Julia’s Letters

So yesterday I was curious how many different letters Julia could write.  So we played a game where we tried to write all of the letters.  The small ones at the top of the page are the ones I wrote noting which ones she knew without any help.  There are also a few she added like ‘Q’ that she wrote after I showed her on another page.  See if you can find them all.

Then this morning she wanted to play another game so I asked if she wanted to write names.  She was very excited.  This time I wanted to see how she did writing between lines.  Not bad if you ask me.

 

The first ‘J’ on the top left I wrote to show her what I wanted.  She then did every other letter by herself although I had to show her ‘R’ and ‘C’ on another page.

Wheeee...

Benjamin has gotten more and more independent... and adventurous! At the playground recently he climbed up the slide structure on his own -- figuring out the "rope" ladder after a few tries and making his way to and down the highest slide there without hesitation and with a huge grin on his face! I didn't get a picture of that I'm sure there will be many more photo opportunities in the future!

Julia going down the big slide. This is the one that Benjamin went down too and the plastic rope ladder in the background is what he navigated to do it.

Going down the bumpy up slide!

Open Sesame

Field Day

Julia had Field Day at school last week - she had a great time out in the sun, playing with her friends, and having a picnic. And she tolerated Benjamin crashing the party!

running the obstacle course 

lunchtime

make room for little brothers!

The Artists

So I'll be honest, I have been very afraid to let Benjamin paint. I had an idea that he would like it but every time I thought about it I have visions of a paint covered kitchen, walls, floor and even ceiling. But last week we had a beautiful day with temps in the seventies and sunny skies and it was the perfect opportunity to paint - outside... with water play after to help with the clean-up! It ended up being a great afternoon!

the painters at work 

using tree stumps as a canvas

he enjoyed tasting the paint too!

concentrating 

 hard at work

Benjamin's Gallery - First Scribbles

Benjamin has started getting the hang off scribbling and loves to help me make lists when I'm getting ready to grocery shopping. Here is one of his first scribbles!

Julia's Gallery: Fozzie dog!

Julia drew this picture of Alex's new puppy, Fozzie, at school recently. She told me that she needed a good picture of him for herself! 

Beachcombers

We took a trip to Goddard Park last Monday. It was a cool morning but there were plenty of cool things to be found!

cleaning off shells 

finding (and tasting!) rocks 

a crab with pointy legs! 

letting Julia check it out 

horseshoe crab shells

Cuteness

A few pictures that have made me smile recently...

Benj driving in the backyard... vroom, vroom! 

J dressed for playing with water

Benj at snack time - he insisted on sitting in my chair, with his apple next to him, and one of my magazines on his lap to read... just like Mom!

Building the Clubhouse - Part 1

Julia is very excited because this summer she is getting a clubhouse! Grandpa Rick and Grandma Lesley told her that they would build her a playhouse for her birthday and she quickly determined that this would be her own personal version of Mickey Mouse's clubhouse. Construction started last weekend and she got into the action too.

Small Spaces

Take a look at where we've found Benjamin lately!

The kitchen drawer - after he had emptied it

 the laundry detergent shelf at our local baby store

the toy basket - again after it was sufficiently emptied!

Benjamin the Outdoorsman

Benjamin has been fully enjoying the good weather around here. We spend most of our day outdoors and by dinner time it shows - he's usually covered in dirt, wet from finding some kind of water to play in, and tired! All good things!

Here's a glimpse into a typical day:

Digging for worms 

Hunting for a baby bunny we chased out of a woodpile 

Construction!

Cousins

Couldn't pass up posting this picture of Julia and Alex bonding over Alex's new puppy, Fozzie!

He's an adorable dog - even working his way into Andrew's heart! I'm sure we'll have more Fozzie tales to tell after we dogsit later this summer.

Heard around our house

A couple of gems from the past week...

At dinner (ribs and baked fries) the other night:
Julia: I really like potato french fries... but not the orange kind.

***

While we were swinging the other day, I stopped pushing Julia for a second to take off my sweater and tie it around my waist. This was the conversation that followed:
Julia: What are you doing Mommy?
Me: I took off my sweater
Julia: Why?
Me: Because I'm warm
Julia: What did you do with it?
Me: I tied it around my waist
Julia: Why? Because your waist was cold?

***

And Benjamin's repertoire has expanded to include: "hamburger" which was heard by many, not just me! and "purple."