Castle Chronicles

we spent the week recovering from m's tummy bug (when m goes down, everyone has to deal).  m never wants to get that bug again (especially not while c's still in diapers)!  we took it easy, and all are feeling better.  we hung around home, enjoyed some sunshine and a dusting of fresh snow. c got her 1st true lesson regarding newton's laws of motion and frictionless surfaces.  she had a great time until an overexcited dog bowled her over, which didn't really phase her much since she seems to want to go outside to play all the time now.  unfortunately, it's muddy now & m doesn't want to wash clothes after baby c crawls through the mud!  once she learns to walk, we'll be spending a lot more time outside. c's been busy perfecting her newest phrase, "uh-oh."  she greatly enjoys dropping everything simply so she can say it over and over again  we're trying to teach her that chucking things across the room doesn't really create an appr...

c demonstrated (or attempted to show) her independence a lot this week.  she wanted to eat by herself despite not being able to wield silverware effectively.  she wanted to go up AND down the stairs by herself (which we're not quite ready to do --- she's still pretty wobbly and easily distracted so we're trying to give her a little more space with a 2 or 3 step head-start).  she figured out how to stand up on her own and stay standing without support.  she then discovered dancing & bouncing was more fun when not holding on to something (even if it did lead to a few extra falls). c discoverd the fun of a very old rocking horse. she discovered signing gets her things, but she seems to be a little confused on what they really mean 'cause she'll do "all done" directly followed by "eat"  while she's still eating.  she likes to do "all done"  while getting her diaper changed.  that hasn't really worked out for her though sin...

hp marathon, anyone?  oh wait, we probably won't do that again for a while...  19 hours, 35 minutes of harry potter.  we weren't glued to the screen for that long.  a wee wiggly one year old made sure of that.  she really has no time for the big screen --- there's still way too much exploring to do. many others came and went throughout the marathon.  one family stayed the night.  another hardcore family watched all but one movie.  a few more saw 1 or 2 movies.  all enjoyed chocolate frogs, licorice & pretzel wands, cauldron cakes, butterbeer, pumpkin juice, muffins, cornish pasties, pumpkin pasties, quidditch players pie, and bertie bott's (every flavor) beans. Christmas tree is finally down.  c has decided she wants to "help" with everything.  we were mean & wouldn't let her help remove glass ornaments.  she did take down one wooden ornament before she decided to find something else to help with.  she loves to...