Field trip, bike trip

Dear Maya and Emi,

This is going to be a short post. Mommy is trying to balance paying attention to both of you (it's your spring break, Maya!) and getting my work done. And then there's regular housework and cooking, getting ready for our family photos tomorrow, and various other events in the near future. Eek!

Last week you had your first school field trip, Maya. You went to Hancock Shaker Village and got to see and touch lots of different farm animals. You had lots of stories about your day, but the one you keep going back to is how you fell asleep leaning against your teacher on the bus ride home. Aww!

Yesterday was our first real day of spring break, so we went to the Rail Trail but went a bit further than we do on school days. We stopped for a little while at the pond at the far end of our hike, then a little while before we got in the car when we returned. You both napped well when we got home!

Well, back to work and play for us. Love you both!

Sunshine cake, sunshine days

Dear Maya and Emi,

It feels like forever since mommy has blogged, and yet the last week seems to have gone by in a blink!

We started off with Baba's birthday a week ago Friday. It was a school/work day, but we celebrated in the evening with Chinese takeout, mommy's carrot cake, and gifts. Maya, you did your dollar store shopping tradition and got him a toy alligator, light sticks, and fake roses.

Finally, as of the middle of last week, the weather has been feeling spring-like. We've taken several trips to the Rail Trail to practice your bike-riding skills, Maya. Emi, you've just enjoyed the ride in the jogging stroller while mommy huffed and puffed trying to keep up with your big sister!

The two of you have been growing and changing in leaps and bounds. Maya, you're continuing to work on sounding out words and doing math in your head. You've also been taking some more responsibility in getting yourself ready for school and bed and doing the dishes!

 

Emi, your vocabulary changes every day and sometimes every hour it seems! You've added the words "bagel" and "garbage" to your repertoire recently, and you say "thank you" many times a day with the sweetest, sincerest little voice. Your funny mispronunciations at the moment are "apple juice" instead of octopus, and "crock-a-doo-doo" instead of crocodile, combining it with "cock-a-doodle-doo" as you try to figure out animal sounds, too. Language is tough!

Well, mommy needs some sleep! Love you both!

P.S. Sorry for the all-cell-pic post! Mommy's real cameras have been busy taking photos of other people lately!

Grandpa, space, snow, and...?

Dear Maya and Emi,

This post is a little late because we've had a lot going on. I'll start in chronological order and then get to the big developments at the end of the post. Make sure to read on! In the meantime, enjoy the new header image and this one other sneak peek from our special photo shoot last week, Maya. There are lots of great images mommy wants to share, but I plan to spend more time editing them and then release them to my business social media accounts first. You lucky photographer's kid, you!

Grandpa came to visit! He arrived late last Friday night after a flight delay and missed connection. You two spent lots of time playing with him over the weekend, including taking him with us to your buddy Wyatt's birthday party. The space theme of the party was right up your alley, Maya!

 

We all got some extra time to stay home and enjoy grandpa's company on Monday thanks to a freak snowstorm! I guess snow in April isn't out of the question, but considering how little we had all winter, this storm was crazy. I think there was more accumulation than all winter combined!

Emi, your vocabulary is growing so quickly! Mommy tried to keep a list but in between updating it I lost track of all of your words. You've added sentences like "I did it!" and "What'd you do?" to your repertoire as well as counting to seven! And your rendition of "Twinkle, twinkle" is amazing!

And the big news is...Maya, you're finally reading! You've known your letters and sounds for years now, but every time we tried to get you to put them together and sound them out you would get agitated. Mommy always thought you could do it any time you wanted, but you were just being stubborn or maybe a little too much of a perfectionist (not that I recognize that trait as having been passed on by anyone, ahem). But now you're slowly working through simple Bob Books. Hooray!

Well, mommy has some work to do so I can spend tomorrow making daddy's birthday awesome. Love you both!