Reese and Minnie

Reese would not take this hat off at Target the other night. She cracks me up.

As of yesterday we have started repeating "Who's That?" and "What's this?"....right now it is super cute, especially when watching the intro to Sesame Street.

So I bought them some flash cards with letters and pictures on them, thought it would be fun until Reese started quizzing me by holding up a card and asking "This?" and I found myself answering. Then I am telling Rich about it and come to find out, she does the same thing to him. Must be making sure we are smart enough to hang with her or something. Little turd.

New School

Rich took pics of the girls their first day of school and despite my begging, he hasn't downloaded them yet. We can tell they love their new school. They each have their own lunchboxes (one is farm animals, the other - butterflies), which they carry from the house to the car, drive to school holding them like little old ladies on the bus with their pocketbooks, and into the school which is 19 steps up. After the first day, Reese couldn't stop saying her new word, LUNCH. So we suspected they loved it and it was confirmed today when Rich spoke to the head teacher, and said, "they love their new school" and her response was "its obvious". So we aren't crazy.

They go to Montessori as you know and it seems to be the perfect learning environment for them, right down to Tweety, the classroom bird. They go Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 9-330. I was telling some people at work about their new day, and most of them said, wow, that's a long day for them. My only response was, more like 1/2 a day for them!!! The best thing is that it has put them on a schedule once again, and in bed by 730 LATEST which is great. And they are up at about 720, which again is great.

One thing I have noticed lately is how much they love to color. They enjoy yelling out what they want you to draw, which can range from watermelons, bananas, and apples (bapples), to hearts, stars, rainbows, and elmos. Out of sheer desperation, the other night I was forced to bring out the fingerpaints. Lily was on one of her "sticky" kicks (the girl loves putting stickers on her shirt) and I had NONE. So I busted out the fingerpaints, which they do at school all the time. Messy, but I have to say, the quietest 20 minutes of my whole night. They were so focused, it was kinda scary. I mean, how do you keep their attention for a whopping 20 minutes with ANYTHING even Sid the Science Kid wears thin after 15.

Pics to follow.

September

Bandana Lily.
The best family pic we could get so far. Why Rich had to wear his bandana I am not sure.
Apple picking Reese.
Reese apple.
Feeding animals with D.

Rich and I have come to the conclusion the best thing to do on the weekends is find festivals, street fairs, etc and get out of the house. A friend of ours offered this advice months ago, and now we are all over it. The kids have more fun, you have less clean-up, and everyone is happier. Yesterday we were able to go to the Cranford Music Festival before the rain hit and ran into our friends Peter, Allie, and Erin. They had lots of bouncy kid things (which the girls are still not into...I am sure if they had a friend with them that would break the ice, they would be all over these kiddie things), and of course a petting zoo. We have been connoisseurs of petting zoos. They seem to be at every kid event we go to. The girls love it too. So of course, they missed their nap, got cranky, we end up carrying them, and we have to leave but we went to Princeton Marketfair (their favorite mall) to wander the rest of the afternoon. Well really to tear up Pottery Barn kids. Rich wanted to buy Reese the hot dog Halloween costume, but I talked him out of it.

Today was their buddy Deville's 2nd birthday. Again, they had a great time. It is so fun to watch them play with other kids and have a fun day. Lily didn't rank the hay ride on her top 3 favorite things of the day, but I think playing with D on the slide was #1.