Arts Festival

Last weekend we attended a local art festival and had a great time! All of the activities were great for toddlers and it just so happens that Willow loves art activities and they all fell within her attention span =) We've had a bit of camera drama around here the last few weeks (hence the lack of posting lately) so these pics were all after-the-fact...

She decorated a hat and kite (on her arm of course):

She made a necklace with beads and a clay flower donated by the artist (the girl is seriously motivating me to go to Michaels to pick out crafts for her this summer - she demonstrated some major concentration in stringing the beads and did really well!):

She used paint pens to decorate a clay pot and markers and water on a coffee filter to make a fish. The picture was really neat - they had a doodle artist who adds to a scribble (done by a child) to make it into a picture. He had to turn the paper in all directions multiple times to come up with an idea but I thought it turned out neat =)

She also got to decorate a cookie, play with balls and hoola hoops, see the cats and dogs from the SPCA, and watch all of the other people there (a close tie for her favorite activity). She had a great time!

Happy Father's Day!

We love you Daddy!

Playing in the Rain

"I love playing naked in the rain!!!!!!"

Strawberry Faire

Despite Kim bailing on our 2-year tradition (I have to give her a hard time), we still ventured out to a local Strawberry Faire this year. The weather was much more enjoyable than it has been the past two years! Willow enjoyed alternating between walking by the vendors and taking in the sights from her stroller.

Much to our surprise, she wasn't too crazy about strawberry shortcake. Chris and I were happy to eat her share!

Of course there have to be corndogs consumed!

24th month

Here's an update from May, Willow's 24th month:

- Willow continues to impress us with how much she's absorbed in the last 2 years that she's now communicating with us verbally. We're happy to announce that "yes" has entered her vocabulary, which has replaced her enthusiastic "yah," which we unfortunately never got on video. Her baby word "wawa" has been replaced by "water" so now we're trying to get "nu-nu" to turn into "thank you." She has trouble saying the s and x-sounds so plural endings have been challenging for her. Instead of saying "lions" she'll say "lion" with a slight pause followed by a very distinct s-sound. I've also noticed it with words like "sticks" or "dogs." After being around Nana so much this month, Willow temporarily picked up the phrase "oof." She's also picked up on "oh my gosh," "alright," and "oops." She's putting more words together these days. We were looking at a book that had a picture of a car-carrying truck and Willow said "Black cars on it. Hold on cars!" Willow is starting to identify boys vs. girls. If she doesn't know your name, you are "boy" or "girl." Willow has added "welcome" (for "you're welcome") to her vocabulary and will often say "nu nu, welcome" both.

- Willow continues to be Ms. Independent. She's able to go up the stairs without holding onto the railing. You'll often hear her say "No hold on." She's even made it downstairs without holding on a couple times (while mom and dad hold their breath). In other gross motor developments, Willow has figured out jumping on two feet!

- Using the potty continues to be very inconsistent on her part. Early in the month she could go through the day with one diaper so we tried big girl underwear, though I think the sensation of a accident scared her a bit so we regressed after that. Some days she'll use it 1 time and others 5 times. She used the potty 4 times at school on Wednesday, then 7 times on Thursday so maybe we're getting back into it?!?

- Willow loves to help out around the house. She's good about cleaning up her toys when asked. She's now putting the clean silverware away and loves to help water the plants. Daddy even let her help wash dishes in the sink!

- Willow continues to love singing songs and is singing more than just the last word of each line of some songs. She's got most of "Five Little Monkeys" down and surprised us with her ABCs:

- Willow has warmed up to the idea of playing in the water again now that it's getting warmer. Here she is enjoying some time in the sprinklers:

We're so blessed to have you, Willow Libby!