A lot has been happening in our lives lately, which means we haven't had much time to update the blog. I was re-reading some of our very early posts last night and it's so weird to think where we were in our lives when we started this blog and where we are now.
Our first posts remind me of the movie "The Money Pit" where this "dream" house ends up costing the couple so much money...we can relate. The good news is that three years later, we no longer have those house-related problems that first plagued us. The house is in good working order and thanks to some renovations and updating, it looks a lot nicer on the inside. We're glad to call this house our home (most days, anyway).
Willa's birthday was on May 8 - what a great day! I made mini-cupcakes and took them to school for afternoon snack. The kids loved them, and I was so happy to be able to visit school and watch Willa interact with all of her friends. She loves everyone in the class, as evidenced by her constant "where's XX (insert any of the 16 kids' names here)" anytime she's not at school. After school, Daddy came home and per our usual Friday night routine, we blasted the Friday Night Floor Fillers from BBC (dance/club music for those not familiar). Willa loves it, and on that Friday, we put on her sunglasses and gave her a little glo-stick like so many club-goers have, and we danced around the kitchen. We're fools, I know, but we have fun. :-)
The next day, Markus' family came down to celebrate Willa's birthday with us. We gave Willa her gift, a water/sand table. Because she plays with sand at school everyday, we're using it only for water. She loves to play in the water, so much so that our water usage has increased a unit in the last month. As guessed, she loved the table, and so did her three cousins ages 2 - 6 who were visiting. I was so glad that kids of all ages like it. What a fun toy!
On Mother's Day, we went to our Mother's Day place, Marathon Grill. This is where we had my first Mother's Day brunch when Willa was still in the hospital, and we've decided to continue the tradition. We had a nice breakfast, Willa loved her sausage (big surprise), and had lots of fun during two play sessions at the park. I left that night to fly out to Indy for the week. Came home on Thursday and have been enjoying two weeks at home before returning the first two weeks in June.
Willa's continuing to blossom socially and developmentally. She talks to people and animals ("Hi Puppy" or "hello" to people) on the street when we take walks. We do early drop-off at school, so she's there before most kids. I now have a little more time to spare when I drop her off, so I've watched her greet the other kids as they arrive. She runs up and says "hi XX" and points or waves. She's so excited to be there everyday, which makes me so happy. Her memory is impressive and just this week, I tested her counting skills and she counted to ten by herself! She sometimes gets stuck after 6 - she jumps to 9 - but when I remind her of 7, she goes in order to ten. We usually count the steps in our house or when leaving or coming into the courtyard. Now, if I don't count, she'll do her own number sequencing as we climb or descend stairs. It makes me smile. She's learning!
Her former nanny, Valerie, bought Willa some new French books when she visited her family in Belgium. I've been reading them to Willa and she continues to say some new French words. I also borrowed some Spanish kids books from the library and read those to her. I'm so hopeful that she'll enjoy languages like Markus and I do.
She loves to color and do art projects. I just bought a book about art projects for toddlers so that we can continue to foster her imagination and creativity. She loves to sing, and her new favorite song is Elmo's Song. We still don't watch TV with Willa, except on rare occasions, but one night we watched Elmo's Song on You Tube and she liked it. Now she asks for Elmo's Song at times, and we usually oblige. She gets big smiles and sings along with the "la la la la, la la la la" part. It's so cute.
We've taken lots of home videos and if I ever figure out how to load them, I will start sharing them with you. Some are hilarious.
We have some pictures taken over the course of the month, and one album contains pictures of the artwork that Willa has done since starting at Beginnings in February:
