"She's Forlorn"

In case we haven't mentioned it before, now would be a good time to reiterate that Elizabeth LOVES books!
At bedtime, she usually gets to pick two books for us to read to her. (She prefers one book from Daddy and one book from Mommy...or, in her words: "I need TWO people to put me to bed!")
The House That Jack Built is a frequent favorite pick to read with Daddy! I suspect she loves the sing-song rhythm and repeating rhymes in the book. From this video, you can tell that Daddy rather enjoys it, too! XO

It's Official: We Have WALKING!

Ashley debuted her walking skills this past Sunday afternoon. Then gave us a few sneak peeks of 3-4 steps at a time over the course of the next few days. But it was all leading up to tonight's PREMIERE PERFORMANCE! And voila!...Here she is! Look out, world!

Too Many Shoes?

Of course not...no such thing!

I posted this on facebook the other day with just this photo. But I'm thinking maybe here I will find an audience that is interested in the live action version of events! ;-)

Today I walked upstairs to find that E had dumped (literally!) ALL of her books from her bookshelf onto the floor and was replacing them with pairs of shoes! HUH?!?! I gasped and took a breath in preparation of ordering her to put all the books back--now!...but instead something nagged me to ASK her WHY she was doing that! She looked up me with such an earnest little face and said "I needed these shelves for my shoe store!" LOL What else could I do at that point but help her set up shop! ;-)

Right away, we got to work on the sign (she wrote the "E" and the "L") and then I cut out some price tags (she dictated the prices...a little bit random...but hey...it's HER store!). Finally, she informed me that she needed a name tag to be a "worker"...so I made the little badge for her to wear. Voila!

Sidenote: As you'll see from the video...Ashley was not sure she wanted any part of this land of make-believe. But E and I had fun in spite of this! haha!

Two in a Tent!

Elizabeth and Ashley are having a ton of fun...TOGETHER!

Ashley has long been interested in doing what BIG SISTER is doing. But now, Elizabeth is also discovering that some things are more fun with TWO!
Ashley doesn't quite understand all the "rules" of dual play—like sharing and making room for others, etc. But, have no fear...Elizabeth is sure to educate her in NO time! ;-)

Summer Cruisin'

It's hard to believe the years have gone by so fast...
but our eldest daughter is now behind the wheel of her first convertible!

YIKES! Clear the roads and look out!
No, seriously.

So...the story behind this little pink baby is that I scored it at a garage sale across the street from our house in Michigan last summer for the low-low bargain price of $20. (I know, right?!?! :-)) Anyway, the plan was to give it to Elizabeth (& Ashley) for Christmas...but then, well...we up and moved! So the jeep spent Christmas in a moving truck and while we spent it in a hotel in Pittsburgh! By the time we did get around to celebrating Christmas, there was a lot of snow on the ground and somehow it just didn't feel like the best time to do it. So we decided to put it off for a while. Then I came up with a grand plan to give it to her for Mother's Day! (Yes...why not? I mean...after all, they are the reason I get to celebrate Mother's Day!) Excellent plan foiled when the battery took over 72 hours to CHARGE! Oopsie! So...we again decided to postpone it for a bit.
So, today, while the girls were taking naps, Peter and I were cleaning out the carport area for the painters to come on Wednesday, and we decided to pull it out and get it all ready to give to E & A when they woke up! It was a GORGEOUS day and just perfect for cruising down the driveway!

E was THRILLED when she saw it, but was a little skeptical, too: "Is it for ME?!?!?!" (Hmmm...considering this is a PINK BARBIE JEEP, perhaps this would typically viewed as an odd question. But a few months ago, she accidentally discovered a portion of it hidden under a blanket, and clearly, she recalled being told "No, no..that's Daddy's!" LOL)

Here she is trying to reconcile whether or not the jeep actually belongs to her now...




Anyway, after that was cleared up, she hopped right in and we coached her on how to put the pedal to the metal! This resulted in a lot of abrupt stops and starts and tons of giggles. It's more difficult than you might imagine for a 3 year-old to control a foot pedal and steering wheel–at the same time!

As soon as Ashley woke up, we plopped her in the passenger seat so Elizabeth could take her for a ride!
Elizabeth seemed a wee bit nervous being the one in charge of the driving...but Ashley could not be more excited! I have a feeling that once E gets the hang of it, she will have a willing passenger anytime!




Honestly, I think Ashley would have stayed in there all afternoon!


Something tells me this was a wise investment! Hello, Summer!

Day Trip to the District

As I mentioned in the previous post, the girls and I took a little day trip in to the District last week to the Air & Space Museum.

We arrived just before the museum opened at 10:00am. As soon as we entered the building, we got our FREE tickets to the One World One Sky show (featuring Big Bird and Elmo!) and headed to the planetarium theater to wait for the show to begin.

Ashley was more than fascinated by how the seat wanted to fold her up into a little pancake...she kept flapping her legs up and down and found it very amusing!

After the show, we walked around for a bit, and the girls each had a snack. I like to call this one "synchronized snacking"! haha!
Then, we made sure to stop at all the fountains that we had hurriedly passed on our way from the metro to the museum. Elizabeth was soooo excited by the ENORMITY of this one that she would barely hold still for a picture!
I did manage to get her to hold still for about a half second--sort of. Honestly, I know this picture looks posed...but in reality she was in the middle of alternately swinging her arms behind and in front of her while giggling and tippy-toeing next to the water! I just happened the snap this at the right moment.

This was taken in front of the "wishing fountain" from the previous post...just outside the Smithsonian Gardens.
And this last one...well...it was probably the MOST fun of all because it just comes spurting out of the ground, just begging for bare feet to splash in!



Fun day!

Mommy's Favorite Wish!

While on a little visit to the National Air & Space Museum last Friday, Elizabeth wanted to stop at EVERY fountain we passed. So, on the way back to the metro, we did just that. At this one, she saw all the pennies, nickels, and dimes in the bottom and begged me to let her throw money in the "wishing fountain"! (Can you tell we have done this before??)

Anyway, except for the tiny little grammar issue (sorry--the teacher in me had to say it!), I think you will enjoy her wish as much as I did!

"There's an Animal In Trouble..."

So...Elizabeth was recently introduced to this TV show called WonderPets! (Actually, I don't think she has seen a whole episode of it. Instead, she saw an ad for WonderPets that came on while she was watching something else.) At any rate...they have this catchy little tune they sing that includes the phrase: "There's an animal in trouble..." And, of course, the WonderPets' mission is to go and rescue said animal.

This morning, Elizabeth thought it would be a fun idea to dress Little Sister up in her caterpillar outfit and add butterfly wings (with Mom's help!) so that Ashley could play the part of an "animal in trouble"...and, naturally, it was Elizabeth's job to RESCUE her!

Not sure Ashley knew what to make of this grand plan! What do you think?

Cracker!!!

Ashley is quickly acquiring some new words! Hooray! Trouble is...once she "has" these words, she often refuses to USE them! Stubborn little thing!

In this video, you can hear her say cracker at the very beginning...and then, of course, she only says it again once the camera pans away! Enjoy!

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!!!