Breaking Out the Swimsuits!!

Hello Summer! (But, Spring, where did you go? You sorta missed us this year!...Someone somewhere on the blogosphere called this Spring the "Spring that wasn't"- pretty true!!) We have been having some really hot days lately- like summer hot. Daniel was very eager to play with the water one afternoon last week, so we dug out our swimsuits and had an afternoon playing with the spray hose and our water table in the yard and eating snacks on the deck. And the kids played SO nicely that I got to sit on the deck in the shade in my nice cushy chair and read my new book from the library a bit! Now that's an afternoon I can put on repeat!

And you have got to check out Annabel's swimsuit- TOO CUTE! Here's a fun fact for ya- that was my swimsuit when I was little! Gah! Love it! (This also means that the swimsuit is easily over 30ish, ahem, years old!) Thank you, Mom, for saving it for my little girl to wear someday! It's simply adorable! I couldn't get enough of it, clearly. (And now I'm wondering if we could scare up a picture of me in it...hmm...that would be a project though. And I'm sure Annabel is way cuter in it than I was!) Oh- and excuse my bad-cellphone-camera-quality last picture...I still had to share it, it's a good shot of the swimsuit straight on. Like I said, too cute on my sweetie!

More Gymnastics Fun with Annabel!

I mentioned before that Annabel loves gymnastics ("mattih" or something close to that)- she is always so excited to go! I also mentioned that Annabel has recently made a complete turn-around in class by actually letting the teacher help her! This trend has continued and Annabel still literally seeks Miss Michelle out and wants her help. Such a big girl now! Here are some cute pictures from a recent class, including proof that Annabel lets the teacher help her now!

We have a little over an hour of time to kill between the time we drop Daniel off at Preschool and the time Annabel's gymnastics class starts. We often hit up some combination of Target, the library, Barnes & Noble...whatever we're in the mood for or if we need something from one of those places. So glad these places open before or at 9:00 AM!! On this particular day, we had some books on hold at the library to pick up and of course we had to stop and play on the computers, too!

 Nose to toes! Love how they are so flexible at this age!

Getting ready to jump up!

 Cutie pie!

Annabel loves the rings and bars!

Getting really good at the balance beam!

More fun hanging!

See that?!!! Miss Michelle is helping Annabel!

 Annabel loves the parachute at the end of class!

 Annabel always sits right up front (this was true even before she let Miss Michelle help her) to get her stamps ...which go on each leg, each arm, and sometimes her belly! This is another favorite part of class!

Mother's Day 2013!

I had a delightful Mother's Day this year with my 2 wonderful children, the best husband, and even lunch at my favorite restaurant! This was followed by even more fun with the rest of my family at my mom's house for dinner with even more yummy food...and pie to top it off! A good day all around!

Keeping busy coloring while waiting for food at California Pizza Kitchen!

CPK gave each mom this "survival kit"- Daniel and Annabel were very excited to eat the goodies in the bag and play with the rest of the things in there, too. I'm glad they enjoyed my bag. :) 

Sleepy kids!

Isn't this just the best, sweetest picture?! I just love it!

Annabel is 25 Months Old!

Yep, we're gonna keep going with our monthly Minnie days as long as Annabel will let us! (Daniel lasted until he was exactly 2 1/2!) Annabel was quite excited to sit next to Minnie (and Mickey eventually, too!)- she wanted to hug her, kiss her, read her books, snuggle up, and all- oh there was so much love to be shared!

Annabel is LOVING being two! She still thinks being "two" explains everything, allows her to DO everything and anything...being two is simply her reason/explanation for everything she does!

I managed to use this huge desire to be "two" and to do two-year old things to really drastically turn things around at gymnastics. How, you ask?! Well, if you recall, Annabel would NOT, no way no how, go near her gymnastics teachers. Uh-uh, not happening. She would become cling, hide behind me, run away from them, want me to pick her up, cling to my neck or whatever she could grab a hold of. For as friendly and cute and delightful as she is with most other people, we found this a bit strange, but that was the fact- Annabel wanted nothing to do with her teachers and I was not going to push her. But last week, it occurred to me to just nonchalantly inform Annabel that her teacher just wants to help her be "two": "are you two?" "YEAH!" "well, Miss Michelle wants to help you be two and help you do things two-year olds do. Will you let her help you?" "YEAH!" (which of course Annabel had always said before when I just asked if she would let the teacher help her, this time the "two" part of my bargaining was new)... WELL, let me tell you, Annabel was all over the teacher that day, and then just to prove that wasn't a fluke, she was all over her again today! We were all, the teacher and the other parents and myself, just shocked! This was a TOTAL turn-around! Annabel was having a ball and loving the extra help and attention. In fact, whenever Michelle moved to help out in another area or help another child, Annabel went looking for her. It really was too funny how this all worked out. I'm still pretty speechless and in shock about this. As Ben said, I sure spoke Annabel's language!

Anyway, things are otherwise pretty much the same around here. Annabel talks up a storm, lots and lots of words, lots of new words, and lots of nonsense words, too, and of course several we just have no idea what she's saying and she's trying so hard and we're trying so hard, but she helps us figure it out by showing us or pointing or whatever the case may be. We can almost always tell what she's getting at...eventually! We LOVE that she can say "Daniel" now- that's just so cute! Annabel is starting to put more pairs of words together (like "new one" or "one more"), but this is still not her strength just yet- I'm a little nervous about this, but she talks so much and she's figuring out so much and saying new sounds and she understands so much, so I'm not too worried.

Annabel can count to three- one, two, "tee"! She gets so excited when she counts. We'll keep working on it! She "knows" a few letters- if you count that every letter is a "p" (for "papa!"). We'll work on this, too! Annabel does know all of her colors and can say all of them, although not all of them are clear as a bell. Of course "pink" comes up the most!

And on that "pink" note, Annabel is such a girl. Pink is her color of choice more often than not. She LOVES to try on clothes, will even hold them up to her while we're shopping as if checking it out- love it! I have to remember to take the camera next time! Annabel will literally dance when she tries on clothes, especially if it's a dress or a swishy/flowy kind of shirt. It's the cutest thing ever. And of course, if there's something pink to try on, that has to be first. I do not know where she got this pink obsession, I certainly do NOT push that at all! She has clothes and toys and such of all colors...regardless, she's still such a girl!

And on that note, she's a girl who knows how to get dirty with the best of 'em! She does not hesitate one bit when it comes to getting dirty, getting wet, playing, climbing, whatever. She's right in the thick of whatever activity is going on, with Daniel and/or her friends. She doesn't want to miss anything, never has!

Annabel still thinks Daniel hung the moon. She loves her big brother so much. It's so cute to watch her interact with him and try to do what he does and try to get involved in whatever he's doing. I love listening to them "talk" and play. Daniel is so cute asking her questions or trying to explain things or comfort her. They hug and kiss each other's foreheads so sweetly. They will run up to Daniel's room to play and I can hear them on the monitor. For the most part, they play nicely, although like any siblings, they have their "moments" and sometimes their "days." The two of them have taken to running around on our deck while waiting for dinner to cook, or for Ben and I to finish eating, or for me to clean the kitchen after lunch or dinner...I have to say it's really nice that they will entertain each other and give me a few minutes peace to get something done, or even just finish my meal. They just love to run around out there, barefooted, even into our (fenced) yard. I can hear them screaming and laughing and playing out there- it's fun. And somehow, I don't care that they have dirty feet when they come in...the nice part of them playing together far outweighs those dirty feet so that I don't even blink an eye!

Annabel uses the potty very randomly still, gobbles up food lately like you wouldn't believe (wish her brother would take a cue!), and she sleeps about the same amount. We have, I'm happy to say, moved on to now at least only taking maybe 10 minutes of being held to going down for sleep; and once we put her down, she will usually roll over and shift to her preferred position, whereas before if she was that "awake," she'd just pop up and scream to be held again- she had to be completely out before you laid her down and this used to take up to an hour to do. At least now, she can get herself back to sleep after being laid down after about 10 minutes. So, progress! I'll take it! Oh- and here's a weird quirk/fun fact for you- Annabel eats sandwiches from the middle, literally the middle, of the sandwich- I cannot for the life of me get her to start from the edge. Even Daniel is trying to teach her how to eat the sandwich by modeling, "like THIS Annabel! See?!" Anyway, it's actually pretty funny to watch her- I think I finally took a picture one day, I'll have to share it sometime.

Annabel loves being outside, loves to go the parks, loves to help get ready to go outside gathering up shoes and sunscreen and all. She's pretty cooperative for the "sceem" (sunscreen), too, thankfully! Annabel still loves to wrestle and tackle Daniel. She still loves to dance. She loves to read books, always has. Annabel is still mostly lefty with eating and writing/coloring. She desperately wants to cut with scissors, but she's still pretty far from being able to do that- it's incredibly frustrating for her, and me for that matter. She still loves play-doh. She still loves to bake! Annabel is also getting so much stronger- walking down the stairs is getting easier and easier, she insists on climbing up the ladders at the park like Daniel and can actually do it pretty well, and she hangs on the rings at gymnastics really well- she loves those rings. So, she's getting so much stronger and so much more able to do things for herself.

I mentioned the Raising Your Spirited Child book that I had read a short while ago...well, so much of it still rings in my head. I still see a lot of Annabel in that book- she's just so much more sensitive than Daniel ever was to random (and sometimes understandable!) things- changes in clothes for the warmer season (short sleeves and shorts totally bothered her at first!), tags when trying on clothes, car seat straps, and so on- she's just much more particular, more independent, and more persistent than her brother ever was. And she's much more verbal about it- "warm," "cold," "neck," "belly"- she'll tell me exactly what the matter is or where it hurts, etc. It's so interesting to see the differences in their personalities and temperaments. We are just constantly finding ways to be creative and flexible and let Annabel feel like she's more in control and can do things herself (even if she isn't really). We're working with her, and most days, we feel like we've got her figured out! And then some days, not so much of course. Still, we are loving getting to know her more and more each day! She can be a puzzle, but we love her dearly and we LOVE the snuggles and the smiles she gives us all the time! Our favorite snuggle- a group hug, arm around Mommy AND Daddy at the same time!

Sunday Morning Fun!

We spent pretty much all day Sunday outside, soaking up the gorgeous weather! (I, ahem, apparently should have put sunscreen on, well all of us should have- believe me, it's part of our routine now! Nothing like that first burn to teach you your lesson! I will say I was the only one who got burned- the kids are fine!) We washed our mini-van that morning (and a few of the kids' cars & such, too!), took a break for lunch, and then walked to the park, spent an hour at the park, and then walked around the prairie and soccer fields home- yes, walked all that way there, around and back! And you'd think we'd have gotten good long naps from the kids then...well, one did two hours, guess who (Daniel), while the other one did her usual brief nap of 45 minutes. Anyway, it was a GREAT Sunday morning and afternoon to be outside, get some stuff done and hang as a family!

Waiting for Daddy to get everything ready to wash the car!

The kids were SO excited to wash the car!

 Scrub-a-dub-dub!

Yes, Annabel can reach the door handles, no, she can't actually open it. But she LOVES to think she can- in fact, if you open her door for her when it's time to get in the car, she will have a fit! So we push our keychain button while she pulls the handle- at least she's happy thinking she did it herself!

Daniel looks so small next to the mini-van, but I was thinking while he was washing the car, how much bigger, or at least older, he looks than some of the first times he washed the car!

Soaking up those sponges some more!

 SO excited to be helping like a big girl!

 The kids are in love with spraying the hose these days!

Annabel even took great care to scrub the car's floormat!

 After the mini-van was done being washed, Daniel moved on to his NEW BIKE! Well, new to us- we got it at a local used bike sale on Saturday- Daniel is beyond excited about it!

 And then Daniel washed one of Annabel's cars, too. They both also washed their "cozy coupes," too! They were very busy kids for a while! A bucket of water sure goes a loooong way around here!

Annabel eventually got tired of washing things, so she was happy to push her cars around up and down the sidewalk!

 Daniel tries out his new bike! He did pretty well. After getting better tools at Grandpa Larry's that night, the seat was a much better fit...and then Daniel did GREAT! It was so sweet and so fun to watch him go, go, go! Also a little bittersweet...it's just a bike, and it has training wheels, so how can this make my heart twist up so? But oh it does...something about your child on their first real bike...

 Of course Annabel had to get on her bike, too...this was Daniel's tricycle, which of course he's too big for now, so now it's Annabel's, and of course Annabel is just a teeny bit too small for it, just like Daniel was in the beginning....let's hope she grows a bit before summer's end!

 The kids had a lot of fun pushing all sorts of buttons from the front seats of the mini-van!