Fan-Tastic Visit

Matt's parents and grandparents came to visit and check out the new house today. Annie was in top form. She sang, danced, and tantrum-ed her way through their visit. She even stripped down to her big girl underwear and convinced Grandpa to put her "princess dress" on her. And she laughed hysterically when he did "Eenie, Meanie, Minie, Mo" (I've never actually typed that--how do you even spell all that?!) She made him do it over and over and over.

Here they are doing the little game with Annie's princess cards. It was loads of fun.

Kate was a little more shy than her sister, but she warmed up quickly and even showed off her new crawling skills to everyone. (I'm working on posting a video, but Blogger and I are still fighting about it).

They also got us a new ceiling fan for our bedroom, and they installed it. This was a bit of a frustrating process for Dad and Grandpa, but they got the job done. Now, our bedroom is cool and fantastic looking.

And don't worry, Dad, no hard feelings from Matt for teaching Annie to call him "Dopey Daddy." And I'm sure it was the frustration talking when you said it wasn't the fan you disliked. Rather, it was, in fact, me that you disliked. Next time you visit, you guys can stay in our room and enjoy that cool, refreshing breeze :)

Thanks for a great visit!

Trix Yogurt

Or, as Annie calls it, "Twix Yo-Goat." Annie loves Trix yogurt, the healthy, calcium-enriched snack/treat that it is. We have to limit her to just one a day, and often, tears are shed over how stingy we are in handing it out. In fact, Annie loves it so much that after a recent visit her friend Bella commented on it. Summing up her visit, she told her mom "Annie like yogurt." They were here for 2.5 days, during which we did many activities. But the thing that stuck out most for Bella was Annie's love of yogurt. Trix yogurt. Don't try to sneak that Dora crud to her. And for the love of all that is holy, do NOT attempt to feed her yogurt from a tube. It's just insulting.

Don't you love that morning hair? :)

And She's Off

Kate is crawling now. She's actually been doing it for awhile, but it's taken me this long to capture it on film and video.



Her favorite trick is to head directly to the two steps that separate the kitchen and the family room. She pulls herself up and tries desperately to get into the kitchen. She can't do that yet, thank goodness. I'm already chasing her everywhere!



Here she is standing proudly. Maybe while she's down there, she can touch up our paint job...


I have a video, too, but Blogger refuses to let me upload it. I'll try again another time with a different video.

Chompers

Kate has teeth! Two razor sharp little ones on the bottom of her mouth. They are quite cute.

And I know they're razor sharp because I apparently just don't learn, and I stuck my finger in her mouth to check to see if the top teeth were coming in, too.

Kate promptly bit me. Much like her older sister did a few years ago in the very same scenario.

It's hard to get a picture of those tiny teeth. So, I waited until Annie stole her Gerber Puffs. This makes Kate mad, and she yells at Annie. And bares her little teeth. :)

Photo Fun

I'm late on blogging this, but our friends Amy and Tyler came to visit us! We had a great time hanging out and just strolling around Ann Arbor. Amy and I had a lot of fun taking a million pictures of the girls and trying to get them to comply with our demands. Unfortunately for Matt and Tyler, their quest to find an open golf course failed. But that just means they'll have to come visit again another time!

We really appreciate the Andersons venturing so deep into enemy territory, all the way from Columbus, Ohio, just to visit us. :)

And, just before they left, I let Annie play with the camera in Starbucks to entertain her. She took pictures of all of us, but her favorite subject by far was Tyler. Maybe Dr. Anderson should reconsider, and go into peds instead of internal medicine. :)

Top of the Park

After Annie played the violin, we went back to our blanket to listen to the kids music and hang out. Annie was all about dancing and running around like a crazy person with Riley. They were either running away from us, jumping/dancing/spinning, or Annie was doing her imitation of WWF by wrapping up Riley and dragging her down onto the ground on top of her. Kind of weird, but they both thought it was hilarious.

Tackling Jerry, Riley's dad.

Hugs. Isn't that sweet? And funny how smooshed and chubby Anne's face looks.

Jumping/Dancing

Matt showing why he got to celebrate Father's Day.

And she's spent.

A Musician in the Making

Every June, Ann Arbor has an outdoor event on campus called Top of the Park. We memorably attended Top of the Park last year, and thought we'd head back today for the kids' day. Part of the event was a tent where the kiddos could try out string instruments. They had this cute little violin, and Annie gave it a try. I was rather surprised and impressed that she actually did it. It was so cute! And so pleasing to the ears!

Happy Father's Day

We had a big Father's Day, so I'll have to make multiple posts. But to start, Happy Father's Day Matt! I'm sure you never thought you'd have two little girls, but Annie and Kate couldn't have asked for a better dad. We love you!

If you'll notice, Kate is not wearing a headband. This is per Matt's special Father's Day request that we not put one on her head. :)

And, yes, I made them take these photos this morning (instead of going to church because I am an idiot and thought that Mass started at a different time. That's what I get for trying to go to the early service).

The Most Wonderful Time of the Day

*Annie is sleeping on Matt's arm. He gets mad when I put pictures of him sleeping on here, so I cut him off. :)

Bike Video

Thanks the new (to us) non-Apple computer, I can post videos whenever! With no special cords! I know all my blog readers have been dying for more video, especially after the teaser pictures of Annie on her bike. Wait no longer.

Photo Shoot

We somehow lost our camera battery charger when we moved (that's my excuse for my lack of blogging. It's really sad, too, because we did some really fun stuff and had a lot of visitors the past week or two that would have made for quality blogging).

I got a new battery yesterday, though, so I had to take some pictures to make up for my empty weeks. Kate was not feeling especially cooperative (she's not feeling so hot right now), but enjoy them anyway. :)

I did not pose them like this. Annie arranged them herself.

Yes, they are wearing matching outfits. Yes, I know I am a dork. I don't care. I love it.

Speed Racer

My parent bought Annie a new bike. A big, pink, fancy one complete with training wheels. When Annie first saw it, her mouth dropped open and she said "It's beautiful!" She is so excited to ride it every single day. Around and around the block.

She straps on her princess helmet (I know, I can't believe my kid is wearing a helmet. I've spent hours of my life making fun of helmet-wearers, and yet here we are. Matt ripped off approximately half his face when he was little in a bike accident, so he insists she wear one. And honestly, it makes me nervous when she rides the bike! She was born, I think, like, 5 minutes ago, how can she be riding a bike by herself?!) and anyway, away she goes.

When she rides, she mostly likes to watch her feet as they pedal. On the off chance she does glance up, she is easily distracted by a passing bird or barking dog or whatever else might catch her eye. She's only fallen once so far, but I do spend much of my time yelling "Annie! Watch where you're going!"

A New High (...or Low)

Callista and her adorable girls came to visit a few days ago. It was quite the eventful few days, as Callista was plagued by car trouble and stayed a little longer than anticipated. That was completely fine by Annie, Kate and me. It was so nice to visit with Callista and have some actual fun, grown-up time. And the girls played quite well together. Kate was even scooting herself over under Lucy's swing. I'm sure it was because she already knows that they'll be best friends forever and not just the lure of Lucy's blankies that caused this to happen. :) But their visit was wonderful, and it made me sad that we don't live closer to hang out more often.

Also, Callista and I have managed to reach new heights in our picture taking of the girls. After a trip to the park, the girls were pretty dirty. In casual conversation, Callista and I realized that they all had matching shirts. Obviously, this was not an opportunity we could pass up. Matt and Jason each (separately) promptly rolled their eyes at us. Callista and I agreed this is our best picture taking effort to date. We are both extremely pleased. And just look how cute!

Our Family, as described by Annie

Annie put Matt's famous Bucs hat on my head yesterday, and said "You be Daddy." The following conversation ensued:

Kerri: OK, what do I do if I'm Daddy?
Annie: You go to work.

Kerri: What do I say if I'm Daddy?

Annie: I'm at work.

Kerri: Well, what do I do if I'm Mommy?
Annie: You go bye-bye. (Yeah, right. I wish.)

Kerri: Where do I go?

Annie: To the store. (Ah, yes. Now it makes sense.)

Kerri: What do I do if I'm baby Kate?

Annie: You drink bottles. (OK, sort of. And I'm really suprised she didn't say "You cry.")

Kerri: What do I do if I'm Annie?
Annie: You drink milk. And eat fruit snacks.

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up each member of our family. Eerily accurate accounts from our 2-year-old. :)

Seven Months....

...and all about Daddy. :)

Kate is seven months today! She is so fun. She is a perfectly squishy, happy baby (most of the time). I love this age!

This past month has been a big one for Kate. We finally stopped being lazy and started feeding her food. As we posted before, she HATED cereal. So we just gave up on it and went straight to the foods. As she usually does, she was a little stinker about it at first. But now she is getting the hang of it and seems to like eating (semi) normal foods!

Second, Kate still does not sleep through the night. And we were still swaddling her. Matt wanted to just go cold turkey, unwrap her, put her down and let her cry it out. I was unwilling to do this because I felt like that would just be cruel, too much at once. (This is rather ironic because I was all about letting Annie cry her little self out.) Anyway, I got so annoyed with her the other night that I just did it. I was bracing for hours upon hours of screaming. What did I get? 28 minutes. That's it!! 28 minutes! And it wasn't even hard crying! (Also ironic because Annie screamed like a banshee for longer than that when we cried it out with her). Since then, she's been doing so much better sleeping. She even slept through the night last night! Matt was very pleased with himself and reminded me numerous times that he wanted to do this months ago. Even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut, right? Isn't that how the saying goes?

Finally, Kate started talking. What was her first word? Of course, it was "da da." That is a complete load of bull. I maintain that this is not actually a word, but rather just a noise she is making. Matt is quite smug.

Oh, that wasn't the final thing. She also got two bottom teeth! (with much crying and drooling and general grumpiness). And she's on the verge of full-out crawling. She's been rocking back and forth for awhile, just on the brink of actual mobility.

No wonder she slept last night. She must be exhausted from the past 4 weeks!

Potty Like A Rock Star

About a week ago, Annie awoke and decided that wearing diapers was no longer for her. She insisted on wearing big girl underwear. OK. Great.

I had been dreading this for a long time. Her little friends Sawyer and Elise were wearing underwear, and Annie was certainly not going to be left behind. The first day was so-so. The second day was better, and by the third day we were doing great. Turns out potty training is way worse in my head than it actually was in real life.

She is super cute in those little underpants (I have adorable pictures, but I won't post them for fear of weirdo Internet stalkers gawking at my half naked kid). And she's saving us a ton on diapers already!

Although, she still won't go #2 on the potty, but I have a plan for that. Anyway, we made a "sticker chart" as Annie calls it. Every time she told me she had to go and actually went, she to put a star sticker on her chart. (Word to the wise, kids pee a LOT. Make a LOT of boxes on these charts.) She started filling them up quickly, so then we started only putting stickers on when she remembered. Thankfully she is 2, and her memory is not so great. She finally did fill it up yesterday, and so today we went to get her promised prize.

A drum.

With more "musical instruments" inside.

She really, really wanted it and was beyond delighted when we found it at Target.

So here she is doing the rock version of "Baa, Baa Black Sheep."

Her next chart is our plan to incorporate pooping, as well. Her next promised gifts are dress up clothes and princess tiaras. Very quiet, girly dress up clothes. Thank God.

The picture and video were both taken on my phone, so sorry for the poor quality.