Little learners

For all the frustrations that come with two-year-olds, this age also can be quite fun. Two-year-olds are exuberant — they feel frustration to the maximum (hence the tantrums), but they also radiate excitement about so many things. And they’re so proud as they master new tasks. It’s fun to watch them learn and grow.

John and I were commenting last night about how far the twins have come with their swimming. In just about one year, we have gone from Colin screaming through at least half the class (from the side of the pool, not in the water) to him putting his face in the water while swimming using the noodles. And Veronica is getting so comfortable that during our last class, there were several points where I was barely providing any support to her while she was swimming. She hasn’t quite gotten to the point of putting her head under water, but she is otherwise still quite the little fish. 

Colin has gotten quite far in his mastery of letter and number recognition. If he feels like focusing (the key in all things for Colin, who is simultaneously more laid back and more stubborn), he can correctly identify nearly all the letters and he rarely misses a number. Veronica struggles quite a bit with this, but she is spot-on with her colors (where Colin has problems). Both are regularly able to count three objects now, and do so at every opportunity.

Colin’s vocabulary has once again exploded, although he can still be hard to understand sometimes. I was listening to him last night after dinner and was blown away by how much he now says. And to think that in the fall we were worried he might be falling behind in speech. Ha! 

Veronica, of course, talks like a 10-year-old (okay, maybe just like a five-year-old). Her perception (and her hearing) is quite impressive. She always is listening to what is going on around her, and is able to make sense of it and bring back what she has heard correctly in a different context. 

The constant chorus of “no” and the tantrums about every little thing do get annoying (really annoying when it’s happening repeatedly times two), but when Veronica crawls into my lap before bed and tells me, “I love you so much, Mommy,” it all becomes worthwhile. 

Easter fun

Although we totally overscheduled Saturday (somehow I failed to make the connection that the Saturday of Spring Break, when we scheduled Ethan’s birthday celebration, was also the Saturday of the Easter Party at church and the Easter Vigil, when Ethan was heavily involved in the service at night), Easter was a lot of fun this year. 

The weather on Saturday was nice enough that we were able to take the Burley out for the first time and bike over to church. The party butts right up against nap time (okay, it really cuts into nap time), so being able to bike home saved about 20 minutes of “commuting” time. (John and Ethan had to leave with the van to pick up his friends for the birthday celebration.) 

Colin and Veronica were old enough this year to really start to enjoy the party — especially the egg hunt in the garden. And there are TONS of kids at church in their age-range. Even better, now that they’ve been going to Sunday School, they know many of the kids. 

You can tell they’re very comfortable at church now, because as soon as I got them out of the Burley and their bike helmets, they were off and into the building. (I turned around from getting the lock off my handlebars just in time to see the door closing behind them.) Fortunately, more kids were coming in, and their grandma was able and willing to “pick up” Colin and Veronica to shepherd them up the stairs while I locked up.

They mostly just wandered around the party watching all the activities (and raiding the snack table) until it was time for the Itty Bitties to do their egg hunt in the garden. I gave them each their baskets when it was time to line up, and told them we were going to find eggs to put in our baskets. I turned my back for a minute and suddenly there they were with their baskets filled with eggs — the hard boiled eggs the other kids had colored. 

Smart cookies. Next time I’ll have to be more specific. 

So we put those back and went to gather the treat-filled eggs instead. Despite insisting on opening each egg as they found it (and spilling treats all over the grass) they had a blast and ended up with full baskets. 

Unfortunately, I never took any pictures of them all dressed up in their Easter clothes. You'll just have to enjoy these instead.

Colin and Veronica get a little help from a friend.

Wild hair girl rocking her new pink skinny jeans.

Oh look! A purple one.