Speaking of Zoe and Coco: When we were visiting, my sister pulled up the first photo on her phone – taken when Zoe was five. I’m a big fan of then-and-now photos, and I just love these.

-M

Our trip to Madison was both quick and mellow. We spent a lot of time hanging out, playing games (Zoe taught us a bunch of new card games and we played old favorites like Kings Corners) and just relaxing. And a big highlight for Zoe was seeing her aunt and Bruno and Coco; she loves dogs (and especially these two), and getting to walk them was a particularly big treat!

-M

Since my mom isn’t up to traveling, and we didn’t want to go too long without seeing her and my dad, we decided to take a quick trip to Madison this month. This time around it was just me and Zoe; it was the first trip we’ve taken on her own, and she was the perfect travel companion.

-M

“I don’t get parents,” Avery said to me out of the blue one day. “You only have time off on vacation and on the weekend?” “Yes, Avery,” I patiently explained. Daddy and I need to work year-round; we don’t get summers off like kids do. “Well, that sucks,” was her response.

-M

I didn’t share this in real time, but here’s a sick-with-flu Avery bouncing around not long ago. Now, just think of the energy she has when she’s not sick!

M

During pick-up at school yesterday I spotted a holiday-themed collage featuring all the students. Avery and I had a hard time spotting Zoe at first (“It’s like Where’s Waldo!” I commented) but once we did Avery bent down and kissed her sister’s cut-out. “Did you just kiss the board?” I asked her. “Yeh, I love her,” she responded matter-of-factly.

-M

It was pretty much a non-stop party at the girls’ school yesterday, with a costume parade, a carnival, and a special holiday program. Here are a few pictures of their day, including one of the third grade class. (She’s hard to see, but Avery – and her antennae – are in the back.)

-M

Everyone is all better (thank goodness) – and just in time for Purim.

-M

Despite flu shots, our family couldn’t escape this season’s bug. Both girls have tested positive for a type of influenza A; Zoe has been sick since Tuesday and Avery since Thursday night. That explains her bad morning on Thursday: She wasn’t feeling well!

The good news is that their doctor said the shots prevented them from being even more sick – and Avery was able to go on Tamiflu to hopefully lessen her symptoms and shorten the length of illness. (Zoe missed the 48-hour window.) In addition, they’ve been pretty great patients. The bad news is that it’s been a long week and their (now low-grade) fevers are lingering. Hopefully they’ll be ready to go back to school sooner rather than later!

-M

Avery had a rough morning yesterday: Within 20 minutes of her waking up she had been sassy and gotten in trouble and was not talking with me. After taking some deep breaths and venting to Q, I sat her down on the couch and asked if she was having a bad morning. (She was.) “Do you want to start over?” I asked, to which she nodded. “Well, you’re too old for fairy dust,” I said, referring to something we did when we wanted to start our bad days over when the girls were little, but she interrupted me with a quiet “No, I’m not.” And so, I sprinkled “fairy dust” on our heads and we went on our way.

It’s nice to be reminded, sometimes, that she’s still a little girl.

-M

The girls are big fans of dim sum and last year they requested that we make it a Valentine’s Day tradition to go. And, so, the weekend after the holiday, we headed to our favorite Chinatown spot and then spent a few hours exploring the neighborhood. Added bonus: It’s also Chinese New Year, and we ran right into a little parade.

-M

For months Zoe has been talking about and practicing a play with her Hebrew class – and the big performance was last Thursday. As described in the school’s newsletter:

This week, fifth graders performed the play Dira Lehaskir (Apartment for Rent), which tells the story of a group of animals looking for a new tenant for an apartment in their building. One prospective renter after another comes to see the apartment but finds fault with one of the current tenants. Audience members, which included parents and students from other grades, were introduced to a mouse, a hen, a cuckoo bird, a pig, a giraffe, a cat, and a dove, among other animals. “At last the dove arrives, bringing with her an eye for the good and restoring an atmosphere of peace,” explained teacher Mira Peretz. “We are learning how we can all live together in peace. In addition, this play beautifully intertwines a lot of the vocabulary students have been learning and practicing. The students worked really hard, and performances like these really help reinforce the learning we are doing in the classroom.”

Below, a bit from the play and a few photos.

-M

After our trip to Chicago (and visit to the American Girl store), Zoe decided that she wanted another doll and, importantly, that she would be willing to spend her own money on it. Her doll of choice, Rebecca, was back-ordered until late February – but we surprised her by placing an order and having it arrive early. Rebecca was waiting for her on her bed the other night, and both girls were pretty excited.

-M

PS- I love that, even though Zoe seems like an older girl in many ways, she’s still into American Girl and still plays make-believe. Hopefully that will last for awhile!

The tree outside our front yard has been filled with gorgeous pink flowers for the last few weeks, and I thought it would make the perfect spot for a Valentine’s Day photo with the girls. The kids weren’t really feeling it, though (I got a lot of photos of them shoving each other), but Avery was happy to cooperate on her own.

-M

Avery’s status as a ham has been long established, but I still had to laugh at a recent after-school activity: While we waited for Zoe to get done with running, she insisted I take her photo while she tried out a series of poses and facial expressions. She even changed up her hair (down, up or braided) and dress (down or tied). We killed a good 10 minutes!

And as for Avery’s favorite look, she told me it was the first (upper left) one. Mine too.

-M