Fun at home

Now that Karina goes to preschool a couple of mornings per week, Lydia loves to bask in the attention of me (and Nate, when he is home).   One of the exciting things she gets to do without Karina is vacuum.  The first time she got to use the vacuum with me, she was grinning from ear to ear and so proud of herself.  Normally Karina hogs the toy, so she can earn a star for 'helping' me vacuum, and finally Lydia got a turn.  

When Karina is around, the girls alternate between having a blast together and annoying each other.  One day, the girls and I built a tunnel out of their giant foam letters.  I didn't get a picture of it, but they took turns crawling through it, giggling. On its side, the tunnel also made a good pretend pen for Lydia.

Then we built a cube from the letters and I told Karina it could be a hat. 

She took the idea to the next level and pulled it straight over her head.  It was pretty funny and she is silly. 

In the next picture, I am snuggling with my two favorite girls.  Lydia went through a phase where she would scream hysterically if Karina or any other kid or Snoopy sat on my lap.  Somehow my lap was her property and no one else could sit in her spot, even if she was busy doing something else.  After about a month of Lydia being territorial, she has finally gotten over it and is willing to share Mommy.  The chairs are my new purchases for the dining room.  They are antique Queen Anne chairs from at least the first half of the 1800's, and every little bit is hand carved.  We are excited to have them and hope the girls don't ruin them or the new fabric I'm going to reupholster them with.  Lydia has been practicing writing and has already managed to scribble on the current fabric of one of the chairs (as well as tablecloths, floors, walls, toys, etc.).

In the background, you can see Lydia, the climber.  She scales everything and is fearless.  

Lydia, my adorable doctor:

My 'crazy' and 'funny' Karina (those are the only two adjectives she wants used to describe her):

I'm grateful for two happy girls.

Today we decorated a gingerbread house.  Karina did well not sneaking too much candy, quite an improvement from last year. 

Since we keep track of such things here, Lydia is now at 16 teeth and seems to be stable for now with no more on the way in the near future.