Last Day...

...of 2012.

I'm sitting here thinking about all the changes both children have gone through over the past year.

C went from barely walking and talking to a running, jumping, chattering little dynamo.  Her vocabulary has exploded, and she's a technowiz with the ipad.  She started attending playgroup once a week in September and has really enjoyed herself there.  We'll be going back next week, starting a new term!  She still naps in the afternoon, generally a little over an hour to an hour and a half.  She's recovered splendidly from chicken pox and has been mastering the art of scooter riding lately.

E was still in nursery (preschool) in January!  He was beginning to read his first words and simple sentences in Jan/Feb, so just before age three and a half.  Now he's reading at a late Year 1, early Year 2 (first grade, second grade) level despite being one of the youngest in his year.  He really enjoyed our trip to France in May, despite having to spend a night in the hospital.  He still enjoys volcanoes and train crashes.  He is into marble runs now, the bigger the better, and often does simple math (counting, adding, subtracting) in daily life.  He has a new scooter which he really enjoys, many friends at school, and continues to display kindness to others which I think will take him far in life.  He has adapted very well to a long school day (9am to 3:20) although he is tired at the end of a day.

Today E and I went to the British Museum.  He enjoyed looking at old clocks and displays of currency.  We didn't stay long because it was rammed with tourists!  Given the crowdedness and relative lack of hands-on displays I don't think I'll be taking him back in the near future - there are museums that he'll get more out of at least at this stage of his life.

B is back to work on Thursday, and then life resumes as normal from next Monday - E is back to school and C and I start playgroup from the Tuesday.

I don't have any current pictures but I hate posting without one... so here is one of E as a donkey in his school's Nativity play.  He did a great job!

We won't be cooking blackeyed peas and cornbread tomorrow... but someday I will.  Depending on time constraints, I may be baking a pecan pie though....

Wishing everyone a great 2013!