Monday, January 11th, 2010

A new year and a new decade! It has been a long time since I blogged last. Life has sped up in the last few months. Between Jack's school, our house sale (then the sale falling apart), unexpectd home improvements, the holidays and Mallie's school, I have been so exhausted at the end of each day that I can barely speak, let alone write. But I am missing out on recording stories, so I want to write as much as I can today!

Mallie started Preschool Playschool at RRHS. Her high school 'helper' is named April and Mallie LOVES her. I think she is so proud of being a big girl at school and enjoys the one on one attention. She comes to the car at the end of each session being so proud of her craft that she made and so excited to tell us about her song she sang or the snack she ate. I love thinking of her at school because she is ready for that attention and ready for some independence.

We've been giving Jack and Mallie showers lately instead of baths. It's much easier and quicker to bathe them this way. Mallie LOVES her showers and is like an adult in there rinsing her hair under the running water. Jack was a wimp at first and hated the water in his eyes. But he has come around. Annie hates the shower and clings to me like a little monkey in there as soon as a drop of water hits her toe. Tommy was in the bathroom the other day, shaving before his shower. Annie went in there and was getting into things. I heard him telling her, 'No, Annie, don't go in the trash.' or "Don't go in the potty". And she would whine or chat at him and then get into something else. Finally, he said, "OK Annie, do you want to come in the shower?" at which point, she spun around on one foot and came running out of the bathroom and never looked back!


A while back, we were at Bohlken Park and I was pushing Jack on the swings. On our walk to the park, we went past a statue of Jesus in someone's yard. Jack asked a few questions about that.... then remembered it as he was swinging. He announced at the top of his lungs, "I LOVE SWINGS AND I LOOOOOVE JESUS!!!"

The holidays provided a few opportunities for Jack to confuse the names of Christmas characters. Snoopy became "Stoopey" and the Grinch is now "the Grunch".

At Target a month or two ago, Jack announced to me that he likes "Ella D." and wants to hold her hand. While trying to keep my composure, I asked him if he had already held her hand. He replied that he wanted to, but she said 'no'. I told him that he must always ask before holding people's hands and that maybe another time she would let him hold her hand- and if not, then that was ok, too. He seemed to be pondering that for a while....and I haven't heard much else about Ella D. since.

I was giving the kids a bath a while ago and they were playing with the new shark toys Yaya and Papa brought from California. All of a sudden, Jack punched one of them in the nose and said, "BAM! Just like Uncle Brian!" I asked what he was talking about and he said that Uncle Brian had punched a shark in the nose while he was swimming in the ocean. I immediately called Uncle Brian to ask him why he had not told me about this amazing story and he said that he had told Jack that months ago and couldn't believe he remembered it. But Jack remembers everything!!!

Jack answered the phone a few weeks ago and brought it to me, saying that it was 'the guy who is fixing our wall'. John Weedan was on the line and was laughing that Jack knew it was him. He said, "I can't believe he knew it was me! I didn't tell him it was me! He must've read the caller id!" To which I replied, "Ummmmm, he can't read! He recognized your voice!" This was remarkable because Jack had only met Mr. Weedan one time before this!

We were in the grocery store the other day and Jack saw a Folger's can of coffee. He said, "Look Mom! Birdseed!" I could not figure out what he was talking about, but then remembered that my dad keeps his birdseed in an old folger's can!

Mallie dressed up like a cowgirl for Halloween. Everytime someone asked her what she was, she said 'A Cowgeeeeriol!"

Mallie is OBSESSED with princesses!!!! She wanted a Sleeping Beauty doll for Christmas, and got one. SHe also wanted to buy a set of princess figurines with her gift card from Christmas (after MUCh deliberation in the aisle at Target, that is.) That night, she couldn't fall asleep and came downstairs to play. We opened her princess set and she stood at the couch, making the princesses dance and singing, in the highest voice possible, "I KNOOOOOOW YOOOOU, You walked with me OOOOONNCE UpOOOOON a Dweeeeeem!!!" SHe did this for at least 1/2 hour and Tommy and I could not stop laughing.

We had people over one night and Mallie was being a little crabby. When I took her up for bed, she looked up at me and said, "You are my favorite Mommy in the whole, wide world". Kind of made up for the evening.... not to mention making my whole month!

When Mallie gets out of her bath, and is all shivery, she wiggles around and says, "I'm weawy, weawy chiwwy!" Then when we wrap her up in her towel, she says, "I all nice and snuggy".

Mallie is in full-out mothering mode. She loves Annie and is so sweet with her. She loves getting Annie to laugh by playing peek a boo or snuggling her tummy. The other night, she walked around behind ANnie as she walked from wall to wall in the living room, holding her shoulders and 'helping' her walk (even though Annie needs no help in that department). They did this for at least 20 minutes. Normally, Annie would be totally annoyed that someone was touching her while she was walking around, but I think she enjoyed the attention from her big sis because she walked around very seriously and slowly like that without a peep!

Mallie and Annie are both obsessed with Finn, too. Mallie runs right up to him and yells, "Finnegan Beginnagin!!!" SHe never calls him just 'Finn', it's always "Finnegan". Annie always runs right up to him and squats down to his face and rubs his head. I feel kind of bad for Finn because Annie MUST be annoying, thinking that he is a baby or something.

Annie is starting to talk, slowly. I would say she understands almost everything you say to her. She follows direction with no problem. So far, she's saying 'All done (Dahl Dah!)", 'Bah! (Bye)', "bee booo (peek a boo)". SHe knows some of her animal sounds (snake, cat, dog, cow, fish) and some of her body parts (feet, tummy, hair, mouth). She holds up one finger for how old are you and says "Dah di! while holding her hands above her head when asked how big she is.

Annie is climbing on everything!!! About a month ago, I walked in the living room to find her on top of the piano. But this week, she has really mastered climbing on the chairs and tables. It is a pain!!!

She loves to try to copy her brother and sister. She is trying to play Jack's wii video games by swinging the controller the way he does and yelling, "OHHHHHHHH!" just like he does when he goofs up! She is stamping her feet when we come in from outside, even though I carry her to and from the car. And she loves to dance with them to any kind of music. She usually swings just one arm and walks around in a circle.

Listening to Annie talk is one of my favorite things to do. She may not have many words, but she knows exactly what she is saying and she uses PERFECT intonation in her voice, so it sounds like her own little language. I love replying to her with, 'Oh, really?" or "What else happened?" and she'll go on forever with more of her 'story'. She even uses hand gestures!! :)