Social Butterfly?...Maybe not so much!

This post is a little overdue...but I just ran across these pictures and it makes me laugh. This is Elizabeth at a birthday party in February.
Now, to be fair, she did not know ANY of these children, whereas they all knew each other b/c they attend the same class at day care. She even met the Birthday Boy (the son of one of Peter's grad school classmates) for the first time when we arrived at the party! They live about 25 minutes away in Maryland and were kind enough to invite us to the event, which was held at a local sportsplex...included bounce house (which E LOVED!!!) and cake and ice cream.

Every picture looks like Elizabeth just didn't know quite what to make of the whole situation.

I should mention, though, that she said she had a great time! LOVED the bounce house and cake and ice cream time! Just wasn't all that thrilled with having to interact with the other kids! LOL

On another note, I can report that, as she was playing on the playscape at the dentist's office this morning (yes...a HUGE playscape like they have at fast food places...IN the waiting room!), I overheard little Elizabeth informing other kids (herself?) at least two years older than she, "Okay...'it's your turn now' ...that's what you say when someone else wants a turn.'" Oh, brother! ;-)

The Picture Is In My Mind

Well...as the title to this post suggests, I don't have a picture to accompany this blog entry. But at the suggestion of a friend, thought it was a good idea to document this afternoon's events.

Today is the first day of Daddy's summer school evening class. So, as most Tuesdays are when class is in session, it was a LONG day. After the girls awoke from their naps, we were playing around in the living room...and it was so nice outside that I suggested that we take a walk. Well...E wanted none of that. She just wanted to "play outside" in the front yard...fine, fine...just so long as we were OUTSIDE for a while! So, I grabbed the large picnic quilt from the hall closet spread it out on the front lawn along with the little inflatable innertube for Ashley to climb in and out of.

Once outside, Ashley and I plopped down on the quilt and E wandered around outside for a while. Then, she joined us on the blanket and the two of us lay on our backs and I started pointing out the movement of the clouds. A was curious and came scooch/crawling over to us and I promise you she squirmed herself RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE of us and joined us on her back looking up at the clouds as well. The three of us just relaxed there together, pointing at birds, laughing at different sounds (helicopters, planes, chirping birds) and observing the trees and cloud formations. We must have remained there for a good 15 minutes! No joke! It was at that point that it occurred to me that this was one of those moments that was not likely to repeat itself again. It was bliss!

I LOVE my girls so much and this time together was PRECIOUS beyond words!

Eventually, Elizabeth got up and then Ashley rolled over and, as more and more cars began driving down the road, E exclaimed "We're watching all the Daddies come home!" Hilarious!

Great afternoon! And now it is permanently etched into my memory! So grateful to be at home with these two angels! XO

Customer in Training!

We went on a little trip to the market today to stock up on some essentials. And, in case you have not seen these little gems in person, I thought I would post some pictures of the latest "turn-a-ten-minute-routine-outing-into-a-45-minute-fun-filled-adventure" invention! Of course, Elizabeth LOVES it...so we just allow some additional time to let her be Mommy's Little Helper! Some days, like today, it's fun for everyone!

And other days...

I want to hunt down the marketing guru who invented these munchkin-mobiles and show him my bruised and battered ankles from where darling E has RAMMED the cart into me repeatedly when she was too busy "browsing" to watch where she was going!!! OUCH!

Gigglebox

Ashley was having a little dried fruit snack and I snapped a few of these precious pictures.

Then, she started making these little noises where she would blow air out of her mouth. When I copied her, she laughed hysterically as though this were the funniest thing I had ever done! So I flipped it to video...see for yourself. Incidentally, she also thinks it is HI-larious when she offers to give you something and then SNATCHES it back just as you are about to reach for it! Little stinker! ;-)

Always Time To Be a Fairy Princess!

Well...the other day, Elizabeth announced that she wanted to dress up like a fairy. So...we decked her in Fairy Princess gear from head to toe! She even let me braid her hair! Then, we romped around in Elizabeth's room wearing tutus and fairy wings and having a Fairy Tea Party! It was all so delightful...I'm sure you are sorry you missed it! LOL

Is there a better way to spend a day?? I think not!

Couldn't leave Little One out...she needed a tutu, too!
Is that too many tutus?? heehee

And, lest you think that Mommy was just a fairy princess bystander,
here is a picture taken by Elizabeth!
Finally, here is a video of Elizabeth putting on her entire outfit by herself! (This, after she had taken it off and then decided she wanted to become a fairy all over again!) Very entertaining!

Daddy Time!!!

That's what Elizabeth calls it!
Last week, Daddy volunteered to put both girls to bed...but then I heard this sing-songy sound coming from Ashley's room and I knew something fun was happening. So I grabbed the camera and snuck up there to capture the magic. Battery in the camera died about a 38-seconds in...but the footage is still priceless! Sorry this is so sappy, but my heart is so full!!!! Is there anything more precious?!?

The Scooch

Even though the time has long passed for Ashley to transition from her stationary to mobile phase, so far, she has shown virtually no interest in crawling. Actually, that is putting it mildly. Just for good measure, she would actually take it one step further and SCREAM HER FOOL HEAD OFF anytime we put her in the crawling position. She just. did. not. like it!

But, eager to put our minds at rest, she soon adopted a quite efficient mode of travel that we like to call "The Scooch!" Simply put--she scooches around by putting her feet together and pulling herself along with her hands--disturbingly, not unlike Eddie Murphy in the beginning scene of the classic film "Trading Places"--sans that little platform on wheels (And if you haven't seen that movie--NETFLIX it!--b/c it is so worth it!)

Without further ado...BEHOLD!: Ashley's bizzare adaptation of crawling! Enjoy!

Artsy and Fabulous!

Let me know if you want any of these! :-)

Our Little Monkey

Here, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Looks like those gymnastics classes are paying off in core strength! :-)

Tourists In Our Own Town!

Being a tourist in your own town is a lot of fun! And even more so if "your own town" just happens to be our nation's capital! (Okay, technically, for us--it is not. But, since we can drive from our house to D.C. in less than a half hour, we think it still counts!)

So, today, we took off on an adventure to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom!
We began our journey at 9:30 am. Here we are just outside of Dunn-Loring station, about to board the METRO! (As you can see from this pic, Elizabeth is very excited about this, while Ashley is just trying to hunker down for her morning nap in peace!)
First stop: The gardens at the Smithsonian Castle...


Then we walked down the Mall right by the Washington Monument...

And stumbled onto a rugby match in progress (no, seriously! It was a total coincidence!)...
Enjoyed the picturesque beauty of the cherry blossoms...
Stopped to smell the flowers in the Tulip Library...
Took pictures of the Jefferson Memorial... Ate lunch under the cherry blossoms surrounding Washington's Tidal Basin...



Walked back up the Mall toward the Capitol (while both girls took a nap in the stroller!)...


Stopped to enjoy the fountains outside the American Indian Museum...



Rode the carousel in front of Smithsonian Castle (Warning: DO NOT watch this video if you are prone to motion sickness! For some reason, viewing of the video is much worse than being on the actual ride!)




And, finally, we stopped to appreciate one last fountain at the Smithsonian Castle gardens!

All in all...it was an exhausting and very fun-filled day of sightseeing, crowds, and beautiful weather! WOOHOO!!!

ABC...Easy as 123!

Elizabeth was playing with her alphabet train the other day—(each "car" is a letter of the alphabet that magnetizes to its neighbor)—and she arranged it in order from A to Z! Predictable, I guess...but since it takes a pretty long attention span to hunt through the pile to unscramble, rearrange, and attach 26 cars, I gave her lots of props for it!!!!

But then, when she started pointing and naming each letter and pairing it with its phonetic sound, I shouted, "Wait right here!" while I grabbed my camera and made her start all over from the beginning! haha!

So, please consider this the gratuitous sequel to the "my-kid-knows-the-alphabet" video that I posted last year. Same rules apply: If you aren not a grandparent of this child, viewing is completely OPTIONAL! ;-)