Another Day "Ah-Side!!!"

All day every day, now, this is what Annie talks about: being "Ah-Side" (outside). If she's inside, she's talking about wanting to be outside. If she's outside, she's talking about being outside. Today in the sandbox, she was looking at me and talking about the sand, and I said, "Yes, we're playing in the sandbox." And Annie replied, as clear as a bell, "It's outside!" And earlier in the day, before we went out for the first time (we go out multiple times a day now), her usual drill whenever she sees a window (which is all the time because our house has a lot of windows) is to say something like this: "Side! Side! Ah-side! Ah-side! Ah-side! Side! Bood!" (Translated, "Outside! Outside! I want to go Outside! Outside! Want to go outside! Birds!") Ha! Annie is going to LOVE the summer. And I have to say, this morning, the air was just so clean and crisp and fragrant, we just HAD to be a part of it. (Hmmm, where have I heard that line before?) It really was a beautiful morning, so much so that I sang the song for Annie. : ) But the morning wasn't the only time we went outside today:


After watching a new Elmo's World with Annie the other day that focused on "building things," Leia Rose was all about building today. Here she is in her "hard hat" fastening two "bricks" together with "cement" made of mud. : )
She eventually made the larger version of her "mouse house" that she called the "mouse teepee." : )

And today Annie discovered the boat wheel in the playground clubhouse.

And what would be a day without lots of time in our little turtle sandbox? ; ) I just thought Annie looked so cute today sitting there all in red. : )
But unfortunately, Annie's big goal today was to sit like this and use this little cup to pour sand out of the sandbox. *sigh*
And this got her really frustrated with me (when she found out I wouldn't let her do what she wanted). And even though it doesn't look it, this is Annie's "I'm frustrated" face when she voices a loud "Aaaaaahhhhh!" Which means, you guessed it, "I'm frustrated!" ; )

This is another fun & common occurrence in the sandbox: Annie hearing birds, saying "boods!," and signing "birds." : ) (But sometimes what she's really hearing is an airplane. She insists that every airplane is a bird.)
Here's another first today! Annie riding on the glider by herself! She held on really well, which always seems to surprise most people. Both of my children were on regular swings with no mishaps very, very early. (But I'm not going to let this be a regularity quite yet.)
And even though this isn't a very good picture, it's a very real representation of Leia Rose and Annie playing with the Barbie Jeep. Leia usually drives a total of 15 feet and then stops because "something is wrong with the car" and then goes to check it out. It always surprises me that she doesn't want to just drive around and around until the battery runs down. Annie, however, would do just that. As the perpetual passenger, her only job is to play with the phone on that side (which she is doing in the picture). Annie would ride in this car all day, and it doesn't even matter to her whether the car is going or stopped. She loves it anyway. Quite honestly, this toy was truly designed for a big sister/little sister combo. ; ) Could we have gleaned a better (or more expensive) free-hand-me-down toy? : )