Mother's Day Stepping Stone

We finally had a chance to make our 2011 Mother's Day Stepping Stone.  I'm really happy with how it came out. We had a great time making it- mixing the concrete and putting it into the mold and then decorating.  The very last step was to put the girls' hands in.

I think it turned out really well and it will be a wonderful tradition.

Big Girl Bed

Eleanor has finally taken the big jump. She is sleeping in her "big girl bed." I have to admit, I'm pretty sad. Of course I'm super proud of her for deciding it was time and for sticking with it but it also is a pretty significant reminder that she is, well...a big girl.

We were thinking it would be nice if Ellie made this transition before Ruby was born but she had other ideas. She was pretty fond of her crib and requested it anytime we discussed the options. Her bed has been set up in her room for almost a year and has gone relatively untouched. But something changed last week and as we were rocking (she still loves that which warms my heart) I stood up to put her down and she quietly but firmly demanded "big girl bed" and she has done that same thing every night since.

We have been really diligent about making sure she goes to sleep by herself for both naps and bedtime and it is working so much better than the rocking for an hour and sneaking out of her room. A long overdue change.

Now if we can just figure out how to get two little girls to sleep together in one room. Yikes! Suggestions welcome...

Eleanor's Library Card

It is a big day in our house!  Eleanor got a library card.  She is really proud of it and checked out a big armload of books to mark the occasion. She even signed it with an E! 

Experimental Ellie

Ellie did a study with the Duke Learning Lab this morning.  It was fascinating (which I have to admit is probably why I signed her up to do it, well that and the free admission to Marbles!)

They were studying how/when children learn how to use tools.  The student warned me that two year olds have not really been able to figure this out and that it really isn't until they are around 4 that they have been successful at completing the task.  So with that they got started.

The lady showed Ellie how to use a tool (she used a ruler) to get a small stuffed animal out of a plexiglass tube (by pushing it from one end out the open end) she then showed Ellie two tools and asked her if she could use them to get the bunny out of the tube.  Ellie said yes!  She grabbed a tool and tried and tried and tried...but the tool didn't work.  They had two similar looking items but one was just stuffed and wouldn't work as a tool, the other was different color and would work.  Ellie eventually got frustrated and declared "I can't do it!" so the lady suggested she keep trying.  With that something sparked and Ellie grabbed the other tool (the red one)- and it worked.  Yay!  So that was cool.

Then the lady let her do it again...and Ellie immediately grabbed the red tool and rescued the bunny.  They did this a few times and she had no problems.  Then they gave her two identical looking tools- Ellie grabbed one and tried it, but it didn't work.  So she switched it immediately and the other worked just fine.  For every trial after that she touched the tool first to see which one would work (she could tell by how hard it was) and rescued the stuffed animal.

It was really cool.  The lady emphasized that she was pretty gifted at this task for a kid her age.  It was a little scary but then I reminded myself that she has no idea what color her shirt is and that kids are gifted in all different ways!  I apologized for providing an outlier to her study (I am a scientist after all) and we were on our way.

What a cool job...to try to figure out how kids learn.  It is so weird and cool and just fascinating.  And the best part of our day? We got to spend the rest of it at Marbles...and Ellie got free admission for her study participation.  

Check out her "E"!

Happy 4th of July!

Not sure what Ruby was thinking about but this picture is hilarious...

Carrots!

Ruby tried carrots today (her first non-cereal food!) and she seemed to love them.  Of course she got them EVERYWHERE but that is how it goes.  Plus it makes for some super cute pictures!