Growing Telanders: December 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Vivian Vocabulary Update -- December 31

Vivi's vocabulary is increasing, but she still doesn't talk very much. She does communicate very well, w are generally able to figure out what she needs or wants, even what she is interested in and excited about.

The old list was Mama, fish, yes, baby, and shoe.

We can add:

6. Bubble lights (and just plain lights)
7. Lollipop
8. Sheep
9. Milk
10. Brush
11. Up
12. Water
13. Stuck
14. Moe ( a character in a book from the library)
15. More (much more useful than Moe!)

These are things that she has said, but she still doesn't use all of them all the time. Sheep and bubble lights showed up because of Christmas decorations, and lollipops can be very important when you are visiting he bank or the post office.

Just for fun, my favorite Hazel sentences recently:

"The paintbrush is licking the water." Said very matter of factly as she was painting with water colors.

Grete: Is the Interstate loud or quiet?
Hazel: Loud. [ long pause] Loud like a dragon.

Tablet Together Time -- December 31

One of the new activities that the girls will do together happily is play on the tablet. We got the tablet for our trip to New York this summer, to keep Hazel entertained on the plane (which was definitely a good choice, because that plane trip was something else). They don't play on it very often, because it is usually hiding or playing Pandora music for everyone, but they like it. Their favorites are a game where you put groceries in a cart and then pay the cashier, a game where you can cut/style hair creatively (very creatively) and the Daniel Tiger game, which is what they are playing here. Vivian kind of needs Hazel for this one, because she can't quite run the tablet yet, and Hazel is actually quite content to have a buddy while she helps Daniel practice going to the doctor and brush his teeth. And play with the toilet paper.

"I'm Doing Something Nice for Vivi!" -- December 31

Hazel was waiting patiently for hot chocolate to be hot, and I asked her to peel an orange for Vivian. Hazel started to peel it, and then looked up at me with a big smile and said "I'm doing something nice for Vivi!" like it was the best thing ever. Which, in some ways of course, it was.

Vivian waited patiently for her orange and hot chocolate.

Little Girls Playing -- December 26

Hazel and Vivian have been playing much more together in the past few weeks, which has been great. Their favorite things to do together are spin in circles, run up and down the hallway, and hide in Vivian's new tent. They will also share the pieces of Hazel's Ladybug Girl costume, and play that together (Hazel wears the wings and antennae and Vivi wears the skirt).

Christmas Day -- December 25

Christmas day was nice and laid back for us. We opened stockings, played with new toys, and lounged. Hazel and Vivian got dolls from Frozen in their stockings, Hazel got Anna and Vivian got Elsa. They have gone everywhere with us since Christmas.

Grammy was sick with the actual flu, so she was home resting all day. We did bring her some ham. Abbi and Mike and Erin drove down to Denver very early in the morning to catch their flight back to Missouri. We were left to our own devices for the better part of the day, so we just spent time together and took naps.

Christmas Eve -- December 24

Andrew's family opens Christmas gifts (but not stockings) on Christmas Eve, after a buffet-style supper and after the Christmas Eve service at church. The little girls were a bit overwhelmed at first, but definitely got into the project after a bit. Vivian kept wandering off, but she always came back and she liked climbing into empty boxes. The lollipop drums from Nana were a big hit with all three girls that night, and they are still playing with them every day.

Sledding -- December 24

We apparently had too much fun sledding to actually take very many pictures, so this is all the documentation we have of a fun sledding trip on Christmas Eve with Abbi, Mike, Erin, and Grandad. We brought a bunch of sleds between us, and all little girls (3 year old Erin included) seemed to have a good time until they got cold. Hazel and Erin especially liked going down the hill lying down on Andrew's back. Hazel giggled the whole way down like this, saying "we're sledding!" over and over again. Grandad saved the day with cookies for the ride home, and it was a good little trip.

Abbi and Mike and Erin came from St. Louis to spend a few days in Laramie for the holiday. It was super fun to watch the three girls play together, paint together, and sled together.

Mixing -- December 20

We make pancakes most Saturdays, at Hazel's request.

Jabberwocky -- December 16

We picked up this copy of Jabberwocky, much abridged for small children, at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck this summer. Jabberwocky was a favorite of Grandpa Frank's, and it seemed fitting. Both girls like this version, and we read it over and over again some days. This morning, Hazel was reading it to Vivian. I had no idea that she had memorized most of the part of the poem that is actually in the book -- nothing about vorpal blades going snicker snack, but there are momeraths outgrabe and tumtum trees.

Packing Popcorn -- December 14

So, this is not exactly an activity we would be likely to do often, but it was fun to do once. We got two big boxes full of packing popcorn from Cindy and Ned, and we spent a decent chunk of a morning playing in them. The girls took baths in the popcorn, they played in popcorn rain, and generally enjoyed themselves. We all pitched in to clean it up, and it wasn't too bad.

Painting -- December 10

Fire -- December 12

Andrew got the fireplace ready to go, and we had a nice fire going. It's nice to have a real fireplace with actual wood in it, as opposed to the pellets we had last year, but it's not quite as easy!