greta writes

greta told me she was going to write some letters today. she would write a random shape (or it seemed random) on the magna doodle and then either she or i would comment what letter it looked like. she drew many many O's...and a few other letters as well. i couldn't tell if it was actually random or if she was trying to form letters. and then she said, "i'm going to write my name" and she wrote these two shapes. then she said, "i wrote a G and a T. do you see my G and my T?" i was so shocked....it was pretty amazing. she was SO proud! i took the video below after the initial moments, so i am still so excited (as you can tell by the pitch of my voice, sorry) and she has sort of moved on. but still....
in the class i am teaching this summer we have talked about encouraging children to view themselves as writers, and i think i experienced it first hand today.

cash register

greta got this cash register toy for christmas from her grandma and grandpa hansbauer. it's a fun toy...and both kids like it a lot. but it wasn't until recently that we discovered that there is a compartment in the back of the toy that houses the "groceries"....(thanks ella for figuring that out). which makes the toy that much more fun. greta likes to count the groceries (4 apples, 2 cartons of milk, etc) and push the buttons accordingly. otto LOVES to put the little food items in and out of the compartment. he shoves them all in, shuts the little hinged door, and then takes them out and does it all over again. simple pleasures.

mama's little helper

otto despises getting his face wiped off. but for some reason, he doesn't mind as much if greta does it.

reading in my room

breakfast time

otto eating his breakfast

greta eating her breakfast

baby eating her breakfast (greta was careful to insert baby's face into the oatmeal canister)

cupcakes

happy father's day

here are greta and otto making a father's day card for their papa. this lasted for about a minute and a half. then otto started throwing crayons....which made greta cry because she was trying to color. and then otto was crying because he wanted the crayons again....to throw on the floor. maybe trying to color a picture together immediately after naptime but BEFORE snack wasn't such a good idea. happy father's day to the best papa around!

paint the town part 2

otto shows off his cool Paint the Town water bottle.....he can't wait for the rescheduled event on July 10th!!

passing the time

we had to take joe to the airport today...he's traveling to chicago for a few days for a training. we were remembering how we used to have to make that trek to the airport a few times a week....back when we were kid-less and joe was traveling monday through thursday for work....and we shared a car which meant i was his chauffeur. i don't miss those days....the driving or the traveling!
after we dropped him off, we headed to florence mall to play for a little bit before heading home. they have a pretty cool playplace in the mall, and the kids had a blast! i wish they kept it a tad bit cleaner though...otto kept bringing me dust bunnies and other various things he was finding on the floor. oh well....they had fun!

stickers in the car

reds game

after our day at the splash park, we headed to GABP to watch the reds....we had some killer seats so we were able to enjoy all the luxuries the diamond club seats have to offer. for our kids, that meant chowing down on the buffet and then ice cream and peanuts when we got to our seats. joe taught otto to raise his arm triumphantly when someone says, "GO REDS!", and that trick never got old. we left in the 5th inning, but i think the kids would've stayed longer (and enjoyed more ice cream) if it wasn't WAY past their bedtime. good thing we didn't try to stay til the end...the reds lost in the 11th. thanks deanna for such great seats!!

splash park

check out otto in his swimwear....don't you love the hat??!!

i couldn't get anyone to look at me for pictures....they were all too busy playing in the water!

my mom was hanging out with our nephew roman for the day while our other nephew shamus had surgery (he's doing great!)....so we decided to take the kids to the splash park at winton woods. it was REALLY hot and it felt great to be in the water! with 2 kiddos this little, going to the pool is tough since no one can swim yet. but the splash park was great....they got to explore on their own and i didn't have to hold anyone!! we plan on going back when shamus can go with us!

Strawberry Picking

We went to Blooms and Berries in Loveland to pick some strawberries. The kids had a great time... they enjoyed eating them as much as they did picking them. Perhaps a little too much...

Check out the pictures... I definitely recommend blooms and berries, the fields are huge and well kept, and it's not overly crowded.

stickers

when we went to sxsw, joe got a bunch of stickers from different events and vendors. greta put some of them to good use today.
she also has started to talk about what she is drawing. today her drawing began with a picture of our neighbors. she drew 4 separate red scribbles in the center of the paper (you can sort of see a few of them) and named them tom, emily, patrick, and sarah. so cute. when we were drawing with chalk the other day, she also drew our neighbors (slight obsession??). she drew a line and then two dots for each of them, saying "the lines are their bodies and the dots are their eyes".

so happy together

what to say about these pictures.....
otto is hanging out in his favorite spot. he likes to sit (but mostly stand) in this chair and look at books or stare out the window.

greta likes get my attention by sitting or standing on the arm of the couch and then saying, "is this a good idea?" in the photos, at least, she is sitting.

they are actually playing together. this is happening more and more. they were looking out the window for a while, and then they were playing peek a boo. it's cute to see them interact. greta is letting otto into her play more often, or at least is fine with him playing with the same toy. or she will offer him another toy. and otto is also getting into it more....he will babble at greta to get her attention, or say her name.

fashionista?

greta continues to enjoy picking out her own clothes. on this day, we were clearing out her dresser and moving some clothes around, so some clothes appeared that had made their way to the back of the drawer, and for good reason. behold....hand me down dora shirt, too small leggings, tutu, and halloween socks. she was in love with this outfit. until she tried to go to the bathroom with all of those clothes on.

tea party

we recently got a new tea set....greta got an adorable porcelain one from grandma joan for her 2nd birthday. i spent a lot of energy encouraging both otto and greta to treat it gently....and then i broke the tea pot. yes...mommy broke it.
so we got a new set...an adorable wooden one. i wanted another porcelain one but this one was too cute to pass up. i was worried about otto putting the tiny sugar cubes and miniature spoons and tea bags in his mouth. turns out, greta has been the one who has been putting these tiny things in her mouth. greta loves to play tea party, and otto actually does too. he was busy today putting the items in and out of the teapot. tea anyone?