As bundled up as we could muster - notice AM's addition of belt bling:

The snow refused to pack. AM was quite upset not to be able to make a snowman. So throwing snow rather than snowballs had to suffice - and they did indeed enjoy it.

And the first thing that Anne Marie did - make an angel (or two):

]]> http://www.brookeandandy.com/2010/01/mom_i_forgot_something.html http://www.brookeandandy.com/2010/01/mom_i_forgot_something.html Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:37:27 -0500

I had an opportunity to update, so I thought I'd snatch it up and say Merry Christmas to all! We have been enjoying the season though Andy and I have been sick with a chest/head cold. Looking forward to visiting family soon, but also enjoying Andy's break from school to have more family time around here too. I hope you all have a very joyous holiday.

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Anne Marie's Favorite Dressup (as well as an after school activity this year): Ballet!

Anne Marie goofing off.

Mama Ellie - she LOVES to take care of babies, and when none are around will take care of her dolls. She's an excellent Mommy - always makes sure her baby friends are happy - will bring them a toy and show it to them gently, give them a paci if they fuss, take off all shoes and socks (because what baby wants their tootsies constrained?), and rock them. If they fuss too much, she immediately finds me or their mother and insists that we do something to make the baby happy again. Most babies seem to love her too! Here she is with a doll in mommy's sling (she now has one of her own, just her size) and wearing her sparkly shoes, because she's a stylish mommy.

This is where I found Ellie the other day when I had temporarily lost sight of her at a big playground:

And one last note - I had a FANTASTIC time in NYC with Laura. I have several other pictures I'd like to share, but who knows when I'll have time. :)

She's my super sweet, cuddler. She's big into her paci (although not to the same degree as Anne Marie was) and as soon as she gets it she settles in wherever she may be - her bed, tv chair, or often in my arms - and immediately goes for her hair - or mine when it's available. If my hair's up, she'll pull the clip out. It's especially nice for her when I need to wear her on my back. She'll take her paci and lay her head on my back while she strokes my hair - although when she gets tired of being in the mei tai, she'll start to pull, which kinda stinks.

She knows herself in photos now. Last couple years I've taken Christmas card photos and cropped them to fit in a little 4x6 photo album and put them where the girls can go through and look at all the pictures. These are Ellie's favorite "books" off the shelf. She knows herself, Anne Marie, Mommy and Daddy and is starting to learn some others. I love the way she says "Ellie". Her voice is soft and high and just sounds really sweet.

If you ask her a question she will answer you with a full paragraph - almost none of which you will understand, but "bubee" (baby) seems to be her favorite word. She talks about babies quite a bit and is very interested in everything about them - she loves to see the real thing, but will settle for one of her many baby dolls. One of them will usually be her go-to item to grab for company in the car when we're heading out the door. She loves the "fat baby" her Aunt Paige got her!

She's starting to communicate so much recently. I'm starting to realize I understand some of the words and phrases and she's found other ways to make her meaning known such as some more signs and leading me by the hand to wherever it is she wants to go. This is a nice alternative to tantrums - although she can still throw a really good tantrum - or throw anything when she's mad, for that matter. She has a tendency to pull her "opponent's" hair in a battle or her own hair when she's really angry - and usually will come back with a tiny fistful of strands. Just the other day, Anne Marie had growled in Ellie's face while she was playing with a toy and I hear, "Ow, Ellie, can't pull hair". I walk in. They are in their separate corners of the couch. I ask Ellie to say sorry which she does. She then holds her hand out for AM to see and AM exclaims "That's my hair in Ellie's hand!" Before she discovered pulling her own hair in anger, she would look up, slap her forehead with both hands, and then pull them over her eyes. She's certainly a fiery, emotional, and passionate little girl.

Speaking of hair, she has a curly, unruly little halo that's coming in more blond than strawberry... it seems to only have the remnants of her red on the tips. It's always crazy because it's at an awkward length for growing out purposes but she won't keep a hair clip in her hair and will not let me put it in a pony tail. Against my inclination for long locks, I might just have to keep her hair in a short bob with bangs.

I'll hear, "Mom... Mom... Mommy" as she's running around looking for me. And when she finds me she'll use all her powers to make sure I notice and attend to her needs. If I'm standing at the counter (often preparing a meal for her) and she wants my attention right away, she'll wiggle her little body between me and the counter and then push me away with all her might. It's actually a pretty effective way to get noticed - she's pretty strong, although it doesn't usually garner her what she's after.

Even given her sometimes loud personality, in many areas she's my more timid child. She's a little more unsure of water and sand, wants to sit in a swing but not be pushed, and usually is not one to rush up to an animal. All seemingly opposite of Anne Marie.

And lastly, but certainly not least, she's potty trained!! We gave up diapers about a week and a half ago (except for sleep use), and even though I had my moments of doubt and frustration (who doesn't when potty training any child), I'm thrilled with how well she's doing. We'll have off days of multiple accidents, but for the most part, she's doing a great job of keeping her big girl panties dry! On our zoo trip yesterday she stayed dry and used the potty twice! Oh, the highs and lows of potty training can be so intense at the time. Since she's been in undies, it seems so very clear that she's not my baby anymore. She seems to communicate more and it's like she's grown up several months in just the span of a week.

If someone asks Anne Marie what her sister's name is, she'll answer "Ellie Bells". And the other day she said, "I call her Ellie Bells, but sometimes she falls down and I call her Oopsie-daisy." We love you so much little Ellie Bells! What a neat little girl you are turning out to be!

She told me that she had one cat, and one cherries and that the cat would get to eat the cherries. Then she showed me like this:

mmmm.... yummy

Pictures
I've updated the pictures more than the blog so in case you missed any of these:
May Days
Elisha's Birthday Party
Scenes from March '09
Evidence of My Mother's Amazingness in helping us get the house ready for the market
My Birthday Weekend
A Few Months of Randomness

Anne Marie got to hold the camera for the last 30 minutes or so of our zoo trip yesterday. We had a great time even though we got rained on. It was kind of a late, last minute kind of decision to go on a day that was threatening rain all day while delaying Ellie's nap time - but I'm glad we took the gamble. It was alot of fun. Here is the whole set and click here for a slide-show. But I'll include some of my favorites below.

She talks about the concept of being "big" and "little" alot . She will say she's "such a big girl" in some cases and "I'm still too little" in others. So I asked her if she was "big AND little". She said "sometimes I'm big and sometimes I'm little". She also likes to tell me about what will happen when I "grow little". (I think she's drawing the logical next step for her - if you can "grow bigger" as we tell her she's doing, then Mommy and Daddy can "grow little"). "Mommy, when you grow little you'll sit in a high chair and wear a bib and then you'll sleep in a crib." Another reference was when she was ready for a snack at about 3:30 in the afternoon. "I need some more food I think. I'm starting to grow little. I'm starting to grow little like a baby. Mommy, I'm starting to grow little so I think I need some more food. I want to keep me big." Quite a well prepared argument for a snack. Needless to say, I acquiesced.

We were watching the short film Presto, which is on Wall-E, the other day. She loves the Pixar shorts! She asked me what the magician's name was. I said, "Alec". She said, "Alec. Oh. Good Name." She'll make little pronouncements like this fairly often and it always is accompanied with a huge grin, tilted head, and such a sweet laughing voice while she says it. Another thing she does in this vein is suggest something to do with me such as playing a game and then ask me with the same sweetness "is that a good idea?".

I was swishing my listerine the other day and she asked me something. I kind of tried to indicate the answer without opening my mouth and she asked me if I was pretending to be Curious George, something she likes to do very regularly - especially if she is feeling shy.

When she's playing now, she often calls out "Ladies and Gentlemen" and then continues in her little imaginary world.

She sings alot and enjoys putting new words to songs she knows. I'm sure you all know about her love of movies too. The other day I heard her singing "Diamond in the rough, diamond in the rough, hi ho the dairy oh, diamond in the rough". Too much Aladdin, perhaps? Another favorite of mine is when she hums or makes up words to Beethoven's 9th.

We were getting ready to go out to dinner to meet Andy and I had to change Ellie who was only half dressed and Anne Marie decided that she also needed to change. When I told her she had to take her old dress off to put the new one on, she protested but then gave it a try... after a quick try she got frustrated and yelled out "Mom, it's no use, it's no use!".

Other cute little things:
"I'm a grandma" (with glasses down on her nose)
"I'm such a climber" (sitting on tree at IOP)
"I think it's around here somewhere" (looking all around out the window while I was driving to the chickfila near our house)
"I need something... Mom - I want to dress appropriately" (derived from the book about manners she recently got)
"I was born in a manger. My mommy's name is Mary. My father's name is Joseph. (turning to me) Is your name Mary?" (After some recent bible reading. I think she has been thinking recently that all babies are born in a manger.)

These movies were taken a little while ago and I had trouble getting them uploaded, but here they are now. It was too long for one upload so there are two installments.

We are all doing well. Andy's quite busy with school and work and we are quite busy at home in our own way. I've really been enjoying sewing lately and have just finished some really cute things for Anne Marie. Check out our flickr page for some pictures of her skirt and other fun things that I was able to upload before the big crash.

Goodbye for now.

There she is!

I took this video last night. Just a little snippet of what's it's like to hang out with Ellie. Alot of fun actually. Please excuse the camera work (it gets a little shaky there in the middle), bad lighting, and Ellie's funny outfit.

The soaker is familiar to this blog but now on it's second little girl. And on another note, today at church nursery, Ellie gave a tiny little distressed sound when I handed her over but otherwise didn't cry a lick when I dropped her off and Ms. Hakima was able to say that she was really great today - I wasn't ever sure I'd get that kind of report on Ellie - at least not until she was in middle school.

I knew a post of this triumph would not be all that sweet for some readers if it was not accompanied by some pictures... so here's a couple from Baby Marie's First Birthday Party.

Delicately Eating the Icing:

Saying "Cheese" but not looking at the camera:

I'm not going to try to catch up either although I have still be taking pictures and little Ellie is quite a bit more a toddler now. "Catching up" is too intimidating. I'll try to get some of the picture highlights as I reassemble them onto this harddrive.

Here's some pictures from today. Today was a fancy hairdo day since I had a little time before playgroup and straightening my house was too overwhelming a task. Enjoy and hopefully I'll see you back here again soon.

Ellie had her first two tiny little pigtails that lasted a little while but of course were taken out right before we walked out the door.

We had to come home for Ellie to take her nap, much to Anne Marie's chagrin. To ease the transition, she got to paint. Much fun.

Just for fun:

Then, so mommy could start this blog and get some chores out of the way, quiet time ensued. Here she got to play with blocks, read books, color, and listen to music. Sounds like fun to me.

After quiet time, Anne Marie got to watch a special movie so Mommy could get a little College Gameday in while deep-cleaning the kitchen. Ellie ate a leisurely lunch to keep her contained.

Movie and a banana left her thirsty so she got to have water with a straw and free reign to blow bubbles.

Lunch was then served for Mommy and Anne Marie. She had pieces of american cheese that she decided were bandaids - kinda gross to me, but that's ok. She put them on her handprints from her placemat and then on her own arm. Then she ate the bandaids off her arm. Ewww. She thought it was funny.

Then on to some after-lunch reading time. I wish we had more of this delightful, dual self-entertainment on a daily basis. It didn't take too long for this scene to devolve into one of grunts, whines, "mines", and a little pushing and pulling. One day they'll get along perfectly, right?

After it was discovered that Mommy was not in the playroom, I was summoned to read with them. We opened Gram and Papa's gifts (not sure why we had Ellie wait until Anne Marie's birthday for her gift, but it didn't seem to bother her). Discovering her gift, "Helping" to open Ellie's.

Mommy was taking so many pictures that Anne Marie had to take one too. For her first try with my camera (I think she's used Aunt Ruth's before), I thought she did pretty good. Wowee, I should probably wash that hair! :)

While Mommy put Ellie down for her nap, Anne Marie got to "do ABCs" on mommy's computer (the starfall website). Then it was off for naptime herself. Since she's three today, she doesn't need her paci anymore (or so Mommy and Daddy say, at least). So with surprisingly few tears and delays, she fell asleep for her first intentionally paci-free nap of her little life.

Mommy also finally got to do something about that greasy hair - ahhh, a shower - that's better!

After a refreshing two hour nap (nice for Mommy, too), Anne Marie had her celebratory I-napped-without-my-paci popsicle proving that while three is too big for a paci, it's not too big for the high chair when a popsicle is available!

More special movie while Mommy watches the vols play.

Some sad Vol watching later, and Daddy was home. Time to go to Anne Marie's choice of dinner. Cheeseburger at Five Guys followed by birthday ice cream, having already celebrated with cake and ice cream, cupcake-disaster strawberry cake and blueberry muffins - and as many parties with people to sing to her - we're keeping it low-key and low-mess today.
** I forgot my camera when I went out - super bummed about that. So these were with my phone.

After practically mainlining sugar into her, we made it home for a quick bath.

She was so hyper we allowed her just a few minutes of movie to encourage some stillness. We were getting her jammies on her when we noticed how big her belly was. Between the big cheeseburger and the big ice cream cone, she had eaten a ton - I'm not sure when she last ate this much!

After her ten minutes, it was off to bed to read with Daddy.

A quick snuggle with Mommy, a few last ditch efforts to get out of her bed, and she's down. There you have our day. Thanks for reading this far! Aside from those items or activities marked as "special" it was really not that much unlike many of our days.

Anne Marie is transforming before our eyes. It's almost as if the change from two to three has been a switch. She's able to communicate and think about things in such a new way. I've been trying to put my finger on the changes. It's as if everything she could do two months ago has been amplified. Her ideas, conversations, songs, understanding, and abilities are just more, but in a way that almost daily causes me to stop and think something along the lines of "did she just do that" or "I can't believe she said that". She's beautiful - looking so much more like a little girl everyday, no more toddler chubbiness or awkwardness. She's loving and compassionate. She's good at pushing boundaries and trying my patience, but does love to please. She's making me find out so much about myself - some good, some bad, and some just plain ugly. I look forward to this next year and the discoveries it will hold for both of us.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Anne Marie. Three years ago today I was holding a tiny, soft, beautiful girl in my arms and marveling that my journey as mother had begun. So much as happened in these three years that I feel as though the time has flown and yet, as I think of all the fun, joy, frustration, learning, discovering, consternation, and love that has taken place, time since Anne Marie's birth seems longer than time before her. I love you, darling girl.