Reading?!?

Wait...What? Where did this come from?? They're 2 and a half!!!

Both Esme and Ellerie have been able to identify a few words here and there for awhile. But now, out of the blue, Ellerie (especially) has developed a whole new confidence in her abilities and has completely taken off. This video was taken a few days ago, and I have already seen a lot of growth since then! She grabs her pile of books, sits on the couch and just starts reading her way through them...asking help on words as needed.

Ellerie is my girl who would sit and look at/read books for hours...or put together puzzles (she easily puts together 50 piece puzzles). Esme loves books and puzzles too, and is equally as gifted, but her attention span isn't near Ellerie's...but still longer than most 2-year-olds. Esme can read most of the same words, but she just won't sit and read a book on her own like that for very long...especially if the camera is on her. She'd much rather be read to, and that is completely fine by me.

I haven't pushed reading at all, but I have exposed them to lots of books, and reading/listening to stories is their favorite activity. They have learned to recognized a variety of words through me reading and playing games..."This is the word 'the.' Let's see if we can find the word 'the' in this book." This is also a fun game for learning letters. Or, play "hide-and-seek" with letters/words/shapes/numbers (anything). I'll write the word on a couple index sized cards, hide them in the room and ask my girls to "find the _____."

They have also started learning how to sound out words. Phonics is important too! Their little brains are amazing!

Check out this video of Ellerie reading one of her books. This particular book is from the library and I believe this was only the second time she had read/heard it.

Balance Bikes

We decided to bypass tricycles and training wheels with our girls and go right to balance bikes. If you don't know much about balance bikes, the idea is that kids learn the most difficult part of riding a bike first...balance. Once they learn to balance, learning to pedal is easy. After our experience, I highly recommend them! There are many many brands out there to choose from. I personally prefer those with metal frames over wood frames, but that's just a personal preference. We went with a Strider ST-3 PREbike. They were one of the few that got low enough for our girls at a young age.

We LOVE our Strider balance bikes! We purchased one when the girls were about 18 months old. They would take turns walking the bike in our living room. We didn't have a place to ride bikes at our previous home, so they didn't get much practice beyond that. This summer, we thought it would be a good idea to purchase a 2nd bike...especially since we have places to ride around our current home. We rode them around several times before we took them on our camping trip over Labor Day weekend. While camping, the girls rode and rode and rode...they got really good! We haven't taken them out much since we got back, but I took them for a pretty long ride this morning. They don't like me taking video, so I have to try and sneak it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture much, but here's a little bit. I think Ellerie will be ready for regular pedal bike very soon.





(Esme on pink bike - Ellerie on yellow bike)




Check out other balance bikes!

Reading Books

Esme and Ellerie love books! They are also beginning to "read" books to us now. I love that! Through the process, they have begun recognizing certain words as well. It's amazing how much they can learn at such a young age!

Here's a video of my girls "reading" Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Now I Know My ABCs...

Esme and Ellerie have discovered that they can now "sing" the songs that they have been hearing since day one. I've always loved singing, and singing to them is something that just happens naturally. Having taught years and years of preschool and kindergarten, I know LOTS of kids songs.

Some of the girls' favorite songs to sing right now include, "ABC Song," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "The More We Get Together" and "Happy Birthday." These are just a few of the many they sing, or attempt to sing, daily. It's funny, though, because there are songs that we sing much more regularly that are not on the list of their apparent "favorites."

I hear them singing all the time now, but it is near impossible to catch it on video. As soon as I pull out the camera, or my phone, they instantly become more interested in what I am doing. Here, however, are a couple videos of the girls singing their ABCs...

Esme (about a month ago...she sings much more of the song now)...



Ellerie (last night)...

Pajamas at the Park

A 4th of July post will come soon, with all kinds of pictures, but for now I just want to share a quick video we caught of the girls yesterday.

We spent the day with some friends who don't mind missing the late night fireworks. We had a wonderful BBQ and lots of play time with the little ones. We like to get our girls in their pajamas before we head home when we're out a little later than normal (until their bedtime) because we know they'll end up falling asleep on the way home. If they're in their PJs, it's just one less step to get them ready for bed when we head home.

Yesterday,we got the girls in the pajamas, but then decided to take a last minute walk to the park before heading home. More pictures will come later, but here's a video of the girls showing us they can go up the stairs and down the slide without our help. So independent!

Oh, and they were 16 months old yesterday!

Need a Laugh?

Here is a little video I took of my girls the other day. Esme decided it would be fun to swat her sister in the face (nothing unusual) with books (soft ones). Ellerie thought this was hysterical and was cracking up when Esme did this. If Esme dropped the books, Ellerie was reaching for them to hand them back to Esme so that she would do it again. I caught a little of it on video for you all to see. Enjoy!

Clapping Hands

Esme has learned a new trick! She can "clap" her hands! I put "clap" in quotes because her clapping is a little different, but it is absolutely adorable! Take a look at the video below...