What the three-year-olds are really into these days

Goodness gracious, thank you SO MUCH for all the well-wishes and votes on the Scholastic award (voting thru Mar 13) -- your comments made me blush and grin. Now I guess I'll get my butt in gear and finish writing that "Talking about adoption is hard" post since it was the clear winner.

In the meantime, here's a little peek at what really floats the girls' boats these days.  

Colors: They're still lovin' the pink and yellow. Ro's grungy pink MaryJanes and Ree's beloved-but-soiled yellow polka-dot shoes (seen below) have been worn half to death and aren't going to last much longer. I'm keeping my eyes open for some spring/summer replacements and so far am considering Polliwalks, which seem a touch more durable than the suede and cloth shoes they're destroying as I type. This pic was snapped just after skating lessons today. The girls have some pretty wicked helmet hair, but that neat orange wall at the mall practically begged me to dig out the purse camera.

Mini Math: The girls have discovered how much fun it is to add and subtract and they just love figuring out little math problems. I found a cheapo math book at the drugstore and they're having a ball with it. So far they can add and subtract small numbers (they're digitally challenged, aka limited to the number of fingers they have, haha). They can count to 12 (they think they can go higher than that, but trust me, after 12 it's just numeral slaughter). They recognize written numbers up to about 10, and can follow simple verbal directions like "circle eight things on this page" or "count how many hippos there are, then draw a line from the hippos to that number." Cool!  

Counting Syllables: This is a quirky one, but it amuses us, and that's the important thing, right? Heh. A few weeks ago I flippantly said "Hey girls, do you know how many syllables are in the word watermelon?" Then I sounded the word out slowly while counting on my fingers and said "four!" Well that's all it took, now they think it's the bestest game ever to count how many syllables are in a word or how many syllables are in the words of a book title or whatever. Ro is always right, by the way, and Ree is right when she feels like it. (She'll sometimes give me a little sideways smirk and go all Texan on us drawing out the last syllable and counting it for a few beats.) Cuties.

 

Playing Together: This one hasn't changed since the day we met them. They're best friends and like nothing more than running, jumping, imagining, and pretending together. They're zanily creative and also blissfully rough with each other. You make the call on this pic: is Ree trying to help her sister or shove her off the table? Such a fine line...

 

 Climbing: When I end up in the hospital with heart failure, no one will even ask why, right? These daredevils have loved climbing from day one, and have never met a climbing wall, ladder, or piece of playground equipment that's too high for them. I'm going to take them to a real climbing wall next week -- one with ropes and whatnot -- and see if they can finally get some satisfaction. I secretly want to see if they have any limits (while they're safe), but even as I type this, I know what's going to happen. They'll be at the top in seconds and I'll have to beg and bribe to get them down.


 

Singing: Ro and Ree have the loudest voices of any children I've met. Our family and friends will probably wincingly attest to that. Add that to their, uh, interesting vocal styles (think wailing cats) and it's a wonder the neighbors haven't called the police on us yet. We are working on turning down the volume, I promise. But last night, Ro and Ree put on multiple pairs of pajamas, snuck outside, stomped through mudpuddles, climbed the slide so they were closer to the sky, and "sang" Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at the tops of their voices. (In their defense, it was such a clear night that the stars were AMAZING.)

 

Well I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention a whole rash of favorite things, but those are the ones that spring to mind right now. Three years old is really, really fun. Can't wait to see what they do at three and a half!