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!

Anna is Pulling Up!

Anna turned nine months old last Sunday. The next day, she pulled up for the first time. Dave was sitting on a chair while Anna played on the ground. He heard Anna "growling" like she does when she wants attention, "Arghhhh arghhh arghhh!" He looked down and there she was, just standing there.

In the last week, she's been pulling up on anything and everything. This is often to Kate's displeasure, like when Anna caterpillers over to the train table, pulls up, and grabs a hunk of track to suck on. Sometimes Anna does a mad caterpiller dash to Mason's dishes to try to pull up on them and splash in the water before Kate or I can stop her. Anna goes faster and cracks up as I yell, "Annie!" and run over to her while Kate shakes her head and comments, "That crazy baby!"

From the Mouths of Babes, November

Every day, at least a few times, I look at my family and just breathe in the wondrousness of the moments. I have two of the most amazing little girls I could even imagine.

Kate may be having tantrums these days, but she’s just incredible. She’s so intelligent, picking up new things every single day, and she’s so insightful. She’s also so helpful, always wanting to help around the house. And, she’s such a sensitive, loving little girl. So many times a day, she’ll hug me or tell me she loves me or that I’m the best mommy ever.

And Anna! She’s such a clown. She makes me laugh countless times a day. She’s so inquisitive, having to check everything out. She also gets our attention with her noises or by sticking out her tongue, wanting us to do the same. She loves to smack her lips and make us do it, too. And now, whenever we eat, she mimics us by smacking her lips, too. She’s hilarious.

I know I’ll certainly miss these days terribly when they’re over. I want to get the most out of each one.



Here are some of the funny things that my girls have said or done lately:

~Kate was watching Dora and I was lying next to her. Dora would say, “Say 'backpack'.” Kate never yells it out, so I did. She looked at me and said, “Mommy, we’re not in the T.V.”

~Kate and Anna and I were playing in the bed. Kate said, “Anna sure is getting tall. Soon she won’t be a baby anymore. Then you’ll have to get 'preng-nant' again. You’ll have to get a new baby in your belly. Daddy will have to help you, because he’s got the seeds.”

~Kate was playing with Dave. She had Dora and boots go shopping. She said, “Dora is a good Dora, because she lets boots get anything he wants.” She paused, then added, “Aunt Sarah is a good Sarah, because she let me pick out a toy when we went shopping. My Mommy is sassy because she doesn’t let me get any thing I want when I’m at Target.”

~We were getting ready to go and Kate grabbed her straw cup of milk. I was in a teasing mood, so I said, “Oh, Kate, did you grab your bottle?” She just looked at me, so I added, “Is that your bottle of breastmilk?” She looked slightly annoyed and said, “No. This is my cup… of two percent milk.” Then she started to walk away, shaking her head, and she commented, “You sure are a sassy mommy today.”

~I was cleaning the kitchen, and Anna was jumping in her Jumperoo. She loves that thing. She fussed a little then stopped fussing and jumping. I looked over, and she was sound asleep. I got the camera and took a couple pictures of her. Then I carefully reached down to lift her out and bring her to her bed. She woke with a start and tried to jump a few times as I pulled her out. What a crazy baby!!

~At the zoo, Kate said she had to go potty. I ran her to a bathroom, because the closest one wasn’t very close. When we got there, she said, “Potty says it wants to come out later.” I said, “Well, why don’t you try a little more, since we came all the way here.” She began to poop. She said, “Oh, poopy wants to come out. And, that’s okay, because poopy is potty’s best friend!”

~Although Kate has been really helpful around the house, she hasn’t been great about cleaning up her own toys. She’ll tell me she’s too tired or that I should do it. So, I made a plan. On Wednesday, she wouldn’t clean up. So, I did, and I put all the toys I cleaned up in the basement. When she wanted to play with them, I explained that she wouldn’t clean up, so I did, but I put everything in the basement. I asked if she wanted them “tomorrow” or the next day. She cried, but learned her lesson, because on Friday, she was about to tell me, again, that she wouldn’t clean up, but she stopped. She looked at me and said, “I don’t know where you’ll put my toys if you clean up!”

~Dave painted the kitchen last weekend, so we had some “picnics” in the play room. One evening, we were eating in there and Anna was gnawing on a piece of bread as I dipped my French fries in ketchup. Anna watched me and then started to dip her bread in my ketchup.

~Kate had some apple cider for the first time. She loved it. She said, “What is this juice again?” I told her, and she commented, “I want to drink apple cider ALL day!”

~Kate has had a bad cold. Every time she tells me she needs me to blow her nose, I’ll say that I’ll go get her a Kleenex, and most of the time, she replies, “Some people call them tissue.”

~Kate is such a loving kid. She’ll exclaim, “I love you, Mommy.” Or “Mommy, I need a hug.” Or she’ll hug me, or she’ll say, “I love to cuddle with my Mommy.” She napped by me the other day, and when Dave came home, she said, “While you were at work, I slept by my mommy. I lo-o-ve her!”

~Kate is getting to be too smart for us to talk around her, even if we try to use big words or spell. She knows “K-a-t-e,” of course, but she’s learning more. After I visited my grandparents on Thursday, I took Kate to the doctor. Since her infection was back so soon, I said, “Does this mean she needs a s-h-o-t?” It was determined that she didn’t right now, but if this course of antibiotics didn’t work, she might need a “s-h-o-t” then. When we got to the car, I called my mom and explained all of this to her, since Kate had complained of her ear as we were leaving. As we were pulling into our driveway, Kate said, “Mommy, what is s-h-o-t?” I told her. That night at dinner, I said, “Kate, what does ‘s-h-o-t’ spell?” “Shot.”

~Kate told me the other day that “Daddy swims nudey tudey.” I laughed and said that only his top is “nudey tudey.” Every time we’re going to swim, though, she has to mention that Daddy swims with his top “nudey tudey.” That topic came up a lot this week when we were at the waterpark.

Kate didn't really enjoy the water at the waterpark, but she sure loved to pretend to talk on the phone. One downfall of that was this: When we arrived, our room wasn't clean. There was leftover streamers on the walls, a big piece of metal on the floor (that found its way into Anna mouth in about three minutes), and our beds were even made poorly. So, I had called to let the front desk know. Later I overheard Kate pretending on the phone, "...and my baby put the piece of metal in her mouth! Our room was not clean!"

~Dave had the girls at Home Depot last week. A worker came up to them and, pointing at Anna, said, “Oh, I think he might be too little to drive.” Kate got very defensive and exclaimed, “It’s not a he! She’s a girl!”

~When we were leaving Dave’s office after one of Kate's ear checks, a little girl, around two but Kate’s height, kept pointing to Kate and saying, “Baby.” I explained that Kate was a big girl, that Anna was our baby, but she insisted that Kate was a “Baby.” Kate bent down, like she was an adult talking to a toddler, even though the girl was at least her height, and said, in an identical voice an adult would use to talk to a toddler, “Hi! Do you like babies?” She’s instinctively so mature. It’s so funny!

~A couple days ago, Kate told me that when she goes to school, I’m going to have to do everything myself. I said, “Oh, yeah? Like what?” She replied, “Emptying the dishes, vacuuming the floor, setting the table, and getting Anna’s diaper.” I think she’s pretty worried I’m not going to be able to keep things together without her!