January Update

• Late news bulletin, but I received my first ever macaroni necklace a few weeks back. So sweet it almost brought me to tears! It was Italy day at our little co-op school and the boys worked very intently on their necklaces. Henry insisted on me leaving the room at the end so that he could properly present it to me. He has me wear it almost daily; he finds it and says "Mommy, don't forget your beautiful necklace!"
• Henry has a future as a motivational speaker. I have recently overheard him telling Molly to "just keep trying" and "just do your best Molly." He also told me, "Keep trying Mommy, that is how you'll get better." Cracks me up. When he wants to do something, he tells me "Let me do it Mom, I'm good at that." Whether he has ever done it before does not matter.
• Henry's power of observation are absolutely incredible. He notices the slightest possible change wherever we go. The new parking attendant at our garage. That one of the apartments across our street now had green curtains. New wardrobe items. I could go on and on, these are just ones that come to mind right now.
• Henry is starting to show an interest in letters. The two that he knows now and can pick out whenever he sees them are "B" and "W". He also knows that "M" looks like "W" upside down and that Molly and Mom begin with an M. We haven't focused on letters at all yet, so I am very pleased that he is picking it up on his own without being drilled. He can also write the letter "H" pretty accurately.
• Henry is doing really well at school. He participates in every activity and is very excited to see his friends each time. He is also quite the peacemaker and disciplinarian. If he sees that someone isn't participating, he always goes to find them and ask them to join. He is also very sensitive to anyone being left out.
• Molly is able to walk very well now, but she still choses not to do it very often. She would rather crawl, she is much faster that way. The funny thing is that she has incredible balance when she wants to dance. She does the most hilarious bouncing deep knee bend to the music and really loves to dance.
• Molly's word update: No, mama, daddy, Henry, dog, duck, door, shoe, brush (her teeth), night night, cheese, coin, book, Roen (her friend). She has more but I can't think of them right now.
• Molly understands absolutely everything and can respond to questions and commands accurately. Do you want something to eat? Do you want something to drink? Do you need your diaper changed? Go get another book for me to read to you. It's time to take a bath, brush your teeth. Can you give me a kiss? She loves to shake her head no to that one just to be funny.