"Chicken Chicken Yuck"

Saturday night, we had Chinese food for supper. Hannah wanted to try the General Tso's chicken (which wasn't too spicy, like it sometimes is), so I put a little on her plate and cut it up. After she tasted it, she said "chicken chicken YUCK!" I thought it was funny. She enjoyed the rice, though. :)

Heidi's Birthday List

Heidi told me that she wanted to make a birthday wish list, so here it is:

• Chocolate cake
• Chocolate ice cream
• Strawberry cupcakes
• Chocolate chip cookies
• "O" candies
• Fishie candies
• A new McDonald's toy
• A Starsong baby My Little Pony (I think she already has the Starsong My Little Pony, though)
• Pillow Pet (unicorn)
• A skirt
• Cinderella Pajamas, a nightgown
• Jasmine nightgown
• A Barbie house
• I want Hannah to give me chocolate milk
• I want Grandma Sylvia to give me a new coloring book.
• I want Grandma Holly to give me a new princess nightgown.
• I want Grandpa George to give me the new Tinkerbell movie.
• I want my mommy to give me a Barbie Fashion Fairytale movie.
• I want Grandpa Bob to give me a new princess purse.
• Alicia can just give me a surprise thing.
• Sophie can give me a surprise thing, too... and Sienna.
• Michelli and Alicia, a surprise thing, too.
• Ella can give me a surprise thing, too.
• They have to get me a girl thing.
• The end.

Putting Hannah To Bed Tonight...

When I put Hannah to bed at night, I try to talk about things that we did that day. I used to do the same with Heidi. It's fun to get reactions from them about what we did that day. Today, I talked to Hannah about dropping Heidi off at the babysitter's house (but not her b/c she has a yucky nose) and how we said bye bye to her... and I asked her if she rememered going to see the doctor with me because Mommy had to have stitches taken out of her back... and I asked her if she rememered playing in the front yard today with squirt guns and spray bottles, squirting water on the ground (she looked up at me and smiled)... and I asked her if she remembered playing with Elmo (a doll) today. She put her hands palm up (like I do when I ask where something is) and said "go? .... Elmo go?" (Elmo sounds a little more like "Ahhmo," but she's been getting better at almost saying the "l" sound with it, like "Ahlmo.") Then, I remembered where we had left it and told her that I would be right back. I came back with Elmo and she was still sitting in the rocking chair where I had left her, excited to see that I had brought Elmo back with me. She kept saying "back back, Elmo... back back." I also asked her if she remembered putting her baby doll in her high chair and trying to feed her sippy cup to her. Then, she kept getting frustrated because the high chair is too high for her to reach the baby very well and couldn't take her out of it by herself, so I had to help her. I told Brian tonight that I think we should get her a baby doll high chair for her Christmas present from us. He thought it was a good idea. She does like feeding her baby doll a lot. Sometimes I give her a spoon and a little plastic bowl from the kitchen and she loves to try to pretend feed her doll... and then she usually puts them night night, or "nigh nigh," as Hannah would say it. I guess I usually put her to bed after I feed her lunch... and pretty soon after supper, too. Anyway, that's most of what we talked about tonight before Hannah went to bed. Then, when she went to bed, she took Elmo with her. She usually has Elmo, a baby doll, Minnie Mouse, a caterpillar, and Curious George in her crib (all around the edges). Tonight she cuddled with her arms around the baby doll when she went to sleep.

Heidi's Smoothie

Heidi just made me a smoothie in the playroom. Here's what she put in it:

Peanut butter
Blueberries
Blueberry juice
Chocolate
Ketchup

Sounds yummy, huh? :)

Playtime

I was playing barbies with Heidi in the playroom a little while ago and I was the Mulan barbie. Heidi asked me what people in China ate, so I told her that people in China eat a lot of rice. Then, her barbie told mine (Mulan) something like "Mulan, come over to my house... We have some rice to eat." Then, she said "When Mulan saw the rice, she ate it all up and didn't share any of it. She just couldn't help it... She was just so hungry and she thought it just looked like a little plate." I thought it was kind of funny. Hannah just kept trying different dress-up clothes on. She seems to know who is a boy and who is a girl now, too. She does the signs and points out girls and boys in books that we read... and she knows that she, Heidi, and I are girls... and Daddy is a boy. I guess this may not be the most interesting post to most people, but just thought I'd write a little about what we were doing in the playroom today. :)

Hannah is learning colors and saying a little more lately

Hannah going on 19 months old (on the 20th) and knows some of her colors now. She definitely knows brown, black, and pink. Sometimes she gets red, yellow, and blue right... but sometimes she doesn't, too. She's also been saying a lot more lately. Today when we were in the playroom, Heidi put on a pink star necklace and gave the blue star necklace to Hannah to wear, but Hannah didn't want that one! Instead she pointed to Heidi's necklace and said "ne"or "neck" (for necklace) & then said "bink dar" (pink star). She didn't want the blue star one, she wanted the PINK STAR one!

... She also can identify a few shapes. She knows hearts and circles. She says "heart" really well! For "circle," it sounds a little more like "doree" or "der-ill." She can also identify stars and calls a star a "dar."

Bacon in a Backpack?

We were playing in the playroom today and I thought that some of the things that Heidi was saying were kind of funny. She had a baby that she was carrying around in a baby carrier and she told me that her baby was allergic to pizza, graham crackers, water, and juice. Then, she was getting her baby's diaper bag/backpack packed because they were going somewhere. She put a blanket, a burp cloth, and something else for her to sleep on in the bag. Then she said that she needed to pack some snacks for the baby... she went over to where the play food is in the play kitchen and picked up a wooden piece of bacon and told me that her baby LOVES bacon, so she was going to pack some in her backpack to give her for a snack later. I thought this was so funny! I cannot imagine packing a piece of bacon in my backpack to give a baby for a snack... especially if she's allergic to things like pizza, graham crackers, water, and juice... I am not sure if she could handle bacon. I don't know if it's a good idea to keep bacon in a backpack either. :)

Then, she put a blanket on her head and fastened it down with a Cinderella princess crown. She told me that she was getting married. After she told me this, she walked away and came back without her wedding head gear on. She told me that she had gotten married and now "look at my tummy!" Her tummy had GROWN! She had a baby tucked under her shirt. I guess she knows that people get babies in their tummies after they get married! Then her baby came out and she told me her name was Princess Goo Goo Annalise Unicorn Blum and her other baby (the one she was trying to pack the bacon for) was named DanaBlum (I guess she's named after me).

:)

Hannah: 18 Months Old & No More Mama Milk :)

Heidi is now 18 months old, so I cut her off from breastfeeding this past week. Today, she was playing with a barbie doll. She was having some trouble taking off the dress that her doll was wearing, so I helped her. When it was off, she pointed to the barbie's breasts and said "milk milk." Then after pretending to try to drink some milk from the doll, she said something like "no no gone gone." She did it a couple of times. I thought it was kind of funny. Heidi did something kind of similar when I cut her off. When she was 23 months old, I had to cut her off to take a sterroid. Every day for the next month or two, she would pretend play with a Little Bo Peep doll and a Bob the Builder doll and it would always go something like this:

Bob the Builder: Mama, I want milk.
Little Bo Peep: No, it's all gone.
Bob the Builder: (starts crying)
Little Bo Peep: It's okay. It's okay.

She did this once or twice EVERY day for at least a month or two. I guess they both find ways of coping with stressful changes through pretend play.

I think Hannah may be able to identify the colors red and yellow now. Whenever I ask her to find red in a couple of her color books, she usually finds it. (The same with yellow)

She's also using a lot more signs and saying a few more things.

Heidi: Counting in Spanish

Heidi just told me "This is how you count in Spanish: inco, tres, spacho, swinco, ono, dos, tres, inco." I thought it was kind of funny. I don't even know when she learned to try to count in Spanish. I haven't tried to teach her and we don't get cable, so she doesn't really get to watch Dora. Maybe on one of her other shows, like Dragon Tales or Maya and Miguel that come on PBS.

Heidi thinks there should be potties in cars that just pop up in your seat when you need to go.

Not long ago, maybe a week or so ago, I was at the Dollar Tree looking to buy some craft-making items. While we were there, Heidi found for sale those horse-on-a-stick things. I'm not sure what they're called. We really don't need anymore toys, so I didn't buy her one (even though they were only a dollar). Anyway, today she asked me if she could use a sock and glue some googly eyes on it and draw a smile for a mouth... and then put it on the end of a broom stick, so she could pretend that she had a horse. I thought it was a fun idea, so I gave her an old, odd, pink baby sock (that Hannah has outgrown anyway) and she made her pretend horse. She likes making crafty things. I think it was a cute idea.

She was also telling me yesterday that she thinks the people who make cars should start putting potties in them, so when kids need to go, they will just pop up in their seats and they should even have toilet paper on the tops of the potties. She wrote about this in her diary/journal yesterday, too. I think it is funny, the things that 4-year-olds think about.

Hannah is growing up...

I guess Hannah is growing up and trying to become an independent person. After I had already dressed her in a cute short and shirt outfit, she decided that she wanted to wear something else. She opened the middle drawer in her changing table and took out her froggie pajama pants and a cute hot pink top with a flower on the front that has a tutu attached. She held these two items of clothing to her body and made complaining noises until I finally agreed to put them on her. Her face was beaming with a huge smile as she rubbed the flower on her tummy and looked down at herself with her froggie pajama pants and her pink tutu shirt/skirt combo.

It's also 11:32am and she has had a dry diaper all day so far! She has told me twice that she has needed to use the potty by using the "potty" sign, saying "po po" w/a short "o" sound, and trying to take her clothes off. Both times that she did this, she went pee pee in the potty and got mini stickers as rewards on her hands. Heidi reminded me that we still had some stickers that we used with her for potty rewards when she potty trained a couple of years ago. Heidi was pretty easy to potty train. I'm thinking Hannah might be also. Hannah is still only 17 months old. The first time she used the potty, she was 16 months old. I'm not trying to potty train her. She just wants to go on her own. I think it is because she sees me and Heidi using the potty and she wants to do what we are doing. I guess we will see.

She has also been using a lot of new signs now for the past month or two... I'll try to list as many of the new ones as I can remember (not including some that I have already mentioned on past blogs).

hot
cold
thank you
please
gorilla
monkey
play
snail (not sure if I've mentioned that one yet or not)... she also tries to say it
candy (& says "na na" w/a short a sound, like in "candy")b/c Brian sometimes give her some
zebra
tiger
goat
bat
bear
baby
elephant (and makes a sound like the elephant does when it lifts its trunk)
cat (may have already mentioned this one a few months ago, not sure)... also does "dog"
drink/thirsty
more (has been using this one for a long not, not sure if i've mentioned it, though)
hurt
airplane

There are probably more, but I just can't think of them right now.

Hannah is still trying to potty

Hannah has been trying to use the potty a few times a day the past couple of days. She hasn't actually gone on it again, though. She just gets me to take her diaper off so she can sit on the potty. Then after sitting for a short time, she stands up and tears off some toilet paper, wipes, and flushes it down the big potty. At least she's interested, I guess. I'm not trying to potty train her yet. She's also been starting to try to say new words and is doing a few more signs. She says necklace now, "na na" with a short a sound. She says some other things, but I can't think of what else she says right now.

Hannah went pee pee on the potty at 16 months old.

This evening just after Brian got home from work, Hannah went into the bathroom and started pulling at her diaper and was saying "po po" with a short "o" sound. So, I grabbed the potty chair that was stored under the bathroom sink out and took her diaper off. When I sat her on the potty chair, she went! She went again on the potty before she went to bed. I don't know if she's really ready to seriously potty train yet, though. I don't think she can really have the muscle control that she needs to potty train yet. She has been, for the past couple of months, frequently going over to stand against the wall when she goes poop, so I think she knows when she has to go. Then, she will sometimes afterwards come over to me and go "ewwwww" and she shows me her diaper. I usually say "ewwwww stinky diaper" when I change her poopy diapers, so that's why I think she's saying "ewww" after she goes poop. Anyway, I think she's becoming more aware of when she needs to go and she's been really interested in the potty lately, so who knows... maybe. My mom told me that the lady who took care of her when she was little in Ethiopia potty trained her when she was only about 18 months old. I guess we will just have to see, but I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't go on the potty again for another month or more.

Hannah put a view master disk in the dvd player today.

When Heidi was really little, I bought a view master thing from a garage sale. You know, the toy that you put a little paper disk in with pictures that rotate as you pull the lever on the side. When I bought it, it only came with one disk, a Diego disk. Heidi was never really that interested in it, so I never bought any other disks (and haven't seen any at any garage sales at a price that I wanted to pay), so we only have that one disk. Well, Hannah has been playing with the view master a lot the past couple of days. Today, she even took the disk out of the top of the view master and took it into the family room (where our tv is). Then, she put it into the dvd player. I guess it is round like a dvd and it does have cartoon pictures on it. She must have thought it would have worked just like our dvd's do.

Last week, I let Heidi check a movie out from the library and it just happened to be a Go Diego movie, so after Hannah tried to put her Go Diego view master disk in the dvd player, I turned Heidi's Go Diego library dvd on for her to watch. She watched it for a little while before getting distracted and going on to do something else. She usually really only watches Signing Time. Oh, later on, she actually brought me a Signing Time dvd box and waved/said bye bye to Diego on the tv, so then I put one on for her to watch.

Hannah is picking up Heidi's bad habit

Heidi is gone this week (at Grandma Sylvia's). Usually, when Hannah wakes up in the morning, I bring her into my room and we usually talk/play for a little while (usually until Heidi wakes up). Then, Heidi comes into my room and we all usually go downstairs together every morning. Heidi usually gets upset with me because I carry Hannah down the stairs and not her. Heidi is usually grumpy most mornings. When we get downstairs, it's usually kind of cold, so I cover the couch with a big blanket for the girls to sit on because the leather is always really cold. A lot of mornings, Heidi usually whines and complains in a really grouchy voice for me to cover the couch just as soon as we get downstairs. This is usually the first thing I do after I get downstairs, but Heidi still likes to be grouchy and demand in an annoying way for me to cover the couch (even as I am getting the blanket to throw over the couch).

This morning, after Hannah and I came downstairs, Hannah took her baby blanket and was trying to cover the couch with it (as I went to go get a big blanket for the couch)... and she was complaining in a grouchy voice just like Heidi does every morning. I thought it was funny. Hannah is picking up Heidi's bad habit.

Hannahs Newer Words

Hannah has gotten the "ch" sound down now, so now she is saying:
- says "ch" for cheese (and uses the cheese sign)
- says "choo-sss" or "chsssss" for juice (and uses the sign for thirsty/drink)
- says "ch" for chicken

She also:
- says "ma/mu" mouse (and uses the sign for mouse)
- says "ma/mu/mun" for chipmunk
- says "b's" or "p's" for grapes
- says "obble obble" or "obba obba" for the turkey sound, "gobble gobble"
- does the zebra sign
- tries to do the signs for grandma and grandpa, but they look the same when she does them
- says "ma" for grandma
- says "pa" for grandpa
- says the signs for cat and dog (She's been doing the sign for dog for a while. She only does the sign for cat with one hand... and sometimes it's closer to the middle of her face instead of on the side, but she's trying).

I think she's saying a few other words too, but this is all I can think of right now.

Just a quick note

Tomorrow is Heidi's preschool graduation party. She has to go back to preschool again next year, so she'll have another graduation next year, too. She's pretty excited about it. Her class is meeting at a super jump house place where the kids will sing some songs and get to jump on a bunch of jump house things. There's even a HUGE bouncy slide. I'm going to try to take pictures, but my camera is SLLLLOOOWWWWWW... so we'll see how they turn out. I'm not sure that they will be that great because I'm sure Heidi will be moving pretty fast. It may be hard to get some good pictures.

Hannah is learning new things everyday. She does the sign for snail now, says "na" for snail, says "do" (w/a short o sound) for "dog," and says "bu biiiiii" (w/short u and long i) for "surprise." She loves hiding behind the big Huggies diaper box in her bedroom and popping out to say either "surprise" or "peek-a-boo" over and over again. She also loves taking baths. We have a lot of bath toys (including 3 mermaids, a couple of rubber duckies, 2 boats, foam alphabet letters, and some misc. other rubber/plastic water animals. When she was taking a bath last night, though, the toy that she was most interested in was the shampoo bottle that I had just finished using the last of. She spent so much time just putting the lid on and taking it off... and just trying to figure out how to screw/unscrew it. Hannah may not be as verbal as Heidi was at this age, but I think she is pretty good and figuring out how things work.

Sick Girls

Heidi and Hannah have been sick. Yesterday morning after I woke Heidi up to get ready for preschool, she told me that her stomach didn't feel good. We walked downstairs and I gave her some apple juice (which I probably should not have done), and after a couple of sips, she looked like she was about to throw-up, so I ran for the trash can and just barely made it to her in time. She threw up about 6 or so times through the day. She didn't eat anything all day yesterday and she stayed on the couch all day, laying down and watching movies. I thought she was finished throwing up by the time I put her to bed that night, but when she woke up this morning, she told me that she threw up in her trash can last night (that I put next to her bed with some washcloths closeby to wipe her mouth off with). I hope she's going to get better soon. This morning she wanted something to eat and she didn't want plain toast, so I gave her some chicken noodle soup.

Hannah has also had a fever since yesterday. She's also really grouchy. I know she doesn't feel good.

I just hope they get better soon. I need to get to the grocery store and buy more milk and a few other things (basics). I also have a couple of books that came in at the library that I had on hold that are going to go back into the system if I don't go pick them up today, but I am not sure if I will be able to go get them. Anyway, that's what's going on with us right now...

Peek-a-boo

Hannah is saying "boo-pa" now for "peek-a-boo." She is also saying what sounds like "neck" when she points to my neck. She has known where the neck was for a while now, but now she is saying it, too.

Smoothies And A Movie

Tonight we all watched a movie together! With Brian working so many hours and so many projects that have needed to be done around here, it is not always easy to find time to do something as a family... but tonight we watched Alice In Wonderland together. It was a little weird/creepy. Heidi says that the part where Alice was fighting the Jabberwocky (sp?) was scary. Hannah even sat on the couch with us most of the time (with a lot of tickling and playing to keep her entertained). It was a fun night. I don't think we've ever even done this before together. I also made smoothies for dessert with blueberries, strawberries, and bananas. They were yummy. :) I just thought I would write about our night since it is not very often that we get to do things together.

Heidi's Rock and Roll Song

Tonight has been a grouchy night for the girls, so they were both in bed by 6:35pm. We usually sing songs before I put the girls to bed everynight. We usually sing songs like Little Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Frere Jacques (sp?). Sometimes Heidi likes to make up her own songs to sing. Tonight she made up a rock star song. I just happened to have a piece of paper and a pen closeby, so I wrote the words to her song down. Here it is:

She calls her song: Rock and Roll Team

You can't go to bed before you do rock and roll
The mom's downstairs
and you get out of bed
Then you do your rock and roll
and then you scream
then the mom hears
and she walks in the room
and then she runs in the hall
she sees her not in bed
and then the kids sees her mom
Then she holds her mouth open like this (0)
Then her mom says "Get in bed!"
Then in the morning you just get out of bed and scream and do your rock and roll
(do splits on the ground with one finger/arm pointing up in the air)
Then the mom hears and she is angry and says "You can never do that again!"
Then she finds her team
and they do ballet until they fall into the sea
Then a shark eats them
The end.

Heidi says: "It's called Rock and Roll Team because she just imaginates that she has a rock and roll team."

Heidi: Dentist & Witch

Today Heidi had her second dentist appointment (cleaning/check-up). She was great for the dentist! Then on the way out, she got a goodie bag with a new Snow White toothbrush, toothpaste, two princess flossers, floss, and toothpaste... plus 3 coins to get junk out of the coin machines in the lobby that she used to get a beaded bracelet, a plastic puppy, and a ring. It was a great visit for Heidi! Hannah, on the other hand, was not so happy. She was tired and grouchy because it was her naptime, so she was a little difficult.

Oh, we also wrote in Heidi's diary/journal again today. I won't write everything she said on here, but here's a little part of what she wrote:

"Everybody thinks Hannah's prettier than me 'cause everybody loves her better and they don't love me. They call her princess and they call me witch."

Well, this is not true. Nobody, as far as I know, has ever called her witch. She does get upset whenever somebody says something like "Oh, she's so cute." ... like when we're at the grocery store or out doing something. I often tell Heidi that she's pretty and that she's a princess. I think she is just still a little upset that she's not the center of attention anymore. I did think it was a little funny, though, when she said that people call her witch.

Hannah: Pretend Playing

Hannah was just playing with one of Heidi's Polly Pocket dolls (w/o small parts, like shoes or necklaces). She had also just been snacking on some dry cereal in a bowl. When she was finished, she put her doll in the bowl and said "ba ba" while she did the sign for bath. I thought it was cute that she was pretending that her doll was taking a bath in the bowl.

Mommy Forgot Show-And-Tell

Every Tuesday, Heidi has show-and-tell at school. She always looks forward to Tuesdays because that is her day for show-and-tell & Thursdays because that is her day for skittles math. This past Tuesday, I forgot to remind her to pick something out to bring to school before we left. She usually remembers, though, too.... but this time I forgot (and so did she). After I picked her up from school that day and we got into the car, she told me what a few of the kids in her class had brought to show and talk about. I didn't even think anything about it when she was telling me what her friends had brought because they have it on different days and I was just thinking that it wasn't her day for it. Then, she told me "... and when Miss Cindy said 'Heidi,' I just said I don't have anything today." She didn't sound upset about it or anything when she told me about it, but she mentioned it to me again later that day. When Brian got home that night, she was already in bed and not asleep yet, so Brian went in to say goodnight... and the first thing that Heidi told him was "Mommy forgot show-and-tell today." I felt a little bad, but at least she does have it every week. I talked to her teacher about it today when I picked her up from school and Miss Cindy said that she didn't get upset or anything and I guess she didn't want to get up and talk about anything else. I'm sure she isn't going to be too scarred by my forgetting just this one time. :)

Today at preschool, the kids got to dress up like princesses and princes (or kings and queens). Heidi wore her Snow White costume. I think it was a fun day for her. They are learning about castles and England... and kings and queens. When she came home from school and took off her costume, Hannah wanted to try it on. She held it up to her body like she wanted to wear it, too. She loves putting princess crowns and hats on her head and dressing up with necklaces ... and sometimes even likes to put on Heidi's clothes. I guess pretty soon, she might be able to start wearing the dress-up costumes. I think having girls is so fun. I hope that we can have one more!

Juice

I hadn't bought apple juice in a long time, but yesterday while I was at Fred Meyer I picked up some frozen apple juice while I was there. When I got home and was mixing some with water, I told Hannah that I was making juice. After I gave her some (watered down), I guess she reaaaally enjoyed it because she drank it really fast. Then, she gave me her cup and said "oose oose" to me. This is her new word... and she really likes her apple juice. :)

Uh Oh!

Hannah is saying "uh oh" now! ...usually when things fall down.

Hannah's Signs & Words

Hannah is 15 months old now. When Heidi was 15 months old, I made a list of things she was saying/signing, so I thought I would do one for Hannah, too... Here it is:

up (bup)
down (da)or (dow)
Mama
Dada
Daddy (da-ee)
Heidi (hi-ee) or (i-ee)
Grandpa (papa)
baby (says "baba" w/short u sound)
doll (says "do" w/short o sound)
bye bye (ba bye)
hi
hello (says "he-wo" w/short e sound)
eye
eyebrow (eyeb)
hair (haaa)
arm (short o sound)
nose (no)
bellybutton ("be-ye-bu" or "bu")
train sounds (tooka tooka woooooooo)
book (says "ba" w/a short u sound)
dog ("do" - w/short o sound)
pig (says a mix of "pu/bu" w/short u sound)
bear (ba)
fish (shhh)
snake (ssss)
chicken sound (bok bok)
cow sound (mooo)
owl sound (ooooo)
dog sound (woo woo woo)
monkey sound (oo oo oo oo)
duck (says "du" w/short u sound)
goat sound (baaa)
neigh sound (nnnn)
makes a clicking sound with mouth for horse galloping sound
bear, lion, or tiger sound (makes a growling sound)
that (dat)... she says this a lot!
hat ("ha" w/ short a sound)
diaper (says "di" and points to diaper)
night night (says "di di" with long i sound)
cup (bup)
milk (mil mil)
ball (ba)
bed (says "be" w/short e sound)
done (says "du" w/short u sound)
blanket (says "ba" w/short u sound)
bath (says "ba" w/short a sound)
bread (says "be" w/short e sound)
banana (says "ba" w/short u sound)(usually says "ba ba ba ba")
backpack (says "baba" w/short a sound)
*These are all of the words that I can think of that she tries to say right now. I guess I could be missing something, though.

Here are some signs she does:
mouse
cheese
bread
milk
cracker
dog
book
waves bye bye
puts her finger to her mough and makes "shh" sound
cookie
baby
fish
eat (1 finger to mouth)
bath
car
apple
play (she rotates her whole hand instead of using her pinky and thumb, but she does try)
*She does some other signs when she watches Signing Time, like goat, barn, rooster, and some others, but I'm not sure if she would remember them on her own or not yet.

Body Parts She Can Identify:
eye
nose
mouth
tongue
teeth
lips
cheek
eyebrow
ear
hair
chin
neck
elbow
leg
arm
tummy
bellybutton
fingers
toes
feet

I am trying to add more pictures, but am not getting it to work, so maybe I will try again later.

Pictures from our trip to Alabama

Our trip to Alabama

For the first two weeks in April, we (Heidi, Hannah, and me) were in Alabama visiting my parents. This the first time my dad got to see Hannah (other than just in pictures). Heidi had spring break and we had a free companion ticket, so we decided that would be a good time to go. Getting there was NOT fun! After having only about 2 hours of sleep, I woke up at about 3:30am to get the car loaded and get the girls ready to go. We were running a little late, so after we made it through security in the Seattle airport, I didn't think I had time to put my shoes on. I was carrying Hannah, my shoes, and a very full backpack while Heidi was following me towards our gate. When we got to the escalator, I didn't realize there would be a problem. I got on, but Heidi didn't. I kept moving down, but she kept refusing to get on. I kept saying "Heidi, get on... Come on, GET ON!" I was trying to run UP the DOWN escalator in my SOCKS while holding Hannah and my shoes. I wasn't getting very far and the spikey parts of each step really hurt when you are in socks and your toes keep hitting them while trying to run up. Finally, a man came and saw what was going on. He picked Heidi up and put her on for me. Then, Hannah screamed during most of our flight from Seattle to Atlanta. This was a LONG flight! It was over 5 hours. The flight attendant kept suggesting that I walk around with her, but this didn't help. There was a lady sitting across the aisle from us who kept taking off her eye mask and giving me mean looks, too. I was doing all that I could to try to calm Hannah down, but nothing worked. Our flight home was completely opposite. People were even complimenting them after we landed in Seattle on how well-behaved they were on the flight. If they had only seen them on the other flight...
While we were there, we: drove down to Panama City, Florida and went to the beach (where Heidi was afraid of the sand and water, but she found a HUGE seashell that we hid in the sand for her to find) and shopping, went for a drive through the Azalea Trail, went to Landmark Park, went to a special cupcake store, went to a playground, the Easter bunny came to visit, and Heidi & Hannah had fun playing with Grandma Holly & Grandpa George. Heidi misses having happy hour in the evenings with my parents, too. She enjoyed taking her sippy cup of juice outside on the back porch area of the house with my parents and visit or swing on the swing that my dad tied to the tree in the backyard. Hannah got her first two molars while we were there (both in the back/bottom of her mouth). I think my parents are planning on coming to Washington for a visit next year.
I'll try to add some pictures later... I have a crying baby on my lap right now...

Heidi needs a "teeny tiny bra..."

Heidi has informed me that she needs "a teeny tiny bra" for her "teeny tiny breasts." Then, she told Grandma Holly this on the phone, so Grandma Holly said that she is going to look for a "teeny tiny bra" for Heidi. I guess little Heidi is growing up. I just didn't realize that she would need a bra so soon (at age four).

Another of Heidi's Commercials

Tonight Heidi was telling Brian "Daddy, you can grow your own natural brown hair." She was telling him about the Bosley hair for men commercial. I thought it was funny. She likes her commercials.

Hannah is walking more than crawling now

Hannah took her first step back on January 12th and she has gradually taken more steps over the past few months. She has been able to take several steps for a while now, but has mostly been crawling to get from one place to another. This past week, though, (maybe since Tuesday) she has been doing more walking than crawling. I just thought I'd write a quick note on here about it since she's doing more walking now. She has hardly crawled at all in the past couple of days. Our little Hannah is growing up!

... She also makes moo sounds and tries to make bocking/chicken sounds. One of her most favorite books right now is Mr. Brown Can Moo Can you? And she loves hugging and feeding her babydolls.

Heidi fell on the gravel on our way to the park

Wednesday was a beautiful, sunny, perfect, springy day! So after Hannah woke up from her nap, we went for a walk over to the park that is close to our house. I had Hannah in the stroller and Heidi was wearing a cute jean skirt (with exposed knees) and a striped t-shirt. Just before we got to the park, we had to walk across a short gravel pathway. Heidi kept playing with Hannah while she was walking and she fell on the gravel. She ended up getting a little scratch on her left hand, left arm, and one of her knees was scraped with a couple of polka dots of blood on it. When she saw the couple of tiny spots of blood, she started crying and was really upset. I talked her into going on to the park and I cleaned the dirt up at the water fountain that was by the bathrooms. Then we put a bandaid on the cut that was on her hand and another one on her knee (to cover the two little polka dots of blood). She just kept complaining about her knee and wanted to go home. We walked over to where all of the play equipment was at the park, but she refused to play. There were probably 20 or so kids there that day because it was such a beautiful day out. Heidi told me that somebody might laugh at her because she has a bandaid on her knee. I tried to talk her into staying and playing, but she refused. It was such a pretty, sunny day... but we went home without playing.

Hannah tried to get milk from her big sister!

Hannah crawled up onto Heidi's lap on the couch tonight and did the milk sign before she started pulling her shirt down (just like she does with me). Heidi just kept telling her "No! No!" and was trying to pull her shirt back up. This is the first time Hannah has tried to get milk from her big sister. I thought it was funny.

Monkey Noises, Being a Mom Is Not Always Easy, & Charlie Brown Bandaid

Hannah makes monkey noises now. After I showed Hannah her monkey yesterday and made "ooh ooh ah ah" noises, she started shaking her monkey and said "ah ah ah ah." She also laughed a lot in between "ah ah's." I think she was enjoying making her new animal noise.

This morning, I took Heidi and Hannah shopping in Bonney Lake. I REAAAAAAALLY needed some new clothes!!! It seems like EVERYTHING that I own has holes (except my one pair of pants/jeans). My pajama pants have even recently gotten holes in them (and yes, I've still been wearing them anyway, so the holes have continued to grow larger).... so I HAD to go buy a few things. I couldn't even go to church this next Sunday without buying a new shirt because the shirt I had been wearing did have some small holes in it... and they were getting bigger (and more noticable)... And I also got a stain on it this past week when I leaned forward and my chest area went into my plate (while I was holding Hannah)... So I had to get something to wear to church. I just got a few cheap shirts and a pair of pajama pants. I should probably buy a couple more things. I should probably buy a second pair of pants, too. It is just SO hard to shop with Heidi and Hannah for clothes. They constantly complain and Hannah kept crying with tons of mucus coming out of her nose because she was upset and wanted me to pick her up most of the time that I was trying clothes on. Being a mom is not always easy!

Oh yeah, I also just happen to have a pretty atrocious pimple on the left side of my chin. Heidi insisted today that I put a bandaid on it, so the people at the store won't see it... so I have a Charlie Brown bandaid on my face right now... and we are going to go to Fred Meyer to buy some things for salad tonight. I will probably take it off after I put her in the play area, but shh... don't tell Heidi.

Heidi finally noticed that Hannah doesn't have a hemangioma

Heidi and Hannah were taking a bath this morning when Heidi lifted up Hannah's left arm and said "Where's that 'mangioma?" She said it kind of the way someone would say "Where's your tummy?" to a baby just before tickling it. ... Heidi was born with a hemangioma on the upper our right/her left side of her tummy (kind of at the bottom of her rib cage). It was bright red and raised when she was a baby, but now it has faded to almost her skin color and is a little bumpy (not raised anymore). When Hannah was a little baby, I wondered when she would notice that Hannah didn't have one... It took Heidi a little over a year to notice. I told her that Hannah did not have one. She wanted to know why Hannah didn't have one, but she did, so I told her that hers was a special princess mark (kind of like the one that the princess has in The Princess and the Pauper barbie movie). I probably shouldn't have told her that, though. She may tell Hannah someday that she is not a real princess because she doesn't have the special princess mark. Oh well. I guess we will deal with that when it happens.

Hannah likes to say "ticka ticka" and tickle her own tummy... or even someone else's. She usually laughs a lot when she does this. Maybe Heidi was going to tickle her tummy where she thought her hemangioma was this morning in the bathtub.

Cheese & Saying Her Name

I think it was Saturday that I gave Heidi and Hannah some meunster cheese for a snack. I showed Hannah the sign for cheese when I gave it to her. She seemed to get it when I showed it to her. Then on Sunday morning when she woke up, she started giving me the cheese sign, so I just had to reward her for her signing with a small piece of cheese! :)

Also, yesterday I was pointing to her and saying "Hannah" ... and then I would point to myself and said "Mommy." We also did this with "Daddy" and "Heidi." This morning, I saw Hannah standing just outside of the kitchen area pointing to her chest saying "Ann-yah Ann-yah" over and over again. I think she was pointing to herself and trying to say "Hannah" like we were doing last night. :)

Hannah: 1-Year Well-Baby Check-Up

I took Hannah for her 1-year well-baby check-up this afternoon and the doctor said that she has ear infections in both ears, so we stopped by Fred Meyer on the way home to pick up some antibiotics.

Today has been a busy day! First, Heidi had preschool... Hannah and I went with her on her field trip to the fire station. Then, we came home, had lunch, and after Hannah had a short nap, we went to her appointment in Bonney Lake. After that, we stopped by Fred Meyer and got a few groceries and medicine... went back home to pick up some library things that needed to be returned... and then went by the library. Busy day.

Here's how Hannah is growing:

Height: 30 1/4 inches 75 - 90th %
Weight: 22.11 pounds 75th %
Head: 18 1/2 inches 90 - 95th %

Hannah is ONE!

Hannah has turned one, so I just thought I would write a little about what she's doing now.

Here are some BODY PARTS that she can point to if you ask her where they are:

• eye
• nose
• mouth
• hair
• eyebrow
• arm
• leg
• fingers
• toes
• cheek
• ear/s
• belly button
• tummy
• diaper (when it's on her body, so it's kind of like a body part)

She can also point and identify other things if you ask her to find things like: cereal, the fish, the blanket, the baby, the doll, etc.

WORDS: She can say...

• Mama (She does not say this very often)
• Dada/Daddy (She says this as soon as she sees Daddy come home from work at night.)
• iieee (Heidi)
• tootee (cookie)
• sounds like of like "ba bye" (bye bye)
• makes a growing sound when we see a lion or a bear in a book
• ma ma (more more)... sometimes says this
• mi mi (milk)... sometimes says this
• "da are" or "dere are" (there you are)
• da/do... kind of sounds like "doll," but I'm not sure if she's getting the "l" sound in there or not for the word "doll"
• I think she has said something for "baby," but I can't remember how she said it.
• bup bup (up up)
• eye (she likes to point to her doll's eyes and say "eye")
• eee (ear)

SIGNS: She does the signs for...

• milk
• more (in her own way... with one finger and the other hand)
• cookie
• duck

WALKING: She stands up and sits down on her own. She will also sometimes take a couple/few steps. Sometimes she will take 6 or so steps, but she still likes to crawl to get around.

KISSING: She likes to kiss and hug her baby dolls. When she kisses them, she puts her mouth on their lips or their cheek and makes a clicking sound with her tongue, so it sounds like she's kissing them.

I'm sorry... Her head just popped off!

After playing with her barbies for a while before church this morning, Heidi walked into Hannah's room (where I was looking at books with Hannah) and our conversation went something like this:

Heidi: Do you remember that barbie that your grandma gave you that you gave to me to play with?

Mom: Yes.

Heidi: (sounding a little worried about how I would react) I was playing with her and I was just trying to make her hair prettier and her head just popped off. It just popped off. I'm really sorry Mom. It just popped off. You can have one of my barbies to play with if you want. I'm really sorry. (She sounded so sad.)

Mom: It's okay Heidi. I don't want to take one of your barbies. It's really okay. Don't worry about it.

Heidi: I'm really sorry that her head popped off. It just popped off. (...and she kept telling me that I could have one of her barbies.)

The little swivel thing inside of the barbie's neck broke off and was inside of her head (that had popped off). Brian got it out of her head and put her back together, but her neck is cracked, so it will probably come off again sometime soon. Poor Heidi. She was sorry worried that I would be upset and she kept offering to give me one of her barbies. This was a collector barbie that my grandma gave to me years ago that I never played with. I just decided that I would let her play with it instead of just letting it sit in a box. I'm glad she has been able to play with it and I was not upset that she popped the head off. It is just a doll.

Hannah: Playing

It's so fun watching Hannah play. Today she was just feeding Brian's old Cabbage Patch doll (Fernando Erik). She made lip smacking sounds as she fed him a bottle and plastic spaghetti from a plastic fork (from the play food). She likes playing with baby dolls. :)

Last night, Hannah took 4 steps! She hasn't done it since, though.

Costco

We made a trip to Costco today. I bought one of the 36-roll packs of toilet paper, peanut butter, some Cetaphil cream (which I had a coupon for), and renewed our membership... so I spent about $100. It seems like we always end up spending about that much whenever we make a trip there... At least the do have some good samples, though. I made a couple of trips to the frozen blueberry samples and got one for Heidi and another for Hannah. Hannah seemed to really like the blueberries until about the 3rd or 4th one. She must have gotten a tart one. Then on the way out, I got Heidi a churro. She kept asking if I would get her one before we even left the house, so I told her if she was good while I was shopping, I'd get her one. Now Hannah is down for an evening nap while Heidi plays with her Polly Pocket dolls. Just thought I'd write a quick note about our day.

Sick Girls

Heidi has been sick since Sunday with maybe a low-grade fever, watery/reddish/puffy eyes, runny nose, no energy, no appetite, etc. She didn't go to church on Sunday and she even missed preschool yesterday (which she was pretty sad about). She spent the whole day on the couch (except when she got up to use the bathroom). She got to watch lots of movies yesterday during her time on the couch. She seems to be doing a little better today (with a little more energy and eyes not as red/watery). I'm hoping she will be a lot better by this evening, so she will be okay to go to school tomorrow, but I don't know yet...

... Now, Hannah has a fever of 100.2. She seems to be acting okay so far and doesn't look as bad as Heidi has been looking... so I hope she won't get as sick.

... A few hours later, Hannah's temperate went up to 103, so I gave her some motrin. Hope she feels better soon. :(

Hannah's Cheerios

Most mornings (for about the past month or so), Hannah has been letting me know that she wants her Cheerios for breakfast. She usually lets me know that she wants to be picked up. Then, she reaches her hand out towards the kitchen and kind of grunts (telling me to go in that direction). I go the way she wants me to... and eventually when we get to the fridge, she stretches her arm up as high as it will go (like she is trying to reach something on top of the fridge). That's where we keep the Cheerios and other cereals. That's how Hannah lets me know she wants her Cheerios in the morning. :)

Making My Blog Private

Please give me your email if you read my blog. I am going to be making my blog private because I've had some strange people clicking on the follow option on my blog.

Heidi ate spaghetti sauce!

Heidi ate spaghetti tonight WITH SAUCE on it!!! She is totally against eating anything with any kind of sauce on it. She refuses to eat anything with ketchup, mayo, mustard, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, or any kind of sauce. I told her tonight that she was a big girl now and that she needs to start eating her noodles with sauce on them. She likes pizza, so I told her that it's just kind of like pizza... They both have almost the same kind of sauce and we put some parmesan cheese on it, too. I told her that she HAD to eat sauce on her noodles or she would not get dessert, she would not get to stay up and watch the Simpsons tonight, and she also would not get to have book time before bed tonight... so she ate it! She actually said that she liked it, too! :) I hope that she remembers she liked it tonight (the next time I make spaghetti).

Heidi Can Read Book#2!!

Today after I got Hannah down for a nap, I made a list of some new words (cat, o.k., ad, sad, mad). I had Heidi sound them out. Then, I gave her book #2 from the BOB books & she was able to read it! She got a little confused/stuck a couple of times, but sounded the words out and did great! She read it a second time and did wonderfully! :)

Title: Sam
Page 1 - Sam and Cat.
Page 2 - Mat and Cat.
Page 3 - Sam, Mat, and Cat.
Page 4 - Cat sat on Sam.
Page 5 - Mat sat on Sam.
Page 6 - Sad Sam. Sad Mat.
Page 7 - Sam sat. Mat sat.
Page 8 - O.K., Sam. O.K., Mat. O.K., Cat.
Page 9 - The End

Heidi Read Her Book For Show-And-Tell Today

Heidi took her book to show-and-tell today to read to her preschool class. I think we might try book #2 (Sam) out this afternoon!

Heidi Read A Book Today!

Today, Heidi read her first book out loud to me. I bought the first set of BOB books a long time ago (maybe when Heidi was about 1 1/2 years old or so), but I thought I might get them out and look at them today. The first book seemed pretty simple, so I made a list of the words in the book (plus a few extras that rhymed with some of the words) and we sounded them out together. Then, I gave her the first book. She was able to read it!

Title: Mat (Book 1)
Page 1 - Mat.
Page 2 - Mat sat.
Page 3 - Sam.
Page 4 - Sam sat.
Page 5 - Mat sat. Sam sat.
Page 6 - Mat sat on Sam. (We laughed at this part because Sam looks sad.)
Page 7 - Sam sat on Mat. (We laughed here, too.)
Page 8 - Mat sat. Sam sat.
Page 9 - The End

Hannah: Identifying Body Parts & Crib Climbing

I kept trying to get a picture or video of Hannah today saying "eye," which sounds more like "ahhhh," and pointing to her doll's eye, but she was distracted by the time I got the camera. Oh well. She can show you where some body parts are, including: eyes, nose, ears, hair, toes, leg, feet, and cheeks.

Yesterday, Grandma Sylvia was down visiting since school was out for MLK day. After I had put Hannah down for a nap and walked down stairs to where Sylvia and Heidi were in the formal living room, where they were playing with trains, I heard a THUD. It scared me and I knew exactly what it had to be. Hannah had climbed out of her crib and fell on the ground. She didn't seem to have any bruises, but she did have a rug mark and a red spot on her forehead... and she was pretty upset. Her matress is down pretty low, too! If we move it any lower, it will be really close to the ground, which is where it goes when it turns into a toddler bed. It may be harder to get her in and out reaching that low (because Brian made the crib & the sides don't lower), but I don't want her getting hurt from climbing out either. Little Hannah is growing up and learning how to do more for herself, I guess.... and I guess she just wanted out. It's hard to believe that tomorrow she will already be 11 months old.

Hannah is trying to talk now...

I went to the grocery store tonight (Fred Meyer) and dropped Heidi off in the play area while I shopped with Hannah. When I went back to pick Heidi up, I saw her in the play area and called "Heeeiidiiii" to get her attention. I was TOTALLY SHOCKED when out of Hannah's mouth came "Ha (short "o" sound) + deee." She said it with the same tone as me and sounded almost just like she was copying me! I couldn't believe that she said Heidi's name... and she said it So Well. It was a total shock. The lady in the play area seemed pretty surprised, too. She turned her head as it caught her attention.

Later tonight after I put Heidi to bed, I was holding Hannah on the couch and (as I often do) I said "Hannah's my baby girl" and it really sounded like Hannah said "Bay-gir." I think she was trying to say "baby girl."

I guess now she is going to try to start saying more than just "mama," "dada," "mi mi" (for "milk milk"), "bup bup" (for "up up"), and "da ar" (for "there you are," which we say when we play peek-a-boo).

Hannah's First Step

Last night as I was taking a picture of her while standing, I said "Hannah, come to Mommy" ... and Hannah took her first step toward me JUST as I took the picture! I think it might be a while before she is really walking, though. She doesn't seem to want to do it again. :)

Hannah's Scrunchie

Hannah pulled the scrunchie (or however you spell it... I've seen it spelled a couple of different ways) out of my hair earlier today and she's been trying to put it in her hair! It's funny watching her hold it in both hands as she stretches it across the top of her head. I should take a picture and post it.

Just a quick update...

Last night was New Year's Eve. We went to the Vaughn's house to celebrate with them. It was fun. We played a couple of games and had way too much yummy food. I'm trying to download our Christmas pictures onto the computer, so I can post them on here, but I'm having some problems. I'm having a hard time downloading from a couple of memory sticks... so I hope I can eventually get them on here for everyone to see. Also, last night... I gave Hannah a graham cracker to eat and she kept trying to feed it to me. I thought it was funny. This was the first time I think she has tried to feed me. She also kept trying to feed me her sippy cup of water, too. Anyway, that's just a quick update. Happy New Year everyone! :)