Riley and Avery

Don't you just love that face? Riley dressed herself that day and did her hair too. You can't see, but there are several pretties in it.

So day number two with the new computer finds me searching in vain for a version of iPhoto that I don't have to pay for. If worse comes to worse, I'll just have to go to our local apple store and see what they can do for me. Like give me free software? Wishful thinking, I know.

The time change really messed me up today. Naps came later than I had anticipated and left no time for getting out before Rudi comes home and I have to cook. Riley and Avery are both taking shorter naps now, too, so that's a lot of fun. Usually it's only for an hour, but sometimes I can get 90 minutes out of them. It's a lot better than when Riley was taking no naps at all. She probably takes a nap every other day now. That'll have to do. Until she's a teenager and I'll complain about her taking too many naps. A parent can't win.

Avery is really trying to talk more and more now. Sometimes she says things and I'm not sure if I heard correctly, but she doesn't repeat. She did say "yes" the other day, several times, but hasn't since. Who knows. At least she hasn't said "no" yet. I remember when Riley first started saying "no." She experimented with it for a long time, perfecting it to herself, before she used it on me. The whole process was really cute. She loves shoes, so I guess that runs in the family. She's also getting mighty particular. Another demanding one. At least her general personality is sunny, as opposed to Riley's thunderous disposition.

We just went out in the yard while the pictures are downloading and waiting for Rudi to come home. Riley climbed the tree outside and said she was a squirrel. She told me to touch her and then bit me. She said "I'm a nature squirrel and you should never touch a nature squirrel because they are mean and evil." Then we came in and she writhed on the floor, saying "look, I'm dying. A nature squirrel can't live where there are no trees and there are no trees in here!" The kid sure has an imagination.

We are planning a trip to Denver tomorrow. We are going to see the Butterfly Pavilion and Insect Center. I hear that they have tarantulas to hold and so forth. And they release new butterflies twice a day and that is supposed to be cool to see. And then over to the Tattered Cover Bookstore, our trusty Denver hang-out.

So I've been searching high and low, all over town, for the March/April issue of Mothering Magazine, to no avail. They are usually on the shelf late the month before. I don't know what's going on, but it's really annoying me. Don't they know that when a mag only comes out every other month, people anticipate it extra special a lot? Argh...

No matter what I try to teach and model for Avery, she learns more and more from Riley. I see her doing things that I thought were annoying when just Riley did it and now they're teaming up on me. For instance, they both like to use the stack of cloth diapers as blankets for their babies (don't we have enough actual blankets?) and I end up cleaning them up several times a day. She also learned to color on herself, courtesy of Riley's corruptive ways. Luckily, they are both on daily soaking regimens and I can usually get most of the marker off, although I'm not supposed to use soap on them for a while, so it can get tricky sometimes.

Try to ignore the wretched face I'm making in this picture, it was a really sunny day. So this is the Hmong-style carrier. I didn't do the greatest job tying it on this time, but I'm still new at it, I can only get better. I definitely made it too long. I'll have to see how long it is when I wear Riley and cut off some of the bottow and hem it up...
Oh my goodness, this is a long blog...