Happy Mardi Gras

Well, 'tis the season. The crew I celebrated Mardi Gras with for the past many years left for New Orleans on Thursday (sigh). No time (or money) to trip the light fantastic these days. Besides, I'm having a party right here with my two beautiful kiddies. In honor of the season I dug into my collection and introduced Molly and Aidan to beads. I put a few strands out in the playroom for them to find after their nap. When I joined them in the playroom the beads had been discovered and Molly was sporting all but the one strand she allowed Aidan the have. The girl is bead crazy!! She dances and whirls around with her beads. It is a sight to see. Aidan also enjoys playing with beads but has a hard time getting his hands on any without mom's assistance. It's that whole sharing thing again. The boy has found a different use for beads and it involves trains of course. He drapes his beads over Thomas, Percy and James or fills his freight cars with the precious cargo. They both like to fill cups and bowls with the beads and pour them in and out. Hours of fun which is helpful as were mostly stuck inside due to the chill temps.

This whole talking thing is a hoot. Below are some of our new favorite phrases....

"I don't like it" (multipurpose phrase)
"Too scary" (also multipurpose)
"Two kids" (said when they're doing something together i.e. both sitting on daddy's lap
"Go ahead Molly, push me down" (don't know where this one came from)
"Out" (shouted at top volume while pointing a finger...guess who)
"Who's that?" (when asking mom and dad to identify Disney princesses)
"no thank you" (said while throwing a toy offered by your brother or sister)
"MINES" (no explanation needed)
"I'm busy"
"one minute please"

Aidan has begun to use I, me and my. The other day shortly after his nap he asked me "I have my dinner now?" I gave him a snack and when he was done he repeated "I have my dinner now?" Guess the boy was hungry. I like that they can tell us what they want. We're working on getting them to use words when they need/want something instead of hopping up and down while crying or whining. Slow going but we're making some progress.