpet from the back of the closet to give the girls a lesson. Here Lily is learning to press the buttons.


Elsa gets a chance to work the mouthpiece.


They are also getting pretty good with their silverware. Here's Elsa showing off her skills. As you can see, they've graduated from their high chairs into booster seats. They now sit at the table with us.


We've also started doing artprojects. Here are Elsa (L) and Lily (R) working on drawing. This is the first time that they've actually used the crayons rather than eating them.


Lily demonstrates icecube painting. (Food coloring in the icecubes). The girls are working on a special Valentine's Day project.


Elsa being a cutiepie in the chair. She's rocking her bear. Elsa is turning into quite the walker this week. She's been going all over the house. Yay Elsa!


And cutiepie Lily in the chair, she now "poses" for pictures. Her other new skill is jumping. She's pretty funny because half the time she lands on her bootie!

In other news, Mark got the job! He won a Postdoctorate teaching fellowship at Princeton. So, we are going to have a couple of Jersey Girls (at least for the next 1-3 years). We are excited about our new adventure. It will be tough to leave the beauty of California for Jersey. But, we are looking forward to living in a small college town with direct train service to NYC (only 45min away).

We will be moving in the spring or summer depending on our housing situation. We're trying to get on-campus housing.