February 23 – April 4, 2017

I’m sorry it’s been a while! We’re usually so busy dancing with them that we can’t stop to take photos.

Mina is getting more interested in books now, though she still rarely sits still long enough to listen to a whole one. Usually she just prefers to flip through and look at the pictures by herself.

What a cutie, huh?

Linus has a bunch of magnets he can move around on this little board. He gets pretty upset if Mina tries to move them.

Monkey face! With a rooster tail. His hair is out of control. One of these days I’ll get around to cutting it again.

We’ve convinced the kids that “ice cream” is a fruit juice popsicle. They eat at least two every day, usually huddled under a chair like this.

You’re going to see a lot of photos of the Museum of Science this time. I think we went once every weekend in March! Here are the kids watching the big kinetic sculpture.

And Mina checking out the planetarium’s exhibit on light waves.

MOS does a good job of creative exhibits that give little guys something to touch and interact with while giving them something to think about. Here Linus is studying how water moves.

We even had a couple of weekends when we went to the Museum of Science on Saturday and the Museum of Natural History on Sunday! One section of the Natural History Museum has whale skeletons hanging from the ceiling. We’d been there several times and then suddenly Linus decided that it wasn’t safe and they were going to fall. He absolutely refused to go into that wing and was furious when Yen went in there. On the next visit, we had a long talk about how strong the ropes are that hold them up. Luckily there’s a catwalk at the top, so we were able to take him up there to show him the big hooks. After that I held him in my arms on his back so he could look up at the skeletons. Once he overcame his fear, he spent a good 20 minutes making me go back and forth between the various skeletons while he studied them. We talked about the baleen, and the difference between whales that eat that way and ones that have teeth. He even pointed out the bones of the flippers, and he speculated to Yen that they help the whales swim. Such a little scientist, and such a good example of what overcoming fear of the unknown can lead to.

He really loves the bug exhibit, and seems to have gotten over his mild fear of spiders. Each time we go now, he wants to sit by the tarantula cage until he sees it move.

Meanwhile, Mina just wants to sit under things. Here she’s under an exhibit table at the museum. But even at the store she finds tables to sit under.

Linus often insists that if Mina gets a barrette, we all get them.

These two cuties are getting along pretty well. Sure, he still pushes her down and takes her toys sometimes. And she retaliates by grabbing handfuls of his hair. But they’re good about kissing and making up.

I guess Mina had just  gotten up from a nap because she was still wearing her little starfish – that’s what we call the wearable blanket (because the babies look like little starfishes when they wear them). Of course when she walks around in it, she looks more like a penguin.

It’s worth noting that this article won’t become a family hierloom. She’s slowly tearing a hole so she can access her fingers.

I’ve grudgingly admitted to Yen that it looks as if we got through two babyhoods without installing baby gates at the top of the stairs. Mina is very good at climbing up and down now.

She hated this outfit! I’m not sure why. She really seemed to be saying, “I look ridiculous!”

Itsy bitsy!

Mina loves going through Yen’s wallet and taking out the choice items.

Who does yoga while eating?

Linus is very organized in his playing. He constructed this train so he could push them all at once.

Mina’s newest hobby is fitting into her little toy boxes (which are actually recycled seaweed salad boxes).

Most afternoons the kids get to have an avocado shake after their naps. They’re pretty good at sharing…

I like this photo because of the little crab bottom, but also because you can see that Mina is gaining on Linus’s height! She’s still a shorty, though.

Two can play that game…

Remember Linus’s old bouncy seat? He sure does. He kept telling me he wanted to be a baby, and then he’d crawl inside.

Then Mina got into the act with the seat too, and I got nervous that they’d hurt themselves. So it’s gone to live with another baby.

Not sure where these little cars came from, but Linus simply adores them. It’s a relief that Mina is (mostly) past her putting-things-in-her-mouth phase. Linus is allowed to have a lot more toys now.

And of course you need a purse to carry all of your cars in!

Back at the museum and learning about wind power!

We discovered a new section of the museum that just covers math. Linus really loved it.

Here’s fire marshal Mina. I hope the fire department has another open house soon, because she’s about to destroy this hat – from overuse.

I guess she just likes hats!