Three Girls

Yes, over the past week, Anne Marie has discovered that most important of toddler words: Mine. I shouldn't have been too surprised. She's figured out Mommy's, Daddy's, Ellie's, these, those, etc. However, I think what surprised me was how suddenly and vehemently she's used it. I was straightening her playroom and, hence, picking up just about every toy in there. She was just following me around saying, "Mine", "Mine", "Miiiiine!". I feel that before, with new words/concepts, there has been a warmup period where she tried it out. Doesn't seem like that's the case this time. I think our lives according to the Toddler's Creed have begun in earnest.

If I want it, it's mine.
If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine.
If I can take it away from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it will never belong to anybody else, no matter what.
If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

In another Anne Marie related item - she's started getting a little bossy. Wherever could she have inherited that?!? I am all surprise. Some of her favorite bossy phrases: "Do it" and "Stop". We are gently informing her that Mommy and Daddy do not respond to her commands as we expect her to respond to ours.

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ellie seems to REALLY want her thumb these days. We keep trying to push the paci - and she'll take it for now, especially since she seems to get quite frustrated that she can't control her hand as much as she'd like. As soon as she has real control though, I'm not sure we'll be able to win this battle.

Of course, as soon as I tried to capture her thumbsucking by camera, she would stop - this was the best I could get - but yes, that thumb is in there!

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ellie is two months old now! Time is flying in some ways but I do feel like I'm enjoying this little (big) bundle. We went to the doctor yesterday and she weighed 15lbs 2oz! She's pretty much off the charts and the doctor predicted she'd be around 23lbs by the time she's 6 months if she keeps this up! She'll have rolls on rolls by Easter-time.

We're doing well. I want to get this post up or I'd try to remember some more things to type. We're getting over a cold - poor Anne Marie is coughing quite a bit with a gunky nose. Thankfully it seems that I got it before Eleanor and was able to pass her some antibodies - she has not been too affected it seems.

Here is Eleanor's photo shoot. And here are just a few from the playroom.

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eleanor has started smiling at us occasionally. She does not seem to be as liberal with her smiles as Anne Marie was at this point, but since in all other respects she's an angel baby, I'm not complaining... too much. I'm not sure if this particular smile was actually at me, but since I've not yet captured the "real" ones, this semi-real one will do!

Eleanor continues to be a delight. She's actually an embarrassment of riches as I have friends who are still dealing with colicky/acid reflux babies that wake up several times a night - and they were born months before Eleanor. She pretty much sleeps through the night and has been for a couple weeks. Yeah, that's right. Starting when she was about 6 weeks she nurses between 8 and 9pm and then wakes between 5 and 6:30 am (on time change day she slept to 7:30 old time). Actually, unless she's going through a growth spurt, she sleeps ALOT. Gotta love that. Maybe that's how she's packing on the pounds. I bet she's pushing 14lbs. :) When she was first born, I didn't like people labeling her an "angel" baby since I knew that things could change. But 8 weeks into it, I think I'm willing to submit to the label... at least for now. I know of a second-child little girl being a "Love Bug" only to turn into "Sassy Face" as the years progressed. :)

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've attained a new level of mommydom recently. For the last week, we've been the owners of a minivan. This is all coming at me so fast... two kids AND a minivan! I really like it even if I do have the occasional am-I-just-borrowing-my-mom's-car-surely-this-isn't-really-mine moments. What I love above anything else (even that new car smell) is the utility. You just can't beat a van for utility, period. I can carry all the strollers I want. Every day. And still have room for groceries, diaper bags, a few passengers, and, oh yeah, both kids.

Good bye white honda civic. You were a good car for us and we'll miss you (especially your gas mileage). Sniff sniff.

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had green day today. Ellie is dressed in a fleece one piece that is bright green with frogs on it (and froggy faces on the feet), AM is in a green dress, and I have a green shirt on. Of course, Anne Marie is wearing the green boots too! At the playground today, our friend's three year old boy, while climbing up onto the slide platform where Anne Marie was already standing, said "I like your green shoes". It was so cute and grown up.

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whenever she walks around the house with her stroller and baby-doll she says "Zoom Zoom". This day she had decided to give all the stuffed animals a "zoom", too.

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Her hair is still too slick and fine to really get the braids Janyce-tight, but these were the first real french braids of Anne Marie's young life. They will not be her last! :)

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anne Marie continues to grow and learn at an astounding rate. Recently she's been doing alot language-wise, so I've compiled a top ten list of Anne Marie Speech and Toddler World Order (not really in any particular order since it's all ridiculously cute):

10. She's got a distinct southern take on the word "Bye" and "Ice" - so they come out with long "I" or "A" sounds. Andy and I don’t sound like that… right?

9. She's learning colors right now and yellow seems to be one of her favorites. But she must not like the name yellow and has dubbed it "sun" (since that's what we draw with the yellow and she just really likes it). We say, "what color?", she says, "sun", we say "yellow", she nods and says "sun".

8. Andy was leaving the house the other day but decided to update his iPod once he got in the car. So, sitting in the car with the door open, he pulled out the computer and plugged in the iPod all while Anne Marie and I were standing outside to wave to him. Anne Marie was fairly confused by this delay and kept looking at Andy and saying "door... go... bye (wave, blow kiss)" - obviously he was taking too long!

7. She really wanted to eat while I was fixing dinner the other day and climbed up into her high chair as if this could make me cook faster. She just sat there, fretfully saying "mmmm, mmmm, mmmm" (as if she were enjoying food) to drive home the point.

6. I’ve realized how often I say “whoops” as I hear it, adorably, slipping from Anne Marie’s mouth so often whenever she drops something. Along these same lines, she’ll often bring something to me (like a ringing phone) and say, “Here you go”.

5. Tomato sounds like “may-er” – a “mater” without the “t”. We laugh every time.

4. Anytime she sees me with a travel coffee mug or a bottle of beer, she says “Daddy’s”.

3. Since she now has a play kitchen complete with play food, we are often asking her to pretend to eat instead of sticking everything into her mouth. Pretending to eat is always accompanied by the sounds “num num num”. She knows she can’t touch Ellie with any toys, so she comes over while I’m nursing Eleanor in the playroom and will hold a food over her head, pretending for her saying “num num num”.

2. Anne Marie’s is an efficient dialect. Often signs or context is needed to decide if “guk” means “milk”, “drink”, “book”, or “walk”. “Ba-ie” could be “bed”, “belly”, or “bunny”, and also sounds suspiciously like “Ellie”.

1. She’s learned the art of persuasion and uses her cuteness liberally. One of the things that I love is the coy “no”. If you say, “Let’s go change your diaper” for instance, she cocks her head, cuts her eyes up at you, and then says “nooooooo?” very quietly.

Here are some random pictures we've taken recently. There are some new ones from even the other day... so check them out.

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's the link to the girls pictures on Halloween. Anne Marie had two outfits for the day. She was a Fancy Nancy Princess Bride in the morning (wouldn't wear it to playgroup though) and a ballerina by night. She had a great time - especially when she figured out that not only did she get to walk all around the neighborhood, go in people's driveways, and knock on their doors, but they greeted her with CANDY! And Daddy let her have almost anything she wanted to eat out of her bag. Two suckers and lots of chocolate later - Whoo hoo! The night ended with hayride in the dark courtesy of our neighbors at the end of the street. It was alot of fun.

Posted by BrookeAndAndy at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)