Forks and Other Motor Skills
Child with Fork.

Curriculum of the Day: Tools


Human development amazes me. Without any prodding from us, the girls are constantly pushing themselves to master new skills. It’s as if they’re hard-wired to look at everything as a lesson to learn or an obstacle to overcome. Straws: As soon as they were handed their first plastic top container with a straw stuck through the hole, their main objective in life was to pull it out and stick it back in again, and again, and again. The safety clips on their high chairs: For weeks, Lyra focused on clipping them together by herself. She would stand by the chair and futz with the two ends, until one day—click! And did she rejoice? No, she cried out for us to unclip it so she could do it again. Soon her sister was in the act and the two of them would stand by their high chairs after dinner just pushing those ends together so they would click. Mom or Dad would undo them and the process started all over again.

These last few weeks have been all about forks. There are so many ways to use a fork: There is stabbing the food and putting it straight into your mouth; there is picking up the food with your fingers and sticking it onto the fork, then sticking the fork into your mouth; and there is stabbing food onto the fork, then taking it off with your fingers and putting it into your mouth. At the end of the meal, there is always an opportunity to feed the dogs with the fork. Every week, they seem to get more and more fork accomplished. Lately, they’ve learned that turning the fork with food just resting on top puts it on your lap rather than in your mouth. Stabbing with the wrong end is funny, but not good if you’re still hungry. We’ve attempted to show them eating with forks by example. Sometimes, they take bites off of our forks, but more often than not, they want to do it themselves. They shake their heads and say “nah” if we try to help them. All we really need to do is step back and let human nature work its magic.




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Too Cute Peekaboo




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How Does Our Garden Grow
Curriculum of Day: Healthy Food

Despite the heat, our garden is growing like a jungle. I’ve read that hot, humid weather is hard on humans but great for vegetables. We’ve got the garden to prove it. The lettuce is growing like mad. Our nanny, Clory, recently added a bunny to the family (we named her Laptop) and she’s getting plenty of fresh greens. The beans are flowering, and the tomatoes already have several little, green nubs. The steamy weather is also bringing on the weeds, so we’ve had several hard sessions pulling out unwanted volunteers and remulching. The girls love to walk up and down the rows and Nell the Cavalier Spaniel is helping by eating overgrown grass. We keep the big dogs out since they have a habit of trampling everything in sight.   

Here’s a film of our garden journey so far:




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Annie answers your Sesame Street questions.
Dear Annie,

I really enjoy reading your blog and seeing your twin girls grow up in posts and pictures. Lyra and Ripley are so adorable! I am a soon-to-be mother of twins myself. How did you feel when you found out you were having twins? What is your favorite thing about raising twins?
 
Sincerely,
Shana
Brooklyn, NY


We were thrilled. We had been trying to get pregnant for many years and had several unsuccessful IVFs (in-vitro fertilizations). When we saw those two heartbeats on the sonogram screen, we were overwhelmed with joy and fear. It was suddenly very real, and there was no going back. Two college tuitions at the same time—yikes! We have many favorite things about raising twins. One of the most interesting is watching them develop side by side. They’re developing at their own paces, one turning over first, another pulling up first. They have very different personalities, so it’s lots of fun to see how each one reacts to something new. At first, Ripley hated swings and Lyra loved them. Now, they both like them. Lyra was the first to take to books. But now Ripley is starting to sit through an entire reading of a book without rolling away and grabbing a toy. We’re eagerly anticipating what each one’s first words will be. Good luck with your twins! 
No Child Left Clean
Curriculum of the Day: Nature and the Great Outdoors

Lyra and the Letter “M” near the infamous mud puddle.
Lyra and the Letter “M” near the infamous mud puddle.

In a recent curriculum seminar, one of the experts told us her philosophy about getting children outside and away from the indoor technology that is giving everyone vitamin D deficiencies. She called it:

“NO CHILD LEFT CLEAN.”

We are embracing this philosophy with Lyra and Ripley as you will see in “M is for Mudpuddle:”




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What's your favorite thing you've ever written for Sesame Street?

Cynthia
Phoenix, AZ


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