Snuggly Sisters

Rebekah:

I have a problem, and I'm sorry to admit it.  Sometimes I don't get along with Hannah.  I know, I know, this is a surprise to all of you reading this, but I felt like I needed to confess my feelings.  Recently, Mommy captured this incredibly tender moment between me and my sister.  Snuggling!!  And it wasn't even prompted!

What is even more remarkable is what happened the very next day.  I was sitting on the couch next to Hannah and we had a "moment".  Mommy used stealth mode to grab the camera and snap this awesome video.  It is one that she said she wants to watch every day for the rest of her life.

I really do love my sister.  Hannah is the best sister anyone could ever have and I'm so happy she is part of our family!

Fort Worth Miniature Train Ride

Hannah:

Have you ever been on the FW Miniature Train?  If not you HAVE to go.  Rebekah went when she was little, but this was my first time on the train.  You can see Rebekah's trip from 2013 right here: http://musingsofbaby.blogspot.com/2013/06/mini-train-ride.html 

We went round and round on the train tracks and even went over a little river.  About 3/4 of the way through the ride, we stopped and ate some delicious popcorn before heading back to the beginning.  It was a blast!

I really enjoyed practicing the words "choo choo" about seven million times.  Mommy loved it too!

Mommy tried to capture all 4 of us in a picture, and we sort of all made it in here!

 

Here is a video example of my secret language with my sister.  When one of us squeals, the other echoes it.  Pretty cool to have a secret language!!

 

All Things Pumpkin - Including Halloween

Rebekah:

We just finished Halloween and it's time to tell you everything we did in October involving a pumpkin.  We had a good month.

We rode around on a hay ride at school and then got to pick a pumpkin to keep.  Hannah went first and had a lot of fun with Mommy.

In the video above, Mommy loves to hear Hannah say "punkin".

Then it was my turn to go and pick a pumpkin, too.

We also went to the annual Butterfly Flutterby.  We don't have many pictures, but we did see some pumpkins!

Next was a trip to a local pumpkin farm.  They have a small animal area that was fun.  We even got to feed a goat.  As expected, they have pumpkins as well.

 

Last but not least, we can't forget about Halloween.  We all went to a trunk-or-treat event at a church (which happens to be my school).  We had to wait in line to get in, but all was fun and games inside the building.

 

Let the games begin!  This is the pumpkin toss:

This is the swirly painting thingy that goes round and round when you put the paint in it.

 

I also tried bowling.  I have to admit that I am certainly not a bowler.

 

They had a bounce house too.  Once I figured out how exhilarating jumping was, I couldn't get enough.  Hannah really wanted to jump as well, but then she had second thoughts.  Ultimately she decided that playing with all the balloon decorations was a better fit for her.

 

It was a great month of "all things pumpkin", but now we are in to "all things cornucopia".  I just need to figure out how to pronounce that.

Pizza Party

Rebekah:

The other night, we made pizza at home together as a family.  Mommy and Daddy let me and my little sister help so much.  We wore these super cute little aprons that Grandma T gave us from her trip to Italy.  Aren't we adorable?

It started out as just me and Mommy making a pizza:

Then Hannah saw us and had to join in.  You can see in the picture below that she is signing the word "more" but her lips are saying "please".  Somewhere down the line she started "more-ing" for the word "please".  Mom thinks it's cute.

First comes the cheese (notice how Daddy popped up as soon as he heard the word "pizza").

Then it's time for pepperoni.

Next we get to view the final product before going in the oven.  Isn't it pretty?

Now Hannah tries to view the pizza, but she's not very tall.

Waiting for it to cook in the oven took forever!  I think it was 8 minutes or something. We waited as patiently as we could.

Then we ate it all up!  It was delicious.  There are no pictures of us eating because Mommy was basking in a moment of peace as we all enjoyed our food together.  Mommy was really helpful in making the pizzas taste yummy.  Apparently she used to make pizza and get paid for it.  Maybe I can do that someday too!

I'm learning so much (Hannah)

Hannah:

I am getting smarter and smarter every day, and it is so much fun.  I am learning new words, new sounds, and new everything!  I'm even starting to put two words together from time to time.

Daddy is teaching me numbers below.

And now I know all my letters!

I also learned my name.  I say "Nana" instead of "Hannah", but I say it every time I see a picture or reflection of myself.

 

Mommy took a video of me WHERE I COULD SEE MYSELF on her phone.  This was the coolest experience EVER!

I have also figured out how to work this magnetic fishy game, and WHOA am I excited about that!!

I also discovered how the phone works.  Although I've never actually spoken on a "real" phone before, one day I grabbed our little pretend one and made sure I said hello to everyone, including the tricycle.

I also learned how to climb in a box with my sister.

And put the baby doll hat on my head.

I'm also getting really good at "ring around the rosie"

I am learning all of my animal sounds.  I can't say I'm 100% with them, but learning is fun!

I'm also learning at school.  Here is my "first day of school" picture and I am so happy!!

As a special part of learning, I'm playing with my sister a little.  I can't say that we always get along, but anytime we are being cute with each other Mommy grabs that obnoxious camera to capture that brief moment.  This video below has one of my favorite things - Moo!

Here is another precious moment when we were playing so sweetly together with our little toy house.

Last but not least is this picture of Rebekah giving me a hug and kiss.  I love my sister so much!

Summer of Swimming

Rebekah:

I love to swim and we did a lot of swimming this summer.  I made so much progress and have conquered so many fears.  Hannah did great too.  She was even starting to jump in a little by the end of the summer.

Let's look at our first trip to the pool this summer:

Notice how we are "standing" in this shallow water?  We didn't even swim!!

Now let's compare our first pool trip to one towards the end of the summer.  Now we are actually "swimming"!  I wasn't even using a life jacket (but I had quite a grip on the pool noodle).

 

 

I wish Mommy had a video of Hannah jumping off the big step, but at least you can tell here that she's having fun (sorry for the lawnmower background noise!).

 

Here is my impressive pool noodle technique.  I still don't like getting my head or face wet, but 2015 is looking good!

Grapefest 2014

Rebekah:

A few weeks ago we went to Grapefest to walk around and check out the petting zoo.  This is the first year it's been open on Thursday afternoon and what a total score for us.  Nobody was there, except the goats of course.  We had such a great time!

They had a bicycle area which was a lot of fun.

They even did a "show" and we got to throw all these Velcro balls on this guy's super cool outfit.

 

Hannah wanted a really good seat!