She's at it again.

I'm a sucker for natural light. Our living room pours delicious rays in the morning hours. Couple that with our nice chocolate walls in there, and you've got the makings for lovely photos. After several minutes of pleading and dancing, I even succeeded in coaxing Connor, my shrinking violet, from his lens-phobic shell. Mia needed no encouragement.

Take a Letter, Please

We are now learning to write in our household!

...Steve's a little behind the rest of us, but he's practicing a lot. He's hoping to master his own name by the end of the month...

One of the most miraculous and worthy investments in our playroom appears to be the revered Aqua Doodle. Connor can't get enough. It was a Christmas gift from his Uncle Jason, and on it he has drawn his first recognizable face, complete with ears and hair, and now his fledgling attempts at letters. Last night he'd write a letter and then get up and do a celebratory dance. Soon he was scrawling out simple words all by himself, like "papa," "Mia" and "poop" (Thanks a lot, Daddy, for that last one. They're going to love my kid in preschool next month).

I raided the dollar bins at Target this morning and found Connor some Disney workbooks for practicing writing. Here's his very first solo attempt at his name in pencil:



And just so Princess Mimi doesn't feel left out after Brother's been the subject of three consecutive blogs, here's a peek at her big day. Click on the mosaic to enlarge:

Well, buckle my swash.

"Arrr! I'm a pirate! I'm gonna warrrter the garrrrden!" ---Connor, while playing outside with his toy sword and watering can.