claire gets ready

One morning, Claire decided that she wanted to get ready too. After she was done applying her "make up", she told me "there, that's better".

spring essentials

Number one is babyganics spray lotion sunscreen. According to the ewg the chemicals in it will kill you, but I think the threat of melanoma is more realistic.

Floppy hats are next up. The girls know that they aren't allowed outside without one.

Bubbles are another top item. I love the fubbles brand- they don't spill when tipped over.

We picked up a couple of balls today- they were a huge hit.

The sandbox had provided hours of fun- the girls love making sand pies.

Having a swingset and slide is also a huge plus. A fenced in yard and home swingset are essential for twin toddlers.

I didn't post about this in my clothing essentials post, but play clothes are another must have. I've found that jeans work better than leggings for outdoor play. I also have a couple of sweatshirts that are perfect for playing outside.

audrey talks about feelings

I've been working on feeling identification with the girls. "Sad" is the feeling that has stuck with Audrey- several times a day she will come up and tell me "Audrey so sad". One of the things that really gets her is when she drops her pacifier- she will tell me "paci drop it, Audrey so sad".

I think I will need to teach her disappointed- I think that may more accurately capture her emotions. And she is able to say that she is happy, it just needs a bit more coaching.

I almost forgot- she knows scared too. We were at the farm and my cousinwas turning on some sort of tractor/truck contraption. My mom was carrying her and she clutched on tight saying "Audrey so scared" ( and yes... she always refers to herself in the third person).

photo shoot

Amanda is going to have a tough job when we do 2.5 year pictures this summer. Audrey kept on jumping up and down saying "Audrey hold it" (referring to the camera) and Claire wanted nothing to do with pictures at all.

projects

We have had to get a bit creative around here to deal with winter boredom.

Claire got cold and needed a break.

dresses and braids

I have been practicing my braiding skills on Claire. The definitely need improvement, but I have lots of time to practice. She refuses to wear barrettes, so a braid is the only way to keep hair out of her face.

Here is a better shot of the braids... 

I am loving these dresses. They are tea collection. The thing about tea is 2x per year they visit a different destination. Last fall it was Germany. I only ordered a couple of dresses because I figured they would have lots more cute stuff this spring/summer. Of course they have some adorable stuff, but nothing as cute as the Germany line #thestruggleisreal. I'm hoping that a visit to Nordstrom rack will yield a few good finds.

The bird print is one of my favorites... I'm sure my mom will give me a hard time about it because in the not so distant past I teased her about buying bird fabric. I guess I am converted. #birds4lyfe

kinetic sand

After having the opportunity to play around with it at work, I bought the girls some kinetic sand. It has been a huge hit, especially with Claire. She played with it for an hour straight. 

As far as the messiness factor it isn't too bad. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being supervised crayon usage and 10 being unsupervised painting, I would say it is a 4. Really no worse than wayward playdoh crumbs.

I bought the sands alive version, but prefer the brand that we have at work (waba). The sands alive has a bit of a flour like texture, while the kind we use at work is more like a brown sugar/actual sand. If it continues to keep the girls' interest, I think I will spring for the waba brand this winter.