The other day Laine took Linden to Fell park to play. Linden climbed up the wall all by herself for the first time, then went down the big slide on her own.
When it was time to go home, she told Laine,"I gotta go get a snack!" then bolted over to a family at the picnic table and asked them for chips. They gave her some cheese puffs. Ridiculous. Then on the way home she said, "Mommy, I can't stop eating this."
The warm weather has blown in with March, which means longer days and more opportunities to play outside. Even though it's been a relatively mild winter it still feels like we're emerging from hibernation.
Now that we've had daylight savings, the sun will set tonight at 7 p.m. It's always nice to have a couple hours of daylight after work.
Better yet, the sun won't rise until 7 a.m. which I hope will mean that Linden sleeps until then. Lately, she's been getting up before 6 a.m.
Linden has kept active even during the dark winter months. A common request is to go for a run in the evening. By this she means that she'll put on her "running shoes" then make sure we have ours. She'll go to the closet and ask me if I want my green or my blue running shoes, then affirm my choice. Once we lace up, we begin our shuttle sprint routine from the front door to the back door. Mom gets involved too by giving out high fives halfway through the sprint, sometimes calling for it up high, down low, with a spin, etc.
Monday night gymnastics is a high point for Linden each week. She regularly asks when she'll get to go to "nastics" with Miss Kelsey. On off days when I'm busy, Laine likes to take Linden to the mall where Linden runs around with other kids at the play area. For reasons unknown, Linden requests this activity by telling us that she wants to "go to the turtles." There are a few animals to play on in the area, but none of them are turtles. At least it provides an opportunity to run around and meet new friends.
We're in a good phase right now and are making the most of it. Linden is learning new words and phrases each day, which is a lot of fun. One day she said "adorable" another day "time to save the day!" It's always something new. I'm truly amazed by how she can learn a word and apply it in the right context immediately. If only we all committed our full attention to learning about our surroundings.
LB likes to watch herself on video, so we've had fun with Snapchat, which has some options to make silly selfie shots, like this one where she's driving with aviator glasses & a mustache. Videos and photos of her cousins are a favorite -- she talks about them a lot and knows them all by name, always telling us that she wants to play with them when she sees them.
Every now and then she'll surprise us by telling us she doesn't want to go to daycare, but wants to stay home instead. As soon as she gets to daycare and sees her friends though, she plays hard all day then tells us all about it.
Graham is always acting like a dinosaur, which Linden likes because she loves to be scared (something Laine & I don't really understand). Finley and Linden are often partners in crime. Dee told us a few weeks ago that Finley and Linden were both put in time out. This meant that they had to sit on two separate couches for some set amount of time. It didn't take long for Linden to sneak off the couch when Dee wasn't looking, and head to Finley. Dee overheard Linden whisper, "Come on, Finney! Let's get outta here."
Kenzie, Molly McGraw, Finley & Linden @ Molly's IWU game
It's been exciting to watch Dee's daughter, Molly McGraw, play on the IWU women's basketball team. Molly is a true athlete and an exciting player. As an added bonus, we sometimes run into Linden's friends who are also there with their parents cheering on Molly. Below, Linden and Cameron dance to the pep band at halftime.
Also new this month, she's twice eaten two bananas in a row. Something I'm not sure I've ever done. She LOVES painting her nails pink, and that color has emerged as a strong favorite. She knows her colors but admits preference to pink and sometimes purple. Grandma Twanow must be influencing her somehow.
Typical pink outfit with pink balloon
We try to take advantage of playing with other friends and their kids whenever both families have the energy and naps line up just right. Our friends Chip and Val who we ran with at IWU and live in town had a second daughter recently and we had fun meeting her while Linden and their oldest played together. And just yesterday we had our annual "roomie thanksgiving" with friends who we used to live with after college. Turns out that the event looks a bit different these days...and no longer involves us cooking...and happened in March because that was the closest we could get to November. But that's okay because what counts is getting together to reconnect and give our kids a chance to get to know one another through play. With that as a goal: mission accomplished.
The other day Laine took Linden to Fell park to play. Linden climbed up the wall all by herself for the first time, then went down the big slide on her own.
