February 8, 2013

Hello Nemo!  It’s the Blizzard of 2013!  Snowpocalypse.

Ok, enough.  We have a lot of snow.  At least a foot by now.  The wind has turned up and is howling around the house.  The drifting snow has turned the motion sensor lights on at least twice.  There was something that sounded like hail, big rain, and then some  thundersnow!  And lightening!  Yay!

The girls got to play at day care for a few hours this morning while Stu and I got to do some work before we picked them up.  He started shoveling, I went for the girls.  By noon we had about 3 inches, I guess.  He was back inside by the time I got back.

Ashlin helping daddy shovel

Ashlin napped and Teagan snuggled and watched some fairy move on Netflix.  I tried working a bit more.  Not much luck with Teagan home, she is so nosey and just wants to know everything.  Why you typing mama?  Why is that blue, mama?  There’s a 6, right there, mama!  So, when Ashlin woke up, we went outside.

Which is an enormous undertaking in itself.  Two young kids, two snowsuits, pairs of boots, hats, scarf, mittens.  Teagan got bundled up first, and sent out into about 5-6 inches of snow.  I got Ash wrapped up and then made her wait while I got my gear on.

It’s her beach

While Stu continued to shovel the snow, I found some sand toys, dust pans, small shovel.  Ashlin would get stuck in the snow when she moved off the shoveled bit, she had trouble waking in it, it was so deep.

And it packed well!  We made some snowballs, threw those around.  Though Ashlin didn’t want to, she held on to hers.  We molded snow, made a snow man, used the sand toys to make a small fort in front of him.  The girls took turns helping Stu shovel.  I shoveled a bit too.  Then we went sledding a bit.

Hot cocoa with marshmallows!

And then was the rush to get out of the snowsuit.  We made it though!

The girls warmed up with some hot chocolate.  Ashlin had her first mug, (warm!), and she loved it.  Or was it the  marshmallows on top that made her so happy?  Maybe both.

Stu and I went back out to shovel once the girls were in bed.  There had been so much snow that fell between our sortie three hours earlier that you almost couldn’t tell. It’s now about an hour and a half since we shoveled, and again, it’s like we never went out.  We must have gotten at least four inches.

Anyway, we’re done for the night.  Fingers crossed we don’t lose power, they expect about 30% of the state to be out before all is said and done.  Yo Gabba Gabba has been canceled, (boo! I was strangely looking forward to some dancy dance), so we have nothing to go out for tomorrow.  We can take our time getting whatever snow we get off the porch, path, driveway and cars.  I will admit to not looking forward to the end of the driveway!

Even with all this snow, I’m happy I live here, and not where it rains spiders.

July 4, 2012

Happy Fourth of July! Let’s share a few firsts. Teagan shucked her first ears of corn today. She was such a big help, getting all the husks of f, and even some of the silk.  Asking why the entire time.  Why can’t we eat the husks?  Why are there silk?  Why not eat the stem?  Can I have it now?  Eventually, she got two of the four ears done for me.  And was so happy to be helpful.  She was so excited and eager to eat the ear of corn she ended up licking an ear before I could stop her!

Ashlin had her first ear of corn. She’s always been a fan of corn, frozen corn that is. Until today, she’s never had an actual ear of corn.  She was a bit confused about how she should eat it, sucking on the two ends first, but she eventually got an effective bit down, and was able to eat about half the kernels off the cob.  She got super excited when I cut the rest off, signing “more” while I was getting some on a fork for her.

Teagan dug right in.

Though she needed a bit of prompting to actually finish eating her half ear. But then again, that’s par for the course with her at meal times it seems. Unless there are pancakes. We can’t eat pancakes all the time, so, yes, we coax and prod her to finish her small plate. A plate that has less than half the food that Ashlin eats while hardly stopping to breathe.

Granted, the mojito I had for an appetizer helped a lot!

June 30, 2012

Unsure

Today was Teagan’s first swim lesson.  Ashlin’s too!  I ended up going in with Ashlin, but before I did, I got to take a few pictures of Teagan and Stu.

Teagan, our penguin at bath time,  was very unsure, unwilling to go in the pool, once we got there.  I don’t think she realized that she’d be going in alone, without one of us holding her.  Stu stayed with her, slowly encouraging her to get closer and closer to the water, to get her feet in, to kick along with the rest of the class.  Eventually, she went in, and went whole hog!  There was green light/red light kicking!  There was backstroke!  There was splashy ball!  The other kids needed a three count, Teagan jumped in at the count of one.  She went half the length of the pool and back in the back stroke, kicking better than any one else.  I wish I had seen it.  Stu said she did really well, once she got over her initial reluctance.

Noodle

Ashlin, well, didn’t do quite so well.  Class was just about nap time, and we were out late last night for the fireworks.  She was very fussy.  She cried almost the entire time in the pool.  I did not let her get out, I’m such a mean mommy.  There were some times she was happy, or less unhappy I should say.  There was singing.  She liked that.  We sang modified versions of “If You’re Happy And You Know It” and “The Wheels On The Bus.” She was perplexed by the word changes, but happy for the songs.  I couldn’t turn her so she could look out, she just wanted to snuggle in, hugging.  I would move in to the group when she quieted, and move away as she geared up crying.  Towards the end of the class, I sat her on the gutter, counted one-two-three and she lent forward, not quite diving towards me.  Quick spin around with extra happy voice and I put her down again.  She did it again.  And again.

Both girls napped at least two and a half hours after swim class.

Next week, we’re going to try to nap her before we go.  Hopefully being more rested will work better for her.

I’m looking forward to watching both of them in the pool.  I really can’t believe how big Teagan is getting.  How grown up.

May 27, 2012

Watching Sleeping Beauty

Today and yesterday, we finally introduced Teagan to Disney. Well, to movies other than “Cloudy, With A Chance of Meatballs.” She’s probably been passively aware of the Princesses, (a pair of Princess underwear magically appeared in her drawer, and has a Sleeping Beauty dress-up), and other things Disney, she did get Fillmore’s Tent for her birthday. (It’s a conspiracy man!) Up until now, we’ve never really watched anything Disney.

We started with “Sleeping Beauty.” I talked it up over breakfast. How it was one of my favorites, with music from and inspired by Tchaikovsky. For giggles, we made her say Tchaikovsky a few times. She got pretty close, once. The credits confused her, she wanted the movie to start. I explained that it gave a brief sampling of the music in the movie, and that seemed to satisfy her. A little.

She was fascinated.  Glued to the tv.  Well, at least for the first bit, then, for her, it got a little slow and her attention lagged.  Too bad there wasn’t more bunnies in boots and owls in hats.  She wasn’t scared of Maleficent in the beginning.  It was the creepy castle and the Forbidden Mountain that scared her, a little.  Oh, and Maleficent turning into a mean dragon.  She loved how the dress went from pink to blue back to pink.

That was “Pink Dress, Blue Dress” for most of yesterday, until she started calling it “Sleeping Booty.”

Then we watched “Beauty & the Beast.”  This one totally drew her in.  She stood in front of the tv, open mouthed, for what seemed like half of the movie, which incidentally is about the length of her attention span.  There is more singing and music in that.  The wolves and Beast scared her a lot, she would snuggle up to either me or Stu until they were gone.  After a bit, Beast stopped frightening her, she saw him becoming the man who would break the Enchantress’ curse.  She asked to watch this immediately after finishing it the first time.  It was “Pink Dress, no, Yellow Dress” for a short while, until it became “Beast & Booty” or “Beast & Belle.”

Trying to avoid bedtime, she asked for both movies.

Today was “Winnie the Pooh” and then “Peter Pan.”  Pooh, she calls “Windely Pooh,” and she wasn’t overly impressed, but that could have been her attention span.  She wanted to go swing and slide.   “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree” did pull her in, she thought it was pretty cool, and attempted to sing along to Little Black Rain Cloud.

After “Windely Pooh,” I tried Peter Pan, the first half of which was a hit.  She loved Tinkerbell and her “glitter like stars” that made the children fly.  The mermaids and indians?  Eh, they were pretty neat, but Michael has a teddy bear just like her.  As she started to loose interest and build her pillow “fight,” (it’s really a fort, but she doesn’t believe us),  and generally make a big mess, she declared “I Peter Pan!”

After dinner tonight, she asked to watch “Beast and Bell” and as the wolves came on, she said she was scared.  I asked if she wanted to fast forward, and she did.  ”Daddy forward please!”

I would have tried “Cinderella” or “Little Mermaid,” but never upgraded my old VHS versions to DVD.  And the VHS are at my parents house.  Now that she’s able to watch about half a movie without losing interest, I’ll have to get the DVD versions.

I don’t know if she needs to be aware of Princesses yet, or any of it, but I enjoy the movies, and I enjoy watching her watch them.  I’ll need to counter all the help-me-I-need-a-prince-to save-me with some self-sufficiency and fencing lessons.

April 7, 2012

Today Teagan colored easter eggs for the first time. It was almost fun. Well, parts were fun. Actually, most of it was fun. She was so excited when she saw all the colors. She was amazed when the eggs changed colors.

I have to stop and remember that she doesn’t know about things… Why you shouldn’t bang the eggs together, or bend the holders, or eat the wax crayon. Some times I assume she’s a little person that’s been around, not one that’s brand new. In a way, she does still have that new car smell. I need to remember that more often.

She really enjoyed it, and she did slow down a bit, not being the total dervish that she normally is.

She didn’t quite understand why she shouldn’t put her fingers in the cups of color… She has some Easter egg colored fingers now.

And the dye took much, much longer than I remember. Longer than a pre-schooler can be expected to wait. You can see her willing the egg to turn pink.

I’m sure that when I was a kid, the eggs picked up color a lot faster! Or are those just rose colored glasses?

Our eggs did turn out ok, after all. And a little wax isn’t going to hurt her.

I am looking forward to next year, when we may be a bit more artistic with our eggs.

She’s looking forward to having more deviled eggs too.

March 23, 2012

Ashlin said her first word today.  Well, tried to.  Stu was feeding her pieces of string cheese, and swears she said “cheese.”  When I got there, Stu asked her to repeat it, and she did.  It sounded pretty close to “cheese,” though I’m not sure if anyone else would understand it.

Her first word is cheese.

My baby!  I’m so proud.

March 20, 2012

Dada's first ponytail

This may be the first pony tail that Stu’s put in.  A very good first pony tail!  Stu’s combed her hair in the morning before, but always seemed to find something else to do when the elastics came out.  Somehow, I’ve always done the pony tails, piggy tails, braids, curls, whatever.

Yay!

Let’s see if we can get him to french braid tomorrow :D

~

PS.  Ashlin does not like ponytails.  Barrettes aren’t too bad, but ponytails?  No go.  So far, anyway.

PPS.  Happy Spring!!

 

February 19, 2012

In the chair

Teagan got her first real hair cut yesterday.  She’s had her bangs trimmed once or twice before, but I don’t really count that.  Those little trims were done while standing and holding her.  Quick little things.  This time, she sat in the chair, and had a drape.

When we got to the salon, everyone was surprised that we called it a hair cut.  Our saying that she  she would be getting a hair cut today.  They quickly called it a trim, a style.  They were worried that the word cut would freak her out.  Teagan, although sensitive at times, isn’t too phased by that word.  We had done all the prep work on hair cut.  Her first hair cut.  I had told her that it would be like getting her nails cut, that if she sat still and followed instructions it wouldn’t hurt at all.

She was still a little nervous.  And excited too.  She had been looking forward to having her hair cut, but now that it was time, I think she was having second thoughts.  If she even knew what second thoughts were.  Maybe she just wanted to go eat oranges or grapes.

Still so small

The hairdresser had her watch while I got my hair washed and cut.  Smart!  She got to see that it didn’t hurt, and that it really wasn’t a big deal.

Then it was her turn.

She looked so small in the chair, even with the booster.

But she toughed it out.  She followed the hairdresser’s directions, well, as well as a 2.5 year old can.  She didn’t cry, she was such a trooper.  You could see she was anxious, but she braved it out.

Back

First, he trimmed the back of her hair.  Mr. W asked her to look down at her shoes.  Teagan tried.  She would look down, and then after about 30 seconds would look up to the mirror.  I think 30 seconds is pretty good for a toddler, who’s never had her hair cut before.  I  crouched down by her feet and tried to talk to her, hoping to keep her attention to try to help her keep her chin down.  That helped.  A little.

Bangs

Then, the bangs.  She sat very still for those.  She didn’t flinch, much, when he cut her bangs.  He got so close to her with the scissors, and yet she stayed very still.  Such a good girl. You could see her concentrating on not moving.

Pretty braids

Then he did these lovely french braids.  It’s crazy how many different shades are in her hair.  It almost looks like it’s highlighted.  Unless she went back to the early 80′s, I don’t think she has a bottle of Sun-In at her disposal.  And she didn’t do a very even job at spraying it in either.  I wonder what color her hair will be, once it stops changing.  Ashlin’s is lightening up, while Teagan’s seems to be getting darker.

Teagan had no idea that she’dget a lollipop after her hair cut.  We hadn’t mentioned it to her earlier.  She loved the fact that she could actually pick the color/flavor of her treat.  At first, she wanted pink, no blue, no green…  wait, purple!  She was very excited by her lollipop.  It may have been the first one she’s had.

The Mr. W said she did a great job, as did the other people from the salon.  She was so happy.  She hugged the hairdresser afterwards, and said thank you.

My baby girl is getting so big.

Lollipop

And yet, still so small.

Sitting Pretty

Oh, and the braids lasted maybe an hour. She couldn’t stop touching them, playing with them.

February 6, 2012

New Seat!

Look who is happy about being in a new carseat!  Even with the big bruise still on her forehead and the slightly startled look.  She really enjoyed driving around on errands yesterday (when we did the seats) and today.  I don’t remember Teagan being so happy when we finally got her out of the bucket and into the rear-facing seat.  Ashlin giggled and  played.

This morning, Teagan and Ashlin chatted with each other.  Much more than they used to, when Ashlin was in the bucket seat.  Stu said they were passing toys, sharing goldfish (to Teagan’s chagrin!), having a good time.  I wish I had seen it.  They both were up much earlier than normal, so we got them ready and Stu took them in while I finished getting ready.

I missed seeing Teagan in her new seat for the first time.

She really liked it.  She was still happy about it when we picked them up.

Teagan in the box!

She also LOVED the box her new chair, (with a cup holder!!!1!), came in.

 

 

January 10 ~ Front Tooth?

Front Tooth?

Can you see it??  Can  you?

I know, it’s a very very bad picture, with not enough light.  But I swear that lower-right tooth is almost through.  Almost.

Her first tooth. At 9.5 months.

After weeks of often interrupted sleep.  Nights where she slept in two and occasionally three-hour stretches.

Maybe the tooth is up enough that she’s not as bothered by it, even though it’s not totally cut yet, and that could be why she did one four-hour stretch last night.  I’m hoping there’ll be another long sleep tonight.  Don’t want to be too greedy, though!  Four hours in a row is a very lovely chunk of sleep.  That’s so much better than what she’s been averaging lately.

 

PS.  Is it me, or do her eyes look green???  Nah.  It’s probably the light.