Amanda Rachel
& Robin Beatrice
Amanda was born on Wednesday,
June 28, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Robin was born on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 9:24 pm
November 2009
We had an eventful month
with Thanksgiving, a visit from the Collins family, a birthday party, Tot
Shabbat,
and new developments for Robin.
Robin is turning into a very smiley baby
and has started
laughing out loud. It can be a gamble, though, because often a laugh is
followed by a stream of spit up, so you take your chances. She has
discovered her feet, but can only find them when they are bare (and, for
some reason,
prefers to play with them when she has no pants on). In addition, she is getting
very good at finding her thumb. Though it still does not comfort her as much
as her pacifier, it is becoming a more frequent fixture in her mouth. She is
not yet rolling over and doesn't seem to want to. She will often roll onto
her side and lie there comfortably. She is starting to play with toys a
little (by "play," we mean "try to eat."). She much prefers toys that move
and make noise and allow her to just observe
(and by "toys" we mean
"television").
Amanda is still a fantastic big sister and is a big help around the house. She now puts away her own laundry. She loves the game of running back and forth from our room to hers with a pile of clothes and seeing how fast she can put it all away. Speaking of clothes, she is still in charge of her wardrobe and it is still pretty apparent. Some days she chooses to wear all one color, and then other days she just picks the individual pieces that she wants to wear-- regardless of how they look together. She justifies everything she does with explanations like, "This shirt is for a 3 year old to wear on Wednesday. It's Wednesday, right? No? It's Thursday? Well, I mean that this shirt is for a 3 year old to wear on Thursday. So I'll wear it today." Or, when giving a sticker to Barb, she said, "This sticker is for a mom from Ohio." Amanda is also really honing in on boys vs. girls. For the majority of the month, she talked about how only girls can come to her birthday party (yes, it's 7 months away, but there's no convincing her of that) and how she only loves girls (excluding Aleck from her circle of love, yet including our dog Luna). By the end of the month, she conceded that she loved boys again, and therefore loved Aleck, but he was still unable to get an invitation to her party.
Amanda is also learning letters and spelling (and a bit of pre-reading). She's known how to spell her own name (in a song) for about a year now, and she's also learned how to spell Robin.
Click here for a video of her
spelling their names (video is 14 seconds).
Robin is 3 Months Old!
Time for a photo shoot!
**Overheard this month**
Soothing Robin: "Don't worry, Robin. Your mom is coming."
Robin's Best Friend, Giraffe
Robin is becoming very fond of Giraffe, and we are pleased with that. Soon she'll be able to start sleeping with him, which might make the night wakings easier to bear for all of us.
**Overheard this month**
What's the name of that princess? "Snowing White"
Tot Shabbat
Amanda and Lexi are the Shabbat candle helpers this time (and there's Ms. Carol behind them).
Why Is It Called Fall?
Time to rake leaves! Aleck had a willing assistant this year
After all of that hard work, it was time to unwind and play with sidewalk chalk
Toys, Toys Everywhere!
We unearthed the Exersaucer
for Robin since she, like her sister before her, loves to be upright.
She seems to really like looking at the toys but isn't coordinated enough to
play with them.
Aidan's Karate Birthday Party!
One of Amanda's best
friends, Aidan, turned 4 with an awesome karate party. The kids all learned
some moves, each one got to break a board with their hands, and Aidan got to
cut his cake with a samurai sword.
Then, after cake, they all got to jump in a moonbounce and work off that
sugar.
There's Aidan in his karate uniform sitting next to Amanda.
**Overheard this month**
Aidan's
mother asked him if he would ever want a little brother or sister.
He answered "No."
And then added, "Can we just get a little Robin like Amanda has?"
Sean Came To Play!
He's standing and cruising and almost walking. Amanda tries to help him but instead looks as though she's about to run him over.
The weather was so nice, we took a walk to the playground.
Sean is triumphant after climbing all the way up the stairs; Sean and Merrie take a ride down the slide.
The swings are always a big hit.
**Overheard this month**
"I don’t have enough legs" (to pump on the swing)
Hanging Out At Home
We like to play and dress Robin up in silly hats.
Amanda built a Lego tower that's taller than she is!
Amanda Does Some Playing... and Learning
Amanda's class, the Penguins, learned all about Pilgrims, American Indians, and Thanksgiving this month.
Amanda and Casey examine a squash, and then take a taste. Amanda surprised herself by liking it!
She also made a pilgrim
girl, a dream catcher (that now hangs in her room),
and learned about American Indian instruments and symbols.
Thanksgiving Show and Feast!
All of the 3 year old classes joined forces to put on a Thanksgiving Show and each class made some food for everyone.
Amanda chops and stirs to help make stuffing and soup.
They performed a medley of songs before our feast.
Click here for a video of their performance (video is 1 minute).
We've provided subtitles so you can figure out what they're saying. You're welcome.
**Overheard this month**
"The pilgrims landed on Rockville."
Of course, there is still time for playing and painting.
Happy Thanksgiving!
We stayed home this year,
and were joined by the Collins family (all the way from Ohio!), the Lees,
and Jen and Naz.
It was a great day filled with fun, feeling grateful, and chocolate.
And feeling grateful for chocolate.
Left (clockwise): Stacey, Naz, Jen, Chris, Aleck, Marie. Middle (l-r): Barb, Aleck, Marie. Right: Stacey and Robin.
Katie cuddles with Chris, and then shows off her Janis Joplin impression.
Kids' Table
Hannah, Amanda, Cameron and
Katie got their own table. Here they are seated at the beginning of the
meal.
And then there is a picture of their table about 6 minutes later.
Oh, THIS is where they went!
Everyone made it back in time for dessert, though. Katie was very excited about the chocolate peanut butter pie that she helped make.
Amanda and Hannah had a frosting-finger licking good time!
The rest of their visit was full of fun times playing!
**Overheard this month: Grown Up Edition**
Chris's new nickname for our children: Batmanda and Robin
Chris and Aleck spent time on the computer. Surprise, surprise.
Orange Shirt Brigade
The kids did a project where they got to decorate a t-shirt. Here they show off their handiwork.
Barb bought Robin a pumpkin hat. She then bestowed a new nickname on Robin: Pumpkinhead. Robin didn't mind.
Generations of Bounciness
Here are all of the kids
who have used this bouncy seat, starting with Katie 9 years ago, then
Cameron, then Amanda, and now, lastly, Robin. Sadly the seat will have to be
retired now that one of the buckles is broken.
It has served us all well and we will remember it fondly.
Ironically, when Barb was doing a sweep of the house as they were leaving to make sure they'd gotten all of their things, she saw the bouncy seat and immediately thought, "Ok, I have to pack that, too. Wait- no I don't!"
The last known picture of Robin in the bouncy. So long, old friend.
Post-Thanksgiving Reunion
Amanda hadn't seen Elijah
and Maggie for DAYS and was going through withdrawal.
We went outside to enjoy the mild weather and luckily, they came over to
join us.
Maggie creates and then performs in her "dance circle."
Hmmm... I'll bet I can cram this whole thing in my mouth. Wanna see?
See all of these pictures and more at our photo gallery
