January 3-10

General notes from last week:
-Kaitlyn got three new teeth, bringing her total to eight.
-The cousins played so happily together that Olivia didn't ask to watch a movie at all (typically she asks at least once a day).
-One batch of granola is not nearly enough to feed the crowds that visited, even with other cereal available.  Justine and I made a batch Sunday night and it was gone by Friday morning.

Our friends Antoine and Jasmine came to visit for a few days this past week.  Then Bryan's former roommate Albie dropped in on his way to Columbus on Friday.  My former roommate Robin is stopping by this next Wednesday and then I think we're done expecting visitors for a bit.

Gretchen runs almost everywhere.  I don't remember Olivia running from room to room very much, but perhaps that is because our old house was smaller.  In this house, though, Gretchen has plenty of room to get some speed and she takes full advantage of it.  The pitter-patter of her bare feet hurrying through the kitchen is a common sound.

A few Gretchen things:
-She calls for "anyone" when she needs something.  "Anyone, come find me.  I'm hiding, anyone."  "Anyone, I need help!"
-She's very concerned with which foot is right and which is left.  She also wants to make sure that the right and left shoe (and right and left sock) go on the appropriate feet.  Before she became so obsessed with right and left, though, she would just talk about her "other one foot."  "Do one foot.  And other one foot."

Kaitlyn is big enough to be a nuisance to her sisters.  She pulls herself up on everything now, and her stubby little arms reach remarkably far.  Olivia and Gretchen have taken to playing in the baby cage so that Kaitlyn can't get their little toys.  Kaitlyn's response to this is to stand outside the cage and holler at them.  :)  Eventually she remembers that she has toys of her own, though, and is content to just play in the same room as her sisters.

Olivia thinks our house is named Lima.  Or perhaps she thinks the entirety of Lima is contained in our house (which is ironic, given that we're not even technically IN Lima).

Pictures:
"Mom, there's chickens in our road again!"  The neighbor's chickens have decided that they like our yard better than their own, and visit frequently:

Kaitlyn is jealous of bath time (she already had hers):

One of my Christmas gifts was this owl that holds my glasses:

Kaitlyn, getting into mischief (and getting stuck) on the games shelf:

Olivia wanted me to take pictures of her loving her doll:

Ricky decided to time himself grinding a full hopper of wheat.  A competition was born:

Olivia and Gretchen love the new play dough princess molds from TDKJZ: