Claira smiles so hard that in some photos she looks like she's crying! Her mouth is smiling as wide as those cheeks will allow. Her nose crinkles up. And her eyes squint & gleam. It's a split second of pure happiness personified.
Snow Trip! It was such a beautiful day-perfect weather, perfect snow spots. This was their very first time playing in the snow so it made it extra special. I bundled Claira up with so many clothes that she was irritated at how immoble she was. But eventually she adjusted. She even gave in to the gloves, finally.
A friend brought his daughter, Alissa (age 7) and Ellia glommed onto her very fast. Everything was "Lissa! Lissa! Look at that! Lissa! Come over here!"
Our friend's daughter turned 4 & hosted a party at a really cool indoor play gym Under The Sea. It had tons of stuff for Claira to climb up, slide down (always head first), drive & bounce.
Ellia was enthralled with a real Mermaid! She watched the mermaid's every move, barely moving as she sat there..curious, focused, with an amused smile creeping across her face. It's times like those where I really wonder what she's thinking!
Would you look at that belly? WOULD YOU PLEASE LOOK AT THAT BELLY!?
The "twin" girls being silly together...their favorite thing to do together (and mine!)
Last month Claira was introduced to the new freedom of walking out the front door all by herself. Boy oh boy, to say it's the favorite part of her day is an understatement! Let me just say that when she sees I'm trying to get things going out the door & off to school...she picks out my shoes and brings them to me. Yes, it's the sweetest thing in the world. And she's so proud of herself when she does it; I feel a little guilty when they aren't the shoes I need to wear to work.
Haircuts & Lollipops. Claira finally had her 1ST HAIRCUT! Yay! When the cutting began she started crying but I handed her some snacks & she was just fine. Ellia got a quick re-cut of her previous cut. I let them have the salon lollipops even though I was headed next door for our dinner. Oh well, they were patient little tots & lollipops sure made them happy!
Holy crap - HOMEWORK. The day has come. I think I felt more like a parent on this night than when she was born!
Ellia's Halloween costume has unexpectedly been given a new lease on life. Ellia wore it one day and somehow the dress-up evolved into her new favorite character "Baby Tiger". And somehow I became "Mama Tiger". I put on a different voice (picture Tiny Tim on Vicodin; high-pitched but super-calm). When I put the 'mask' on and change my voice, Ellia immediately becomes Baby Tiger from head to toe: Her face softens and she scrunches up her face ever-so-slightly, tilts her head and stetches out her limp arms as if she's a baby and says "Mamaaaaaa...."
It kinda takes a lot of effort to keep stepping into the Mama Tiger persona. If I say "later" she asks "when it's light out?" or "when it's dark out?" Still, it's cute to see how excited she gets. And I rope Claira into the scene as well. She's been deemed Baby Seal. (We pretend to eat her chubby chubbiness)
"Stage 5 Clinger"
After that happened, Ellia had a somewhat letdown look to her. And Jackson at times had a held-hostage look to him. These goofy kids are so interesting to watch, as they grapple with 'real world' emotions. And then they squeal and skip off.
Thank goodness for Gramma & Grampa's house! Ellia always looks forward to going there: Picking oranges with Uncle Adam, The Castle Amusement Park with Grampa, grooming Kirby (the doggie), and lots of loving attention!
We had some recent bouts with random illnesses & a few trips to the doc. But both girls did so well waiting in the lobby, then the patient room & then letting the doc figure out what was going on. Plus, on one visit, we didn't have a car to get there so we had to take a loong stroller/trike trip...but we made it fun!
"That's beautiful, Mommy."
