{"id":491,"date":"2013-05-21T10:09:07","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T14:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themaddlife.com\/?p=491"},"modified":"2020-09-30T16:38:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T20:38:30","slug":"the-small-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/?p=491","title":{"rendered":"The Small Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes it is all the little things that make up such great things!\u00a0 I know I have already said recently how the girls are cognitively developing at such rapid paces these days and here I am saying it again!\u00a0 It\u2019s a good thing that I have kept my blog a \u201csecret\u201d because I think my followers would become sick of hearing the same things over again.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t stop thinking and talking about it because these little things bring Justin and I so much joy and happiness.\u00a0 Our weekend started out Friday evening with a trip to Foster\u2019s Grill for dinner.\u00a0 We had no food in the house and we like taking the girls out.\u00a0 They have been there a few times already and I always order them the chicken fingers and fries to share.\u00a0 Avery is very particular some meals and basically only ate fries.\u00a0 Emerson of course ate not only her fries but also her chicken and a few bites of mommy\u2019s chocolate shake.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Saturday morning Justin and I got up early and showered before the girls got up. \u00a0Granted they did not get up until 9:00 so it wasn\u2019t like we got up at the crack of dawn, but nonetheless we got ready early because we wanted to get an early start on the day.\u00a0 Our first destination was the Farmer\u2019s Market in Reston.\u00a0 This was our first trip of the season and while it was good to get there, the bulk of the summer fruits and vegetables had yet to arrive.\u00a0 We did buy some delicious tomatoes though!\u00a0 I gave the girls samples of cucumbers to try.\u00a0 Emerson tried hers, while Avery sniffed and decided she wasn\u2019t interested.\u00a0 In the end Emerson wasn\u2019t the biggest fan either, which doesn\u2019t happen with too many foods.\u00a0 Unfortunately the weather was somewhat rainy so the girls were forced to sit in their stroller and we didn\u2019t stay as long as we would have liked.\u00a0 We had originally planned on going to the Arts Festival at Reston Town Center (RTC) next but the rain became heavier so we were forced to come up with another plan.\u00a0 The girls love being out and about and especially love being outside.\u00a0 Within minutes of waking up each morning, the words \u201cout\u201d come out of their mouths.\u00a0 Knowing that we couldn\u2019t be outside and that we promised them they would get to go out, we decided to take them to the indoor playground in Dulles Town Center.\u00a0 We had never been before and as Justin and I approached it we were intimated and sadly did a \u201cstroll bye\u201d before we decided to enter.\u00a0 The girls were hesitant for two minutes max; however, after that they couldn\u2019t get enough.\u00a0 It was very busy and they were quite aware of all the other kids and did a pretty good job of \u201csharing\u201d the slides so as not to get trampled or not to trample any other kid.\u00a0 I continue to be quite impressed at how well Avery navigates new environments; however, there were a few times when she fell head first off of some stairs.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t seem to phase her and she did it at least two other times, which makes me wonder if it is more related to vision or related to her free spirit no fear attitude thinking it was funny as she never got hurt or cried. Emerson found this little girl that was probably about 4 years old that she became infatuated with. She kept following her around and wanted the little girl to play with her but I don\u2019t think the girl was terribly interested.\u00a0 The girls are lucky in that there are a lot of elementary school age children on our block and Ana takes them outside all the time.\u00a0 All the young kids on the street know and like the girls from what I understand and I think Avery and Emerson enjoy playing and learning from the older kids.\u00a0 Emerson just saw this girl as another one of the neighborhood girls and expected that she would play with her just like the neighborhood kids.\u00a0 Speaking of playing in the neighborhood, the girls LOVE going for walks outside, playing in the driveway with the ball (my old deflated basketballs) and trying to shoot them in the hoop, and drawing with chalk on the driveway.\u00a0 Emerson also wants a bike now.\u00a0 She sees all the little kids riding their bikes and now she clearly says, \u201cbike, me, bike, me\u201d while pointing to herself.\u00a0 It is the cutest thing EVER!\u00a0 They also like to be helpers and pick bamboo in the background.\u00a0 They know pandas eat bamboo as we went to the National Zoo last weekend and they both say \u201cbamboo\u201d\u2026..that too is the cutest thing EVER!\u00a0 Back to the indoor playground though, they had a great time and while Justin and I were up on our feet constantly tracking one of them as they were some of the younger aged kids playing, I couldn\u2019t believe they had gotten to this point already and couldn\u2019t help but think it wouldn\u2019t be long before I was one of the parents sitting watching their child play. \u00a0While the girls didn\u2019t want to leave they were pretty good troopers about it and we somewhat bribed them with the next activity\u2026.lunch at Red Robin!\u00a0 Justin had never been to Red Robin; I think he only partially wanted to try it, but by the time we left the Dulles Town Center playground, I knew it would be too late to wait for them to eat until we got back to the house\u2026plus this mama didn\u2019t really feel like \u201ccooking\u201d or cleaning up.\u00a0 So off to Red Robin we went! Once again I ordered the girls chicken fingers; this time with mandarin oranges on the side.\u00a0 Justin had extra fries with his and I figured they would eat some of those as well. And once again Emerson ate decently including drinking almost an entire glass of water with a straw by herself; and Avery ate French fries and spilled water on herself as she refused to let anyone help her hold the cup so it wouldn\u2019t tip.\u00a0 Once we got home, it was nap time\u2026.nap time for the four of us!\u00a0 The rest of the evening we spent indoors. Earlier in the day my mom had taken out the little play cradle of mine from my childhood.\u00a0 The girls LOVE it.\u00a0 They are very much into their babies right now\u2026.love to walk them in their stroller, feed their babies, change their diapers, and now rock them to sleep in the cradle.\u00a0 Much of the evening was spent playing with their babies in the cradle.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunday morning\u2019s weather started off misty but by lunch time, the clouds had cleared, and the sky turned sunny.\u00a0 We dressed the girls in their pink Naartjie outfilts and set out to RTC.\u00a0 Emerson was having a great hair day and her Shirley Temple curls were in full force!\u00a0 And with the humid weather even Avery\u2019s short hair was curly.\u00a0 We let them walk for the most part and heads turned everywhere we went.\u00a0 \u00a0I think the curls combined with the cute outfits and of course the fact that there were two of them grabs the attention of so many. I know I am biased but they really did look so darn cute.\u00a0 I am still kicking myself for not getting their picture together.\u00a0 Justin took a couple with his iphone but the truth is getting a picture of them together is so much easier said than done because they are constantly on the go\u2026in different directions!\u00a0 We were at RTC during the girls snack time in which I brought raisons.\u00a0 We were sitting in the pavilion with Panera right across from us so I ran in to get the girls milk.\u00a0 They each had their own milk straight from the box with a straw.\u00a0 So there they were with their milk and raison box.\u00a0 I can\u2019t get the image out of my head\u2026.I think because it just shows how big they are getting\u2026crazy!\u00a0 Emerson isn\u2019t the biggest fan of milk but she LOVES drinking from a straw so she drank all her milk with only a few spills here and there.\u00a0 Avery didn\u2019t get the hang of the milk as well as Emerson.\u00a0 She got really excited with the music that was being played and went to clap with the milk carton still in her hand = spilled milkL.<\/em><\/p>\n

After the Town Center we stopped by the Reston Library for a few.\u00a0 Our goal was to read a few books to the girls and check out some books to take home.\u00a0 The girls enjoyed picking out books and constantly wanted yet another book to read so we never actually had a chance to read a book.\u00a0 They had fun though and we weren\u2019t bothering anyone so again it brought a smile to my face that our little ladies were actually old enough to hang out at the library!<\/em><\/p>\n

Last but certainly not least the girls continue to talk more and more each day.\u00a0 Both girls can say Avery, not very clearly, but clear enough to know that is what they are saying. Emerson\u2019s name is definitely harder to say and Justin and I may need to take that into account with naming this next baby girl!\u00a0 Anyway, we tried to see if the girls could say \u201cEme\u201d for short and they both not only can but they both say it SO clearly.\u00a0 Yesterday when I got home from work the girls were still napping.\u00a0 A few minutes later when I walked upstairs to my room to change, I heard Avery wake up happy and talking. Then she started to say Eme, Eme, Eme.\u00a0 It was the sweetest sound.\u00a0 Emerson was still sleeping and Avery was trying to get her attention.\u00a0 On a funny note, Emerson had been saying fork pretty well.\u00a0 She uses one very well and defintely likes to say the word quite a bit.\u00a0 This weekend, \u201cfork\u201d somehow turned into \u201cf**k\u201d.\u00a0 We tried hard not to laugh out loud; like I said it is ALL the little things that make being a mommy to these two little girls the greatest gift ever!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes it is all the little things that make up such great things!\u00a0 I know I have already said recently how the girls are cognitively developing at such rapid paces these days and here I am saying it again!\u00a0 It\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[46,30],"class_list":["post-491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-family","tag-kids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themaddlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}