A Few Things We Enjoy

 We really love our strawberries ("stawbabies") - which also include raspberries - and "beeboos" (aka blueberries).  We've been buying them all year-long for the babies, but was it ever tasty to have them fresh earlier this summer; including a plethora of raspberries from our own garden.

Dressing up!  I do find it bittersweet that last summer's almost-too-big hats are small enough now to be the cause of much mirth amongst the under-two set.

I think it's almost time to get a full length dress up mirror for them.  Colin loves to hunt down big people shoes and clomp around them - until the momentum gets the better of him. The playgroup we go to occasionally has a super play kitchen which seems to hold their collective interest for a good 20 minutes.  And I still entertain hope that they (read: Keith) will soon be able to colour without eating the crayons.  All of this means that within the next two months, I suspect our very baby playroom will become a little more big kid-friendly.  We'll have to say a fond farewell to the Exersaucer which will be cleared out to make room for the table and chairs that I am attempting to recover; some of our precious books will be replaced in the book slings now that they can reach them, and hopefully our bins of Duplo and wooden blocks will become a little more popular.

A few other recreational things that we LOVE:
-  Evelyn:  RAFFI.  This child is Raffi's #1 fan.  The Lord preserve you if you play a Raffi song that isn't in her repertoire of acceptable Raffi songs;  singing, especially "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Wheels on the Bus" and, of course, anything Raffi; her dolly and her various accessories (yesterday, we spent a good ten minutes applying "keem" to dolly's delicate skin); making Bunny and Gigi dance to music, biting her siblings.

-  Colin:  Evelyn's dolly.  Keith's cars.  Pointing out everyone and everything real and imagined (Evelyn, Keith, puppy, his bottle) that "bite you".  Colin loves little fiddly things like rocks, blades of grass, Matchbox cars - he almost always has to have something in his hands if he's walking around.  One of his greatest loves is his stuffed dog Puppy and "bankie".  He really enjoys making things move and putting things together, so I suspect he'll be my biggest block and lego fan.

-  Keith:  Anything with wheels and a motor; but particularly busses, garbage trucks ("dobig tuck") and my parents' car, which he has christened Opananacar.  He will announce every vehicle that passes, including type and colour.  He can spend half an hour at the window in this pursuit.  He still loves his books and singing, although he is SO over "Old MacDonald".

One thing we can all agree on:  bubbles!!

People ask me all the time whether the kids play well together, and I would say they do remarkably well.  They're evenly matched in size, strength and determination, so there isn't usually a clear winner when they do scrap it out.  They still play better when I'm out of the room, and have learned a few important techniques to keep the peace and to get what they want:  they barter and trade.  Eventually, they will let another sibling use a contested toy.  Of course, the moment you try to establish ground-rules and turns (the concept of sharing is still a few years beyond their comprehension), all hell breaks loose - they do a much better job if left to their own devices!