Valentine's Day, Snow & Walking

Emily is walking. Unaided, entirely on her own. Trying to climb stairs (she falls well, too, we've learned), trying to run, trying to keep up with Sydney. She loves to walk everywhere; sometimes her slowness drives us a little crazy, but we love that she wants to be independent. We're still carrying her up and down stairs, but that will change soon, too, and I fear we'll awake one day to realize she's no longer a baby but a little girl!

Neither Emily nor Sydney is a fan of the snow. We received about 11 inches over the weekend, and I felt sure they'd want to get into the snow, make snow angels and snowmen, throw snow at each other, and generally do all the things I used to do in the snow while growing up in Montana. Instead, they both avoided the snow like the plague, and I'm the one who ended up falling backward into the snow to make the snow angel. They were unimpressed. Emily fell head-first into the snow - she didn't cry, but that appeared to be her cue to want to return to the warmth and relative safety of the house. Sydney tried walking through the snow, but since it reached her thighs, I think she decided the warmth of the house was a pretty good thing, too. So I shoveled and enjoyed the snow on my own.

And today is Valentine's Day. The girls each bought mommy and daddy cards, and we lavished them with a card and a present each. Unfortunately, mommy was in New York all day and daddy teaches late tonight, so we celebrated Valentine's with cards and gifts rather than personally. The girls like the cards and gifts, and Sydney is surely enjoying a school party as I type, but all in all the holiday hasn't yet made the impression of a birthday or Christmas. Poor St. Valentine.