Family Update

The girls are now four years old and learning so much so fast.

Jocelyn is very active, social, and imaginative.  Her eyes sparkle with mischief most of the time and she lives life at full speed. She doesn't walk, she runs everywhere. She wants to make friends with everyone and isn't afraid to walk up to a stranger and start a conversation. She loves to laugh and is always making jokes with Ivy. One of her favorite things to do is pretend. She knows how to make a game or story out of any daily activity and is always saying "Mom, talk the spoon," or "Mom, talk the car," meaning she wants me to use my voice to pretend I'm the object talking to her. A few weeks ago she was in the front yard picking flowers and a neighbor drove by and saw her. He stopped and told her he'd pay her a dollar if she'd give him a flower so he could take it home to his wife. She was so excited and became quite the little entrepreneur for weeks after that, wandering the neighborhood with a handful of flowers, trying to sell them at front doors and even to the construction workers a few houses away.

Ivy is more reserved, thoughtful, and sensitive. She is also very verbal and is always chatting. She is a little shy and is perfectly happy playing on the side of a group. She cares how other feel and is worried even when play fighting is going on. She isn't afraid to scold anyone who needs it. She loves to laugh with Jocelyn and they have about a million inside jokes and made up words that me and Kyle don't understand; its true that twins have their own language. The words that seem the funniest to them right now include albertson-bees (balloons), rawrs (green beans), stomacha-deesa (?) along with many others. Ivy has a very nurturing demeanor. She is very soft with our pets and with Millie (Amelia), and understands how to care for them. When Millie cries, she finds her binkie or shows her a toy. When Millie spits up, she cleans her up.

The girls started preschool at Watch Me Grow near Nisson Park in Washington and they love it so much. I was worried about Ivy's sensitive nature when I knew she'd be entering a classroom setting and so I gave her a little warning talk about how some kids might be mean and that she could make friends with the nice kids. Two weeks into their school year Ivy said to me one day, "Mom, there are no mean kids in my preschool." I was relieved she adjusted.

A few photos from October now...

The pictures they drew for Grandma Marj. Jocelyn drew our family and Ivy drew a beanstalk and cut it out. 

Ivy's "Tree Series" drawings. She loves drawing tall trees with apples in them. 

The brand new bridge and bike path across the river from our house 

Mud puzzle pieces on our trail walk

We made apple heads for Halloween 

Three girls swinging 

Candy corn fingernails

Amelia's room

The girls favorite new spot in the office to be creative

I ran the St George Marathon

Start line 

The girls ran a little race too

Jocelyn having pre-race jitters

Ivy ran a mile with me one day