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Anna!

Kate skis

Kate has been asking if she could learn to ski. When she's asked this, she's been referring to downhill skiing. Dave and I think she may need to wait until next year, especially since the skating attempt was short lived, and not especially adventurous.

On, Monday, though, my mother and I let her try cross country skiing. She did wonderfully. She actually took right to it! She got herself to move forward, and even turn, really well, and she didn't mind it at when she fell a couple times.

We are so proud of her!

Grandma Gebler's pocket change

Yesterday we had a great visit with my Grandma Gebler. She loves spending time with the girls and they both love her. Anna sat still on her lap longer for her than she's sat for me any time in the six months.

At one point, Kate saw some change on the coffee table and asked about it. Grandma told her she could have it. Kate took it and explained to Grandma, “I’m going to put this in my Piggy Bank, and when I have a lot of money, I’m going to give some to people without enough money…”

“Yes,” I jumped in to clarify, “Kate’s going to give some of her money to charity, save some for college, and spend some on something she wants, like a book.”

“…and a wrapping paper cutter,” Kate added.

My Grandma, probably baffled by the wrapping paper cutter, focused back on the donation to charity. “Oh,” she said to Kate, “you’re going to give some money to people who need it. That’s a great thing to do, because some people don’t have as nice of house as you, or as much to eat.”

“Right,” Kate said, “So I’ll give some of my money to them, but I’ll only give it to people without babies.”

Neither my grandma nor I said anything for a second. Then I said, “What did you say, Kate?”

Kate repeated, “I’ll only give my money to people who don’t have babies.”

I wondered for a second what Kate had against babies, and asked, “Why, honey?”

She looked up at me, and then said, somewhat exasperated, “Because change is a choking hazard!”

Aunt Diana & "Nunky" Nathan

Last week my sister Diana and brother-in-law Nathan visited for a couple days. We had a great time, and Kate and Anna both loved playing with them.

Kate's alphabet

While we were waiting for our food at Friday's last night, Kate was looking for certain letters on the kids’ menu. She circled a few M’s, then paused. Looking closely at her menu, she commented, “This ‘M’ is a little upside down.” I explained it was really a “W.” She looked for a few seconds for another “M,” and when she couldn’t find one, she flipped the menu over and circled what was now an “M.”

Kate's first time out on the ice

Kate and I had such a special outing together yesterday. We’d gotten her ice skates for Christmas. We’d planned to skate at the rink a couple blocks from our house, but it’s not open, so Kate and I went downtown. It was so much fun. The first time she started skating, with me holding her under her arms, she exclaimed, “I’m skating! It’s my first time skating!” She was actually pretty brave. She let me help her along, not minding if I went fast, and she did try it on her own a little. Longevity wasn’t her strong suit, though. We only went around the rink one and a half times before she wanted the hot chocolate I’d promised her.


So, we went into the ice “shack” (I use the term shack very loosely; it’s a Starbucks!) and drank our hot chocolate and hot vanilla out of fancy grown up cups, with covers and those wraps around them.

After our break, we went around the rink one and a half more times before she decided she wanted to leave. She didn’t get much beyond walking to me from three feet away, but I was secretly worried she wouldn’t even let go of my hands. We definitely spent longer sipping our drinks than skating, but it was a great time together.

After we got our skates off, we walked around downtown a little, looking at the lights. We walked to Cathedral Square and enjoyed the lights there. I carried her on my back some of the way, and we just talked and had a great time. It was great just to be out together with nothing to do, just the two of us. We commented, “Just the K’s (Kate and Kristal) are out today.”

Anna's whistle

Anna loves to put things in her mouth. And she loves to make noise.

She hit the jackpot with this whistle Kate got in a goodie bag at a birthday party. She loves to hold that thing in her mouth and make it whistle, whistle, whistle, with every breath, in or out.

Advertisers' Target

Every time Kate watches Dora, several times a week, advertisements come on at the end. I always rush to flip them off, for fear she’ll soon decide she just has to have a swimming doll, a peeing doll, cars that drive on the wall, or the dreaded Moonsand. It hadn’t happened, and I was always grateful.

Well, today broke that streak of luck. Kate succumbed to the advertising. She was not immune. She has now decided she needs one of the products she saw advertised.

We were at the project table, and she was cutting “circus hats” (triangular pieces of paper she decorates by gluing on little pieces of paper that she’s cut out). She commented on her scissors, “You bought me this scissors so I could learn to cut, right? If you want to cut, you need to use a scissors… or a knife. Unless it's wrapping paper. There’s a special cutter for wrapping paper. I saw it on T.V.”

Then, later, we were talking about the change she’s saving in her piggy bank. I told her after she gets enough money, she can give some to charity, save some for college, and then buy something she really wants. I told her she could think of something that she really wanted to have. You guessed it, what she really wants is a Scotch wrapping paper cutter.

I can see the executives in the board room now: “Our target audience will be women, ages 30 – 50… and Kate, a three-year-old in Wisconsin.”

Kate vs. the flamingo

When Kate went to the doctor for her three year check, the doctor asked her to stand on one foot. She struggled, so the doctor told her, “Stand on just one foot, like a flamingo.” Kate couldn’t do it very well.

Yesterday morning, she was looking at a book and found a picture of a flamingo. She said, “I can’t stand on one foot like a flamingo.”

I said, “You’ll learn.”

She thought for a second and said, “OR, a flamingo could just learn to stand on two foots!”

What have I done to her?

My poor little Kate. I don't know what I've done to her. It started when we'd babysit my friends' sons while they were in diapers. When Kate would inquire about the different parts in there, I'd just casually explain. I didn't want to make it seem dirty or embarrassing.

But now it's a topic of conversation much of the time...

A couple weeks ago, Kate was talking about how boys had penises. I, for some reason, volunteered that it wasn’t just boys, but any boy animal, too. She thought this was a little ridiculous, because, as she told me, boy monkeys didn’t have penises; they had tails.

Then on Tuesday, Kate was talking about Dave, whose middle name (to his dismay) is Enos. I was pretending I didn’t know who she was talking about, so she clarified it was, “Dave Penis.” I told her, after I stopped laughing long enough to talk again, that his middle name was actually Enos.

I think she missed my correction, because today she came up with a doozy.

She was talking about Dora's monkey Boots. She told me that Boots' middle name was “Penis Tail.” I had thought she was being vulgar, but she explained that it’s like Daddy’s middle name but he's a monkey.

I suppose that makes perfect sense. Dave has a penis, so his middle name is penis. Monkey’s have tails instead of penises, so Boot’s middle name is “Penis Tail.”

Oh, Kate.

Our Girls

The girls get along so well. Anna thinks Kate is the coolest big sister in the world, and Kate thinks Anna is pretty cute and finds her antics amusing.

Just as I was writing this, here is what I heard coming from the playroom:

Clink, clank, clink...

Kate: "Woh, Daddy, Annie is making a mess over there!"

Dave: "She is."

Kate: "She's a crazy baby!"

Kate's thoughts

In the check out line at Pick 'N Save, there were some Packer beer cozies for sale. They had them displayed around cardboard beer bottles. Kate said, “Mommy, look! Why are those beers dressed like Packers!?”

Kate commented the other day when Anna was being silly at breakfast, “Anna is so weird.” I subtly corrected her saying, “She is silly isn’t she?” “Yeah,” Kate replied, “and she’s weird, too!”

Self Portrait, by Kate

Kate drew a self-portrait yesterday that was both specific and imaginative. Here's how she described it to Dave and me. "This is a picture of me, but I have a trunk, because I'm dressed up like an elephant, and I have a penis, because I'm dressed up like Daddy!"

Bath time

I love bath time. It's such a wonderful feeling to wrap a freshly cleaned baby in a towel and snuggle her close.

Hilarious big sister

I was feeding Anna at the table, and Kate was having a snack next to her.

Kate was holding a stuffed dog. She’d move her dog toward Anna and say, “Woof, woof,” and Anna would laugh harder than I've ever seen her laugh before.

Anna never got sick of it. Each time it was like the best joke Anna had ever heard. It was the funniest thing to watch them interacting.

I didn't get the camera until they'd been at it for quite some time. Anna was hardly able to stop laughing, even in between Kate's "woofs."

I thought it was impossible to watch this without laughing myself, so I thought I'd share it.

Happy Birthday, Kate!

This posting was delayed by what can best be described as a plague that hit our house, and, very unfortunately, the houses of all our guests who came to celebrate Kate's birthday. Kate was a real trooper, surviving a bad stomach flu with much more grace and patience than either of her parents. But, enough about that!

Kate's birthday celebration was a lot of fun. It was a small gathering, designed by Kate herself. Kate had tons of fun playing with her friends at her pajama party, complete with cupcakes and pinata.

Have her cake and eat it, too!

We were at the grocery store today. It had been a long day shopping, so when I saw samples of cake, I gave Kate a piece. After a while, I saw Anna putting something in her mouth. It looked like cake. I asked, “Kate, is Anna eating your cake?” “No,” she replied, “it’s all gone.” When I watched closer, Anna was carefully picking some of the many crumbs off of Kate’s coat and eating them. I walked to the front of the stroller and saw that she’d found so many good crumbs that she had chocolate cake all over her own face! She must have thought, “Just try to deny me cake!”

Fant'sy Football

The other day, Dave was working on updating his fantasy football team roster and Kate was with him. She asked him, “Daddy, can you tell me who’s on your Fant’sy Football team?” He was excited at her interest, because he began to tell her his players and their position. After listening for a while, she thoughtfully replied, “Which one’s the prettiest?”

"Dere!"

Anna has started pointing to things on request and declaring, "Dere!" [There!] in answer to our questions. It's adorable. She's getting so big!

Kate gets the floor...or, uh, keyboard?

Yesterday Kate got a digital camera from her Grandma and Grandpa for her birthday. She wanted to share some of the photos she's taken and write about them, just like her Mommy does.

So, here's a little post from Kate:

"Thank you, Grandma, for a nice Dora for Kate."
"Thank you, Kate, for sharing Dora with Mommy."
"Mommy is helping Dora stand."

"This is Kate's Boots pinata."
"The snow fell on the ground."
"I already told Mommy what to write about the table!"

Grandma, if you read this, can you call me?!

That's all from my little Blogger!

Big sister

Kate got a balloon at Trader Joes. Anna saw it and desperately wanted one of her own. Her unsuccessful attempt at crawling up Kate's arm in an attempt to grab it was followed by disappointed sobbing.

As I got the girls into the car, I explained to Kate just how much Anna wanted her balloon, and she said Annie could hold it on the ride home. I told her she was the best big sister ever, and handed the balloon to Anna in her carseat.

When I came back to strap Kate in, she told me that she'd even taken the balloon off her wrist so Anna could hold the string, too. I said, "Honey, I can't even tell you how nice that was!"

She responded, "Please, Mommy..."

I looked at her for a second, confused.

Kate finished, "Please, tell me how nice it was."

That dog...

Well, if anyone was wondering what a diarrhea filled diaper looks like after being shredded all over the carpet by an 80 pound idiot of a golden retriever, you can ask me.

Don't worry, I won't post a picture.

Everytime I start to think, "Mason's really not that much trouble," he proves me wrong.

Now, let's just hope Mason doesn't give himself diarrhea from his morning snack.

Cousins

Kate and Anna had so much fun playing with their two cousins, Adam and Laura, on Thanksgiving. Although Laura was too little to actually play with them, Anna sure tried (see second picture). We adults just had to sit the four of them down for a picture. Unfortunately, we chose to do so when Kate and Adam were much overdue for a nap. The girls all in purple.

Anna's Three Teeth

We can usually only see Anna's bottom two teeth. But, I caught her mid-laugh to get this glimpse of her new top one!

Two funny things from September...

A picture from September

I opened my journal for Kate and Anna before. While I was scrolling down to write something current, I spotted these two stories from September 22nd. They made me laugh all over again, so I thought I'd share them.

From September 22, 2008

Note: Anna was seven months old at the time.

"Friday we were shopping at Trader Joes. I had the double stroller, because we’d parked kind of far away. Kate was hungry, so I’d told her we’d have a snack of the samples. She got some mango lemonade and was happy about that, but the food there was bean dip labeled “SPICY.” I gave her the chips and told her I didn’t think she’d like the dip, because it was a little too spicy, but she insisted she wanted the dip. She ate a little and washed it down with the lemonade. I got too many groceries, so I picked up Anna and used her seat for more groceries. I was having a hard time pushing the stroller with one hand, so I asked Kate to get up and then I put Anna in her seat. We were just about done shopping when I ran into a lady I’d known a little from Kate's gymnastics class in January. She commented on how Anna must be the baby I’d been pregnant with then. I said she was getting pretty big and turned the stroller for her to see her. When I looked down at her, she was sitting there with bean dip smeared all around her mouth and all over her cheeks, holding the empty sample container. Her eyes were watering, her nose was running into her mouth, and she looked up at me and just let out a couple long airy coughs, as if to say, 'Wow. That was spicy.'

I’m trying to remember the order of solid food introduction… rice cereal between 4-6 months, followed by orange and yellow vegetables, and then spicy bean dip??

The other day, I was telling Dave a story in the car. I’ve been trying to be careful not to let Kate know if I talk about her. She knows how to spell her name and recognizes it's her if I say 'older daughter' or 'firstborn,' so I’ve been trying to be more vague. So, I was explaining, 'It was a little hard, because one child was a little uncooperative, and the baby was…' All of the sudden, there’s an outburst from the backseat, 'That’s me! The uncupertive child! That’s your older daughter, Kate!'"

Kate loves Dora

Since Dora celebrates big events with a pinata, Kate delared we needed one for her upcoming birthday. She chose a "Boots" pinata. We spent the last week or so making it. We nearly had a disasterous cave-in when I chose to do the final layer of papier mache using paper towels, to give us a clean finish. Although I can't say for certain that the candy inside won't be coated with papier mache gunk, I'm happy to say it is finished.

Anna has started pointing!

Dave and I admitted to each other last night that we had both harbored a secret fear that Anna's "second child neglect" would lead to her being slower than Kate to pick up on things.

We were both thrilled when we learned Anna could point out the kitties in Goodnight Moon. I said, "I think this is even earlier than Kate learned to do it!"

I'm sorry to report that I have video of Kate doing it that dates back to September 18, 2006. That means she was 9 months and 10 days old. I'm sorry to report that Anna was 9 months and 16 days old yesterday. The second child thing has made her approximately six days behind her sister.

On the other hand, Anna was born four days early while Kate was six days late. Does that mean Anna's really four days ahead of Kate?

Who's obsessive??

Anna's Favorite Toy

If anyone is ever looking for present ideas for Anna, forget Haba and Fischer Price, look for names like Hoover, Oreck, or Dyson.

Safety First

Kate wanted to make a hot air balloon for Dora to fly in. After we finished, however, I was reminded by my rule-oriented toddler that it is "dangerous" to fly without a helmet. So, if you look closely, you'll notice Dora has a milk cap taped to her head.

Kate's Thoughts

Kate’s been pretty funny today.

First, we were out for a walk this morning and we passed a house that had their garbage out by the curb. They’d thrown out a big fuchsia chair, and they’d put their bags of garbage on top of it. When we walked by it the second time, on the way home, Kate just shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe the idiots who must live there, and commented, “They just put their chair outside and put garbage on it!”

Later, we made pizza for lunch. While we put spinach on, I'd raved about how great spinach was and how she was just going to love it. When she said she was done eating, there was everything left on her plate except the cheese. Just as I was about to tell her to try a bite of the spinach, she pointed to the spinach and commented, “This stuff stuck to my cheese, but it’s okay, I just teared it right off!”

Kate has also come up with this new way of claiming she is definitively done with her meals. She’ll say, “I just burped. That means I’m full.” We tried to ask her where she got that idea from. Does someone else burp when they’re done eating? Did someone tell you that? After a bunch of questions, she looked at Dave and me and said, “No. I just made it up.”

A few minutes ago, I was reading to Kate before her nap. We read a Dora Thanksgiving book. At the end, Dora says something to the effect of, “Oh, and I forgot one more person I’ve very, very thankful for. It’s someone who comes on adventures with me and is looking at the book right now.” Then the next page says, “That’s right, it’s you!” And I added “Kate” to the end of that sentence. We finished the book, and I hugged Kate, saying, “Did you hear that? Dora is thankful for you.” Kate hopped off my lap, and said, “Yeah. That’s CRAAA-ZY!” I laughed and said, “Why?” She said, “Because! I’m not even in the book!”

Anna's Big Excitement

This morning when Anna woke up, I began to nurse her, but nearly immediately, she stopped nursing and a huge smile came across her face. Her hand must have reached down and found Goodnight Moon hidden in the crack of the chair, because she yanked it up, and yelled in excitement, “Ba ba ba ba!!” Then she pulled to a stand and started jumping up and down on my lap. When I said, “Wow! Yes, you found your book!” she smiled again, her whole body shook with excitement, and continued to exclaim, “Da da da, ba, ba, ba!” What a find!

The only thing that thrills her that much is cheese. She’ll shove three or four pieces in at a time, and just happily chew away. Here's a picture of her at dinner last night, completely happy, with a cheek full of cheese.

Humorous Anecdotes from this time Last Year

I went through our family journal and found a few funny stories from this time last year, the time around Kate's second birthday.

Here's a picture of Kate with her 2nd birthday cake, just so you can picture the toddler from whom these stories came.

November 26, 2007 Kate had been playing Little People by herself for a long time as I was folding laundry in the living room. She appeared in the doorway. When I looked up, she threw her hands in the air, seemingly quite exasperated, and declared, “Well, people are all ni-nite!” Now what was she supposed to do?

December 6, 2007 Kate and I were shopping for her birthday. She saw a bag of rubber duckies. She said she needed them. I said, “No, honey, you have about 15 duckies at home.” She thought for just a second and replied, “I need 17, 18 duckies.” Unbelievable!

December 13, 2007 I fell yesterday when we were seeing a house. I just totally missed a step into a recessed living room. I was holding Kate at the time, and, in the process of trying to protect her and the baby inside my belly, I completely hurt the rest of myself. It was a mess. Well, evidently, Kate now thinks I’m a walking disaster. I was looking in the closet this morning, nothing dangerous at all, and she commented, “Be careful, Mommy. No fall.” I asked her, “Do you think I’m going to fall?” She kind of looked away and mumbled, “I don’t know. Maybe.”

December 19, 2007 On Monday, Kate asked me, “Mommy, where’s Dave?” I wasn’t sure, but I thought I knew what she meant, so I asked, “Do you mean Daddy?” She replied, “No, Dave.” So, I asked, “Dave who?” She thought for a second, then conceded, “Daddy.”

I smiled and replied, “He’s at work, honey. You know that.”

Then she hit me with this one, “Kristal no have to work?”

December 19, 2007 Monday morning, she was the epitomy of crabby. No matter what I did, she cried or complained. We were on our way out the door to work at church. She was fussing, so I was kind of teasing her, trying to cheer her up by giving her kisses all over her face and laughing. She wasn’t amused. She said, “No kissing, Mommy. You smell.” I couldn’t believe it. Did she mean I had bad breath? I asked, “What smells?” She replied, as grumpy as ever, “Mommy’s mouth.” Nice. What an ego booster for a big pregnant woman.

December 23, 2007 The other night, Kate was supposed to be sleeping, but she was yelling for me. When I gave in and went up, she, pointing to the parts of my face, said, “Mommy’s eyes, Mommy’s nose…” then her face, “Kate’s nose…” and thinking, she commented, “Daddy’s nose downstairs.” I explained, “No, Daddy had to go to Home Depot.” It didn’t phase her that he wasn’t home, but she was surprised by one thing, “Daddy’s nose at Home Depot!?”

December 23, 2007 When I fill Kate’s bath, she always throws in every one of her animal figurines. They fill up the bath. I always say I think there’s too many animals and that there’s no room for Kate. Today I said, “I don’t think there’s room for you.” Kate looked at me, “Why? Too many animals?” Then, walking over to the tub and pointing, she said, “I go right here.”

December 23, 2007 In church today, Kate wouldn’t be quiet. First, when Pastor Tom went up, she pointed and announced, “That Mister Tom!” Then, every time Pastor Tom would say the word Jesus, Kate would exclaim, “Jesus is born!” a phrase she got from her book, The Christmas Story. I finally took her out for a while, but told her we could go in if she was quiet. She’d said she would be, and I asked if she was sure, and she said she was. Finally, near the end of the service, she must have been just too bored to make it another second, and, out of nowhere, she started meowing…loudly. “Meow, Meow…” I finally had to plop my hand over her mouth and take her in the hall. When we were in the hall, she told me she wanted to go back in. I said, “If we go in, you’re going to have to be quiet.” She looked very seriously at me and said, “Yes, I very sure.”

December 28, 2007 Yesterday morning, Kate and I were going to go upstairs for her to get dressed. She locked me out with the gate as she always does, saying, “No come Mommy!” I, as I always do, acted indignant. “But, Kate, then who will get you dressed?” Yesterday morning, she responded, “Mason get me dressed.” I feigned that I thought that was an excellent idea, and said, “Oh, okay, bye!” Then she said, “Mommy come!” and threw the door open.

Then last night, she said, “No come, Mommy. Mason change me.” I responded, “Oh, okay, Kate, see you later.” Then she yelled, like I’d truly lost my mind, “No, Mommy! Mason no change me; Mason no have hands!”

December 28, 2007 [Kate calls her blankets "bay-bohs."] On Christmas Eve we were driving home in the car, discussing a job one of my cousins has. He takes clients out and wines and dines them. Dave felt this job would get old really fast. “I mean, come on,” he commented, “going out to eat all the time with a bunch of a-holes…” From the back, I realized Kate was chattering on and on, mimicking Dave. I caught her say, “Come on… out to eat… bunch of bay-bohs…” Thank goodness she thought Dave was talking about eating with her blankets!

Undesirable Genetic Trait

At the zoo today, Kate and Big Kate went a little ahead of the rest of us, up on the big deck by Monkey Island. When we caught up, I saw they had gone down the other side of the deck, and Kate was running along the edge of Monkey Island. She never likes to be out of my sight, but when I called for her, she ran faster. I was really surprised. I wondered if she hadn’t heard me. I called a few more times, and each time she just ran away faster and faster, almost frantically. I couldn’t make sense of it. She didn’t seem like she was playing, because she never looked back at me. I was carrying Erin, so I put her down and began to chase after Kate. I kept yelling for her, and every time I’d yell, she’d speed up… in the opposite direction. I was shocked. This was not like Kate. Finally, I realized she might just be really confused. I yelled, “Kate, I’m behind you.” She slowed to a walk. “Kate, look behind you, honey.” She stopped, looked to her right, then her left, and then turned around and saw me. I bent down and she ran to me, with a look of confused relief. She was saying, “Mommy, why were you behind me? I was trying to run straight towards you.” I picked her up. She seemed kind of angry and completely bewildered. Why would I do that to her? She kept trying to ask me why I went behind her. I felt so bad. The poor kid has my sense of direction. That’s no good.

Our New Fashion Consultant

Kate is really looking forward to her upcoming birthday. She insisted we make party hats. Then she insisted we wear them... all the time.

Kate has also developed a new concern for retinal health. Dave couldn't find his sunglasses, so Kate graciously loaned him a pair.

She was too fast this time!

Dave and I were in the living room playing cards with Kate last night. Anna caterpillered away. We were slightly relieved, because we didn't have to yank cards out of her hands. But, after she crawled into the kitchen, I knew I had to get up to get her, but I was just a little too late. Boy was she glad!