Spring is Here, Hurray! Hurray!

so, spring isn't exactly here, but things feel like they're at least thawing a bit. We have had a few blessed days with temperatures in the 40's and even one day that hit upper 50's. Sounds a little pathetic, but you have to have lived in New England to appreciate how glorious those days are. Suddenly there is life in places and things and people that were starting to really feel dead. We drink those days in by just being outside, even if we're still a little cold, it feels so good to breath fresh air that doesn't freeze your insides out. And boy do these kids LOVE it. I had to pry them away from the park this day.

Things we love about Hazel lately:
1. She makes great faces.
2. She comes and wakes me up in the morning with a big hug and snuggles in next to me and hands me Charlotte's Web and we read together until we hear charlie crying out "mama!". I can't tell you how much I love that. So much better than waking up to a crying baby.
3. She plays so well by herself. It's great, I get so much done during Charlie's nap as she busily entertains herself reading (not actually reading), coloring, drawing, doing her princess leap pad, taking care of various babies and stuffed animals. I love it.
4. She is GREAT playing with Charlie. Just this past week these two have really learned to love playing together. They laugh and laugh at who knows what and I feel so incredibly happy that finally all this work of having them so close together is paying off.
5. She has great questions, instead of just asking "why" about everything she actually asks real questions. It's so fun to try and explain things to her and show her pictures of things on the Internet. I like that part of parenting.
Charlie and Hazel spent a good part of this glorious day at the Kruckenbergs while I did a photo shoot. They had a great time picking neighbors crocuses (sorry about that) and making mud pies. Charlie actually decided to try his and spent most of the afternoon with dirt on his tongue....yuck! Josh introduced us to our favorite spring poem last spring and while I retaught it to Hazel, that little amazing Charlie picked it up. I seriously can not believe how verbal this kid is. He is Mr. Chatterbox lately, especially when Hazel (his mouthpiece) isn't around. He just talks and talks and talks. He says the cutest things (which I need to write down) with a ton of expression. Although he knows a million words and can put them together quite nicely, his favorite word is "bump." Yes....bump. He says his name is Charlie Bump and whenever he doesn't know what to say, or wants to be really funny he just says "bump." Weird, but seriously adorable kid.

Here are some video's of Charlie's poem. The first is his first try....pretty darn good and pretty sweet. The second is when he starts to go "bump" on us.....I love how Hazel is laughing at him....quite encouraging. The third is after he'd done the bump a million times and finally I said I was going to have Hazel do it.....he burst into tears and then wanted to prove that he was big enough to say the whole thing.

And, in case you can't understand what he's saying, here are the words to the poem:

The Earth has come to life today,
Spring is here, hurray, hurray!
The flowers are happy, they wave with delight.
The Sun shines bright, with all her might.
So fly little fairy! Fly Fly Fly!
Fly through the meadow and touch the sky.
When you get where you're going, remember this day,
The day the earth came out to play.