Pedal pusher

Kate has two tricycles, hand-me-downs from Audrey and Brin, respectively. Even though she's been riding them for awhile, given her short stature only now is she able to reach and keep her feet on the pedals. Last Saturday, for the first time she was able to move herself under her own power, on a flat stretch with a boost from Mama or Dada to get her started. We were lucky and caught her best performance on the video below.

Marker mayhem

Kate got into some green marker last week. Made her look kind of goth. Hopefully it wasn't too toxic.

Snow day

Audrey and Kate played in the snow -- or rather, slush -- that fell in Portland on Wednesday. It quickly melted, so there was no time or dry enough snow to build a snowman.

Diaper days are done*

Thanks to Great-Grandpa Darrel, over the last five years one or both of the girls had their patooties swaddled in cloth diapers. Today was the last pickup from the diaper service. We're potty-training Kate, and while we're not completely done with diapers (as Kate is being rather resistant to potty-training), with pull-ups and underpants in constant use now there's less need for the diapers.

(*Well, sort of)

Yoga poses

The girls brought home from the library a book called Sleepy Little Yoga. Audrey, who learned some yoga at her first preschool, helped Kate get into some of the poses.

Being Mrs. Potts

Having watched Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" on New Year's Eve and a couple of times since, the girls are quite taken with it. The other day Kate started wearing a knit cap that was originally a new-baby gift for Audrey from Casey and Teresa Anderson, calling it her "Mrs. Potts hat" after the character from the movie. Here, she uses it to accessorize her "Queen of France" dress (which she now prefers be called just "The Queen" dress).

Christmas #3

The girls enjoyed another Christmas with Grandpa Dave on Saturday. They liked all of the new presents they got, in particular the sleeping bags from the Taylors; Audrey's slept in hers the last couple of nights.

New Year's Eve at the beach

The girls had a fairly low-key New Year's Eve. They had driven out to the "beach house" with Mama and Dada earlier in the day, skipping their naps, and so no one was really up for late-night revelry. They had fondue for dinner and then got to watch "Beauty and the Beast." They paused the movie to celebrate the new year at about 7:40 with noisemakers, sparkly (cava for Mama and Dada, sparkling blueberry juice for them), and a family photo, which Kate in her grumpy, nap-deprived state refused to pose for.

Indoor park with Joseph

Audrey and Kate enjoyed the Montavilla indoor park last Thursday with friend Joseph. Dada got quite a workout pulling the three of them (and later a fourth kid) around on a "train" they built by stringing several roller seats together. The girls had gotten to the community center early and kept themselves busy in the "art park" until Joseph arrived.

Thar be bugs and pirates!

Last Wednesday Audrey and Kate went on a "Honeybee Hike" at the Leach Botanical Garden. They made paper-tube binoculars and trudged through the mud and rain to look at some interesting natural features and creatures. The binoculars also came in handy for some pirate play later in the day.

Mic check

The girls test out the Grover microphone Audrey picked out for Kate as a Christmas present. They're wearing some of their dress-up clothes they got as gifts (Barbie princess for Audrey, "twinkle fairy" for Kate).