Easter and “Iwansum”
I wish I was better about adding entries to this. The girls are constantly making us laugh and giving us great anecdotal stories and memories.
Just for some closure, a few notes about Easter – The girls hunted eggs at the house and enjoyed the MULTIPLE baskets that the Easter Bunny left them. This was followed by a lovely Easter dinner at Bunny and Grumpa’s house, as well as another egg hunt and MORE baskets! Everyone had a great time.
We are continuing to read longer “grown up” books to Haley. She loved Charlie And The Chocolate Factory so much that we went back to the library for more. Nicole read The Borrowers to her, and I am currently reading James And The Giant Peach to her. This also opened a floodgate of exposing her to other media that we enjoyed as kids. We showed her the 1970’s version of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder. I have fond memories of this being one of the earliest films I saw. I’m enjoying it as much as an adult – seeing it again through Haley’s eyes. We’ve also started watching the original Muppet Show together as a family. The kids love the music and characters, even if they don’t know who Don Knotts or Milton Berle are.
Haley also experienced her first Science Fair last week. She has wanted to do the “erupting volcano” project since she read about it in the book If You Take A Mouse To School. So we built a volcano out of clay and painted it after it hardened. A little baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring and FOOM! When her teachers came around to judge her project, she gave a nice speech about volcanoes, lava (“really hot melted rocks”), and how this project was also teaching her about “chemical reactions – That’s when you have two things that don’t do anything by themselves, but when you mix them it does something exciting.” As a parent, I don’t think there is anything better than the look on a pre-school teachers face when your child uses the words “chemical reaction” and proceeds to prove that she understands exactly what that is.
Zoe’s newest phase of choice is “Iwansum” (“I want some”). Whenever she sees anyone eating or drinking something, she HAS to try it. So she’ll toddle over, point, and ask “Iwansum”. Yes, its as cute as it sounds, and no, I don’t think it will ever get old.
Zoe knows many other new words. But she is strangely selective about what she learns. She still refuses to call the cat “Cat”, preferring to call him “Meow”. But she picked up the word “poop” very quickly. Haley was running around in the yard and Nicole was pointing out the dog droppings that I hadn’t picked up yet. “Watch out for the poop,” she would say. Zoe thought that this was the best game ever and spent the rest of the time pulling me around and pointing to piles. “Poop,” she would declare, and we would go in search of the next pile.
Zoe has also recently discovered swimming pools. A recent trip to the local rec center was the first in a few months due to the cold weather. The kiddie pool there has a “beach entry” where the water gets slowly deeper. The look on Zoe’s face when she stepped in the water was fantastic. She looked up at me as if to say, “why have you been hiding this wonderful place from me!” In true Zoe The Daredevil spirit (I really am going to carry through with my threat to dress her up like Evel Keneivel for Halloween), her favorite part was the slide. Despite its speed and getting dunked at the end, we lined up for it repeatedly.
That should be enough of an update to tide you all over for a few more days. I’ll try to have more next week. (And eventually, I’ll get more pictures on here!)
Just for some closure, a few notes about Easter – The girls hunted eggs at the house and enjoyed the MULTIPLE baskets that the Easter Bunny left them. This was followed by a lovely Easter dinner at Bunny and Grumpa’s house, as well as another egg hunt and MORE baskets! Everyone had a great time.
We are continuing to read longer “grown up” books to Haley. She loved Charlie And The Chocolate Factory so much that we went back to the library for more. Nicole read The Borrowers to her, and I am currently reading James And The Giant Peach to her. This also opened a floodgate of exposing her to other media that we enjoyed as kids. We showed her the 1970’s version of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder. I have fond memories of this being one of the earliest films I saw. I’m enjoying it as much as an adult – seeing it again through Haley’s eyes. We’ve also started watching the original Muppet Show together as a family. The kids love the music and characters, even if they don’t know who Don Knotts or Milton Berle are.
Haley also experienced her first Science Fair last week. She has wanted to do the “erupting volcano” project since she read about it in the book If You Take A Mouse To School. So we built a volcano out of clay and painted it after it hardened. A little baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring and FOOM! When her teachers came around to judge her project, she gave a nice speech about volcanoes, lava (“really hot melted rocks”), and how this project was also teaching her about “chemical reactions – That’s when you have two things that don’t do anything by themselves, but when you mix them it does something exciting.” As a parent, I don’t think there is anything better than the look on a pre-school teachers face when your child uses the words “chemical reaction” and proceeds to prove that she understands exactly what that is.
Zoe’s newest phase of choice is “Iwansum” (“I want some”). Whenever she sees anyone eating or drinking something, she HAS to try it. So she’ll toddle over, point, and ask “Iwansum”. Yes, its as cute as it sounds, and no, I don’t think it will ever get old.
Zoe knows many other new words. But she is strangely selective about what she learns. She still refuses to call the cat “Cat”, preferring to call him “Meow”. But she picked up the word “poop” very quickly. Haley was running around in the yard and Nicole was pointing out the dog droppings that I hadn’t picked up yet. “Watch out for the poop,” she would say. Zoe thought that this was the best game ever and spent the rest of the time pulling me around and pointing to piles. “Poop,” she would declare, and we would go in search of the next pile.
Zoe has also recently discovered swimming pools. A recent trip to the local rec center was the first in a few months due to the cold weather. The kiddie pool there has a “beach entry” where the water gets slowly deeper. The look on Zoe’s face when she stepped in the water was fantastic. She looked up at me as if to say, “why have you been hiding this wonderful place from me!” In true Zoe The Daredevil spirit (I really am going to carry through with my threat to dress her up like Evel Keneivel for Halloween), her favorite part was the slide. Despite its speed and getting dunked at the end, we lined up for it repeatedly.
That should be enough of an update to tide you all over for a few more days. I’ll try to have more next week. (And eventually, I’ll get more pictures on here!)
posted by Haley and Zoe @ 2:54 PM
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