Expecting the Unexpected: Baybay & Baybee: Week 102 (7/17-7/23)

102 weeks old!

I've been posting a lot of backlogged blog entries lately. I am trying to get all caught up by the girl's second birthday, but I still have a long way to go! I've been enjoying the challenge, and the time by myself working, while Brett is with the girls. He has been so supportive and helpful. I hope I can do it.

Blueberries are ripe! And it's an amazing year for them. The bushes are full of berries and I've been picking them as often as I can at a farm in Hatfield. I went three times this week, once on my own, once with the whole family, and once with just the girls.

Beautiful blueberries.

Three berry pickers.

Maya samples the fruit.

"Wow, Mama, you've got a lot!"

"I'm going to eat one."

"Now girls, run off and pick your own berries. Mama wants to take her berries home and freeze them for next winter!"

Maya is serious about filling her pail.

She also wants to see the picture of her berries.

Ella took more of the wander-around-and-eat-berries kind of approach to picking.

When she got tired of wandering, she sat down.

Yum!

Making our way back to the car, with lots of berries.

The girls are talking up a storm these days! Especially Maya, who has been putting two-word sentences together almost every time she speaks. Both girls are also really into taking lots of books off the shelves, "reading" each one and then stacking them into a pile. This is really cute, and we're working on encouraging them to also put the books BACK on the shelves when they are finished.

Current favorite songs: "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".
Current favorite foods: Corn for Maya and tomatoes for Ella.

They like apples, too.

We had our first somewhat expensive thing break this week, because it got pulled off the shelf by a curious baby. My camera wasn't even what Ella was after, it was the book that the camera was sitting on top of that she wanted. My camera survived the fall, but the lens broke and shattered on the floor, leaving it somehow stuck to the camera body. I searched online about how to get it unstuck. Turns out I'm not the only one whose kid has pulled their camera off the shelf and this particular lens has become stuck to the camera. I found a nice tutorial that Brett carefully followed.

My hero!

We are struggling with some not listening, especially while out in the driveway. The girls know that they aren't allowed to go into the road, but sometimes that doesn't stop them from doing it. It's been frustrating when they push the boundaries and don't listen to what we tell them, especially when it's something dangerous like that. Another especially tough time is when one of us (this is harder for me than for Brett) is alone with the girls and wants to get everyone inside. Because of the running into the road thing, I don't feel comfortable leaving one out in the driveway, even for a short time while I take the other inside. Let me just say, they are getting heavy and picking up two squirmy babies at the same time is not as easy as it used to be.

The fans that we've had on to keep the house cool have also been a objects of contention. The girls know that they should not touch them because it's dangerous and might hurt their fingers, but they don't really seem to get the severity of it. So far so good, but I hope no one has to get their finger stuck in the fan to learn that we really mean it when we say not to do something.

We went over to the yellow house and explored down by the river one afternoon. It was a little treacherous to get down there with everyone, but it's such a lovely spot. It's going to be so exciting to have a river in our back yard!