Cleveland Fun

The other days we were in Cleveland were also fun-filled. Annie spend a lot of time helping Gigi water the flowers. She must get this desire from Gigi because her mother most definitely has a black thumb and has given up on plants entirely. And I managed to take a picture during the 5 minutes of each day where she doesn't have a clip in her crazy hair. :)

Gigi also sprayed her feet with the hose. She was unsure about this at first, but it turned out to be great fun.

She also spent a lot of time making Papa push her around the neighborhood in her wagon and stroller. On one particularly challenging day, only a ride from Papa lulled her into sleep. I owe him for that one.

We also went to the zoo with Gigi, Erin and Madelyn Boland, and Colleen and Molly Moore. Annie fell asleep in her stroller for the first time in many, many months. But she did love playing with Erin and looking at Molly. Molly is quite the pretty girl, so you can't blame her. Unfortunately, my camera battery died so all the pics are locked up in my mom's camera.

Finally, we went to visit Brady and Ella to give Brady his belated 3rd birthday present. Again, no pics, which is a terrible shame. The kids were dancing like maniacs to The Wiggles cd. If anyone is wondering what pure joy looks like, it's a toddler dance party :)

Ladies Who Lunch

Annie and Bella got together for some lunch at good old Bob Evans while we were in Cleveland this week. They are so cute together. They do so many things alike and want whatever the other has. I guess it's not surprising, seeing as how they are only 2 months apart. It was so good to see Bella, Callista and Jason. After lunch, Callista and I continued our trend of forcing the girls to take photos together. Upon review, I realized the girls made the same faces as we snapped away. I think if they could talk better, they'd already be bonding over their mutual annoyance at their crazy mothers :)

First, some fish-like faces

Then, they move on to looking at each other. You can almost hear them saying, "Let's get out of here, our moms are embarrassing."

And finally, they look at us in hopes we will stop. Smiles wold have been better, but we did give in and let them leave Bob Evans.

Back to the Bounce House

Matt and I took Annie to the bounce sans her favorite "jumpy" partner Mallory. She managed to have quite a fabulous time for herself. Do not mind all the falling on her face. She enjoyed that just as much as the sliding and jumping. Matt and I had a lot of fun, too. As you will see in the video, we did our fair share of slididng and bouncing. No, there is no video of me doing this with my 7-month-pregnant belly. Sorry to disappoint. If you'd like to see it in person, visit us and we'll take you to the bounce house. Plus, I'm pretty sure bouncing down a giant slide is not doctor-recommended and as my brother has already told me, I don't need to give child services any more ammo.
Here are a few videos we did take of Annie having fun :)

Annie and Mallory

Our first Ralls family visitors came this week. Laura and Mallory made the hike from Cleveland on Monday, and just left this evening. We had a lot of fun taking the girls to different activities around Ann Arbor. They are so cute together. They were hugging and giving kisses, and it was way too cute.
We threw them in the bath together the first night. Matt did their hair. They were dumping water on each other and laughing at each other. Very cute.

We visited the Extreme Bounce Zone, or the "jumpy house" as they called it, where the girls (and their moms) ran up and down every.single.bounce.house. Laura and I were exhausted! But the girls loved all the bouncing and jumping and sliding. They each chugged two juice boxes before we left. Laura has a better pic of the girls sliding down together, but as I am an impatient blogger, I have not even waited for her to arrive home, let alone send me a copy. We did force them to slide together many times in order to get pictures.


We also took the girls to the pool, where they mostly ate snacks. I don't think either of them even had wet hair.
The last day Laura and Mal were here, the girls held hands while we went places. It was actually more like Mallory held Annie's hand, but it was still really cute. They are like real little girls now, not babies anymore! Crazy.

Thanks for visiting Laura and Mallory! :)

Canoeing

The Ralls family is really venturing out and trying new things now that we have very few friends and precious little time. We actually went canoeing the other day. That's right, even Kerri. Being more of an indoor girl, I was a little hesitant when Matt suggested we go to the park near the hospital and rent a canoe. But it did sound like fun and it would get Annie out of the house, so off we went. It turned out to be a great time! We were a little unnverved by our canoe crew boy's less than confident response to our question of how likely it was that we would tip the canoe at some point. But, with Matt doing the vast majority of the rowing, we managed to stay upright and dry during our 45 minute Huron River trip. Annie seemed to like it. She was very excited about the ducks and sticking her hand in the water. She did want to jump in, however, so that's when we ended our excursion.

Our own personal motor :)

Annie and Kerri in the front of the canoe. Lifejackets are not flattering on pregnant women, FYI.

Annie sticking her hand in the water. Don't worry, I was holding onto the strap on the back of her life jacket, it's just not in the picture. (Check out her new haircut, too!)

The happy family at the trip's end.

Goodbye Baby Mullet (Or Annie's First Haircut)

After much debate between me and Matt, and nearly 19 months of life for Annie, we scheduled a visit to Cookie Cutters for Kids. Annie's first haircut took place this morning (our third wedding anniversary coincidentally). We got the Flock of Seagulls front part trimmed and the mullet in the back chopped off. Annie didn't seem to care all that much, though she was excited by the balloon and the sucker she received at the end. I'm still in shock a little, I really thought we'd be sending a bald girl to kindergarten. :)
Before:
During:

She refused to wear the cape, and she was watching The Backyardigans from her racecar seat. We're not sure she even knew her hair was being cut.
Also, we missed the after shot and now she's napping. We really focused on the video for the cut, which we can't load onto the computer from home. So, I guess this is as good as it gets for now :)

Adventures in Eating

We've had quite a few exciting meals lately. First and foremost, all blog readers in the greater Cleveland area--brace yourselves. The Original Pancake House has come to town. I guess I missed the memo, but it opened in February at the new Westgate. My tardiness on finding this out has not diminished my excitement AT ALL. In talking with my grandma and now favorite Aunt Diane last weekend, it was revealed that the Pancake House, the source of much delight for Matt and I in Toledo, is now in Cleveland. So I dragged my mom and Annie there Monday morning to enjoy a German pancake. Though the Cleveland location does lack some taste and definitely a lot of ambiance, it is worth the trip. Much cheaper on the gas than going all the way to Toledo.


That very same day (I'm pregnant, give me a break), Matt, Annie and I had our inaugural trip to Dexter's AW Restaurant (like the root beer). It's a cute little place where they come to your car to take your order and then your tray hooks onto the car window. It's a pretty good price and a lot of fun to have your food hanging on the window. The food, however, was pretty gross. We'll be back there again for root beer floats, I'm sure, but probably not for dinner.

Toddler Tricks

I had planned on loading some video of Annie's amazing tantrums onto the blog. However, both of the two "bad" videos I attempted to post had some sort of error. When I tried this video, it worked like a charm. I guess I'll just take it as a sign to highlight my daughter's strengths, not her dramatic ability to throw the most intense tantrums. :) So instead of all that, here are some Toddler Tricks for you viewing pleasure. She does have more, but we were tired and couldn't get to all of them. Enjoy! And sorry the video is so dark...Don't know how to fix that...

Too Cute

Annie and Uncle Matt. Too cute not to post. :)

Just As Exciting As 'Grey's Anatomy'

I made the picture small, so as not to shock our unsuspecting blog readers. But, I thought it would be fun to introduce you to Matt, the surgical intern Matt. White as a ghost and asleep at 8:53 p.m. according to that clock. He'd been asleep almost 25 minutes when I took this picture and had dozed numerous times on the couch while reading the world's largest surgery book. His life is terribly exciting these days, just like his counterparts on t.v.

18 months

Annie had her 18-month well baby check yesterday with our new doctor. Dr. Weinblatt is his name, and he turned out to be pretty great. Annie loved him and flirted with him the whole time (he is definitely old enough to almost be MY grandpa).
He said she looks fabulous and will see her again when she's 2. The best part: She is 33.5 inches long (90th percentile) and weighs just a shade under 25 pounds (97th percentile). Annie definitely is our big girl :)

She loves this colander. She puts it on her head and runs around yelling "HAT!"

I think she looks like Annie Hinkel when Junior was little in this picture. Matt thinks I'm crazy. What do you think?

Goodbye Paci!

The Ralls house is officially pacifier free! Well, at least for the next 13-ish weeks. Our big girl Annie went cold turkey and has let go of the paci. After much crying, whining and throwing of massive temper tantrums (which were videotaped and will be blogged shortly), we think Annie has officially given up on using the binky. We started Operation Goodby Paci on Friday and were met with great success. She went right to sleep without a peep. After that, things got ugly for a few days. She slept through the night each night, but naps have been rough. For the first time in her 18 months, one week and three days of life, she missed a day's nap. Not pretty. Since Sunday, things have been looking up. She did add another pillow to her crib (the decorative one from her nearby, unused big girl bed), but at least it's not a paci. We're very proud of Annie, but mostly Matt and I are proud of ourselves for not giving in. Kids are hard sometimes. :)

Naptime with her two pillows, Kitty and Lovey ("Wovey" as Annie says) and sans paci! Please excuse the dirty shirt, no pants and awesome hairstyle. Things really go to hell in a handbasket when Matt is post-call for some reason.