Middle of Winter Update

Well, here we are in the middle of winter in Walden and we've got a looooong way to go until summer. But our house is nice and warm thanks to our wood stove, which we've been lighting every day. The temperatures have been reaching 30 degrees pretty consistently, which is actually quite pleasant if the sun is out and there is no wind. The sun is out most of the time, it's just that pesky wind that hangs around. So we finally took the girls to the park this weekend. It was warm enough to not even have to wear a hat and gloves! Still lots of snow and ice on the ground, hence the snowsuits.

The girls are learning new words by the minute. This past week they've learned snow, nose, shoe, more, Elmo, and milk. They've known the signs to most of those but they've just started saying the words. Elise also knows one and two, and Linnaea knows two. Elise walks around the house going "wa, doo, wa, doo" (for one and two). They also love to tell us that they have a poop, or that Rosie has pooped in the house by saying "ba pa" and pointing at either their diaper or the offender. For those of you who don't know, Rosie has developed a degenerative nerve disorder that has made her lose a lot of feeling in her hindquarters. She falls a lot and has frequent accidents in the house. She is not in any pain, thankfully, so we are hoping that with some supplements and exercise the disorder will progress as slow as possible.

They also had their first Oreos this week. Linnaea is a lick-the-cream-first Oreo eater, while Elise just shoves the whole thing in her mouth as fast as possible. Both of them absolutely LOVE Sesame Street, so this gives Mommy a little time to clean the kitchen and post on her blog.




Daddy walks his girls around the park.





Elise stretches out with Mommy.





Linnaea practices being like Daddy.





Elise found the secret stash of stamps that Grandma Sue had given us for Christmas.





Linnaea plays with her bouncy ball.





Well, if we can't get to the park, the bar in the closet will suffice as a swing. Elise's favorite word is "Whee!"





Elise dons a hat, mitten, and purse to do her rounds of the house.





Daddy and Elise read on the couch.