Monday, January 21, 2008

Still loving the snowman jammies

Anna really likes the silky snowman jammies that Titi Edna and Abuela brought from Puerto Rico to our reunion in Orlando last fall.  Tonight she begged to wear them again, and when she finally got to put them on, she sighed and said, "Oh, now I am so comfortable!"  She's even wearing the snowman slippers in bed right now.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Excuse you

Whenever the girls pass gas, they smile and say, "Was that you???" as if they're already trying to pass the blame onto someone else.  They probably actually started saying this because that's what we'd say to them when they were much smaller.

Yesterday, though, Anna said something different: "Oh, I burped in my bottom!"

Thursday, January 17, 2008

First snow

We got our first significant snow of the winter today.  It really wasn't all that much at our house - maybe a few inches.  Nothing like the 28 inches we got in one storm several years ago.  When I got home from work, the girls were eating dinner, and I shoveled the driveway.  They wanted to come out and play, and squealed "Yyyaaaayyy!" when Beth told them to come put their boots on.

Anna had been talking all day about the snow and wanting to make footprints and snowballs, so she finally got to.  She walked all over the front yard making footprints, and the snow was perfect for snowballs.  Cara had a little bit of a hard time walking in the snow, which came up to her knees in parts.  They batted at the plants to make the snow fall off them.  Cara ate some snow - Anna didn't.  I think this might have been the first time Cara played in the snow.  They ended up playing outside for an hour, and there was a lot of crying when it was time to go inside, so they had fun.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Growing up Cara

Does this look like an innocent face?  It's not.  Cara is growing fast, forever mischievous. She delights in taking something of Anna's, knowing that it will upset her, and run away with it.  It used to be Anna's kitty - now it's anything Anna might be playing with - maybe one piece of her puzzle she's working on, one of the crayons Anna's playing with, one of the necklaces Anna's wearing, etc. She also copies every little thing Anna does, whether it's sitting on the potty, getting a "pee-pee-pee" (meaning pee-pee-pill, meaning a piece of Pez candy) whenever Anna gets her vitamin, or "repeating" every story Anna tells us.

She has also gotten into the habit of wanting whatever anyone else is eating, much to Beth's chagrin. Cara is still a very good eater, and most of the time eats her own dinner.  Only then she'll want a bite of whatever you have, no matter what it is, or how much she's already eaten. And it inevitably turns out that she ends up eating half of your meal, along with her own. Too bad Anna didn't inherit any of Cara's appetite. Oh, she also likes to use her hands instead of her fork, especially with things like pasta and mashed potatoes, which she'll squish in her hands like lotion. She also loves butter - wants it on everything.  Sometimes when you ask her what she wants for dinner, she'll say, "Butter!"





She's also recently discovered the little cat door that leads down into the basement.  She treats it like it's her own personal toy dispenser, of sorts, like a laundry chute.  She'll take a toy, open the cat door, and toss the toy through the door, letting it fall all the way to the bottom of the basement stairs.  She'll also empty a basket of toys onto the floor, simply to empty the basket of toys.



She loves the Little Golden Books, and she can very quickly empty them from the bookcase onto the floor as she looks at them.  One of those books is a counting book, where for #10, it says "Ten little monsters make a mess." I say that should have been written "One little monster makes a mess."

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Christmas 2007

The scene at our house this past Christmas was… well, probably atypical from what you might expect.  We probably had the only children in America that didn't want to open their presents.  Not because they don't like presents - they were just very sick.  Seems like we were all sick at one point or another from the 3rd week in December through the rest of the year.  The girls just got sick right around Christmas time - Anna got the pleasure of going to the doctor on Christmas Eve. Anyway, we had to laugh at the thought of us sitting around the Christmas tree, with crying children, feeling like the ogre parents forcing presents upon them, the poor things.  So to appease their short tolerance for all things exciting, we spread out opening presents over a few days, so each day we'd open just a few, then let them play.

I updated our picture gallery with pictures from Christmas (Day-to-Day->2007-2008 Winter).  You can just tell that the girls felt awful.  You can even tell they were crying even as they're opening presents.





 They did really like their presents, though.  They really enjoyed the books, the videos, the puzzles, the stickers, the new pajamas… Anna actually wanted to wear her new pajamas with the footies, which was a change from her always wanting to wear the silky snowman PJs with fluffy slippers that she got from (I think) Abuela and Titi Edna while we were in Orlando.  She still loves those PJs, by the way, and even when she's not wearing them, she'll frequently insist on wearing the slippers to bed.





They really enjoyed the Curious George and Sesame Street blankets that Aunt Raquel made for them - they use them every time they go to bed. Cara was enthralled by this little Silent Night book that plays the song and has lots of little twinkling lights that flash around baby Jesus' head.  We heard that song all night long, and all day long, for several days.  They really did enjoy all of their presents - I won't list all of them, but thank you all for the gifts.  You helped make their Christmas very special.





I unfortunately had to work to meet some deadlines - Christmas day was the only day I completely took off.  I did get to take the girls back to see the big Winter Lights display, which I had promised we'd go see again before they took all the lights down for the season.

The girls are giggling in their room right now, so have to go tell them (again) to go to sleep.  At least they're staying in their own beds. They've just been lying in their beds, giggling.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Our friend Gracie

Beth took this picture today right after getting the girls up from their nap.  They're obviously still waking up.  Gracie decided to come keep them company and plopped right down on top of them. She actually tolerates them very well, even when they hold her tail.  But I'm sure she really likes it when they're too tired to harrass her!

The Horsie Song

Anna and Cara have discovered the William Tell Overture, and they ask for it by name - "the horsie song."  When I was little, I remember searching through mom & dad's records looking for this song.  I didn't know the name of it; I only knew what the cover looked like.  My little sister and I would then act out a whole story to the full overture.  When it starts, we would be sitting on a ship on the calm seas, relaxing, maybe eating cereal, whatever.  Then the music starts to hint that something dramatic is coming, with the drip, drip, drip of raindrops.  We would look at the sky, very worried at what was coming.  Then the music builds and builds until it bursts into a violent storm at sea that tosses our ship every which way, and we'd roll and throw ourselves all over the floor. Finally, the storm subsides, and for awhile we find ourselves shipwrecked on a beach.  We look around for awhile, wondering where we are, until the final movement, when all of a sudden, we have horses!  And we ride and ride and run and run around and around all the way to the end of the song.  That was our whole play.

Anna and Cara don't really care to hear much of it except for the final movement with the horses. Although Anna does tiptoe during the "beach" music that leads up to the horsie part.  Someday I'll be able to teach them the whole story.

Click here to see a video I recorded yesterday of the girls running around and around to the William Tell Overture.