Story Time

Vivian wanted to hold Annelee on her lap to read her a story.  She is a fabulous big sister! 

Reunions

We had a double reunion this weekend in Virginia.  Our games night group got together for dinner and a game for the first time in over 5 years:

L to R: Sam, Randy, Anne, Laura, Mark, Franziska (with Annelee), Vivian.  Will was taking the photo.

 And Vivian and Sam also reconnected almost immediately over a video, despite not having seen each other in about a year and a half.

Here are pictures from their previous encounters:

September 2009

December 2008

And, to round things off, here's a shot of how Annelee spent the evening:

Notes from the Road

Gotta love technology. Photos taken with my phone, emailed from my phone to the website, all while making our way to Virginia.  Good thing Will was the one driving ...

Die Langschen Enkelkinder

Omi Lang and her three grandchildren.  Yes, I (badly) edited out Vivian's band aid in the second one :)  And I think Annelee's and Tobias' cheeks are related!

Sisters

Another repeating theme (after yesterday's "Hair" post) is "sisters", I guess.  I don't take nearly as many pictures of the two girls together as I should.  And some of it just can't be captured in photos, anyways.  At random times, Vivian just comes over and cuddles Annelee, or makes her giggle or hands her a toy ... clearly loves her.  And Annelee watches closely what Vivian does - I think they are turning into the "mutual admiration society".  The other day, Vivian announced "Mommy, when Annelee is older, she is going to be my best friend."

I hope so!

Haircut

I've written posts dealing with "haircuts" here and here and here before ... but that was always Vivian's definition of a haircut, which is really just a hairstyle.  Today, however, she got to know what a real haircut is ... because at 3 years and 3 months she finally needed her first real one (I've trimmed the ends of her hair before, but that doesn't really count)!

Vivian now has bangs (which she pushes away just as if the hair is still long) and Michelle trimmed about 3 inches off the overall length.

I can't say that Vivian smiled while she had her hair cut, but she held still quite nicely, as long as she was facing the mirror and could watch.

Before

During

After - Back

After - Front

Trip To Germany - Christmas Day

We finally arrived Christmas Day.  Vati was home on leave from the hospital for the day.  The tree was ready to be decorated.  Marion, Sebastian, Tobias and Christel were coming over in the afternoon - it's finally Christmas!  And what a lovely afternoon we had.  Vati directed the tree decorating, primarily done by Sebastian and me (just like when we were kids).  Vivian helped a little bit, but lost interest quickly.

In the afternoon, we sat around, chatted, opened presents (plenty, even though the ones from us weren't there) and just enjoyed all being in one room together.  The first time all three Lang-grandchildren were together! 

Vivian and Tobias got re-acquainted first by being shy, then by absconding into Vivian's room to play when no one was watching.  It was great.

No trees were burned down during the taking of this photo (or the entire time we were in Germany)  :)

Everyone.  And, yes, Vivian's covered in band aids.  She got them as a gift and had to try them all out!

Yes, Baby Emily also needed several band aids...

As is tradition, my Dad reads a poem that he wrote for my Mom in the Piggy book

Cheeks

My Mom asked me the other day if Annelee could lift her head at all with those big cheeks.  Just about!  :)

Annelee's Six Month Check-Up

Vivian and I took Annelee in for her six month check-up on Monday.  As usual, here are the vital stats first:

Height: 28in (71cm)
Weight: 19lb 5oz (8.75kg)

For comparison, Vivian at six months was exactly the same height, but weighed in at only 16lb 3oz.  In fact, even at her 9 month visit, she didn't weigh much more than Annelee does now.  It's all in the cheeks and legs with Annelee.  Certainly not the head (circumference, at least, good thing that head size is not an indicator of intelligence!), because that's actually smaller than Vivian's was at the same time.

The day before the well-visit, Annelee finally decided to roll from her belly to her back.  Several times even.  I was excited to be able to answer a question about her "rollability" with yes, but the pediatrician never inquired  :(

Everything else looked fine, too, the pediatrician was pleased that we had already started solids and that Annelee liked her food.  We talked a little bit about the sleeping arrangements and who falls asleep where and spends the night where ... we'll be experimenting with that a bit.  See if we can't figure something out where we can leave Annelee to "chat" for a bit during the night without Vivian ending up overtired and sleep-deprived.

Then, Annelee got her vaccinations (four shots and one oral one - OUCH!) and she was NOT HAPPY!!!!  Even before the nurse got started actually.  Luckily, she did calm down pretty quick again afterwards, and Vivian wasn't too phased by it, either.  She ran a bit of a fever the next day, but even that's already gone again and she's back to being her happy self.

Compromise

The Vee and I appear to have reached a clothing compromise.  I don't tell her what to wear, as long as it is sufficiently warm for the current weather.  And she doesn't whine so much anymore about getting dressed.  Everyone is much happier.  As a bonus side-effect, the public at large gets to see a rainbow-clad girl from time to time.  It will either make them smile, or make them feel that much better about their own parenting skills, I'm sure!  :)