Hair clip count.

I just liked how she was standing in this shot.  She's just checkin' out her stash of hair clips.

Inheritance.

Anna just inherited a MOUNTAIN of Littlest Pet Shop toys from her cousins.  Aunt Jenni had a massive house clean out and we got all kinds of new things.  I had to go buy a huge bin to put all this LPS stuff in...and the huge bin was too small.  And another problem is finding a place for the storage bin....  I make her keep all the stuff on a little blanket because it is known to get spread out all over the floor in the living room.  What you see here is about 1/3 of it all.

Look familiar?

The Season Premier: The Return of McScreamy. (Nominated for "Best Drama" and "Best Actor in a Leading Role")

Stay tuned to see how the story of getting his first two teeth unfolds.  

A PACKAGE!

 

Anna got a package in the mail from her cousin, Megan.  She was gone on "vacation" to Nana's house when it arrived so I set it aside so she could open it when she got back home.  The package was SO much fun.  It had three pairs of princess shoes and some Disney figurines.  Anna tried all day to put Polly Pocket clothes on those figurines.  It didn't really work.  She has pulled out those princess shoes for everyone that comes to our house.  She lines them up and points to each one of them saying, "These are my favorites."  

One a side note, Cinderella's glass slippers are now permanent.  I super glued them on...twice.  The first time didn't take.  Please excuse Cinderella, she doesn't have her dress on.

Our friend the comedian.

We have a friend who is a comedian...really.  He quit his job as an attorney and got a full time job being funny.  He and his brothers have many short comedies that they put on YouTube.  I don't know how to put a YouTube video on my blog, so click on the link to see one of my new favorites:

Ramsey Brothers Pictures

"Other Mommy..."

Anna: "Mommy, WAIT FOR ME!!"

Me: "Anna, I'm not going anywhere."

Anna: "I was talking to my other mommy."

Loud.

Anna was talking in an unusually loud voice the other night.  She's usually very quiet compared to other kids her age when just carrying on a conversation.  I asked why she was talking so loud.  Her response was, "I don't know...I guess probably 'cause I have to.......at Jenni's house."

We must choose.

Anna's THIRD birthday is coming up in October.  I'm thinking of two things we could get her...we'll with the family's assistance...and with their permission for their assistance, that is.  I was thinking of getting her either a trampoline or gymnastic lessons.  I'm a little torn because a trampoline would be endless fun at any time of the day, but gymnastics is just fun and she'd learn coordination and cool stuff.  Should we go ahead and get her the trampoline and wait on the gymnastics so she'd be old enough to be in a class that would be more than just babysitting?  I have thought about lying about her age and telling the gym that she was older so she's be in more than a "bunny-hop" type class.  HA!  No, I won't do that.  Any thoughts?  Elisabeth, don't tell Anna's doctor if we get the tramp!

"I wanna ride it AGAIN!"

Finally, the day to ride the roller coaster came yesterday.  I took 177 pictures before the sun set.  And I felt like I didn't take very many!  Anna had a BLAST.  There were lots of things she wanted to ride so badly, but was too short.  Some things she will have to wait a good three years before she can ride them legally.  She ate all her green beans today at lunch because I told her it would make her taller so she could get on the bigger rides.  (not as a bribe, just normal conversation.)  She shoveled them in and said with a full mouth and hands in the air, "Mommy, I'm BIGGER!  Can I go ride more now?"  Aunt Jenni saved the day once again and held Grey almost the entire time we were there...almost 4 hours.  CRAZY woman.  But Grey sure was happy.  He finally fell asleep on her shoulder at about 8:30pm.  Both Jen and Grey were covered in drool.  Sorry Jen.  Daddy went off with the cousins once in a while to ride with them, then came back to ride with Anna.  The weather was SO nice...mid-70s and sunny.  Felt like football season.  :)  We even put on Anna's hoodie when the sun went down.  I did get to ride a couple of rides.  Well, I rode the the little roller coaster (that was surprisingly pretty fast and fun...and loud) several times with Anna.  And I road the big "Dare Devil's Drop."  Which is like a free fall thing.  Super fun.  Anna rode that little roller coaster about 8  times.  

How many fingers can he fit in there? ... Anna REALLY driving that fire truck. She was serious!

Grey's favorite ride. ... The curl queens.

Grey gave up. ...  Anna and Elisabeth trying to save their eardrums.

   

Cute cousins. ...  Anna and Ryan holding on tight!

Me trying to get a shot of Anna on the bumpy coaster. ... Anna on the boats...the only one riding.

Elisabeth riding with Anna...she's about 6 ft tall!  Poor girl. ... Erin riding with Anna. ... And Anna's "new best friend" Eleanor.

The highlight of the day.

She found an old sticker on the carpet.  It's wasn't really that sticky anymore.  But SHE FOUND IT!

"Daddy, I need to go to the bike shop."

Anna desperately needed a helmet to wear while riding her bike.  This girl has been practicing HARD with Daddy almost every night for the past few weeks.  It was a little frustrating for Daddy in the beginning because Anna is, of course, on her own agenda and clock.  So since she is VERY easily distracted, Daddy would get fed up with trying to teach her the "ropes" of cycling, resulting in a negative experience for Anna.  Therefore, she started to not want to ride anymore.  After threatening that Santa would come and get the bike and take it back to the North Pole, and Daddy finding some patience, they were back circling the neighborhood.  They ride to the grocery store all the time and walk around looking at things there, then she hops back on and they come home.  It's about 5 or so blocks to the store.  And Daddy likes to find lots of obsticles along the way for Anna to problem solve on the bike.  :)  

She has had many big spills on the bike, and some near head injuries.  The new helmets finally came in this week and Daddy went to the bike shop to pick up one that matches her bike.  She loves it and thinks she is "serious" now. 

Self-Medication.

This has happened twice in the last couple of weeks.  Anna comes into the room after being in the bathroom and says something like, "Mommy, my tummy hurt a little so I got some medicine and put it in my tummy to make it feel better."  Just picture her standing in the middle of the kitchen with her hands behind her back assertively.  The first time, I thought that I'd be on the phone with poison control in a matter of seconds.  I ran into the bathroom to find nothing out of the ordinary; nothing out of the drawers, no pills on the floor...  I asked her to show me what kind of medicine she got.  She opened the drawer in the bathroom where I keep all the kids medicine (I KNOW-I should keep them somewhere else!!), and pulled out the bottle of Kids Tums.  I asked her how many she took.  She said, "I just take one...(chuckle)."  I thought, "Ok, that isn't THAT bad."  The dose for her age is 2 tablets and I looked in the bottle and she couldn't have taken more than one or two.  The tablets are HUGE so I'd know if there were a significant amount missing.  I'll find a new place for the medicine.

Smash and grab.

This is an old picture.  I found it while sorting the almost 3,000 pictures on our computer.  And those 3,000 aren't all of them.  We still haven't transfered all of Anna's folders of pictures (mainly from her first year) to the Mac.  This is Anna and Grey's version of the "smash and grab."

Mother Anna.

I stuck Grey in his exersaucer thing and went to change my clothes.  I came back to find a bib perfectly placed around Grey's neck and toys beside him on his tray.  Anna told me that Grey had "puked" and she wiped his mouth then put the bib on.  What a girl! 

Nighttime conversation.

Lately I have been visiting with Anna while she lays in bed at night.  It's usually after we read stories and have turned out all the lights.  It has become my favorite time....even when I've almost killed her during the day.  I have started thinking that I need to set up the camera somewhere and record a conversation or two.  She just goes on and on about random things.  You just hear all the thoughts that go through her mind.  She has no filter...as most two year olds don't.  I'll try my best to recreate what she was saying...it's pretty close to what was really said.  I know I left out a few things...

Me: What did you do today?

Anna: I go to school (church and school are at the same place so she gets them mixed up), and I made a pretty picture.  It had stickers on it with fish and water and, and...

Me: Did your teacher tell you a story about the picture you were making?

Anna: Yes, it was about God's love...and a really big fish.

Me: Was it about Jonah?

Anna: Um (putting her index finger at her lips), yes, and about God's love.  Jonah got in the water and the big fish swallowed him and then the big fish cough and spit out God's love.

Me: You mean, he spit out Jonah?

Anna:  No, he spit out God's love.

Me: Ok...

Anna: Mommy, did you go to the store?

Me: Yes, I went to Wal-Mart.

Anna: But which Wal-Mart?

Me: The one we always go to that's down the street.

Anna: Did you go with Elisabeth and Erin?

Me: No, I went by myself.

Anna: Well, Elisabeth is my BEST friend.  Did she come to our house today? No, she came yesterday. You go shoppin with her...and Erin too.  Elisabeth is my best friend and she came from her house.  No, she came from Russ's house!

Me: I think so...

Anna:Reagan is my best friend too (cousin).  She came to see my Polly Pockets...my NEW princess Polly Pockets.  But Cinderella...she lose her shoes!  All dem!  I go take my car to the store to get some more.  My car works!  It WORKS Mommy!  I can drive it.  And Reagan can come too...and Elisabeth.

Me: ok...

Anna: And I have some candy at school today.  I got a gum...MY gum.  It was mine.  

Me: Did you swallow it?

Anna: No, I pit it out...like that big fish pit God's love out.

Me: ...ok...

Anna: I pit it out after I chew it all up.  It was colored blue.  It was pretty blue.  I chew it and blow a real big bubble!

Me: I didn't know you can blow a bubble!

Anna:  Yep, I can....  (looking up) Mommy, you get that boon (balloon) out of the fan when it spin round and round and break! (this happened months ago) You used your white wadder (ladder).  And we take the turtle to the hospital when it was hurt and sick.  It got getter.  Then we let it go to da water o'er dair....(there's a turtle story but it didn't involve a hospital).  Mommy, why did you throw my clothes away?

Me:  What do you mean?

Anna: My clothes, they in the trash..the widdle trash...in the bathroom, by the potty.

Me: Oh, the strap on the shirt was torn and I couldn't fix it, and you couldn't wear it anymore.

Anna: Oh (chuckling).  (gasp) It lightning Mommy!  I can see it!  Out da window!  But I can't really see it cause my curtains, they in the way.  The window is on the udder side...and the lightning is outside. (pause) Do you hear it? 

Me: Hear what?

Anna: (softly) The thunder.....

Gone for good?

We have lost one or both of the glass slippers at least 10 more times after I posted the last entry.  I think I may have to take the one remaining slipper away and let her play with the rest of them.  I still can't find the one of them from the last time we lost it...yesterday.  I've told Anna to look for it (yeah right), but neither of us had any luck.  Maybe it's just gone for good...destined to find a home in the vacuum.

A new era.

One has entered a new era of parenting when the first Polly Pockets are purchased.  Anna has been playing with these microscopic dolls with her cousins for a while now.  I should say, she picks out the clothes, shoes, and accessories, then asks someone else to dress Polly.  When I say "microscopic", I mean it.  Nana bought Anna some Disney Princess Polly Pockets today.  She got Snow White, which came with Dopey the dwarf, Sleeping Beauty, which came with the blue AND the pink dress, and Cinderella, which of course came with glass slippers.  Five minutes into dressing Cinderella we lost one glass slipper.  This glass slipper is definitely microscopic...about 1/2 of an inch long, and CLEAR, because well, it's supposed to be glass.  I looked everywhere.  Nothing.  Cinderella borrowed Snow White's red shoes.  Snow White was fine with that.

Daddy came home and saw me on my hands and knees with my cheek on the floor looking for the invisible slipper.  He asked what was going on and then said with a dramatic gasp, "Cinderella LOST a glass slipper?!  Just like she did in the movie?!  Let's see if Prince Charming can find it."  And yes, "Prince Charming" saved the day.  After finding a "used" Dora band-aid and a couple of pieces of pop corn under the couch, he found it.

Yes, these are the glass slippers sitting on a PENNY.  I hope I don't find any of these little shoes or other accessories in Grey's diapers.  Yikes!

Dress-up in the Dark.

Anna goes through these phases where she wakes up in the middle of the night and comes to our room. She knows by now that she's definitely not getting into bed with us (unless the sun is up and it's time to get up anyway). I guess she just comes in there to let us know she's up and she wants us (me usually) to put her back in bed. For this current phase she's added a little twist. Sometime during the night, whether it's right before she goes to sleep for the first time or later on, she puts on some sort of clothing or accessory. It can be her feather boa, her princess shoes or some other everyday shoes, a hat, knee socks, etc. Last night she came in with her silver "princess shoes" which are just her Target ballet slippers. I noticed she had them on and she noticed that I noticed. She immediately began with the story about how Nana bought them for her and that they aren't the pink "sbroc-wee" (sparkly) shoes that hurt her feet. Then the story about the owie she got while wearing the "pink sbroc-wees", and on and on. Just the thought process spoken allowed. And ending the story about how she NEEDS to keep them on while she's in bed. Whatever floats your boat, girl. I think she's phasing out the naked sleeping...mostly.

The Bumbo.

I have to admit that this horribly named baby seat is one of the coolest thing I've used.  Although I do believe they forgot to add a few things to the advertisement or info about it.  With Anna (when she was a baby) and with Grey, one or more of the following things occur when I stick them in it (which is multiple times a day):

1: excessive burping, or just getting ALL the gas out of their tummy.

2: poop.

3: spit up...everywhere.

4: excessive toots.

I suppose this doesn't happen to all babies, but it seems to help mine if there happens to be a problem in one of those areas.  Grey has been swimming an spit up and/or drool every time I get him out.  Usually both...