Thursday, February 27, 2014

2.25

Since turning TWO it seems Felicity is changing at turbo speed.
She finally has hair! Beautiful, blonde curls like her daddy...


She's still reading stories...

And starting to tell them too: "Mommy, can you please listen?" "Yes, of course, Felicity." (Did she really just ask me to listen?)
"Once upon a time there was a Mamma Bear, a Papa bear, and a baby in a manger..." A little confusion there, but still a great story :)

One of her N. African teachers declared that our girl is really becoming one of them because she LOVES cheese, baguette, and OLIVES most of all. She once ate so many olives at our friend's house that the dear girl gifted Fliss with whole bottle of homemade Zetoons which made for one happy girl...

Talking: We love the moments we have with her before she goes to sleep. The new big girl bed set-up has been a catalyst for great conversation. Almost every night she says, "Mommy and Daddy, I want to talk. Can we talk?" The first time this happened was when we were staying in a hotel for a conference, all in the same room. She and Dan went on talking and talking...when we finally said it was time to go to sleep she said, "I love you Daddy." It was the sweetest thing, and I think we've discovered one of her love languages: Talking.
Playing: She is definitely coming into her own in the area of play. She is actually playing WITH other kids sometimes instead of just doing her own thing, and she has lots of her own ideas about how things should be done in her little kitchen. Pot pie, pancakes, cake, and pink cookies are her favorite things to "make". We've also done the same animal puzzle so many times that she can actually put pieces in on her own now.





Grateful: Dan was afraid the kitchen we got Fliss for Christmas was too tiny when he got it (on Christmas Eve as he watched the person in front of him buy the last kitchen we had intended to get for Fliss), and in fact, Felicity can actually pick it up and move it around her little room. But one day while playing with daddy, she looked at her kitchen and declared, "I have everything I need!" Bless her heart.


She also has an obsession with knowing "Who got this for me?" She even asks it about everyday things like her breakfast...a great opportunity to teach her gratitude for others and the One who is the giver of every good and perfect gift. The giver of one of our favorite gifts, Felicity.
As this little two-year-old girl asserts herself and tests limits more and more, we know all too well that she's definitely not perfect, but we remind her all the time that we love the way God made her, and she's definitely perfect for us:




Saturday, February 22, 2014

February Fun Day

One of our New Year's goals is to do one fun thing with our family each month. We want to be intentional about discovering this place, building memories as a family, and just having FUN.
In America our fun days were usually spent at a forest preserve, park, or enjoying some yummy food. We're quickly finding out that fun days here have a different feel to them. I still find it hard to believe that just thirty minutes away we can enter a whole new world...well, new to us but ancient, really: 

The remains of a Roman city...


 The temple and aqueducts:


Checking out the Columns:



The Bath House:

Mosaics: 


Amphitheater:

A not-so-ancient donkey:


And Felicity's favorite, spring flowers just right for picking and sniffing:




Thursday, February 13, 2014

Fluent Fliss

Today Felicity's teachers sent us this...
We are so proud of our little Arabic speaker. Keep up the good work Fliss so at least one of us in this family will really know this language :)
Ok, ok...maybe two...
And a shout out to all of our teachers...we could not be learning this crazy language without you! You are Tie-ar-ra!