Special Occasions
This week was full of special occasions and social events. Last Saturday we went to a baby shower for one of our neighbors, which means of course discussions were had about Baby D in Miss A's tummy and how their friend B is going to have a new baby brother soon. That morning I got ready while they entertained themselves with a project: coloring the wrapping paper for Baby D's present. I put big paper down on the floor, and even Goose successfully colored part of the paper. Sunday we went to a Super Bowl party at another neighbor's house. Let's be honest, the game was just an excuse: I think maybe two dads actually watched any of the game; the rest of us just enjoyed the food and conversation and watched the kids play. The entourage had their usual Monday night Daddy date to the playground. Goose apparently discovered the slide this week, and she is a big fan! They were really excited when they found out they got an additional Daddy date night on Tuesday. This one involved going out to eat at a restaurant and playing on a different playground, while Mommy got a girl's night out to The Melting Pot (4 of the 6 stay-at-home-moms on our street that I'm friends with have birthdays within a month, so we decided to take ourselves out to dinner--so much fun!). Finally, on Saturday we celebrated our next door neighbor LA's birthday. This involved not only the traditional cake and ice cream, but also a bounce house in her backyard and a pinata.

Jack and the Beanstalk Operetta
I recently witnessed Monkey and Bug combining two recent interests: narrating their lives opera style and reinacting favorite story books. The interest in opera-like narration is thanks to Wonder Pets, an animal rescue cartoon in which most of the dialogue is sung to classical music. The story you'll see a piece of here is Jack and the Beanstalk. They're singing a few of the giant's lines (lyrics were originally: "Fee fi fo fum / I smell a visitor. Yum, yum, yum. / Fish or fowl, cold or hot / I'll cook him up inside my pot!") Enjoy!

She Speaks!
Goose has added two key words to her vocabulary: hi and bye (complete with wave).

Projects
Monkey and Bug decided they wanted to paint this week. The paintings themselves weren't anything special (two colors; just scribble, nothing in particular). However, the method was something to get excited about. They started out with paintbrushes, then Bug moved from doing brushstrokes to making "paintbrush footprints." Then I here my tactile sensitive Bug yell, "Look, Mommy, I'm doing handprints!" Sure enough, she has her entire hand covered in paint and is systematically lining her big paper with them! Monkey, of course, quickly noted how much fun this was and was soon up to her elbows in paint. It was a mess, but seeing Bug that excited about being a mess was completely worth the clean up. Of course, "clean up" means they transition to water play in the kitchen sink whenever they were done with their paintings; although Bug insisted on carefully wiping the paint off her hands with a paper towel first.

Goose is really into coloring, and gets her hands on crayons at every possible moment (she even holds them properly instead of fisting them; I didn't teach her; she just picked it up from watching Monkey and Bug). We're working on teaching her "only on paper," and the most difficult part has been convincing her that paper inside books  is not paper she can color on. Interestingly, the non-paper "items" most likely to find themselves at the end of Goose's crayon: Monkey and Bug.
Dress Up
It didn't take Goose long to move from accessorizing to full dress up. Monkey and Bug were getting into costumes (a shiny cape and cow costume, respectively), and Goose insisted I put her in the Yoda costume. She was so excited, she was impossible to catch in a still shot, in fact I barely got her in the video!

Haircuts
I finally got around to getting us out to get our hair cut (it's only been, what? six months?) The results this time: Monkey and Bug have different hair styles for the first time in their lives. Bug wanted to get hers really cut ("Up to here, Mommy!" [points to eyebrows]), but I talked her into just getting it cut to slightly longer than chin length. Monkey decided she just wanted a trim (or a "chimp" as she informed Daddy). This has made their lives much easier, since they no longer have to remind church or Y teachers of who's who. Incidently, I also got mine chopped off to just above my shoulders.

Library Day
We really had the library all to ourselves this week, and Miss D, the librarian, had her antique candy machine out with just enough pennies for us to get a special M&M treat on our way out the door. Monkey and Bug are getting more into picking out books for themselves (Bug says she's ready for her own library card), so our weekly stack is growing! This week we came home with:
The Napping House
Swimmy
The Owl and the Pussycat
Sheep on a Ship
Truckery Rhymes (classic nursery rhymes go to Trucktown)
Recycle Everyday
Spots! Counting Creatures from Sea to Sky
Time to Get Dressed
Aa and Bb ("Letter books like we have letter books!")
Froggy Goes to School