Percentiles and Bandaids

Today we visited Dr. Harper for the girls' checkup (a little delayed). I decided that taking both girls to the Dr. at the same time (by myself) isn't the smartest idea.

When Alice had to pee in a cup, I had to pawn Audrey off on the nurse.

When Alice had her shot, Audrey screamed on the floor, and I listed to Alice continue to scream about her boo boo while Audrey took her turn with the dreaded needle. Let's just say, the Tiana princess sticker waiting at checkout was a lifesaver :)

After the nurse takes their measurements, Dr. Harper checks his charts, looks at me (as if noticing for first time), and says, "Man, your girls are REALLY tall!" This could possibly be because Alice at three is the average height of a 5 year old (39 inches), and Audrey is measuring as an average 2 year old (30 inches), but hey, at least they'll have a chance at basketball :)

Alice overall did really well. We celebrated by playing "Elmo doctor" when we got home and treating her to ice cream.

Dr. Harper was very happy with both girls and even mentioned how Alice had a great vocabulary and spoke like a 4 year old :)


Audrey, on the other hand, may possibly be the friendliest baby on planet Earth. She's been waving since 6 months, and now fully waves at EVERYONE and can say "Hi" pronounced "hiiiiah." A couple of times, she's put together her words to repeat, "Hi Da-Da." She can also repeat, "Ma-ma," "Pa-Pa," "Ba-Ba," and even "Daaaaug" (Dog).



Audrey has now taken off full speed with the crawling and loves her new independence.



Alice is still not so friendly in the morning and has to slowly rouse herself out of bed.



Her new catch phrase is "big much!" For example:

Me: "Alice, you can take a couple friends to bed with you tonight."

Alice: "No Mommy, I need to take a BIG MUCH!"


She is always wanting to draw or paint as well.

What do you think? Bed head or crazy artist hair?

Hmmm. . .

that may be a question for Grandpa Bean!

Skidamarink a Dink a Dink

Skidamarink a dink a dink,

Skidamarink a doo,

I love you.

I love you in the morning

and in the afternoon.

I love you in the evening

and underneath the moon.

Oh, Skidamarink a dink, a dink,

Skidamarink a doo,

I love you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,
Alice & Audrey

Prima Donna

prima donna [(pree-muh, prim-uh don -uh)]

A vain and overly sensitive person who is temperamental and difficult to work with

This week I taught the word prima donna to my 5th grade language arts students. It was only fit to give my daughter as a classic example.


Then, I came up with the top 10 reasons Alice might be a prima donna:

#10.
She said she needed a bib before she got sick in the car.

#9.
She refuses to eat with her fingers.

#8.
She always has polish on her fingers and toes.

#7.

She names her hairstyles after Disney characters such as her “Cinderella bun,” “Tinkerbell pony,” “Rapunzel braid,” and "just long hair like Ariel.”

#6.
She wants a band-aid after simply thinking about getting a boo-boo and insists she sees blood.

#5.
She once said, "Look at me. I got long hair. It's growing."

#4.
She is in a princess costume 90% of her waking hours.

#3.
She had 4 costume changes during her birthday party.

#2.
She can't walk by her reflection without checking herself out.

and the #1 reason . . . .

#1.
She once told me she couldn’t open the dog crates saying, “No mommy, my hands too fragile.”



But what a cute prima donna she is!

I'm 9 Months Old!

Mommy and Daddy can’t believe I’m 9 months old today! I am moving around but haven’t figured out how to take off crawling (yet!). Pretty soon though!

I love to eat my Cheerios and baby puffs and have 5 teeth (which explains why I’ve been so fussy lately).

I can crawl up on my knees to play with my toys and love to stand up. I’m still an excellent sleeper and take two good naps each day. I head to the doctor in a couple weeks so I’ll have my mommy give an update on my weight (although I’m sure I’m well into 20 pounds). I'm saying "Ma-ma, "Da-da," and "Pa-pa," and I love to mimic screeching sounds with my mommy and daddy.

I’m curious about EVERYTHING and want to touch everything I see. Can’t wait until I can keep up with my big sis!

I'm getting to be such a big girl!

Sick in the Snow

Well, I received my first "your daycare called" interruption at school on Monday. I'm considering myself pretty lucky since Alice is three and it was her first flu bug. She had gotten sick during her nap at Carrie's house and was probably more scared than anything. Of course, she wasn't skilled with the bucket Carrie sent with us, and we had our second round of sickness in the car :( Lovely (ha!). I was able to pull over and catch most of it, but afterwords, Alice says, "I all better. No more icky's," and she was right. She was as good as new after that. Audrey so far (knock on wood) has been hanging in there like a champ. Andy, however, caught it the next day and Alice was delighted to help take care of daddy.

She brought out all of her blankies and all of her "friends" to help daddy "feel better."

She snuggled on the couch with him and watched Little Mermaid.


And then there's the snow (and ice). We are on our 2nd snow day and enjoying the jammy time. Today everyone is feeling decent and enjoying the day with the girls. We've read lots of books.


Played in Alice's new tent (I had to drag Andy out of the tunnel :).

And of course completed lots of drawings. Alice loves to draw and paint and immediately insists on displaying her artwork on the fridge. We are running out of space (luckily she makes them as presents for friends and family).


And she even managed to decorate her forehead as well :)

Cheers to the Snow!

Missing Josie. . .

No animal I know of can consistently be more of a friend and companion than a dog.

Stanley Leinwoll

Andy and I had to make the difficult decision to give Josie up for adoption. We love all of our Westies, but have a special place in our hearts for our first "Mama Joe." Josie has been an amazing companion for nearly eight years and we will miss her tremendously. We feel good about her new home and know she will get lots of love, attention, and exercise; regardless, we grieve for her and will always miss her fidelity, love, and companionship. A dog can show you so much about life, and we are thankful for the ways she enriched ours.