Time flies! It has already been a month since the last post, so I suppose it’s time for another update with more pictures of our sweet little girls. Their language skills continue to improve by leaps and bounds. It’s been abundantly clear for a while now that they’re no longer simply parroting back phrases that they’ve heard; they’re actually sorting through their vocabulary and constructing brand new sentences that communicate their thoughts. Last week Carolyn noticed a spiderweb up in the corner of the ceiling near the dining room table. Most of their sentences are still rather short (often just three or four words), so I was a little astonished to hear her come up with the six word sentence “Daddy clean up spiderweb with chair?” Needless to say, she was very pleased to see me comply, and I think they even applauded a little.
For the last year or so they have always really enjoyed watching out the front window on Friday mornings when the garbage truck comes by. It’s big and noisy and has a giant claw that reaches out to pick up the trash can and then dump it into the back of the truck. They seem to look forward to it all week long! But a few weeks ago they were out walking down the sidewalk with my Mom on Friday morning, and apparently when the big noisy garbage truck came by THAT close, it scared them a bit and they cried all the way home. Since then, they’ve definitely been a bit more skittish about loud noises… So last week, the girls and I were out raking up the leaves on our front lawn. They were having a wonderful time jumping on the piles of leaves and kicking them around… But then a big noisy truck drove by, and for some reason it spooked Elizabeth — so she ran over to me whining and crying, “Daddy hug! Daddy hug!” She was standing right next to my leg, and I had my hands full with the rake, so I just said “It’s OK Sweetie, you can hug my leg!” That didn’t seem to be good enough. “Daddy hug! Daddy hug!” she repeated. By this point, the truck was already disappearing down the street. “Just hug my leg, honey!” And then, still in her pathetic little whiny voice, “No, hug tummy! HUG TUMMY!” I suppose I was a tiny bit reluctant at first because I don’t want them to get all clingy, but how could I refuse that? They both got tummy hugs, and I have to admit those are my favorite kind too. Another fun thing has been that at bedtime lately, as Janet and I each hold one of the girls before we sing Rock-a-bye Baby and tuck them in, they almost always ask “Family hug?” And then, “More family hug?” Yeah, it might just be a ploy to prolong the going to bed process, but how can you say no to that?
This morning I overheard each of the girls apparently talking to the little toy she was playing with, saying “Jesus loves me.” And they seem to be at least somewhat aware of the approach of Christmas, because when they saw a decorative picture of wrapped presents, they both said things like “Open presents?” I replied, “Yes, soon it will be Christmas time and you can open up some presents. Do you remember doing that last year?” And it was Carolyn who said, “Nana and Papa’s house!” I’m not sure if she really remembers that from a year ago, or if Janet has recently talked with them about what’s in store. In any case, I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun this year!
Now, here are some pictures!
Story Time with Nana
Helping Mommy make pancakes
Helping EAT the pancakes!
Story Time with Daddy
Watching Caillou (a freakishly bald 4 year old) on the TV
We’ve been glad for the many days of fine weather this Fall. If it’s sunny and warm enough, the girls and I often head out to Dublin to visit with Janet during her lunch break. Usually we just drive to a local park and let the girls run around for a while, and everyone has a good time. The next three pictures are from one such visit.
Elizabeth climbs atop her throne
Carolyn's proud to be sitting on the BIG chair!
Swinging and smiling
The girls recently had an opportunity to try on their Christmas dresses!
We're very, very blessed!
Great pictures! Merry Christmas, Siemens Fam.