Tea party with Joy

We had a wonderful day with Kiva yesterday....Ken took her with him to the pet store and talked donald duck talk to her on the way...then a tea party with Joy in the afternoon at Joy's house...all her good china and silver, candles, cookies, the works. Kiva was very shy at first, but warmed up quickly, especially when Joy started showing her treasures (sea shells, birds nests) and reading her Dr. Seuss books. I'm afraid the chocolate cookie really wound her up, and she was pretty wild by time Jim picked her up. I hope she was not too rambunctious that evening. [Joan]

NO WEEDING...you play with your friends!!!

Your princess was too funny again today. Lots and lots of elaborate imagination play...play acting, assigning identities, imaginary playmates, the whole works. We didn't go swimming today, just to the nursery for plants and then played barefoot in the dirt the rest of the day. Kiva is obsessed with Bambi right now. We had to watch the video (no scary parts), then played Bambi outside. She was the mommie dear and I was the baby Bambi. She had to inspect the meadow to make sure it was safe for me. Later on, I was weeding and she came over and said I was the child and had to go to school to play with my friends. She took me over to a corner of the yard and I had to sit down. She then went over to the weeding saying "I'm the mom, I'll do the work, you play with your friends". When I started weeding over where she had left me, I got yelled at from across the yard...."NO WEEDING...you play with your friends!!!" The dirt pile later became the house and we had the bedroom, the office, the kitchen etc. Making couches out of piles of dirt. We also planted stuff and Kiva has her garden where she planted carrots, peas and beans. Great day, lovely weather. [Joan]

outdoor nudie time

Jack loved his outdoor nudie time. He spent some time exploring his boy parts (can't get to them most of the time poor little guy), but mostly talked to me and Dancer and rattled his toys. He kept leaning over to pet the grass a little bit too. His balance is really good...he would start to tip over backward, and lunge forward to save himself. too funny. [Joan]

Cheerio Necklaces

Your girl was a joy again. When Kiva first got here we had mango pudding (juice, fruit and tapioca...no sugar). Then we made cheerio necklaces with red crochet thread and my big plastic knitting sewing needle. I'm happy to report that Kiva can now cut thread, thread the needle, string cheerios on the thread and count the cheerios to make sure we had the same on both necklaces. She's a genius as you know. We wore the necklaces to the snow and ate the cheerios while we were playing. Then she planted pansies out in my garden. [Joan]

Too old to work

Kiva was trying to figure out why you and Ken don't work... She was asking where we all lived and worked etc. When she asked where you and Grandpa worked, I said you had worked a long time and now you didn't have to work, it's called being retired. She replied, "oh...so they are too old to work!" I replied, in fact you weren't too old to work you were both very capable just planned well and now don't HAVE to work. She said, "oh, so they're lucky!" It was pretty cute. [Vanessa]

Sewing

Did Kiva tell you how she helped with the sewing? poked the needle in and pulled it through! She was so proud of herself. [Joan]

Sproinngnnnnng, sproooooigniinnnng

Jack's fine motor skills are really moving along. I put some broken up cheerios on his high chair tray (broken really small so they weren't a choking hazard, and I stayed right with him in any event). He was soooooo intent on picking them up, working his little hands and fingers. He managed to get some of them into his fist, but can't quite manage the finger pickup yet...but is trying so hard. Once he had the fragment in his hand, he brought it to his mouth and made eating motions with his mouth. No food got from fist to mouth of course, but the little genius has the right idea. I was feeding him his lunch in any event. Jack spent some time this morning in his jolly jumper, and was loving it. Sproinngnnnnng, sproooooigniinnnng away. Also loves to sit on the floor and torment Dancer. too funny the two of them. Sometimes Jack pulls her hair and she just crouches down until he lets go and then takes off. Of course she comes back on her own five minutes later, so it can't be that bad. I also swear he said DADA today. In closing, we had a wonderful time, and I can really see you in him these days. Yes he looks like Dad, but that is partly the man thing, and I can definitely see your face in his.

p.s. I forgot to tell you this one.... in the afternoon around 1:30 he was having his bottle in our favorite rocking chair. Swilled it down contentedly, with eyes falling shut. But when he was done, he started squirming around and getting ready to cry, like he didn't want to fall asleep just yet. Started a loud howl, and fell asleep right in the middle of it! I laughed all afternoon about that one.
[Joan]