Of course we did some posing before jumping on the rides on Saturday…

-M

Last year, we hit nearby Great America very early in the season; this year, we made it there even earlier – on Opening Day. The longs were line and it was way too hot, but the girls had a blast!

-M

Safta and PopPop flew home yesterday, and the girls were sad to see them go. As we stood at the window waving to them as they headed out, Zoe commented, “I like them.” “Why are they leaving?” inquired Avery, and Zoe asked hopefully, “Can’t get they get tickets to come back next week?”

-M

Unlike in past years, we stayed put for Passover; Safta and PopPop instead flew out, and we all had two seders here. Avery, just getting over a bug, was uninterested in participating on the first night and absent (a marathon nap!) for much of the second, but Zoe seemed to enjoy herself! (And Isaac, too.)

-M

“I love you,” I heard Avery tell her sister this morning. “Yes! I’m your BFF,” Zoe responded.

-M

Speaking of Passover, Zoe and her classmates (along with the first-graders) recently sang a Hebrew song at an all-school assembly. The video is pretty long, but worth a look; Zoe’s in the back, next to her good friend Zachary.

-M

I mentioned below that Zoe was jump roping to raise money for heart research. I’m happy to report that she did it – completing 87 “ski jumps” in two minutes at her school event this week, and also reaching her fundraising goal! Thanks to all those who sponsored her.

-M

As the girls were quibbling about something in the other room the other afternoon, Zoe suddenly shouted, “No, Avery, NO! Do you not know the meaning of the word no?”

-M

With Passover around the corner, Zoe has been doing a lot of holiday-related activities at school. Yesterday she and her classmates got to play baker and make matzah (no donuts, though) – and they even wore the appropriate headwear.

-M

Zoe came home for school one day and told me in a serious tone that “some babies are born with heart problems, and their parents can’t afford to pay for the surgery.” We should help them, she told me. As it turns out, her PE teacher had been talking to the children about heart health, as well as an opportunity to raise money to help those in need.

And so, Zoe signed up for the “Jump Rope for Heart” program, to raise funds for the American Heart Association. (Not sure about surgeries, but the money does go towards cardiovascular research and educational programs.) She and her classmates are jump roping this week; if you’re interested in sponsoring her, her page is here. And to those of you who have already done so: Thank you!

-M

One of the things I love about Zoe’s (newish) school is its proximity to the preschool: Their playgrounds touch one another, separated only by a fence. The girls see each another outside every day, and many times they and their friends hang out and talk and play games. Or even, as in the pictures below, hug.

-M

Exactly three months shy of Avery’s fourth birthday (!), here’s a rundown of what she’s like:

Interests: Like mentioned last time, Avery loves playing make-believe games: doctor and “baby” are two things she plays both at home and school. In the latter, she usually pretends she’s the mommy – and at home she often throws a doll or stuffed animal under her shirt so that she’s a pregnant one. She has a small group of girlfriends at school and she often requests playdates with them; other frequent requests are to go to the playground, where she loves running around, or the beach, where she enjoys sitting and digging in the sand. She likes being read to a lot, with stories in a Dora the Explorer book (a gift to Zoe from Dan and Jenny) among her current faves. Also like last time, she likes doing pretty much anything her sister does!

Temperament: In a recent e-mail to Avery’s Safta, I described Avery as our little spitfire – so devilish and energetic. Avery does, indeed, like running around acting silly, and also being naughty and pushing boundaries. If she does something she knows she’s not supposed to do (like last night, when her sister “frustrated her” and she tore apart the wooden train Zoe had just put together), she’ll quickly say, “Sorry, sorry!” with a smug smile. And if she’s being reprimanded, she’ll often tilt her head to the side and bat her lashes, hoping that her cuteness will get her out of it. (It doesn’t!) She likes to comment on when her sister does something wrong - “Zoe said a bad word,” she’ll say (she knows “yuck” and “stupid” are off limits in our house) – or point out that Zoe is tired when she’s acting grumpy. She’s also very inquisitive, often asking things like, “What’s that sound?” or “What does that word mean?” Her sweet side continues to show: Zoe was having a rough morning and started crying on the way to school recently and from the backseat I heard Avery quietly comfort her. (“It’s okay, Zoe.”) And one night as I was putting her to sleep she rubbed my arm and told me, “Your arm is pretty, Mama.”

(Pre)school life: At the beginning of the school year, as I’ve mentioned before, the teachers asked parents to jot down their wish this year for their child; I said I wanted Avery to feel at home, be able to show her true self, and to shine! Several months in, I think she’s (finally) shining. Her teachers report that she consistently contributes in class and interacts with her little group of friends, and she’s constantly talking at home about her good friends Naomi, Avery (another one!) and Margaret. (“I only like gools,” she’ll tell me when I ask if she has any boy friends.) She brings home a lot of things she learns at school, like her teachers’ sayings (“That is not okay,” she’ll say, and she also comments on people’s choices), songs and little class traditions (like being rewarded for doing a “mitzvah”). She can still be clingy (“Mama, stay!”) when I drop her off in the mornings, but our tradition of having her wave to me as I walk out has helped. (She likes it so much, in fact, that she now asks us to wave to her from the window between her room and our room at night!)

Other stuff: Her speech is much improved, to the point where I understand almost everything she says. She’s down to one (two if we’re lucky) naps a week. She is a bit more demanding at bedtime than she used to be – routinely asking me to put my “feets” on her bed and lay next to her “just a little bit longer” (no matter how long I’ve been there). She is increasingly independent (able to dress herself on her own) and willing to help out around the house (cleaning up her toys, helping empty the dishwasher, gathering the laundry for me, etc.). And whenever she helps she likes to ask, “Did I earn a privilage?” Two recent milestones: her move to a “big girl” carseat (something she had been asking for for awhile), and her first movie in the theater. (And since that one, she has seen a second as well.) Though she fights with her sister on occasion, the two girls are very close. “Good reading, Zoe!” Avery now calls out (parroting me) when Zoe reads a new word on, for example, a sign outside. And she really relies on her sister: Something frightened her in the car recently, and when I turned around to see if she was okay, I saw that she had grabbed on to Zoe’s hand. I love that they have one another.

-M

Speaking of rocking out… One of the girls’ favorite parts of preschool has always been when their music teacher, Jonathan, comes on Mondays. They go through phases in terms of which of his songs they like the best, with Avery lately running through the house singing this new new fave. There’s really nothing funnier than hearing your small child (who is neither an immigrant nor male) recite the lyrics, “When I first came to this land, I was not a wealthy man.”

-M

We recently visited our friends Elan and Ana and their new baby. The girls liked meeting Baby Lev, but almost as fun for them was playing on Elan’s (many) drum-sets; Avery, in particular, enjoyed rocking out.

-M

Kids, I’ve come to learn, can find creative ways to play with the most ordinary of objects. Case in point? A little bakery Zoe opened in the living room the other day, featuring pennies as donuts. (I bought a few.)

-M