Pass the Pineapple: And then there were Themes

Sunday, October 27, 2013

And then there were Themes

We've been going strong on the theme weeks. And the big girls really enjoy it. When Felicity goes down for her morning nap, they're quick to ask, "What activity are we going to do now??" Mommy loves hearing those words. Here is your quick overview of the favorites from the last several weeks.

Pumpkin Week
Mommy bought a huge pumpkin from the "reject" pile at a roadside stand near our new land. Took it home and cut the top right off.

They stuck their hands in, mashed the pumpkin guts between their fingers, pretended to make pumpkin soup in the water table, even tasted the pumpkin seeds.

Then a little lightbulb went off in Miriam's head. She flung open the lid to the outside toy box, dug out her little shovel, and rushed to the garden with a handful of pumpkin seeds. We'll see what comes up in the spring.

Felicity watched everything from the safety of her blanket. No, that's not true. She actually tried to eat lots and lots of grass while Mommy was distracted. A very clever little goat.

Pizza and Pasta Week

This entire week of activities was a hit. Mommy might do a Part II on this theme because they liked everything about it and there was so much we didn't have time to do! But they really enjoyed these make-your-own pizzas Mommy cut out from her felt stash. (See! Mommy does need all that fabric!)

They worked hard throughout the week trying to create the perfect pizzas. Miriam loved putting the same number of everything on hers. Three olives, three peppers, three pineapples, three of each kind of meat.

Vivian liked PILING on the toppings. Then sorting them back out. Then piling them on again. Sometimes it is so difficult to keep her attention for even twenty minutes, but these do-it-yourself pizza creations were right up her alley. She came back to them over and over again during the week.

Also during the week, we played with pasta and play dough together. It surprised the girls a little big at first - they didn't seem to know what to do. But after a few minutes they really got into experimenting and building.

Miriam even "fixed" a broken lasagna noodle. Her brain is really working hard now and making big connections. It's almost like having a baby who is learning and learning and learning so quickly. Her brain is in sponge mode again.

Commercial Interruption
A few unrelated developments. Felicity is super into the newspaper. The solids she wishes her parents would offer on her high chair include the Sports Page and the Walmart Ad.

The girls are starting to play together! Felicity wants to be with her sisters (she's already getting very good at letting us know exactly what she wants). She squeals to get their attention and laughs at their antics. Last week, the big girls got out some of Mommy's cooking utensils and Felicity arched her back and wailed until we set her down with them to "make cake". Then all three of them played together for at least fifteen minutes. It was beyond adorable.

Spider Week
This week was all about spiders. Vivian is actually pretty afraid of them. And she's NOT afraid of ANYTHING. But spiders seem to be her weakness. (Side story: one afternoon about a month ago, Mommy heard her screaming in the backyard and rushed out to see what was wrong, thinking Vivian must have fallen and broke a bone or was bleeding and needed stitches. It was that desperate of a scream. But Mommy couldn't find a thing wrong with the Vivimouse. Turns out Viv had walked through a spider web.) We're talking about them so that she'll hopefully be a little more comfortable. (And Mommy won't have to have anymore unnecessary heart attacks.)