Shrimp!

We're just plugging along at the homestead. Elaine continues to progress and not progress. She's progressing with her eye-hand coordination and her vocalizations. She's not progressing when it comes to eating from a bottle. Her insistence on eating just the one way has been trying on the parents. She is fortunately nearing the time where we can get her started on solid foods, which will hopefully open some alternative avenues so she can give her mom a rest. One Elaine's favorite activities right now is to grab her left foot with her left hand. She hasn't mastered the other three hand-foot combinations yet--but that one she has done perfectly. Elaine can roll from her back to her side and vice versa. In the mornings she sometimes practices a roll on the floor with me. She is continuing to teethe. Every couple of days consists of her chewing and sucking on her fist and some toys. She can really shove that fist far in her mouth

Meredith loves soccer at preschool on Thursdays and playing with Cate and Junior on most evenings. Today she drew a picture of her playing with her two good friends. Earlier this week we went for a walk with her friends down the block. Three 3.5 year-olds have very interesting conversations. They collected sticks and talked about what they were going to be when they grow up. Meredith's plans entail being a mommy and a lion tamer/trainer at the zoo. She'll live and work in St. Paul and have a boy and a girl.

A recent conversation with Meredith at dinner this week:
Mer: What's for dinner?
Parent: Shrimp!
Mer: I don't like shrimp.
Parent: You used to like shrimp. You ate it up last time.
Mer: Well I don't like it now.
[time lapse]
Mer: I don't like shrimp.
Parent: It'd be nice if you took a bite of it.
Mer: Okay. [grumble]
[takes a bite]
Mer: I like the shrimp!

Meredith proceeds to eat up the shrimp. The next night we use the leftover shrimp in another meal and have the exact same conversation again.


Sisters!


Blueberry picking with mom. Meredith has high standards for which berries get picked.


Elaine's special seat allows her to see across the room.


Toy just entering or leaving Elaine's mouth.


Meredith's drawing from preschool. It is our backyard. As she explained it to me, the fence surrounds the picture. The orange on the top-right is the fence gate. Meredith and her friends are the blue and two yellow items in the middle. And the orange and yellow on the left are Meredith's parents watching her play with her friends.