Cameo shot of Emerson on the left. I think Laney is worried about being caught on film in the middle seat.

Kaya is really interested in learning to read lately – and she is surprising me daily with her progress. English is quite difficult to read/explain at times – she keeps asking me, for example, why the “E” is not pronounced in words like “game” and “cake.” Not such a simple concept because then you also have to understand that vowels can have different pronunciations based on the context. Spanish seems much easier to learn! Anyway, here’s a cute picture that Grandma Baba sent of the girls reading on MLK day at her house.

This picture was taken a couple of months ago, but I refrained from posting it so I could frame it and give it to the grandmas for Christmas. But now that it’s been gifted, I present to you my beautiful 4-year old Kaya. Please take notice of the large white ribbon on one ponytail and the small red ribbon on the other – a Kaya fashion original. Happy preschool!

We had a semi-legitimate snowstorm here in North Carolina on Friday night with 4-5 inches of actual snow (instead of our usual ice). And it’s stayed cold so the snow is still on the ground 5 days later (although will all melt today with the warm weather). The girls had school cancelled Mon-Weds and we actually went sledding (and by “we,” I mean Tommy, Kaya, and Laney). And many thanks to Joy and Baba who helped watch the girls during the snow days!

Kaya got her cast off a couple weeks ago  – and this makes bath time turn back into a fun and stress-free activity (instead of a lot of screaming, “Kaya! Stop putting your cast in the bath!”). Bubbles make it even better. And the girls are looking (and acting, for better or for worse) more like sisters every day!

We finally got the opportunity to go up to Virginia and visit my dad for New Year’s – he’s got a great house on the lake and the girls love running around his dance floor (which is usually filled with toys thanks to Leighton – Kaya and Laney’s step-cousin). We even got to enjoy the outside when the weather warmed up a bit! And Yoya and Dylan joined us as well. My highlight of the trip was sleeping until 9am on January 1 after a magical morning where the girls found awake Yoya and Dylan and decided to let mommy sleep. Happy New Year indeed!