Cousins

The kids just got back from spending a week with the cousins' in CA, and they seem to have grown up even in that one week.  Mika is strutting around saying 'no' and then grinning widely. And Yo has replaced his 'no's with a care-free 'uh-uh'.

When we finished praying before bed-time, Yo suddenly said "now it's my turn", and quickly started praying for:
- my cousins,
- the birds
- the toucan, and
- the people working in the store.
The 'cousins' part we get, but the significance of the others is yet to be determined.

Pumpkin Picking

'Tis the season of pumpkins, and the kids got to visit a couple pumpkin patches so far.  The first one was to a nearby farm with friends from church.  The second one was Yo's first field trip from his pre-school!  He also decorated a couple pumpkins with mamma, which are now sitting on our front steps.

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Kruger Farms:

Plumper Pumpkin Patch (pre-school field trip):

Photo-shoot

A couple weeks ago we did a short photo shoot at a local restaurant to see if we could get some nice pics of the kiddos.  Getting two kids to sit still for a second - at the same time - is no small feat.

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Sidewalk artists

Mamma took the kids out one sunny afternoon to add some color to our sidewalk.

 

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Of handbags and dining habits

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Our little lady somehow intuitively knew what to do with a "handbag", putting it over her shoulder and toddling around!

On a totally different subject, turns out Mika is a rather selective diner, to put it mildly.  Most food is only nibbled at, and mamma goes to all sorts of lengths to cook up items that our connoisseur might accept.  Here is one such episode.

Best friends

Some of the time, anyway :)

 

Cycling down the waterfront

About a month ago we rented a "cycle-like" vehicle down by the waterfront, and went for a spin.  Was quite a nice day out, and we even got to see a street band during our tour-de-river.

 

 

Miss Bugs Bunny

Kid Speak

Both kids have been taking giant leaps in the talking department.

Malaika has been surpising us with how much she understands and is saying the first syllable of many words.

So far:

Dada = dada
Mama = Mama
Nana = Anna
Nana = Banana
Baw = Ball
Boo = Book
Ha = Hat
Ish = Fish
Ush = Brush

And many more... Most mornings, when we're getting ready for the day, she is quite insistent that we "ush th" (Brush teeth) and she has her very own pink toothbrush for her three teeth!

Yo, the man, is almost getting to the stage where he stumps mama with his questions. Couple days ago he asked me if peacocks can fly and if the sun (which is round) can bounce. I have to admit I was caught offguard by the peacock question, mumbled through an answer and made a mental note to further research the topic online.

Jammies + Pre-school

Yo was quite thrilled with the jammies that Ammama made for him.

This week Yo was featured quite prominently on his pre-school noticeboard: one in a collage from the 1st day of school, and the other was his first "homework".  Proud dada had to stop and take some pictures.