Hangin' with the big kids

If you asked Helen if she could do everything Connor does, and if she could answer, she would respond with an enthusiastic "yes!". Almost every time Connor does anything, Helen signals that she would like to do it as well. So it was no surprise that when Connor rode the little train at an indoor amusement park last week, that Helen started wagging her little pointer and practically jumping out of Ed's arms as Connor went around the little track. So we rounded up cousins Anna and Emily and asked the train operator if Helen could take a whirl. Helen not only had riding in the train down, she knew exactly when to wave her hand for the camera.

New Resident in the Freezer

And no, the new resident is NOT one of my children!

A few days ago we visited the Nature Center near us to take a crack at destroying their playspace instead of our own. When we went in, it was cold. When we came out, it had snowed enough that one could actually collect snow in their mittens. This meant that both Ed and Connor were thrilled. I'm not such a big fan of snow, and Helen didn't seem to notice.

After watching the captive owl swoop down and eat two mice, we headed for home. During the drive, Connor was distracted by the leaf truck, so he and Ed went back to watch it suck up leaves while Helen and I dashed indoors. When Connor and Ed finally made it inside, they had a friend. He's a snowman about 5 inches tall, and after much pleading by Connor the sculptor, he is now living in our freezer. At first, he had a 24 hour lease, but then I loosened my stance and said Connor could have one creature residing there at a time. So, until Connor either eats him or it snows again, we see "snowy" every time we open the upstairs freezer.

Elaine

Carrying more things

It's not enough that Helen wobbles everywhere she goes. Saturday morning she insisted on wearing a backpack as well! This is Connor's "craft backpack", and the only guess we have is that he's preparing for a ticker tape parade - carefully cutting lots of construction paper into very small pieces. Helen would like to be involved in cutting, but so far she's been relegated to "mule". I guess everyone in our house is excited about Obama's election!