Nursery Time!

Recently, we had a ward activity where the festivities included hair braiding by the young women. We had them give Rachel a tiny braid on top of her head, and I found that the tiny rubber band was perfect for holding barrettes in her hair! I am so excited that I can put things in her hair that she can’t take out! It’s surprising how much of a difference a little barrette makes in her hair.

Rachel had her first full week in nursery this past Sunday. She went in without any problem. She may be a bit shy at times, but she doesn’t have stranger anxiety or fear of being away from us. All she needs is something to play with. Other people told us she did well. Although when I changed her diaper the next day, I found bits of crayon in it. That’s why we don’t have her color very much at home. She does, however, do fairly well with pens, which she can’t eat.

We also took Rachel to the temple grounds on Friday. Sadly, we didn’t get any pictures of her there. She had fun running around the little garden areas they have. She really liked the fountain and probably would have climbed in if the bushes hadn’t been in the way (smart move gardeners!)

Speaking of gardens, we’ve been working on ours. The first step has been clearing the garden beds, since they’ve been fallow for at least the past year. While we’ve been outside doing other yardwork, Rachel has enjoyed climbing into the cleared garden bed and playing in the dirt.  Hopefully when I put plants there she won’t terrorize them too much.

Rachel is learning a couple new words. She can say “shoes” and “juice” without my prompting now, and she’ll say “cheese” after I say it. Daniel was so proud of her when she repeated the transformer’s sound “ki-ki-koo-kuh-ki.” We’ve also been teaching her to fold her arms when we pray. I was surprised that it only took a few times before she was doing it on her own, as well as bowing her head (which she only knows from watching us). She’s also learned how to do zippers, so I have to hide my purse from her or she gets everything out.