(18 months) Julia loves baby dolls. One day I gave the girls baby food spoons and jars and they spent 30 minutes feeding the babies. Julia remembered the game and when she could get her hand on another spoon she started to feed the baby dolls again. I got her a jar and she would spoon a spoonful of imaginary food into her mouth and then the next one into the baby’s mouth. She was SO excited over the game – the big open mouth is not her encouraging the baby to open it’s mouth. I couldn’t help myself and took some photos.

We had a real picnic of goldfish. The girls were so good to share and take turns. They loved the idea of a snack picnic. I’m surprised they haven’t asked to have another one. There was a little dress-up play before our snack – the jewels and tutu were just leftovers. Fun, fun, fun!!

Emily’s favorite new game is to play picnic. She packs a ‘cooler’ with items and then carrries it to a blanket she has put out. She then opens up the cooler and starts to put out her lunch. Sometimes she invites others to join her. She decides what people are going to eat and assists them with condiments. It has been fun to watch. Julia loves going to the picnics too and helping to unpack the cooler when her sister lets her.

I love to watch the girls play. Julia was having so much fun just pulling things out of her baskets and inspecting each one. She would study them and touch them. When she was done contemplating each one she would go back for another one.

You can’t really tell from this photo, but there are fish on her dress. Fish is her new favorite word. When ever she sees fish she points at them or waves her hands in the air saying ‘ish, ish, ish’. Fun, fun, fun!!

I’m enjoying the little bit of curl her hair still has. I don’t expect her curl to last past the first haircut. It is a sweet little girl thing she has right now.

Emily is fascinated by the game of hopscotch, even though she is not quite coordinated enough to play it herself. We have been practicing hopping on one foot. It is kind of tricky. The other morning she had me draw the hopscotch squares out on her board and we had her barn friends play at it for a while.

Emily is modeling the correct way to wear a headband in this photo. Ashley made her a personalized headband, and to Emily’s delight, she proceeded to wear it as a crown on her head. Then later she was wearing it as a belt on her waist. I’m not sure how a headband could be a toy, but it is a favorite at the house for now.

Julia was playing by herself and found the box of Mrs. Potato Head pieces. She had the best time putting features in the holes and pulling them back out. I had the best time watching her grow and develop in her play. I also love how she sits on the floor. She won’t sit like this for long, but she does it all of the time right now. It is nice when you are very flexible.