Super Grandma!

We are so lucky to live by family!  Anna had a "surprise" visitor last week to read a book at school.  Great Grandma did a fantastic job.  You can tell she's had lots and lots of practice.

How lucky we are!!!

(I apologize for the shaky video.  Elizabeth was more interested in grabbing my camera than in listening to the story)

Happy 5th Birthday, Anna!

Happy 5th Birthday to my big girl!

You were so excited to turn 5.  I'm not quite sure what you thought it meant for you but you definitely assigned special meaning to this new stepping stone.  You continue to be full of energy and enthusiasm.    On the other hand, I've still never seen anyone zone out the way you do when placed in front of the TV.

You still love to play with your princesses but will really play with anything you can use for make believe.  You have learned to play so well with Elizabeth and you are a great teacher for her.  In the car the other day she pointed out of the car and said something unintelligible.  You gently said, "I know! I see that, too!"  I asked what Elizabeth had said and you whispered, "I have no idea. I'm trying to just go along."  You are willing to help her do just about anything and I'm not sure what she would do without you!  (This holds some weight coming from someone with a great big sister, myself!)

You are very loyal to your friends and now that we live by your best bud, Sophie, you've had to learn to manage complicated friendships as you get to know others in the neighborhood as well, like your friend, Mya.  But Sophie, Molly and Ben continue to be the center of your social universe.

I love watching you grow and learn and now that you have a precocious toddler sister, I truly appreciate how obedient you are.  You always ask for permission before doing new things.  I very rarely have to ask you to do things more than once.  I can't remember the last time you were truly naughty! The only times you melt down is when we've pushed you waaaaay past your limit such as when you travel or after special events.

I couldn't feel any luckier to have you as a first born.
Happy, Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!


Enjoy the pics of the birthday girl:

One:

Two:

Three:

Four:

Five:

Interview with Anna, Age 5

Interview with Anna, age 5

Here is an interview with Anna, age 5.

What is your:
1) Favorite color? All the colors in the world.
2) Favorite book? The one with Prince Aidan and Shiver.
3) Favorite movie? I think all the movies I can watch.
4) Favorite food? Spaghetti and MacNCheese
5) Least favorite food? Ummmmmmm....I don’t like peppers and mushrooms.
6) Favorite fruit? Apple.
7) Favorite vegetable? Pear.
8) Least favorite vegetable? Squash. I don’t like squash.
9) Favorite TV show? Dino Dan
10) Favorite song? Alejandro (Lady Gaga)
11) Favorite thing to do with mom? Snuggle
12) Favorite thing to do with dad? Snuggle
13) Favorite game to play with friends? I don’t know. There’s still more games waiting for me.
14) Favorite store? The one that I can push the cawts.
15) Favorite sport? Basketball
16) Favorite bible story? Joseph and Mary
17)Favorite place to go? To the library.
18) Favorite restaurant? Red Lahmsters!
19) Favorite toy? I don’t renember.
20) Favorite thing to do with Elizabeth? Play!
21) Favorite drink? Hot chocolate with marshmallows!
22) Favorite thing to do at school? Play with Cayden.
23) Favorite thing to do outside? Play spirit (horse)
24) What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t know yet.
25) What can you do now that you are 5? I can do more big girl stuff.  Cause I’m 5, I know there’s more things I can do than 4 year-olds.  
26) Who is your best friend? All my friends that I can even meet.
27) What is mom's job? Going to work.
28) What is dad's job? Going to work.
29) What does mom always say? I love you!
30) What does dad always say? I don’t know.
31) What is your nickname? Anna Banana
32) What makes you laugh? When daddy plays silly stuff with me.
33) What makes you sad? When somebody hits me and when I have to go from Mya’s and Sophie’s and school (when Courtney does mean stuff to me)
34) What are you thankful for? Of you and the world and even people I don’t know. I’ll give up some of my money for the poor people.
35) What does mom love about you? My smile.

Then I asked if she had questions for me:
Why do you ask me questions a lot?
Why don’t you want to have a haircut?
Why is Mya’s dog named poop?

Sleep Happenings

So the girls can be funny sleepers! Observe:

 It was Anna's turn with the "Friendship Book" for school.  She fell asleep ON it!

 When Elizabeth was too quiet for a bit, I went in to find that she tucked herself into Anna's bed and was helping herself to Anna's "night night water."

I guess it's more interesting than her bed, where her only entertainment is zippers.  

Sometimes even friends snooze when they are over.  Here is Mya, the neighbor girl, who can't quite keep up with Anna!

Boo!

 Elizabeth was not a fan of the goop!

 Guess who was?

 At Anna's school party.

 Two Minis and a Princess Leia trick or treated at Miss Kim's house.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

(P.s. Anna's joke for the year: "Where does the mummy take his mail?  To the GHOST office!")

A Page From her Big Sister's Book!

Now that she's got her own personality, turns out Elizabeth can be just as much of a ham as Anna!

Here she is "turning on" music with her zebra and rocking out:



And who could resist this sweet video of my big girl earlier in the summer:

Elizabeth's Accomplishments!

Says:
Mama (MahMah)
Dada
Lily (YiYi) or (LeDo)
Anna (NaNa)
Thank You (Tee Too- with sign)
Ah-Oh
Yuck (kkkkugh with pointing)
Hi (hiyiiiiii)
Grandma (GiGi)
Her only two-word sentence: Uh-Oh DaDa.  We aren't sure why she says it or what she thinks Dad did, as she says it all the time! Uh-Oh Daddy!

Signs:
Please
Thank You
Kitty
Doggy
All Done
More
Apple
Baby
Bye Bye

She can point to most body parts.
She can clasp the clasps on her car seat and high chair

She loves to brush her teeth and is very indiscriminate about whose toothbrush she uses.  (kkkkugh!)
She will still point to her tummy for using the potty but doesn't seem to catch on that it needs to be BEFORE the deed is done.  We'll keep working on that one!

Enjoy these pics!:

She likes chocolate! 

She's a very helpful mover!

She's very curious!

She loves her sister!

(MOST of the time)

She's a big fan of banana splits bigger than her head.

And her sister is, too!

Anna Silliness

Anna has been so completely wonderful lately.  She has adjusted to the move nicely.  She got over her heart break that her beloved teacher from last year will not be her new teacher and is counting down the days until pre-k starts.

She plays so well with Elizabeth and generally has the patience of a saint with her.  She LOVES doing her new nightly chores because now they involve throwing clothes down a laundry chute.  Maximum excitement.  She still loves the television wayyyyy too much but she appears to learn certain skills, like teaching dance lessons.  Observe:

She still has her cute little kid sayings that she messes up:
"What a heck?"
But mostly she sounds adorable using grown up speak.  Things I heard out of her mouth lately:
"Ohhhhh definitely."
"Huge"
"You have NO idea"

She is as "in charge" as ever and has loved lately reminding me that I don't know everything.  When I claim that I do, she'll counter, "You don't know about GOD!"  (She's stuck on the God thing lately.  Not a bad thing.)

She still is obsessed with her princesses but will play pretend with a stick if necessary.  She could REALLLLLYYYYY use a fenced in yard and a play gym; however, as shown by the following pictures:

Mud Swimming!

I gave her permission to use the water hose to water plants (about the only toy in our new yard at the moment).  When I noticed the water had been on for a while I went out to find this.  The sheer extent of the mud does not come across well in the pictures, but you get the idea.

Regarding the asking for permission thing, despite her strong will, she asks permission for everything.  Even things I wouldn't have thought she needed to.  She is very respectful about checking with me first for things.  I love it!

New Happenings!

Okay folks,
In the past few months, we've moved, sold furniture and are in the process of cleaning out our home.  Oh, and don't forget keeping our two kiddos healthy, happy and silly as ever.

Here's the good news! The Macbook Fairy left a present under my pillow (with a little help from Kipp and Kylie and an little laptop who needed a home).  So once this crazy week is over, look forward to more wonderful and instructive posts on our Hip Happenings!

TMI-Parenting Style

Guess who used the bathroom like a big girl?
 Yep!
She now points to her stomach when she needs to go.  At Michelle's house, I raced her into the restroom, sat her down and she completed the task, so to speak.

Now if we can just get her to point to her tummy BEFORE a #1 instead of DURING we'll be out of the diaper business!

To celebrate, here's a cute video from a month ago celebrating a different accomplishment:

Splashing in the Rain

Here are Anna and Elizabeth splashing in the rain on Sunday:


And here is Elizabeth's sad ending:

Mommy's hugs can always cure head-to-toe mud!

Little Accomplishments

Here are things these rascals can do:

Anna:
Count to 10 in Spanish
Brush her hair all by herself now that she sports a snazzy new haircut
Use her "phone" (Curt's old PDA)
Entertian her little sister and tolerate Elizabeth constantly chucking toys at her in the car
Do gymnastics like a champ
Ride a horse!
She's a pro at helping me make our "health shakes"
She can "write" messages if you say the letters.  If she doesn't remember one, she will go look at the fridge magnets and figure it out!

Elizabeth:
Blow kisses (as of last night)
Sign "more" and "please"
Say "Ah oh"
Play and say "Peek a boo" ("Tee too")
Point to anything she wants (she's a pretty cute, emphatic pointer)
Climb on big sister's bed by herself ("ah oh") or pretty much anything her little legs can manage
Play Pat-a-cake (Although she never completes the verse. She rushes ahead to "Throw it in the oven..." because it's her favorite part!
Nod her head for yes (she nods slowly and deliberately up and down. Very cute)
Climb in and out of the baby pool by herself
Identify all the wonderful and important people in her life
Point out her eyes, ears, eyebrows, nose and mouth (don't ask her to point out your mouth unless you want her to shove her finger in it!)

Macbook fairy!

Dear MacBook Fairy,
See...I have this blog, ya know. And two cute kids that I take lots of pics and videos of.
Problem is, our computer is nestled deep in a corner of our basement, a place I rarely get to visit without laundry in my hands or a minimum of one child in tow on the way to the garage.

So I don't really add stuff to my blog because by the time I can wind my way down to that particular corner of the basement, it is bed time or my brain is fried.
Now, if I could have a computer that can sit upstairs or I could upload stuff to as Curt drove, we visited Granny, the girls played, I waited (for E's nap, the bathroom, etc) I would be much better at all that stuff.

So. If I'm a verrrrryyy good girl, could you leave one under my pillow? Just a little one? Pah-leeeeeze?

Position Available:

Full Time Nanny
Salary: None
Job Description: Follow Elizabeth around. All the time. Please.

I turned my back twice today. Once to unload groceries and once to fold clothes.
First time: I found her on TOP of a 2-story dollhouse on TOP of Anna's bed.
Second time: I found her standing on TOP of the rickety children's table peering into the grandfather clock.

Please respond ASAP. Position immediately available.

P.S. I blame Uncle Russell and his epic toddlerhood climbing feats.

When The Wind Blows and My Hair Flows

Subtitled: Classic Anna

HAPPY 11th Monday!!!

If these pictures look a little off and blurry, that would be because she thinks the can wiggle or fast crawl off the bed.

Observe:

COME BACK HERE SO I CAN TAKE YOUR @&*(@(*&# PICTURE! ;-)

Elizabeth is a hoot! She figured out how to fast crawl and now walking is sooooo last week. Walking was just too much trouble and she's a cautious lady by nature.

Her favorite game is "Drop the Sippy Cup". She always wins that one.

She will occasionally say "Hi" and "Bye" although they sounds more like "Haiiiii" and "Baiiiii"

She will also occasionally say "Mama"

She gives kisses (open-mouthed of course) and will "hug" a stuffed animal by crushing it into her neck.

She definitely lets you know when she is mad and her little version of a fit is just too funny.

She still claps for "more" or for anything she wants. She'll point and clap if you are to fetch something for her highness.

HAPPY 10th Monthday!!!

(Oh maaaaaan! She took my sign.)

(I forgive her because we're so cute together!)

This little lady is still just as sweet as can be!
She has pretty much stopped talking. She will still clap for "more" but is really reluctant to sign "all done". (Actually, she has waged a mini war about it. It's kind of cute. She gets so indignant when we try to get her to say it before she can get down.)
She will bark at the cats (or any other animal). She has become really expressive in other, nonverbal ways with pointing and gesturing. It's obvious she is trying to communicate with us about things in her own little way.

She isn't quite ready to walk but cruises like a champ!