We've had lots of big changes in our household over the last few weeks. Our girls are growing up quickly and they just don't stop impressing me with their desire to learn. A few weeks ago, Kate started drawing the letter X, as in X marks the spot on the treasure map. She was drawing treasure maps and figured out on her own how to make the X. I decided to build on this, so I bought an activity book that teaches kids how to write letters. At first she was really intimidated, but I walked her through the first few exercises, drawing vertical and horizontal lines, and she was so thrilled by her success she wanted more! We worked through three letters, and she successfully made, on her own, the letters L and T. I decided to quit while we were ahead and introduce more letters on another day.

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Comparing the kids, Part 93 -- my favorite Kate 1-year old sentence "Daddy ... key, out go walk" (New Years 2006-7). So far, Isabel's best ... "Joel ... I want Mommy" (uttered from the bottom of the stairs / gate, October 2008).

I modified a recipe I found online and it was startling how good these turned out. It was like I was eating Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies (well, almost kind of). Maybe I just don't remember what regular flour tastes like anymore. Anyway, these were delicious, and my kids LOVED them.

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My daughter's egg and wheat allergies inspired this recipe. Pancakes were a family tradition for the weekends, and I was afraid we'd have to give it up until I modified a buckwheat recipe I found to suit our needs. This recipe uses buckwheat and oat flour, both of which can be found at Whole Foods or other health food stores. For the eggs, I use Ener-G Egg replacer, which can also be found at health food stores.

Oat and Buckwheat Egg-Free Pancakes
Serves 4

1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer, + 2 TBSP water, beaten in small bowl
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup water
2 TBSP melted butter

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients, stirring until evenly blended. In a small bowl, combine the Ener-G Egg Replacer mixture, buttermilk, water and butter until well mixed. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until flour mixture becomes wet. There will be a few lumps; do not overmix. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Pour the mixture onto a griddle or pan over medium heat using a 1/4 cup measure. When the pancake becomes bubbly, flip with a spatula and cook until done on the other side. The pancake will be darker than usual due to the types of flour used.

What is it with little girls and princesses? They so buy into the movies, it is crazy. We got Sleeping Beauty for Kate this week, and she loves it. In fact, she has watched nothing else but Sleeping Beauty since Tuesday when it came home with us. She knows all the characters' names, and calls me in to show me interesting parts of the movie. She is now afraid of the dragon, but can't keep her eyes off of it. She remarked on how everyone in the kingdom woke up when Sleeping Beauty got her true love's kiss. Maybe this explains why she and Owen were kissing at school the other day.

Isabel is having a blast with her new walking skills. She is up to 6 steps in a row, and now surfs around the walls of the house, making short 3-5 step transitions when necessary. She is talking up a storm, with so many words I can't keep up. She is really jumping by leaps and bounds with her communication skills, too. She wanted to nurse this afternoon, and told me "I want nur, I want nur." When I told her we would nurse in a little while, she started pulling the sleeve of my shirt up, and then took the sling, which I use as a nursing cover, and started pulling it over her head, repeating, "I want nur." It was like she was saying, "Can't you see I'm willing to go under this thing for some milk?" Yesterday she started saying, "I want sit!" while tapping on the couch or the chair in the living room. Then when I helped her into the chair, she said, "Big girl!" Of course, as soon as I turned my back, she toppled out of the chair onto the floor. Fortunately she is made of rubber and doesn't seem to have even a bruise.

Kate is on a dress kick. Pants are out, dresses are in. She won't even wear skirts because they all fall down, elastic waist or not. She is just too skinny. She loves cotton twirly dresses. She likes to spin around and watch them flow. I guess this goes back to the princess thing? They all wear dresses except for Jasmine.

We decorated our yard for Halloween. That night, someone stole a bunch of our decorations and removed light bulbs from our orange strand of lights. Sometimes I hate New York.