Well, we've gone from weird rainy weather to getting pretty toasty very quickly. The evenings and mornings are fabulous and we still get nice breezes during the day, but it is definitely getting hot in the sun. Summers in Chico make me appreciate our trees very much!
Since her birthday, Olivia has taken to singing "Happy me, happy me, happy me." I think it is her version of the happy birthday song. She really likes Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and will sing something like, "Up up ubby," which I think is supposed to be "Up above," from the "up above the earth so high" line. She also uses "Up up ubby" to refer to our Goodnight Moon video. The Goodnight Moon video is our favorite bedtime video containing stories, songs (like Twinkle Twinkle), and interviews with children. Andrew and I both really like it and we often watch it all together. Last week, the video broke, the film ripped apart. Olivia was obviously bothered by this a great deal since it is her favorite video. She started saying, "Up up ubby, rrip," with a look of great concern on her face. I was able to find it in DVD form online and ordered it immediately. The new movie arrived today and Olivia was very happy to get to watch it before bed.
Cora has a bad habit of waiting until the last minute to use the bathroom. She will start contorting and dancing around when she has to go really bad, we call it the "potty dance." We will ask her if she needs to go potty and she says, "No, I'm just
practicing my potty dance!" But then of course she always needs to go and will sprint to the bathroom, usually just barely making it in time.
This evening Aunt CC and Dave came over for a little visit. The girls were very excited to see them, they did a lot of jumping and running around accompanied by quite a lot of noise! But before they left, they read some books.
Cora quote:
May 23 Cora asked Olivia to help her with something then said, "Thanks Olivia, we're working as a team! High five!"
Cora and Olivia love the water! When it's bath time, they don't always want to take a bath at first, but then they also usually don't want to get out after they're in. These pictures are from last night's bath, which lasted for a full half hour. We're looking forward to swim lessons this summer.
Cora quotes:
May 12: Cora was talking to Olivia while they were playing on the computer and Cora said, "Trust me. That's what friends do."
May 17: Olivia was sitting on the floor on a pillow next to the fire and Cora approached with a blanket saying, "Lay down darling and I will drape this over you."
Cora was playing doctor yesterday, first with Olivia's Dora doll, then Olivia, then me. We all had "clogged throats." Our treatment consisted of a special "shampoo for the blood" that Dr. Cora would rub on our throats. Then her own throat became clogged and I had to apply the treatment. Cora called out, "Better call the veterinarian!"
Olivia is 2 years old today! It hardly seems possible, but it's true! Today was actually a fairly uneventful day, a sunny, quiet day. We celebrated Olivia's birthday last Sunday, also a celebration of Mother's Day. I often think it is amazingly coincidental that I gave birth to 2 girls, each the day before Father's Day and Mother's Day. And not only that, they were both born on a Saturday, exactly 8 days before their due dates. Of course their births were very different. Olivia came hard and fast in the early, early morning, while Cora took her time, having to be coaxed along just minutes away from midnight. Olivia is a very impulsive little girl so far, she often jumps right into things headlong and with much delight. She loves to do anything that big sister, Cora, does.
Sunday was a very nice day. Aunt Cristina, Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Tim, Uncle Lance, and Aunt Barbara joined us for our celebration. The nice weather of Saturday just couldn't hold out long enough, so it rained a lot. Although that didn't keep us from going outside for a while to look around at the beautiful yard and watch the girls play. We discovered that the top deck of the play structure is tall enough for Uncle Lance to stand up in, which is quite a feat. The girls had a great time running around and splashing about in the rain. Back inside Cora put on a lovely performance for all of us, and just about everyone had to participate in a dance with her. Olivia had a nice time opening and playing with her new toys, Cora was more than happy to assist her of course.
Cora seems to really enjoy preschool. She really likes her teachers, she seems to especially like teacher Jacklyn. Olivia really likes it too and doesn't like to leave when we drop off Cora, we usually stay for awhile before we go home. Cora has brought home some great paintings, we've even framed a few. She has also been learning some new songs that she likes to sing for us at home. Here is Cora's class picture, she's sitting in the front row on the left in a red dress.
At bedtime we often get the girls all ready for bed then go to our bedroom to watch the "Goodnight Moon" video. Olivia gets very excited about watching it and will try to sing, it comes out like "up above," I think part of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which is on the video. Cora drinks her warm milk (even during the day she likes her milk warmed up). And Olivia has some juice or water. The girls have been going to bed most nights between 8 and 9, 8:30 is usually lights out time.
The weather has been rather odd lately, some beautiful sunny days interspersed with rainy ones. The girls spend lots of time outdoors regardless. They like to have picnics outside and they like to hunt for strawberries to eat in the garden. Cora has quite a tan going already. The latest outdoor project has been a new play structure, which is almost complete now. It has taken several weeks to complete because we've been working on it a little bit at a time. The girls love to swing, climb, and slide; they have been enjoying it a lot already.
Olivia was really quiet one day recently and I decided to look around to see what she was doing. I found her in the kitchen, under the island, looking at "The Cat in the Hat." She was contentedly paging through the book, looking at the pictures. She seems to really like a lot of Dr. Seuss stories and will often choose them to be read to her. I left to do some errands last week while Andrew watched the girls and when I returned the girls where both naked, playing in the water, in buckets. Olivia was able to duck down into the bucket, it was really funny. Apparently they had gotten so sandy and dirty playing in the sand area that they had to wash off before they could go inside.
Some Cora quotes...
4/12/05 " I saw something very copuliar going on while I was..." (trying to say peculiar)
4/27/05 I told Cora to come to breakfast and her response was, "Sorry Mommy, I can't right now." "Why?" "Because I'm playing!"
4/27/05 "Olivia, I love you. When I grow up, Olivia, you get to be in my family."
5/2/05 Andrew was talking about how quiet time is good for the girls' souls and Cora responded, "My soul is already really good."
