weekly news

Charlotte hasn't been feeling super great lately... But, a few minutes with the sandbox and trucks all to herself was just what the doctor ordered this afternoon. She forgot her troubles for quite a while and had lots of fun playing trucks.

Big brother's been a biking fool lately! He says he needs his training wheels so he "won't have hard balance." But, as far as I can tell, his balance is awesome! I even adjusted the training wheels so they don't hit the ground except for when he starts to tip, and he's doing just fine with them like that.

We've been spending a lot of time out working & playing in our yard. There is so much work to do that we'll never get it done, so it's easier to think of it as play. Both kids love to hang around and "help" or explore the yard while we are weeding, raking, and trimming. Here's Charlotte having a new sensory experience while Daddy is trimming a bush nearby - it's hard to tell in this picture, but she was standing barefoot in the cushy grass and seemed to be enjoying the feeling of grass under her tootsies.

I bet everyone's been wanting a Rex update. Let's see... He's a wonderful and affectionate friend, as always! He loves playing outside and is very very happy that we bought a home with a big backyard for him to roam. Unfortunately, our new house also came with a bunch of kitty-owning neighbors. Rex has joined the tough cats of Thompson St gang and does come home scratched up now and then. Nothing serious and he's up to date on his shots, so I try not to fret... His favorite indoor activity is trying to get between Mommy and Charlotte when we are nursing - it's very annoying, but Charlotte actually seems to like it, so I put up with him and just try to shove him to one side or the other. In effort to satisfy his need for fresh flowing water, I recently bought him a filtering water bowl. He actually loves it, and I think he has cut down on his obsessive demand to have a faucet turned on for him to drink from.

Charlotte's beginning to show us her sense of humor. This evening when she was bathing, she kept lowering her chin into the bubbles and coming up giggling and trying to get our attention so she could make us all laugh at her beard.

Speaking of Charlotte, her vocabulary is growing quickly.... But only her sign language vocabulary. She's getting by on the same four spoken words that she's been saying for a month, but is continually adding new signs. Off the top of my head, here are a few of the signs she knows and uses appropriately: milk/nurse, eat/food, please, more, all done, mommy, baby, and cat.