For Grandpa Lain

My bedtime routine with Maya includes about 5 minutes of snuggles and chatting in bed before I head out and she falls asleep.  Back when we first started this routine I would mention the minutes that were remaining as they went by because she would get upset when I left... it gave her some time to prepare.  Last night I said, OK, just three minutes left, because she was being overly chatty.  She started giggling and the following ensued.

Halloween Fun

This year they were not scared of the pumpkin guts and actually helped clean out their own pumpkins!  Of course, they both requested kitty faces, what one wants the other does as well.

They picked out their costumes months ago and had so much fun wearing them.  Maya was Queen Clarion (the Queen of Pixie Hollow) and Laurel was Minnie Mouse.  I quickly discovered that they don't make Queen Clarion costumes, luckily Maya has a very talented grandma who whipped one up for us.

They went trick-or-treating multiple times... we started out a few weeks before Halloween at a Renton Truck-or-Treat where they got to walk around to different trucks (fire trucks, cement trucks etc), then on Halloween they went trick-or-treating at school, at my work and then at the Jones' house. I failed and didn't take a single picture at any location.  Oh well.  The amount of candy they came home with could be considered obscene and there is no way they will come close to eating it all, but they had so much fun gathering it all!  Now to figure out how to get rid of it all :-)

Listening Skills

Maya and I have been struggling a bit lately... butting heads in some areas.  I need to work a bit on my patience and she needs to work a bit on her listening.

Last night was rough so this morning we were talking about it in the car:

Me - Do you think we can work on listening to Mommy a little bit better?
Maya - No, I don't want to.
Me - Um, why not?
Maya - It is easier not to.

Well then, I guess I should applaud her honesty? 



Chatterbox

Wow, have Laurel's language skills really taken off.  She seemed to go from one to two word phrases to speaking in complete paragraphs over night.  Yesterday she did not stop talking from the moment I picked her up at daycare to the moment we arrived from home.  I am used to this from Maya, but it is still a bit shocking to hear it come from Laurel.

Some of my favorite Laurel expressions/comments:

"But I love them/it" - spoken when asked to clean up her toys, I give her credit for a creative excuse on why they should not be put away.

"Please can I... be done eating/have milk in my kitty cup/have my blankets/etc?" - she has picked up some very polite habits and I love hearing the complete sentance she puts together.

"Maya, no thank you, don't talk to me.  I want Mommy to talk to me." - said many, many times on our car rides home (imagine this said with complete attitude).  They argue over who will talk to who, and who gets to talk to Mommy.  A little exasperating after a long day!

"I not know" - in response to something she doesn't know.  Usually it means she wants you to explain it to her and tell her what it is.

"No. I gonna." - her way of saying that she wants to do it by herself.

(Looking at me with a really sad face)... "Daddy didn't feed me sausage" - her way of letting me know that she was not happy with the fact that Rey didn't make her sausage for breakfast.  (I am not sure if I have talked about this, but sausage is basically her favorite food.  I can get her to eat most meats if I tell her it is like sausage.  And this is every kind of sausage, including the horrific Vienna Sausage that comes in a can.  She loves the stuff.)

"I don't want it because it waves" - as she flops her slice of pizza around holding it by the crust.  Again, a creative excuse on why she doesn't want something.

"Shhh... there's a bear coming!" - as she runs up and down the house.  This appears to be a favorite game of hers and she has convinced all her friends at school of this fact.  Now they all run around saying that a bear is coming.

It is also becoming very clear how much she is listening and observing the conversations between Maya and I.  Maya and I have some particular songs and games that we made up that occupies our time in the car.  I had Laurel in the car to myself the other day and she immediately started singing the songs.  She has never really participated before, but I guess not having Maya there opened it all up for her.





A visit to the pumpkin patch

We spent a foggy morning at the pumpkin patch and the girls had a great time picking out their pumpkins.  Laurel managed to choose the biggest one... and she would not let anyone even think about taking it.  It sat in the garage for a week or so and everytime we walked by it she would point out that it was her pumpkin.  And she always knew exactly which one she chose. 

Many pumpkins to choose from.

Maya found hers!

 .Laurel REALLY wanted to push the wheelbarrow herself - and she was pretty successful.

Sisters hanging out around the firepit - always impossible to get a smile from both at the same time.

With mommy.

And with Daddy.

Life Goals

Last week the theme at the girls' school was "All About Me".  They have filled out questionnaires about their favorites, shared all about their families and talked about differences between themselves and their classmates and how that makes them special.  It is one of my favorite sessions and they do it in the beginning of each 'school year'.

One of the items that was talked about was... What do you want to be when you grow up?

Maya - a mommy with red hair
Laurel - a horse

Well, OK then.

Cheese!

And GO HUSKIES!