halle & jacob, annie, maisy & lucy

Lucy at 15 months

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:48:45 -0800

• is a jealous baby
• loves to be outside and wails when we bring her inside
• is afraid of everything: fuzz in the bath, crunchy leaves beneath her feet, puppets, wigs and hats, loud noises, dirty fingers, a dangling string on her clothes, Scar from Lion King to name a few
• loves to wear jackets
• is always stomping around in someone else's big shoes
• runs away from us when we call her
• knows how to milk an injury: she cries, while pointing to the injured part of her body or the culprit
• needs a lot of attention
• alternates between loving and hating the bath
• insists on sitting wrapped up in her towel after a bath, even after she's dressed
• is a super car and stroller traveler
• loves the cozy coupe
• wants to do everything her big sisters do
• is a little climber
• loves cottage cheese, yogurt, and cheese but isn't crazy about milk
• calls all liquids “wawoo”
• laughs and cries easily
• Is a good sleeper and has become a good napper now that she has consolidated down to one nap
• dismantles Maisy's new train set at least 20 times a day
• if she can choke on it she puts it in her mouth.
• she loves washing her hands
• calls everything with 4 legs a "doggie"
• goes up and down the stairs by herself
• gives hugs, kisses, and head-butts
• likes jacob the best but yells “mommy, mommy, mommy” whenever she wants something

Denali Pit-stop

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:32:44 -0800

This is how happy our girls were after 3 hours of driving on our way to Anchorage. We really have the best car traveling kids ever. Lucy actually won the prize this trip. She didn’t cry for even a second. And since she can’t talk yet she didn’t use words to complain either. The perfect stage if you ask me.

Snowball Fight

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:27:29 -0800

Since our snow doesn’t pack for most of the winter we made lots of snowballs this “spring.”

4

Tue, 8 May 2012 10:17:46 -0800

Maisy:

• loves to be held
• always wants me to hug her while she goes potty
• protests that she doesn't need to go to the bathroom every morning when she wakes up, then lights up a big smile when she hears the tinkle
• responds with delight when she receives loud, over-the-top praise for doing something good, like practicing her speech words
• can't go to sleep without knowing what she has going on tomorrow. "Have peech cwass a-mato? Have p-school a-mato?"
• loves to go to the store
• is making great progress with her speech
• gives big hugs to everyone when she likes what she is wearing
• throws an all-out fit when you try to get her to wear something she doesn't want to
• is finally starting to be bribable
• loves dressing-up
• LOVES talking on the phone and is starting to be more understandable to the people on the other end
• is the reason we have gates in the house, they are not for Lucy
• changes her clothes at least 5 times a day
• wants us all to match all the time
• gets the bathroom stool to reach the gum in the kitchen, then says, "I'm Mom" when I catch her
• loves being outside and is always underdressed for the temperature but doesn’t seem to notice
• loves to sing, though the lyrics are usually gibberish
•

6

Mon, 7 May 2012 10:33:22 -0800

Annie:

• is a smarty pants but doesn't think that being smart is any better than being a fast runner or a fast eater, of which she is neither.
• is encouraging with Maisy's efforts to speak more clearly. She memorizes Maisy's weekly speech words and dutifully quizzes her and appropriately praises her successes.
• is a fantastic babysitter for Lucy. She is always the first one to rush to Lucy's aid. I feel like I could almost leave her in charge of her sisters for a time, except she informed me she will not change diapers. And she will report me to the police.
• is strictly obedient.
• is very good at keeping secrets and confidences.
• notices when others are being left out and tries to include them.
• has had at least 5 boys ask her to marry them this year. She accepted only one offer. She is loyal and true.
• wants to be an ornithologist. Last week it was a paleontologist. Next week it will be something else.
• needs to be praised. She doesn't like it when she hears me praise Maisy and not her. She thrives on verbal recognition.
• learned to ride a two-wheeler before her sixth birthday
• loves dinosaurs, Harry Potter, Lego, kindergarten, reading, writing, teaching, riding her bike, the Wee-hoo, collecting and much, much more.
• wants to be Violet Baudelaire from A Series of Unfortunate Events, minus the dead parents.
• is very teachable; she is always ready to learn

Zoo Un-fun

Sun, 6 May 2012 09:15:50 -0800

We made a trip to the zoo while in Anchorage. For obvious reasons, the Anchorage zoo has only arctic and sub-arctic animals. Perhaps it was the post-snow/pre-leaf ugliness and the gloomy day, but I thought it was the saddest place I have ever been. Even Annie commented on how sad the animals looked, particularly the muskox. It was hard not to feel sorry for the 3 grizzlies at the zoo when compared to the grizzlies who roam free in vast Denali. But the kids seemed to have a good time in spite of the sad animals and we had a coupon so we didn’t call the outing a complete waste.

Maisy’s Preschool Finale

Thu, 3 May 2012 09:56:41 -0800

Jacob, Lucy and I attended Maisy’s preschool celebration. At the Christmas program she was barely willing to sit up front and hardly sang or showed any expression at all. This time she was happy to sit in her seat and she did her best to keep up with the songs and rhymes. She even smiled every now and again. We were so proud! The combination of preschool and speech class has done so much for her confidence and she has learned so much. We are so thankful to her fabulous teachers.

I think her favorite part of these events is getting to wear a dress, which would have been the part I hated as a kid. She still runs up to us and gives us hugs when she loves what she is wearing which is pretty adorable. We all received plenty of hugs that morning.

Maisy had been pouring over Annie’s preschool yearbooks recently and was delighted to receive one of her own with pictures of herself. And every day since preschool ended she asks before bed, “have p-school a-mato?” I fear it’s going to be a long summer of that question.

Bike Day

Tue, 1 May 2012 11:09:11 -0800

Lucy and I joined Maisy and her preschool class for their annual bike day. It was in the 20s and windy and none of us were dressed for the cold. The kids had a good time riding but even the hot chocolate and cupcakes didn’t provide enough comfort. We ditched the party early when Lucy had officially had enough of the cold and screamed all the way home and then for 30 minutes while I held her before she crashed.

Swinging Sisters

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:30:37 -0800

Now that we’ve reminded Lucy that she likes the swing we are having much more fun this spring.

Annie rides a bike!

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:40:43 -0800

After last-summer’s failed attempts at teaching Annie to ride a bike we ditched the training wheels and purchased a balance bike. She initially did not want to ride the balance bike so we bribed her with a Hogwarts Express Lego set and it worked like a charm. Within two weeks of riding she easily transitioned to her real bike and has been riding without incident ever since.

Proof that I have loosened up a bit

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:46:34 -0800

I would never have let Annie push Maisy around in a doll stroller.

Pigtails

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:29:46 -0800

I tried pigtails in Lucy’s hair for the first time the other day. It looked cute from the back but weird from the front. I’ll probably let her don her mullet for another few months before I do anything with it on a regular basis. This is the one area that I often think I should have been a mother of boys.

The Great Peanut Debacle

Mon, 9 Apr 2012 23:12:51 -0800

Maisy is allergic to peanuts. Said a blood test 2 years ago. We had successfully avoided peanuts until Easter Sunday.

The Primary felt the need to give the children candy on the same day that they all ate chocolate bunnies for breakfast. Maisy was handed a peanut-butter M&M. Her teacher asked if it had peanuts, and was told no. Then she realized that it did and she freaked out and was desperately trying to get it out of Maisy’s mouth. Maisy knows that she can’t eat peanuts and she went into hysterics because she knew she had done something wrong. Her teacher brought her to me and explained the situation and I went to find Jacob. He took her home to give her Benadryl and grab an EpiPen (which I now carry with me). She didn’t seem to be reacting to the peanut, but she was so hysterical that it was hard to tell. After church I had a short meeting I had to attend. Jacob waited in the car with the kids. A few minutes later he came and got me and told me that Maisy had thrown up in the car and that we needed to go.

Upon arriving home, Maisy had broken out in hives and was so uncomfortable. We gave her more Benadryl and a bath and that seemed to do the trick. She slept for the next 15 hours. And during that time I repeated over and over again to whoever would listen that nobody has the right to give my child candy except me. And thus begins my campaign to have a no-food in Primary policy included in the church handbook.

The Easter Bunny

Mon, 9 Apr 2012 23:01:42 -0800

I do not pretend that there is an Easter Bunny. I tell the kids outright that these goodies are from us. Nonetheless, it’s fun to fill the baskets. Annie asked me why we celebrate Easter with chocolate bunnies and marshmallow birds if it’s supposed to be about Jesus. She’s such a little thinker. I love that about her. Maisy didn’t question and just dived in, consuming much of her candy before church. Lucy scored a ball and some books and we postponed her sugar overload until next year, though she is trying to swipe some gumball eggs in this picture.

This is my favorite Maisy face. Maybe if she made it more often I would get less frustrated with her.

Only Child

Mon, 9 Apr 2012 22:55:37 -0800

While Maisy was away I had to have more structured activities for Annie so she didn’t get bored without her sister. We had a fun time dying eggs while Lucy napped one day. I got way too in to the dying and if it had been up to me we would have dyed every egg in the house, but Annie told me that we had done enough.