My Obligatory Update

Ed My conscience informed me that I am once again negligent in my duty to my loyal followers. My duty being boring telling you about everything that is going on here. It's just that I'm so busy reading and commenting on everyone elses blogs cooking and cleaning that there just isn't enough time in the day.

On Tuesday afternoon we went to playgroup. We hadn't been in weeks (due to visitors). Max and Artemis drew, painted (something that is not allowed in this house, Ed and I don't like THAT kind of dirty) and sat down for five minutes during storytime (that's five minutes longer than they normally sit for).

It's crazy all that they understand. Really, how did they learn all of this?

They know many parts of their body; belly, hand, foot, nose, and ear. We're working on "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes".

The kids vocabulary is growing by the day. Max has perfected "talking" and has started to use words (accompanied by gestures) that are actually recognizable. Meanwhile Artemis has been "talking" up a storm for several weeks. Here’s what one or both of them can say; Dada, Mama, Cat, Dog, Baby, Uh-Oh, Wuz Dat (What’s That), Ma (more), Ca-ca (cookie), Ba (boo), Max likes to hide behind a wall or furniture and jump out and scare us, Buh-buh (bye-bye), Max always includes a wave,

They understand and know how to sign "Sit". Today Artemis signed "Thank you". They regularly clap their hands together as if they’re catching (killing) mosquitos.

They have started to parallel play and will often (briefly) play with each other. Artemis likes to feed Max that favourite cereal snack of his (the one that I don’t want to write out in case the spiders find us again...).

We have discovered some "can't live without" children toys and the "Igloo" is one of them. The kids LOVE it. They flip it upside down, sideways, they even get underneath it. The fabric walls let in just enough light so that anything touching it (cat's tail, my hand, a toy, their own reflection) casts a shadow. They have tons of fun trying to "catch" the shadow (especially when it's the cat).

Today was Marcella's 25th Birthday. Happy Birthday MID! Actually yesterday was her birthday (for her), because she is still in South Korea and they are 13 hours ahead of us. Luckily, we'll be able to give her her present in person because she will be coming home for good (from Korea anyways) on July 1. One week from today. We are SO excited. She'll hang around for 8 (long) weeks (if you're a 25 year old) and then be leaving for Spain for one year to teach English.

Here are some random pictures of the kids.