Merry Christmas

School Holiday Party

All dressed up and ready to go

Check out those boots...and TWO shoes

Shaking up the color bottles

Reading with Daddy in the book corner

Cooking in the kitchen

I love puzzles

Singing along during circle time

Snack time

Mmmmmm...cookies!

Conversations

I am sure I will say this about every age and stage my girls go through...okay, well, maybe not junior high...but I absolutely love the two and a half to three year time period. Not only do kids talk at this age, but they talk TO you and each other and respond when asked a question and ask lots and lots of questions themselves. It's fascinating.

Yesterday, at the lunch table, Ibby started singing, "Happy Birthday." And Maddie said, "No, Ibby. Maddie birthday gone. Mommy birthday coming up." Okay, so it's not like I've been talking a lot about my upcoming birthday (it's in 26 days just in case you wanted to know), it's more like I was trying to convince Maddie that her birthday, which lasted a good two and a half weeks, was over, and that someone else's birthday (namely mine) would be coming up next and at that time there would be more presents to open (hopefully) and more cake and more singing of the Happy Birthday song. Anyhow, Maddie's statement floored me. Three multiple word sentences. And we hadn't talked about my birthday since the day before she made this statement.

Lately, Ibby has been using the phrase "Ni hao" in proper context. She heard it once on a show she and Maddie like to watch before nap time, "Caillou." I don't care for Caillou myself, but at least I can tolerate it which is more than I can say for Dora and Curious George. We don't watch Dora in our house. Occasionally, I give in and let them watch CG, but not very often. I do not like that monkey. I have never liked that monkey, but because my girls do, one of their joint Christmas gifts is a CG book. Anyhow, after hearing "ni hao" once, she has now said it several times in place of "hello." Freaky.

This next example may fall in the TMI category, but here goes. The other day at the breakfast table, Ibby was commenting on the fact that Maddie was going potty. "Maddie poop," she said. "No," I replied. "Maddie is just peeing." She pondered that for a moment, took a bite of waffle, and said, "Aunt Pat poop today?" So we called Aunt Pat to find out. I won't tell you her reply.

These are just a few brief snippets of conversation. We have hundreds of exchanges everyday, and it's just so interesting to see what they remember and to find out what they're thinking and to hear them actually converse with me and Richard and each other. The acquisition of language is an incredible thing.