the inefficiency of 'knock on wood'

Yeah, so the whole diaper-free days lasted all of a short week (after I wrote that last post she took most naps as well as went outside a couple times without a diaper - basically as long as she had gone pee right before).

Yesterday and today Eliana peed off the potty twice each day...at least once (first time) because she was too focused on something (I think), and then the other times just testing out seeing how long she can hold it (I think), because both days, after that first time, she told me repeatedly she had to go to the bathroom, we'd go, she'd sit down on the potty and a second or 20 later get up and say 'jije' (finished), without actually going. Sometimes she's say she needed to pee only two or five minutes later, and then do the same thing, all the way until she peed on the floor/chair.

Yesterday after dinner, a few minutes after she went on the floor in the kitchen ('uhoh-uhoh' she says to me as she and pointed and she walked away), I hear her go into the bath-room (not WC) and close the door. I assumed she had gone in there to play with water in the little foot-sink that is perfect height for her, and planned on finishing washing up the last few dishes before going in to her. Judge had seen her walk over to that area of the hallway but didn't see her so opened the door to see if she had gone into the bath-room, and there she was, sitting on the potty, eagerly tapping the screen of his phone (!!) while finishing up a 'number two'. Ha.

Anyhow, this afternoon, after the second time peeing not-on-the-potty today, I told her I was going to help her put a diaper and her onesie on (the onesie so that she can't take her diaper off - as she prefers running around the house naked), since she was not peeing on the potty. When she chooses to pee on the potty every time again then she can not wear a diaper again too if she wants. She was none too happy about this. Like kick-and-wriggle-and-scream-but-want-to-do-so-in-my-arms non-happy. After a good 10 minutes she signed she wanted to nurse, and fell promptly asleep...at 4:25pm. Ay.

So I think that is that for now. We'll go a few days avec diaper 100% of the time, unless she negotiates otherwise.

[Hanging upsidedown as I am trying to get a clear picture of her extra tooth that just started showing itself recently - previously her first left upper lateral inciser was extra slim, and there was a small empty spot between it and her central inciser...now she has a second one growing in that empty space. Googled extra teeth and it seems to be rare but no biggy.]

 

 

.

diaper-free days (at almost 18 months)

This time around I've done EC super differently than last, leaving it no-stress. With Leona, I tried to give her diaper-free time often (not bare-bum, just no diaper), especially after she turned 18 months old, to try and get her completely diaper-free during the 'golden window', and though I didn't get frustrated with her choice to pee in her pants, it wasn't a party having to change her several times a day - and I don't think it could have been great fun for her either, looking back. I also think us doing travels and having big life-upheavals played a big role in her going from consistently using the potty to not, two or three times.

Anyhow, this time, initially because we lived in houses where it wasn't convenient to have to clean pee off of carpeted floors and non-leather couches I did the whole EC thing the same, but just 100% diapered.

That means I would take Eliana to the potty whenever she signed she needed to go, as well as take her when I thought she needed to go - and then either she would go, just sit, or clearly show she didn't want anything to do with the bathroom right then and we'd go do something else.

A few months ago Eliana started really resisting wearing a diaper, but I told her that because she still used (i.e., went pee and poop) her diaper sometimes, she still needed to have it on.

Now, Eliana's pretty much had dry diapers after sleeps for a couple months or more already, as well as gone on the potty/toilet most of the time, just 2-4 times in the diaper a day. After taking a shower though, when she'd run naked out to Judge to get her diaper and clothes on, she'd usually happily take the opportunity to pee a tiny bit, gleefully telling us immediately afterward.

But that stopped happening, and last Friday or Saturday I just stopped putting a diaper on her during the day.

We don't leave the house really, and when we have, e.g., visited the kindergarten once, she told me she had to pee - other than that we haven't been gone long enough for the need to arise. That being said, I foresee us still using a diaper if (when) we go out, just because of the layers upon layers upon layers of clothes she needs to wear, and the cold, thus making it inconvenient to christen neighbors' lawns etc.

I am toying with the idea of not having a diaper on for sleeps, but think that for now, as she hasn't requested/demanded to be diaper-free then too, that it is easier...just in case. A wet diaper is much easier to deal with than changing sheets.

The key during this period is to be aware of her regular body-schedule as well as her timing - e.g., if it's been a while since last time, ask her if she needs to go. She's not yet at the stage where she automatically answers 'no' to questions, and so asking, rather than saying 'let's go', works perfectly.

Four days in and not a single accident - knock-on-wood.

[It's finally (?) snowed here, and rather than jumping up and down with excitement, itching to go outside and play, the girls ran and got this bin for me to fill up. I agree - much less cumbersome clothes and it not being cold makes a big difference in the enjoyment ... so not-Norwegian of us.]

.

say it like it is (3y7.5m)

Today, Eliana gave me a kiss after which Leona did as well.

Leona: "We all smell different, Eliana smells different, I smell different, you smell different. You smell like poop."

I immediately went and brushed my teeth.

 

 

.

Eliana's current vocab (~1.5y)

Eliana's current spoken vocab is at about 30 words. She, like Leona did, economizes on several of them, as you will see below.

• u'oh (u'oh...ooops)
• nanana/nana (Leona and Eliana)
• moh (move and more)
• da-g'n (tracktor and truck and now also sometimes Totoro, which can either mean Totoro or that she wants to watch videos or look at pictures on the computer or the phone)
• bebeh (baby)
• bah or boh (bird and boat and book and bike)
• gah (car)
• bah boh (bubble and diaper)
• bm bm (balloon and Ole Brumm - Whinny the Poo in Norwegian)
• beh doh (play dough)
• jije (finished - where the j is a soft one...not y, but like in Bahji)
• ji (see - as in 'i wanna see' or 'look at this')
• nano (no more, and milk in Chinese)
• a-oo (hello)
• yayaya (takk for maten [thank you for the food - a phrase one says in Norway when one is finished eating; Eliana will not stop saying it until both Judge and I have said 'velbekomme' (you're welcome)])
• gæ gah goh (vær så god - you're welcome, in general terms)

For the last two she uses the correct inflection, of course.

And of course she still has the ones from before:

• mama
• papa/baba
• momo (mormor)
• no
• yah
• nah (good night)
• hah (hot)
• koh (cold)
• ah'oo (owl)

She gives kisses that are often lean-in air-kisses, saying 'mmmmah', and she still uses sounds and signs a lot of animals, as well as eat, water, bath, paint, sleep, pee, poop and fart.

Speaking of pee and poop, she currently goes on the potty by own initiation or by me asking about 90% of the time (of course, now that I wrote this it will all change, as did our routine and sleep issues almost immediately after I wrote about them).

-------
In other news, I suddenly found out, by utter accident, how to make this really wonderfully warm and wind-protective had work so it doesn't constantly fall down in her face. Here, Leona is sporting the "I can't see anything" look back in the day, while below Eliana is sporting the new method:

 

 

 

 

.



Thanksgiving family dinner-date

Living here in Innvik (population 700, one convenient store/gas station, one clothing store - now a big chain but originated here in Innvik, one cafe, and one hotel), without a car, has meant we don't get out much. Like, at all really, except for when my mom was here this summer.

So when we got the village fall/Christmas write-up in the mail box of what's been going on and what is planned, and saw that there was going to be a traditional American Thanksgiving buffet dinner held at the hotel Saturday and Sunday of last weekend, where it would start at 5pm on Saturday and 3pm on Sunday, we didn't have to really consult much between the two of us to agree that this is something we were up for.

I mean, it is hard to get more perfect than that when you have kids who usually are in bed by 6:30-7:00pm, have no car, and no income (so to speak) - a 3pm start (we arrived at 4pm), walkable distance (15 min or so), and reasonably priced (NOK290 per adult, and the girls were free).

It was wonderful!! The food tasted delicious---most of it at least, and since Norwegians are not a fan of dark meat we got to eat oodles of it from the turkey. There were mashed sweet potatoes, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, potato wedges (girls love it), carrots (E loves it), several different kinds of salads, bread, and then several different kinds of cakes and puddings.

Then there was the fact that the atmosphere was great too - candle-lit tables and surrounding environment. The girls were in heaven - we've been house-bound for a couple weeks now - so we were not only not at home, but we were inside where it wasn't cold, and they could run around as we had a back-corner table beside a large open area where they didn't disturb any other diners.

And Leona got to eat some cake. When she heard there was cake and she was going to get to eat some, she almost immediately said she was done eating dinner. We said she had to eat more dinner before she could have cake (it was just a few minutes into the meal), and she complied - ate lots more potatoes and then she was done. Judge asked if she was full, she said no, so he asked if she wanted more of this-that-or-the-other, she said no, and it went back and forth a few times before I explained to Judge that she thinks that if she is full, then she shouldn't eat cake, so she is not full, but she is done eating dinner and more than ready for desert. What a cutie!

So we went and checked out the cake-get-up, and she chose some chocolate pudding and some white sponge cake with marzipan on top. Didn't like the marzipan, but looooooooooved the rest.

Home by 6pm...what a perfect - and sorely needed - night out for the four of us.

[bottom two pics:

trying to keep Eliana still enough for her not to be blurry]

[waiting patiently for us to finish eating and get some CAKE]

.

norsk i hus

Up until recently, whenever we were home and I would speak Norwegian with Leona, she would say she wanted me to speak English, and if I persisted, she would start crying. Sometimes I would do the whole "it's ok that you don't want me to speak Norwegian, and that your are angry/sad I am speaking it; I am going to speak Norwegian because I want to, it is important that you hear more Norwegian so your Norwegian can improve and you can more easily play with kids, etc." and let her scream about it, while often I haven't had the energy to go that route and just pretty quickly slipped back to English.

Then, last week or so, Judge came home from school where they had read an article about how kids who are not in kindergarten, when they go to their four or five year check up, also get their Norwegian skills checked, as this is important for when they start school both in terms of learning and in terms of integrating themselves with the other children.

For those who come from bilingual families, it said, about half do not pass, and are then offered a space in a kindergarten or an open kindergarten, as well as some professional help if necessary.

Since I've noticed Leona have a hard time integrating herself in the play of others when they come visit us---partially due to them not understanding what she's saying---I took this as a kick in the butt to really start speaking mainly Norwegian at home.

At first she was really unhappy about it, but didn't scream as much as before because both Judge and I explained repeatedly why it was important. Whenever I would slip up and speak English though, she'd be super happy and say "you can speak English now?" and I would say that, no, I am still going to be speaking Norwegian, I had just forgotten. And at the end of the day she would be crying again sometimes, wanting me to speak English, I think because her brain was tired.

For the first few days she mostly spoke Norwegian back to me, but these last few days she's almost solely spoken English to me. Sometimes, though, she'll still switch to Norwegian - and her vocabulary is actually pretty decent; it's her rhythm and pronunciation that I think makes it hard for other kids to understand her.

Judge has actually started speaking mainly Mandarin with the girls as well, as he noticed Leona's Mandarin is not as good as it should (could?) be. Previously he's mainly spoken English with them, so I think this is a good turn of events as well.

Oh, the bumps along the way of multilinguality.

[Leona's latest development within her plastic-bead journey

- more complex forms and (a)symmetry]

.

Halloween

Yep, that's right. Halloween. Better late than never, right?

In Norway, Halloween started to infiltrate society after 2000, with more TV channels that showed American movies and TV shows, and with the push from retailers who saw a golden cash-op.

Now, in Tromsø we didn't have to do anything for Halloween, as no-one could get in our apartment building who didn't live there, and so we had no trick-or-treaters. I really have no recollection of Halloween there at all.

Here in Innvik, though, I asked our neighbor if kids usually come around, and he said oh yes! Maybe 15-20 or so usually come by. So we had two choices - turn off all the lights and pretend we weren't home, or get with the program.

We decided on the latter, of course. But only in as much as staying home and handing stuff out, not getting the girls all costumed up and hitting the streets, because (1) the kids start their touring about when we eat dinner (and after dinner is bath, and then sleep), and (2) we don't eat candy...especially not the girls.

Now, since we don't eat candy I didn't want to buy some just to give the kids that came by, so we opted for tangerines, knowing the kids would be extatic (ha!).

But I wanted to do something. Something to make up for the tangerines I guess. So I used some ideas I had seen show up on my facebook feed from some "toddler-crafts" pages I subscribe to, and set this little scene up at our front door.

There were:

coffee-filter ghosts

 

TP roll vampire bats (inspiration from here)

and then the mini-pumpkins to hand out.

The girls - especially Leona - were really excited about kids coming and ringing the door-bell. She only got to see the first three kids and then a later lone kid (accompanied by mom in the background) come by though, as for the second and fourth batch she was taking a bath and sleeping.

The kids didn't seem toooo disappointed. Only comment was from the last batch of kind of older kids (fifth graders maybe?) who came by at 9pm. As they walk away "Two apples and a tangerine. We're gonna be good and healthy after tonight."

I really would love to go all out - like set up a haunted veranda they have to maneuver through to get to the door-bell, with me sitting on the chair by the door dressed as some kind of scary something that looks fake and then when they ring the door-bell jump up towards them. Make them think twice about coming again next year :P

Ok, so sitting there for an hour or so between the batches of kids that came by wouldn't be so much fun, and the pressure to outdo myself year after year would be just way too much...and I know there's no way I'll be doing this really, but it's fun to imagine giving them a proper North American Halloween welcome.


.

sleep, it does a body good

Oh how I wish it was that easy, that you could pour sleep into a tall glass and just gulp it down to satisfaction.

I struggle with a little lady who for some reason has her internal wake-up clock set to between 5:20 and 5:40am (if I'm really lucky 5:50). Sleeping earlier doesn't do the trick, sleeping later doesn't do it either.

There are of course some random days where she may sleep longer, but then again there are random days where it is before 5am.

We have that great star-and-sun clock, and I use it now with her as well, saying she can nurse (aka nurse and then get up) only when the sun comes out. Sometimes she can lay down and be patient a little while, but often not so much. When, finally, the sun comes out you should see her reaction. The suprised joy. Yes, cute, but hard to appreciate when all one wants are some more zzz's.

.

an Eliana moment

Post-bath with just a towel-cape E happily comes into the kitchen and says "ji" (sounds like the ji in Bahji, her English for finished).

Finished? I ask.

"Ji" with a big smile and emphatic nod, followed by "shhh" (her pee-cue).

I follow her look behind her to the carpet in the living-room and the tell-tale dark spot.

"Yes, yes indeed."

[taken yesterday during our stroll]

 

 

 

.

three is the new two

Ever since I was little I've always figured I'd have two kids. Well, no, that's a lie. I never really thought about marriage and kids and where I'd live and what I'd do when I was little - not even so much when I was not so little. But getting married has always been a given, as has having kids. Two kids.

That is until I was pregnant with Eliana in Tromsø, and suddenly started seeing all these families with three kids. Everywhere. And I suddenly felt that that is what complete looks like. Blessed happiness bundled up in three little bodies.

That is when three became my new two, mentally, heartedly.

And now. Now it is coming to fruition, physically. Or rather in June 2015 I should say. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't an eansy weansy bit nervous about this undertaking, because sometimes two seems on the verge of being too much for sanity to take. Luckily the girls rock, as does Judge, and so those bouts of near-insanity are short lived.

Sleep, you say? I've been lacking these past four years or so, what is another three?

We are excited!

[and then there will be three!]

holding our breaths

Last month Judge applied for a trainee position within Elkem, a company that seems made for him.

Taken from their website:

"Elkem is one of the world’s leading companies for environment-friendly production of materials. Its principal products are solar grade silicon, silicon, special alloys for the foundry industry, carbon and microsilica."

Judge has a BSc and MSc in Material Science and Engineering, and has worked with carbon and other related stuff in the process of getting those two degrees.

He's applied for positions with them before, prior to having Norwegian work experience, but never got an interview even, perhaps because of his limited work-experience in general. But this trainee position, it would be perfect for him. (Of course if he got a non-trainee position with them we'd be more than happy, but the prospects of that happening...in any company it seems, are slim, we have found).

With the trainee program, he would start next August, which would allow him to complete all his free Norwegian classes. It seems so perfect! And then for the next two years he would work in three of their locations, getting mentored and trained and molded into the perfect position for him based on his background and skills.

OK, so the moving three times in two years isn't super enticing, but it lets us check out more places in Norway, right?

Anyhow, yesterday he received an email from them asking for his transcripts from Taiwan (! good sign!).

So now our fingers are even more crossed, and we are starting to hold our breaths in hope, while trying not to get too attached to this.

And so I need to ask you all a favor. If you are someone who prays, please say some prayers for us, for this to be the right position for him and for him to get it, so we can finally lower our shoulders and breathe more freely again. And if you are someone who is into sending positive thoughts and energy, then please send those our way. We need this. Though we have a solid plan B (for if he doesn't get an engineering job within the next year) it isn't one either of us really want as the plan we execute.

[These two pictures were taken from approximately the same spot - just high and low tide differences and a slightly different angle. The log floated over here (in the top photo you can see where it originally was parked...where it's been for ages) during the floods we had last week.]

.

number and letter making

This summer as we were walking past the cafe (yes, there is only one in the village), Leona pointed to the O on an OPEN sign and asked what it was. This was the first time she showed interest in letters or numbers. I said "It's a letter, O, Owen's O." She then pointed to the P, and I said it was auntie Pippin's P. Her pee? She has to go pee? She doesn't need to go poop? Ah, what a glorious rookie mistake on my part.

[here asking about the 'n']

And that was pretty much that. She was content with my ensuing simple explanation about letters. Since then she would sometimes ask what we were writing and then ask us to write her name, Eliana's, ours, etc., just like she would sometimes ask us to draw specific things or people when we were drawing together, but it was more of a 'look at it and ask for the next person('s name)' type of thing rather than 'I want to learn letters'.

Then, as mentioned in our current faves post, Leona started to get a lot more interested in numbers and letters after finding the typewriter in the hidden cott in the little bedroom upstairs.

She will point to 1 and say it is Eliana's (since Eliana is 1 years old), 3 is hers, will ask where my letter is (J) and Judge's (T - for Tobias), etc.

Last week she also started to recognize 1 and 3 on signs and licence plates, and has learned to recognize zero, 2 and 4 as well.

But she has not been interested in trying to write anything. Yesterday I offered her to trace an L I had written, which she declined. Though I am still very 'Leona led' I feel it is important to offer her opportunities for new experiences~

However, this doesn't mean she is not into creating numbers and letters right now. While playing with play dough she made a 1 and a zero and asked me to make a 3 (she felt the 3 was too difficult).

And today, she showed me this:

And said "it's my other one"...I was confused. She said "Not 3, my other one".  Her first L - her first letter - ever.

This is so exciting!




.

heartwarming encounter

Shortly after I shared about how I was worried we had sowed the seed of a dog-phobia in Leona and then that I took it back, we encountered a cat on our walk home one afternoon.

We had seen a couple kids petting it and picking it up at the elementary school a bit before. As the cat started to walk towards us, Leona started backing up while saying "I'm scared~!". I crouched down and got her in a hug with my side to the cat and said that I would hold her and wouldn't let the cat touch her. I could feel her relax a little.

The cat came right up to us, pushing against me and tried to find a way to push against Leona too. I pet it while also keeping it away from Leona, and then asked if she wanted to pet it. She said no.

And then she said she wanted to touch it. The cat was super soft - obvoiusly brushed often - and super friendly and gentle. She pet it carefully at first, and I explained that the purring showed that it felt it was comfortable. After a little while we started walking again, and the cat followed us. Leona walked over to it and pet it some more - on her own.

It sat itself down in the middle of the road and streatched and started licking itself, and she copied his pose laughing.

We went to the bridge and rested a bit, and the cat continued to follow us, and Leona continued to pet it.

[I love how you can see how comfortable she is with the cat here, and how she is enjoying the feel of its fur].

Eliana wasn't as keen on the cat trying to get up to her, and so Leona even tried to lift the cat away from the stroller.

Any bit of worry that may have been left for me regarding a phobia melted completely away, and I could feel my heart settle with a sigh of confidence and contentment for Leona.


.

our daily routine

[we had some foggy days this week, clearing up in the late afternoon]

Comfortable, low-stress, leisurly. That's how I would describe the routine we've settled into post summer-vacation and with Eliana's now only one nap per day.

Here's a quick run-down of a typical day - times are not a science, but they are as I said, typical:

5:45am - I wake up with Eliana and she nurses a while, then I let Judge take her while I try to get another half hour shut-eye.

7:00am - Leona wakes up - we eat breakfast and Judge heads to work at 7:25 (he starts work at 7:30).

We then play - perhaps they play with their cars, markers, paint, or play with some rice, maccaroni or flour, depending on what they want to do. And we will also read some books. Maybe we eat a bit more [bolded activities are described in the last post, our current faves].

Depending on wake-up time Eliana takes her nap between 9:30 and 10:30. While I'm helping Eliana fall asleep Leona is downstairs playing with plastic beads or play dough, unless it is Tuesday, which is her 'video' day where she gets to choose whether she will watch Totoro (in Mandarin), Crimson Pig (in Mandarin) or videos of when she was small. Then I come down and me and Leona play a bit more with the plastic beads or play dough and then we play with the train set, and perhaps draw.

I then get some dinner stuff ready if it's me making dinner that day and/or get some snacks ready for our afternoon outing. And perhaps we bake some oatmeal cookies if we are out and haven't already made them with Eliana before her nap. This is usually a golden opportunity for Leona to play with flour as well as help scoup and measure if we're baking something.

Eliana wakes up around 11-11:30 or so, and we eat some more.

We finish getting ready to go outside and leave the house around 12-12:30. We walk - L rides her bike most days - either to the elementary school 1 km from our house to play at the playground there, and then perhaps to the kindergarten for a while to play with the kids - for Leona that still mostly means observe; and then we perhaps stop by the store and then head home, maybe having Judge catch up with us on the way (he gets off work around 3:30pm). Or we head in the other direction to the small playground and/or friends' trampoline down at the end of our road (about 200 meters (?) from our house). All in all we are outside between 2:30 and 3:30 hours I'd say.

Some of the school playground spots the girls enjoy:

[Sand under climbing apparatuses and swings]

[big boulders to climb on...and spot airplanes from]

[swings]

[top of slide - and climbing opportunity...here oh-so satisfied]

[bottom of slide - and snack spot...well, *everywhere* is a snack spot]

Playground down the road consists of a slide and a sandbox:

[great climbing rocks on each side of the slide]

[can also climb on the fence...and I enjoy the view]

When we get home Judge makes dinner (most days) while the girls run around on the balcony, play with their cars, or otherwise occupy themselves just around the house. Sometimes the girls will play outside-outside, but that is not a typical afternoon anymore - was more so during the summer:

[Leona was playing with the hose, Eliana with the ensuing puddles]

We eat around 5pm, and the girls take a long bath. We go upstairs around 6:30 and they play some more. Then we have our sleep routine. Girls are usually asleep between 7 and 8pm.

Now that the weather is turning, though, I am beginning to get a bit apprehensive about the fall and winter. Norwegian's have a saying "there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes", and at kindergarten the kids play outside from about 10am until they go home between 2:30 and 4pm I think, where they just have an inside break when they eat lunch. During the winter - once it gets colder - they don't go outside until after lunch. I, however, don't see us continuing to spend 3 hours outside every afternoon when it's pouring rain or cold. I'm just not that Norwegian. For the sake of the girls (or perhaps for our sanity), however, I may just have to Norwegianefie. If we got the girls some wicked good rain clothes and sufficiently warm winter clothes for all of us, a shorter or longer trip outside may still be a viable option on most days. Time will tell.

[picture taken from website introducing wicked good rain clothes - barnevaderen - where boots are welded to the pants]

.

current faves

These are Leona and Eliana's current favorite activities, done almost daily:

[Play with home-made play dough. Leona still likes it more so than Eliana.

So far the most successful recipe is this one - smooth to manipulate, holds well in the fridge without getting hard, but we don't have good coloring agents for it so the colors have been dull. I recently happened upon another successful recipe, however, that gives great color ... and she looooves the smell (bottom left), but it is quite hard coming out of the fridge...this may have to do with the fact that I used coconut oil of course, so we are giving it another go today.]

[Play with plastic beads; just dumping it when done - not ironing it. Again, Leona still enjoys it more than Eliana and will do it for a lot longer.

From this she has focused on fine motor skills, colors, design (going from random to more structured) and shapes (hexagon, square, circle and heart 'plates' to work on)]

[Play with our train set. Above she notices my train is on its way to the station, so tries to move hers out of the way to let mine pass...first attempted solution doesn't work but second one does.]

[I do the majority of the work of putting it together/making adjustments so that it makes complete loops in the end...not always successfully executed as you can see above; Eliana loves pushing trains back and forth through the tunnel but most often is the Destructor.]

[Paint. We have six colors to choose from - red, yellow, blue, pink, black and white; in the beginning Leona got a glob of each color on a plate for her to paint with, but it ended up just being the same brownish color every time, so we changed it to where she now gets to choose 3 colors only. From this she has learned a lot about which colors mix to make other colors. She may say: "I want pink, blue and white...because I want purple...and light blue", or she will want red, black and white because she also wants gray, etc.]

[Initially Eliana was just painting with some finger paint we got this summer, but this week she has started with the other paints as well. She's hooked. She will sign that she wants to paint first thing in the morning, and probably once or twice more throughout the day.]

[Read]

[Drive their cars. Here I'm being told to please move 'over there' because she's going to drive suuuper fast.]

 

[Draw - with markers. On their bodies, their play table (allowed) and around the house (not allowed but Eliana loves walking around with markers and I do my best to restrict her wandering.]

 

They also love to play with water (Eliana's favorite - she will try and pull up her sleeves as a sign that she wants to go to the small sink and play) and play for a long time in the bath tub at bath time.

Usually they do at least one of these every day or every other day:

[Play with rice on the floor. I now try and have them do this at separate times, as it doesn't work so well for them to do it together anymore; Eliana will go grab/dump all of Leona's rice, something that Leona is not too happy about.]

[Play with flour on the counter]

[Work and talk on their 'computer-phones']

[Use the type-writer (only Leona uses it so far, usually while Eliana is nursing before sleep). She has been asking a lot about the letters and numbers and is now starting to recognize some through using this]

[Play with droppers, colored water and paper towels - also a Leona-activity so far.]

[Cook with macaroni in the toy kitchen - they both love this one, but Eliana usually ends up eating the raw macaroni more than cooking with it.]

Sometimes they also enjoy straw threading (Leona) and playing with pompoms (both):

 

And of course there is playing outside at home, down the road (sand box, slide and trampoline), at the elementary school's playground, or at the kindergarten.



.