Radiant beams from Thy holy face

This morning I decided to add a little structure to the drawing space on the coffee table and suggested Harper might want to practice writing her name. She agreed enthusiastically. So, I said, help me spell it out. She writes an 'L' facing the wrong way. Then she starts on the 'I'. But we're going to write your name, I reminded her. Yes, she sighed patiently, I'm spelling Lightning. I tried to convince her that Harper was much easier to write AND that it contained absolutely no sneaky silent letters. But she insisted. So I wrote both names down and took Hudson for a diaper change and when we got back in the room, this is what she had accomplished:

Harper had been scratched through, Lightning had been underlined in red, and a happy little balloon man was celebrating. No actual letters had been practiced.

We went to the Museum of Natural Science on Wednesday. The butterfly atrium really is wonderful. Here are the girls marveling. Abby is showing amazing gentleness and restraint for a 2 year old. Hudson was off splashing in a puddle. Izzy and Harper had worn their brightest dresses in hopes that many butterflies would alight upon them. Today I dug through bins and washed some tiny baby clothes so that Helena will have something to wear if she decides to come early. Harper spent lots of time choosing things for her puppy to wear. Hudson spends lots of time doing this:

Boy loves his thumb and his blanket. They used to be confined to the crib but he's been needing additional solace, apparently. Perhaps he's figuring it all out.