Elizabeth and Molly

A moment of fun in the refrigerator/freezer! (Since playing doesn't usually happen there :-)


Greg & Elizabeth made a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse one afternoon. I was quite impressed!

SO I thought I should write a few things about Elizabeth and Molly, since baby brain/baby focus will take over soon. It never ceases to amaze me the things they say and do. I'm sure every parent would say that about their child and their unique talents and capabilities. That's the beautiful thing about being a parent.

Elizabeth has always been very interested in the alphabet. And a couple of months ago she took a particular interest in learning to write her whole first name. (She had been writing the "E" for a long time.) When we started to practice writing her name, she was usually the initiator and I just helped her along. In no time at all she was writing it by herself. Well, one day she decided that she wanted to write it very small. When she showed it to me I couldn't believe it! It did not look like a 3 yr. old child had written it - as many of her previous attempts had appeared. (With big, sort of awkward letters, one of them sometimes written backwards.) My mom was visiting at the time and I had her take a picture for posterity :-) Thought I'd post it here...


Now she's working on her middle and last names. I'm sure it won't be long before she can do the whole thing. And especially impressive since her name is pretty long! (Elizabeth Brinkley Lassen)

Elizabeth has also taken an extreme interest in pretend play. Give her a large empty diaper box or a blanket she can make into a tent and she is good to go for a while. I love it! She is so excited for the baby to come and continues to ask when it will come out. I think she is going to be a great little mom (and helper)!

Molly's vocabulary has been exploding lately. I started to write down the words she would say for the first time, one by one. Now I have lost track. I forgot how cute it is when little ones are first learning to talk! One of the cutest things she does now is raise her hand and say "me" when she wants to eat. It started because I would ask the girls if they wanted a snack when it was time to eat, and she would raise her hand and answer, "me". Now she just does that to indicate she wants to eat. She will say "eat" also, but I love the raising of the hand. I also love when she raises both hands up and says "ta-da". Usually after doing some small feat. Very cute.

The best, though, is her singing. She is such a little singer and has quite the repertoire. I remember talking about Elizabeth's singing repertoire at this age in a previous Christmas letter, and it wasn't quite as long as Molly's is now. I'm sure it helps that Molly is the 2nd child and Elizabeth is a singer too. So Molly learns a lot from her. It also makes a difference that Molly likes to cuddle and rock - after reading books, but before going to bed. Elizabeth always just wanted to get right in her crib. So we have more singing time with Molly. Last night I melted as she put her head on my shoulder and sang right along with me on practically every song. Every once in a while she would add in a word. Usually at the end of the phrase. And usually a word like, "too" or "do".

Molly has turned full-blown toddler in the past week or so, as well. She climbed out of her crib (with a big thump) the other day for the first time - beautiful timing! And has really been resistant to everything mundane and normal lately. (Eating, sleeping, changing clothes and diapers.) Sometimes it's not a big deal, but our sweet little Molly turns quite "un-sweet" when she doesn't eat very much or sleep. So we're just trying to remember all our toddler tricks from before. Amazing how quickly we forget!!!!