We've recently given Annie the nickname of "Tidbits" for the exact reason you see in this picture: tidbits of food in high concentration under her chin (as well as all over her face)! I think I see strawberries and pasta under there! Yummy!
I don't know what possessed Leia Rose to do this, but after I took the last picture, Leia Rose ate one of Annie's tidbits! Uh!
Whew! What a roller coaster! Today was just wonderful! Leia Rose swam to her instructor seven times using the doggie paddle! And when she really paddled quickly (like I suggested) she was able to keep her whole face out of the water (still Leia's ultimate goal). However, Leia also dunked under a bunch and jumped off the side! This was the first time that I've ever cried out of happiness in regards to swimming. There's just something about seeing your child reach that safety milestone that makes a Mamma so happy! Perhaps looking at the picture of Shenandoah jumping off the diving board (on the Worrel blog) helped to inspire her today? I think so!!!
Leia Rose, Annie, and I had such a fun afternoon today! We did lots of dancing to Annie's "Good Morning Songs" that I put together for her. Leia Rose requested ones that were "rock & rolly." The whole experience was very special to me!
As you can see, the only way Leia can "dance" with Annie is by holding her hands while she is sitting. Funny, I looked up what Leia Rose was doing at this stage. She was already standing alone, crawling, and cruising. Ah, the difference in weight! : )
Today marks another first for Leia Rose. Today was the first day she picked up a book to read it on her own. I tried to take a shot before she noticed me. : ) She chose Monkeys, Monkeys!, I'm sure because it's funny and not to hard to read. Yay, Leia! We also began Strawberry Shortcake's Filly Friends. Again, a long book that will take us a few days, but she's sure enjoying it! She can't wait to tell Mrs. Schnell that she can read!
I'm not sure why Leia Rose felt this way today, but she was absolutely terrified to go to swim lessons! This is a far reach from the gal who was swimming on her own just a few days ago! I wonder whether it was because of the gap in the lessons, . . . or perhaps it was because she forgot to close her mouth during her last dunk last week? Anyway, here's Leia Rose clutching my "Courage Doll," a little doll that I received in my youth perfect to fit in a child's hand. The legend is that when you hold her, she'll give you courage.
Leia Rose cried through the entire lesson today. She was terrified. Just terrified. Ironically, the only time she didn't cry was at the end, when Carrie (finally) convinced her to go under the water. She did great! Perhaps tomorrow . . .
After Mass today, Leia Rose and I thought it would be fun to play the "Duckie" game with Annie. Annie just stared at it. She just stared and stared at it. Here she is, . . . just staring at it. : ) (The ducks go around in a circle while it makes quacking sounds. Your goal is to choose three with your particular color on the bottom. Honestly, (although annoying to parents) a wonderful game for age 2 and up!) Ironically, Annie won the game! The three duckies she picked all had blue on the bottom! And, I must say, Leia Rose is such a good sport! (I've been trying hard to teach her that this year!)
Another project Leia Rose wanted to do recently is above. I first did it with her when she was two, . . . found the idea in a book. The original idea was to trace your child and then have them stick stickers on the parts of the body. Well, Leia remembered that project and wanted to do it again, but instead of doing the "parts of the body" game, she just wanted to decorate it. This was the result. Evidence Leia: eyelashes, cheeks, and of course nostrils! : ) I think it looks like she's sucking on a pacifier, myself. : )
Leia's Godmommy Natalie surprised us yesterday with a new dress as a (very) early birthday present! Greg is now stationed in England! (What a smart lady for sending future gifts right before leaving the USA!) I let Leia Rose open this particular gift early (hope you don't mind, sweet Natalie) so she could wear it to a birthday party today. Isn't she beautiful?
As another fun developmental thing today, I got out the mirror for Annie. She took a few looks, but wasn't as interested as Leia once was. (A mirror was the item that encouraged Leia to crawl for the first time.) Can I really complain at the absence of vanity?
Leia was very into drawing when we went out to dinner tonight. On the way she drew a Preying Mantis!
Then at On the Border she was intrigued by my watermelon margarita, so I asked her if she wanted to have a taste. One tiny bit and her response was just as I expected: "Eeeewwww! Yuck!"
Leia Rose also colored a wonderful picture of a Pirate Octopus!
Had to give this post that particular title because Brian and I have been watching lots of musicals on DVD lately, the latest being South Pacific, so . . . Anyway, a nice Saturday at home today. Leia Rose and I played lots of games together. One of which was Candy Land (thanks so much to Oma for letting us have/borrow the old game, the newer one is a bit scary with characters like the freaky "Mr. Mint").
Auntie April, you'll be pleased as punch to see us playing the Cabbage Patch Kids game while we were listening to the Cabbage Patch Kid record. (Remember, "Sybill Sadie, Oh Raime, I guess it's up to you and me.")
Then there was Leia's favorite: "Wild Games" with Daddy. I guess Leia Rose is over her I-don't-want-to-be-held-upside-down stage!
And no session of Wild Games is complete without Daddy's famous "nibbles." : )
Of course, Annie was awake by this time and they spent some sister game time together on Auntie April's rocking horse named Yankee Doodle. Fun!
Today Annie learned two new skills! First, she can take the stars off of the Symphony Star Stacker herself! Up until now, I had to take them off and hand them to her (so as not to get her too frustrated).
Another skill that surprised me comes from the book Pat the Bunny, which is one of Annie's favorites. One of the pages has an embedded ring where it asks, "Can you put your finger through Mamma's ring?" Annie has just been able to do that particular page (it was one of the last for her to master). Anyway, today on a whim I just wondered whether Annie would recognize the same skill in a different context, so I took off my nursing ring and asked Annie, "Can you put your finger through Mamma's ring?" And this is what she did! Smart baby!
Annie and I had a fun bike ride this morning! Leia Rose didn't want to go. : ( It was very nice weather, and in the seventies! We had a nice rain last night, thank goodness!
When we got back, Leia Rose had a great idea to teach Annie colors by reading to her from one of our "My First" books. What a good big sister!
I can't believe that I'm even putting this on the blog, but as every parent knows, it's a huge deal for a child to finally be able to eat a whole cherry and spit the pit out on her own! Well, Leia Rose learned to do that today! As you can see by her plate, I didn't have time to use the cherry pitter tonight because I was in a rush, . . . and Leia Rose surprised us (only on her last two cherries) with her new skill.
Today Leia Rose specifically requested putting on a Three Little Pigs puppet show. So she got out her finger puppets and we began. She wanted me to do the story first.
She was particularly tickled by the end when I had the wolf say, "Oh! You burned my bunnels!" when he fell down the chimney into the soup. I just love capturing that laughter!
Then she was content to try the story on her own and did a very good job.
I just had to show you a bit of Leia's fantastic rendition!
The next time I performed, Leia Rose added some humor by having the wolf be attacked by a man-eating shark.
Finally, Annie woke up to join the fun. She particularly found it funny when Leia Rose would bring the puppets right up close.
The next story was called "Butterfly and Kitty."
And this next one I was supposed to guess. Leia Rose said, "It's an animal in the horse family, but it's not a horse." I kept guessing "pony" and "zebra" and "donkey." Finally, I gave up and Leia Rose said, "Uh! Mamma, it's a giraffe. A giraffe is actually a member of the horse family." I asked her and, yes, she had learned that from Zoboomafoo. Well, thank you Chris & Martin Kratt. : )
Today Leia Rose finally finished Oh, Cats! It took her a few days because it was 27 pages long! That's a bit too long for when you still get a bit frustrated reading, . . . so we took our time reading it. I mean, it's not supposed to feel like schoolwork, you know? : )
During Annie's nap today (after Leia read a bit more from Oh, Cats!), Leia Rose made some "egg heads." This was one of Leia Rose's favorite school projects from Artgarden, so I thought we could try to replicate it at home. We had eggs yesterday for breakfast (and dried the shells) in addition to collecting the grass seed (literally from someone's overgrown lawn). So today it was time for Leia Rose to draw the faces on the eggs.
Recently, Leia has been intent on drawing actual nostrils on her face renditions. And the guy on the left has glasses. : )
Then it was time to add the grass seed and the dirt before watering.
Now it's time to set on the windowsill and enjoy them as they grow their "hair." : )
Just thought I would record our little snug bug. This is what Annie looks like when she really wants to have "Mamma's Milk" before nap. She makes a little sound, too. It sounds just like saying "heh, heh, heh" with your mouth closed. : )
And this is what Annie has been doing when she's snuggling down for a nap. She sucks her thumb with her left hand, and holds her special Grandma blanket with her right. So cute!
Last night we read a book called If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and guess what Leia suggested this morning? Making pancakes for breakfast! Exciting! Even Annie enjoyed a bowl of pancake pieces!
Later Leia Rose created a game called "What's That Sound?" Here she wanted Annie to guess, "drum." Isn't she a great big sister!?!
. . . and that led to a game of "drum bites."
After Annie went down for a nap, it was time for "scarf jump." Hmmmm, . . . dangerous. Can't believe I let her do that one.
Today Annie added two words to her vocabulary! First, while we were playing "kitty rescue" with Leia Rose, Annie said "cat" . . . , or I guess it sounded more like "caaa," but I knew what she meant. This is the picture taken right after she said it. She was looking at Perri Pat Pat.
A bit later Annie and I were looking at the Symphony Star Stacker. I did my usual "Orange Star!" "Red Star!" "Green Star!" "Blue Star!" And suddenly Annie said, "star"! Again, picture right after the fact.
