As mentioned below, the four of us had dinner with family friends the other night. Knowing we wouldn’t get home until after the girls’ bedtime, I brought their PJs – and the pizza-making party quickly turned into a pajama one. The bigger kids know each other from school and get along really well – and it was a lot of fun watching them all (even one-year-old Olivia) run after each other and goof around.

-M

A friend came over for a playdate on Friday and commented on how different – i.e. lively – Avery was acting. While Avery has historically been quiet and prone to stick by my side during playdates, this time she ran around the house, laughing and playing and interacting with both my friend and her two sons. “She has really come out of her shell,” my friend declared.

It was tempting to think that Avery was acting more like what I consider her real self because her sister, who also had the day off school, was there with us and Avery felt especially comfortable. But I now think it’s more than that, as evident by the next night, when Avery ran around and played with children at a dinner party we attended, and by a few things we heard at our first parent-teacher conference earlier on Friday.

Her teachers told us that though it took Avery a bit to get used to her environment, she’s now engaged and interactive during class. She’s often laughing, they said (and when I asked if she was happy they responded with a resounding, “Yes!”) and they used the word “funny” to describe her more than once. They also said that just last week she started showing her “feisty side” – grabbing a toy out of a classmate’s hand and gently pushing another child. And though I was slightly horrified to hear this, the teachers thought it was terrific. (“Was that Avery??” they said they asked one another when they saw it happen.) It means, just as my friend said, that she’s coming out of her shell and feeling comfortable enough to really express herself.

I guess Avery just needed some time (27 months, to be exact) to show off her true self!

-M

Since we waited so long for Avery’s hair to come in, we put off her first hair-cut for as long as possible. It became clear in recent weeks that we couldn’t delay much longer, though, so we took her to the site of Zoe’s first one for a trim yesterday afternoon. (Zoe got a cut, also.)

The end result: A happy girl with even-lengthed hair!

-M

It was our friend Ben’s second birthday party, and the four of us helped celebrate this morning with a trip to the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos. We hadn’t been there since before Avery was born, and the girls had a lot of fun riding the train and carousel and running around with their friends.

-M

Some happy times in the bath the other night…

-M

I recently shared a few Zoe stories; now it’s time for some from Avery.

-I often use terms of endearment (“honey,” “sweetie,” etc.) with the girls – but when I used a new one and called Avery “pumpkin” the other day, she wrinkled up her nose at me. “I not Pumpkin!” she cried out. “My name Avery!”

-When I went to tuck her into bed last night, Avery handed me something and asked me to take “baby ball.” The object she put in my hand? A marble.

-A few weeks ago, Avery started to run into Zoe’s classroom every day at pick-up, peek into her cubby and ask “Where challah?” After a few days of being told Zoe doesn’t get a loaf of bread every day (only on Fridays) it sunk in. Now she runs to her sister’s cubby and declares, “No challah!”

-I dozed off on the couch while the girls were playing on the floor next to me one afternoon. “Mama night-night?” Avery asked me at one point, and when I mumbled yes she ran to get a blanket and covered me up.

And speaking of being creative – below is Zoe performing an original song on the guitar. I’m thinking lessons might be in the future for both her and Avery!

-M

Thinking about what to get Zoe for her upcoming birthday, a friend recently asked what Zoe was “into.” The first thing that came to mind was arts and crafts – Zoe could spend hours drawing and painting; in fact, she does just that during and after school. She has brought home a lot of colorful, fun pieces lately; when I asked about the one below, she explained, “It’s a butterfly. It’s a girl but looks like a boy, and that’s her hair and ears.”

-M

Yesterday we returned to the site of Zoe’s third birthday party – Pump It Up – to celebrate the birthday of one of Avery’s classmates. It was fun to go back (the last time Avery was there she couldn’t even crawl!) and fun for the girls to run around and go down the big inflatable slides. I have a feeling we won’t go as long before returning…

-M

We haven’t talked about it much lately, but putting Avery to bed continues to be fairly easy. (Of course, she may not go to sleep right away, as shown below – but that’s a different story.) Bedtime is also one of my favorite times with her. Many nights I sit and sing a song to her in the dark; often times she interrupts me and says, “Avery’s turn!” and takes over. (The Itsy Bitsy Spider and the ABCs are still favorites; she also recently started singing Bingo and Old MacDonald.) Other times I ask her about her classmates (“Is there a Mona in your class?”), and she loves it when I throw in a wrong name. (“No Penelope!” she’ll cry out with a big laugh.)

And then there are the nights when we just talk quietly and she puts her little face just inches from mine. One night, as I often do, I whispered in her ear that she’s the best thing that has ever happened to me, and she responded by gentily stroking my cheek with her little hand. For a little girl who doesn’t talk that much (yet) she said volumes with this action. And for me, moments like these are pure magic – ones that make me wish I could bottle them up and keep with me forever and ones that make me feel like I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

-M

After I put Avery down for a nap after school yesterday, I assumed she had gone right to sleep. (I was in the other part of the house, and things were quiet.) When Zoe and I walked in her room an hour later, though, we saw what she was really up to:

(Note: The video is a little long, but you may find Zoe’s off-camera commentary entertaining.)

Alas, about ten minutes after we cleared her bed of the toys and left her, this happened:

-M

A few recent stories/comments to share:

-I was trying to figure out which of several new dresses to keep for Zoe one afternoon, and I commented of one, “This one is a question mark.” Zoe jumped up to take a closer look at the (solid-colored) dress and then asked me, “Where is the question mark?”

-When I heard Avery’s cries from the other room one morning, I teased Zoe by asking her what that noise was. “Avery!” Zoe said, to which I replied, “Who’s Avery?” “A little girl,” Zoe laughed. And when I asked where she came from, Zoe responded, “From your tummy, too!”

-Zoe occasionally resists taking a bath. After filling up the bath one evening I called from the bathroom, “Okay, Zoe – I’m ready for you.” “I’m not ready for you,” came the reply.

-When driving home from school on Halloween, I spotted a woman walking down the sidewalk in wild-looking (skintight, pink, leopard-print) pants. “Look, Zoe, she’s dressed up for Halloween!” I said before realizing (and then pointing out) it actually wasn’t a costume. “Maybe she just dresses differently than us,” said Zoe. (I’ll say!)

-Showing that kids don’t quite understand the concept of a job, Zoe asked me out of the blue one day, “Do you have outside time at work?”

-Last night, Zoe was in a particularly loving mood. “I want to marry you,” she told me, before explaining it was so that we could be together forever. I assured her we would be, and she then said, “When I’m grown up I’ll Skype with you every day.” (Awww…)

I’ve written before about the difficulties of taking photos of two children. Q managed to get a good picture of the girls dressed up (thank goodness!) but before that I had some big-time struggles. The problem was that once the girls figured out I really wanted a nice photo of the two of them together, they decided to tease me by making funny poses (exhibit A) or running away (exhibit B).

Perhaps next year they’ll be more cooperative. (But I’m not holding my breath.)

-M

A:

B:

Anyone who thinks San Francisco isn’t kid-friendly should have been in our neighborhood last night. As Q described years ago, our street transforms into a scene from a Harry Potter movie each Halloween – and kids are everywhere. As for our kids, they liked trick-or-treating (we got out nice and early – around 5:45) but seemed to have had more fun at the house afterwards, handing out candy with Uncle Dan and Aunt Jenny and spending time with the various friends that stopped by to say “hi” (and help hand out candy themselves). It was a great night – but also an exhausting one – with Avery passing out at 7 and Zoe actually asking to go to bed about an hour later.

Can’t wait for next year…

-M