I'm back!!

So sorry that I have been MIA lately. First of all, things were crazy with cousin Anna’s 1st birthday (Wow! Can she possibly be 1 already!!? What a wonderful girl!), family visiting, and the Thanksgiving holiday. Then, much to our delight, we have been without an internet connection for over a week. AT&T was supposed to update our account. Instead, they deleted it. And, apparently, what took one mouse-click to turn off, takes 8 days to turn back on. Argh!!! Anyway, we are back on-line as of this evening, so I am going to try to put together a blog or two that I have been wanting to write over the past couple of weeks.

Here are a couple of highlights:

-Molly learned to clap last week! You go girl! She loves to show off her newest talent. Its so funny with babies...how one day they can’t do something, and then one day they can! I’m so proud of her getting this.

-Ben tried out a Montessori Preschool that we are considering for next year. Aaron and I had to visit and observe first, and then, on another day, I took Ben back and he participated in the preschool morning for 45 min. It went pretty well, but we still have some discerning to do. It’s hard to know if this style of learning is the right choice or not for preschool. We’ll see what happens.

-Molly also learned to wave to herself in the mirror last week. She will sometimes wave to Daddy or Mommy, but she mostly prefers to wave to herself;)

-Ben has been more creative and imaginative than ever. His thought processes are really getting complex, and his pretend play skills are developing a ton. He is also staring to “get” playing games together like Bingo and Candyland. Not always…and I don’t try to push the idea of a “winner” versus a “loser”, but he is following the process of the games more and more.

-Molly has also learned to click her tongue in imitation. She continues to babble all of the time, and it is so fun to watch her enjoy making a noise intentionally. She loves the attention and praise that she is getting. Its amazing to watch a baby as her little mind “turns on” in developing language and motor skills…to watch her discover that she can affect our reactions and her environment. She is a wonder!! And I love this age!! It’s my reward for surviving another newborn;)

-Ben can pedal a tricycle. This is probably something that he has been ready for for ages. However, we just didn’t have a trike. So I never knew if he could or not. Well, my mom had one in her basement, and he got it out, got on, thought about it a bit, and took off riding around the room like an old pro! I was so proud of him. This was one of those skills that I knew other kids his age were doing, and I felt a nagging sense of neglecting him by never getting around to giving him the chance, but now I see that he can do it perfectly, and I am so glad that he’s so good at it! Indoors, at least. I think next spring and summer are going to be great for some real riding!