Notes from the Treehouse

Close-up

2012-01-21T13:34:00.000-05:00

I love Will's camera. So much so that he has to pretty much ask me for it when he actually wants to use it (sorry, Will). But when I dig out my camera on occasion, I remember how much I like it, too. If only it wasn't so bulky. Yet, as soon as I start snapping pictures, I'm thinking I really should upgrade it to one of the newer models ... one day.

In the meantime, here's a close-up of Annelee that I took today. She is getting very, very excited about photos, seeing them on the little display. Just like Vivian at that age though, she doesn't like the idea that she has to stand still for a second for me to actually take a photo before she can see it on the display. I got a bunch of "Annelee being totally distraught" photos, too. But this one was my favorite!

Christmas Part 3 (Christmas Day)

2012-01-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Once the kids were in bed, Santa went to work. Luckily, he had already assembled and wrapped at least part of gifts; so he just snuck into the house, finished the work, put his gifts under the tree, filled the stockings, had some cookies and milk and then went on his merry way to the next house.

Around 4am a sleepy Vivian appeared in our bed, asking if we thought Santa had already been here. Luckily, Will was thinking quick and said he wasn't sure and we should sleep some more just in case. It worked! I wonder if we can use this ploy again next year if necessary!

At a much more civilized 8am, we finally got up and went downstairs. Santa had indeed come! Both girls were happy to discover a doll house (Vivian), a play kitchen (Annelee), a ginormous stuffed dog, and several other little gifts and the filled stockings.

Then we had eggs in the hole for breakfast, but with Christmas shapes (even though it's not that easy to see in the photo). There were so yummy that we've made them a few more times for breakfast since - with extra cut-out circles so that we had mini grilled-cheese sandwiches, too. Yum!

After that, we spent the rest of the day hanging out, making sauces for the fondue and playing with the new toys.

It was a very nice relaxing day. Mommy, Daddy (and Santa) did good!

Over the next few days, as people asked Vivian if Santa had brought her something, her story about him coming to our house evolved from "I think I heard the sleigh bells" to her hearing and seeing a whole lot of Santa. He clearly needs to be more quiet next time!

The end :)

Christmas 2011 Part 2 (Christmas Eve)

2012-01-17T11:30:00.000-05:00

This was the first Christmas since we've had children where we didn't travel either to Virginia or Germany for the holidays. That's probably why we actually got in the spirit this year and did some decorating and discussed our childhood Christmas traditions and which ones we wanted to carry on and how we wanted to merge them.

We ended up having gifts from each other and relatives Christmas Eve, and we hung up stockings, put out cookies and milk and Santa came and left gifts to be opened Christmas Day. Initially, we had planned to have meat fondue for dinner on Christmas Eve, but because we didn't want to rush it and also wanted to go to church, we postponed it to Christmas Day. A good decision, I think.

Will put up both indoor and outdoor lighting and we bought an artificial Christmas tree and some more ornaments.

The day before Christmas, we assembled the tree (still a funny thought for me, not having a life tree, but we bought a nice one and I don't think we will regret that decision) and decorated it. Will and I did the lights, then we split up the tasks ... I hung the gold stars, Will hung the breakable ornaments and Vivian hung the non-breakable ones where she could reach. It turned out beautifully. I believe the Santa hat on top (which matches the Santa tree skirt that you can't really see beneath the presents) may just be our new standard tree topper :)

I quickly abandoned any effort of taking even just a passable photo of both girls in front of the tree and settled for individual photos.

Our princess


I don't know why Annelee seems to be wearing a binky in every December picture ... we don't even use it that much anymore during the day. Or so I thought ...

And then we went to church and came home and opened presents ...

Before going to bed, Vivian and Annelee put out some milk (Vivian insisted that Santa would want chocolate milk) and cookies for Santa.

To be continued ...

Christmas 2011 Part 1 (Virginia)

2012-01-16T11:30:00.000-05:00

As I'm slowly working my way through my December photos, we are inching toward Christmas. The weekend before Christmas, we went to Virginia to hang out with the family and have a first Christmas celebration. I have to say, I loved it. I loved being home with the children for the actual Christmas, but I also loved spreading Christmas out over a couple of weeks ... the toys don't get so overwhelming and actually have a chance to become favorites before the next set of new toys arrives. Plus, (and this goes without saying) it is always great to see everyone and hang out!

Bath-time

2012-01-15T11:24:00.000-05:00

These days, bath time is pretty crowded at our house. At a minimum, there are two little girls, two or three Barbies (often more) and a bunch of random toys in the bath tub. Most toys are in the tub, but not actually played with, but still have to go in ... little girl logic :)

Once the girls are in, I go and get their pajamas and diapers/pull-ups, put on a short-sleeved T-shirt and get the towels ready while they play. Then the work begins. Soap down Annelee, then Vivian, then wash hair for both of them and then convince them it's time to get out of the tub. I'm just glad that neither one minds this too much; otherwise there's a good chance they would only get bathed once a month or so.

Now that Annelee can stand up, drying her off has gotten so much easier. I simply stand her on a towel, sit down in front of her and towel her off. She usually also practices her kisses on me since I'm sitting right in front of her (bonus!).

I also dry off Vivian's hair so it doesn't constantly drip down her back, but she does the rest herself. Once everyone is dry, we put on our jammies, brush teeth and hair and are all ready for bed.

Night, night! :)

Of course the chef's children play with kitchen gadgets in the bath tub!

Gingerbread House 2011

2012-01-14T11:25:00.001-05:00

What a difference a year makes!

Remember my post last year about Vivian's and Rowan's (and really Jenny's and mine) effort of decorating a gingerbread house for Christmas?

Well, we decided it was fun anyways and the girls were a year older and wiser ... and we were not ... and we tried it again. :)

This time, Vivian and I assembled the houses ahead of time and mixed up the candy so that each girl had a big bowl with all types of candy (my German tendency last year to make a bowl for each type of candy was not a smart move).

Rowan came over, I put the houses in front of Vivian and Rowan, gave them the candy, and cut open the bags of icing and handed them to them. And that was pretty much it. Other than the occasional warning not to eat too much icing and candy, I just sat back, played with Annelee, and watched (and photographed) their progress.

Wow.

I especially enjoyed some of the chatter that went on between them ... real conversations about topics that are important when you are four (I guess) AND they managed to decorate at the same time. It was fabulous!

Maybe next year, we might even be brave enough to invite a second friend over for this?

Just getting started

Very focused

Annelee's contribution was to eat one of the gingerbread snowmen

I love the bit of her tutu that we can see, too. Gotta be dressed right to be decorating!

Annelee observes, hoping she'll get to decorate her own house next year

All done!

Playing Together

2012-01-13T11:44:00.002-05:00

Playing together and sharing is not always easy around these parts at the moment, but sometimes, it works beautifully. For example, when they are drawing together on the chalk board.

Newsflash

2012-01-08T19:54:00.002-05:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled pre-Christmas photos for this important breaking news video :)

If you can't see the video above, click here.

Christmas Cookies

2012-01-07T18:09:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of posting to catch up on, so excuse me while I work my way through pre-Christmas & Christmas photos.

At least I'm posting again, right?

So, first up are the Christmas cookies that I made with Vivian. Annelee tried to help but I really just ended up with her on my lap, restraining her from eating icing and "jimmies" (as sprinkles are known in Pittsburgh), while decorating cookies with the other hand in the middle of the table. Not an easy feat ...

Vivian helped mix the dough for the cookies, rolled out the dough, cut them out, and then decorate them. We had lots of fun and will most definitely do this again. But quite possibly not until next December :)

Mixing the dough. Please ignore the Halloween-themed apron :)

Rolling out the dough

Cookie cutter work

Let the decorating begin

Annelee was determined to taste rather than decorate

And, boy, did it taste yummy!

More decorating

I give up ... notice that we tried to use the binky to stop her from eating all that sugar and failed :)

Despite Annelee's attempts to prevent it, we ended up with a decent number of cookies!

Funny-Lee

2011-12-08T22:15:00.000-05:00

Annelee sometimes cracks us up. For weeks now, she's been sort of "hopping" instead of crawling, and Will has been trying to capture it on video for about as long. Finally, I managed to catch her in the act instead, and I was planning on making it a surprise post for him on the blog, but before I had a chance, he had already noticed that I had uploaded the video on youtube. Oh, well, I think he is equally pleased that I managed to get this on video, and annoyed that I beat him to it.

Here is our little hopping girl:

If you can't see the video above, click here.

Of course, Will got his sweet revenge today by capturing this video which I think is at least as funny ...

If you can't see the video above, click here.

Sorry, Anne, I know that this is a post where you can't see anything ... I'll get back to photos, soon, I promise!

Count Down To Christmas

2011-11-30T23:34:00.000-05:00

This time, I was a little bit more organized than last year where I quite literally threw together an Advent calendar at the 11th hour. In fact, only about the first seven or so of those envelopes were actually filled. This time around, we've got cute little gift bags with numbers on them and about 75% of them filled (and plans on how to fill the rest, we just didn't have as much Halloween candy left over as I thought ;) ).

I'm going to have to further improve how I hang these up for next year, but I'm still happy how the calendar turned out. I know the girls will enjoy it, too. I've included some activities, some little things and some candy again, just like last year.

Dress Up

2011-11-21T23:10:00.000-05:00

I know what you are thinking ... how many more pictures of Vivian in a princess dress is Franziska going to post ... but this post is going to be a little bit different.

As it turns out, Vivian is not the only one in this house who knows how to dress up in fancy gowns. Vivian has been asking me for months to see my wedding dress. I don't know what possessed me Friday morning, but I suddenly decided to pull it out and put it on. It even still fits. Vivian (of course) was also wearing a princess dress, Annelee is obviously still in her jammies (and my hair has not been brushed yet, but, oh well). Still love that dress! Vivian quite liked it too, wanted me to wear it all day. I did not do that, though ;)

To get back to our more normal schedule of photos, here are two photos of how Vivian went to church the last two Sundays. It's a good thing our church is quite tolerant of "unique" dressers ...

Christmas dress and purple leopard pants. And enjoying the magnetic game she got from Grandma for her birthday

Yes, her expression is goofy. Presenting: jacket from Peru, leopard pants (again), "Christmas" socks, a bag Mommy made, and a dog carrier bag (with doggy) she got for her birthday

Last, but not least, she's also been very specific about the hairstyle she wants to sport for the day. Her current favorite is pig tails with one of them braided and the other one not (as evidenced below). The other day, she insisted on a pony tail and pig tails. When I had finished and giggled at the result, she looked at me very seriously and said "Mommy, this is not funny. It's beautiful". Yes, you are - even (especially!) with your eclectic choice of clothes and hairstyles!

One day, I'll even use a comb to properly part her hair in the back

At The Playground

2011-11-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

Over the last couple of weeks, we've had more than our fair share of unexpectedly warm(ish) and sunny weather and we've done our best to take advantage of it and cram in as many last playground visits as possible.

During these last few trips, I've started to really looking forward to next year's playground season, because Annelee has finally reached the point where she can find an "obstacle course" to do by herself. Climb up some stairs, crawl across a bridge, go down a slide. Crawl back to the stairs. Start over. Rinse, repeat. She always goes down the slide on the belly, and always feet first - which is actually great when I take the girls alone and can't be at the top of the slide to make sure she doesn't tumble and at the bottom to catch her all at the same time. I can just make sure she gets on her merry way and then clamber down and move her away from the bottom of the slide.

Vivian is getting quite good at making friends and finding other kids to play with. We met a couple of girls and their Dad a week or so ago at a playground and when they left, they walked home. The next time we went, Vivian said, let's go to my friends' house. I think she really expected me to knock on all doors in the neighborhood and figure out where they live. In fact, when they left the playground that time she even described to them where we lived so they could find us: We have the house with the red door and corn on the door. :)

Here are some random photos and videos from some of the more recent visits.

Readying the kite ... shame we ended up with no wind, hopefully next time

The Gypsy twins

Annelee on the race track, even though she's still not walking

Climbing her favorite steps

Videos:

Click here if you can't see Vivian on her new scooter above.

Click here if you can't see Annelee ascending the playground steps. Or click here for an alternate view why I am getting more and more gray hair and almost drop my camera at times! For even more effect, open this song in a different tab and play at the same time (suggestion courtesy of Will).

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And click here if you can't see Kyra and Annelee going down the rolling slide.

Well Visits

2011-11-14T21:03:00.000-05:00

This was the last time that I was able to book the two girls' well visits together, so I took advantage of it. Glad to have gotten it out of the way all in one afternoon, but it sure was a long time at the doctors. A good part of that was the waiting. To be called in, then for the doctor, and then for the nurse to administer shots. All in all, we were there for two hours. I had only put money in the parking meter for 1.5 hrs, so I'm very glad I managed to get away without getting a parking ticket.

I'm finally getting to the point with Annelee's visit where I have a post about Vivian's well visit at that same age to compare. How fun. I just read it and was contemplating copying and pasting about half of it because it applies to Annelee, too. The other half is quite different for our two girls.

Annelee's vitals:

32.5 inches (82.6 cm) - Vivian was 31.75 inches at that age
26 lb 10 oz (12.1 kg) - Vivian was 24 lb 3 oz at that age

Vivian's vitals:

44.75 inches (113.7 cm)
44 lb (20 kg) - The official documentation from the Pediatrician says 42 lbs, but I'm pretty sure that's a typo, because I even commented on 44 & 44 being easy to remember.

Vivian announced prior to our trip that she did not want to go first and that she was afraid of shots. Where that suddenly came from, I have no idea, she has always been fine about it, but nothing we said could convince her that it was not going to be absolutely horrible.

Weighing/measuring went ok, and then both girls stripped down to underpants / diapers and the wait for Dr. K. started. We waited for close to half an hour. Needless to say that the girls spent a good amount of time crawling all over that floor and chasing each other and having fun.

Finally, Dr. K came in and Annelee went first and was very good about being checked out. Ears were okay (yay - despite her having a cold still/again). Belly sounded fine, eye movement was smooth, after some misunderstanding we established that her language development is on track (even though on the slow side). Her future ability to walk is certainly not a concern anymore.

We talked about her night-wakings and concluded that it may be some constipation, so we are going to try and address that. I'm all for that if it allows me to spend all my nights asleep in my bed rather than about a night a week in the basement with Annelee.

Then it was Vivian's turn, and while she was rather reluctant, she let Dr. K do all her exams (clear ears on her, too, yay!) and even volunteered that we brush our teeth together sometimes so that she learns to do it properly.

When Dr. K talked about her "private parts" and how only the doctor could ask to see them and only if Mommy or Daddy were present and if Vivian agreed, I thought that was very good. But then Vivian refused to let the pediatrician examine her. Heh. From the one or two questions on the way home, I think this will be an upcoming frequent topic in our house. And that's a good thing I guess. I have to give Dr. K credit for not just bringing up the topic, but then also not pushing when Vivian said she did not want to be examined.

While I talked to the pediatrician, Vivian was playing games on my phone (at the pediatrician's is pretty much the only time she gets to play them, so that's a big deal; and Annelee was playing with my car keys. Not surprisingly, she was most interested in that bright red button. And, sure enough, I suddenly heard a car alarm go off outside. Luckily, I was able to also turn it off from inside the pediatrician's office. :)

Then came time for shots. Well, first more waiting, and crawling on the floor. I'm sure I should've bathed the girls in bleach tonight before putting them to bed.

The nurse was pretty abrupt with Vivian, would not let her go second (probably a good thing), but I think she could've been a little more patient with her. So, I took Vivian on my lap, held her arms in a big hug, squeezed her legs between mine, and, with tears streaming down her face well before the nurse came anywhere near her, we somehow managed to get her two shots administered. Luckily, Vivian calmed down pretty quickly afterwards.

Annelee was sitting on the floor with a detached and only slightly worried look of "Sorry, sis, but better you than me. It is just you, right? RIGHT?" on her face. Boy was she wrong. She was in for three shots.

Vivian grabbed my phone again, crawled under a chair, held her hands over her hear (she cannot stand Annelee crying), while I held Annelee down for her shots. Her look went from outrage to "how can you let them do this to me" to "OMG I'm dying here!" in the space of the 4 or so seconds it took for the nurse to give her her vaccines and apply band aids. Then I took the sobbing girl on my lap and tried to comfort her while she clawed at her band aids (the nurse had mentioned that the last one would sting). She managed to rip them off almost immediately. Luckily, she also calmed down pretty quickly after that.

Now, barring any trips to the pediatrician for illnesses, Vivian is off the hook for another year, and Annelee needs to go back at 18 months. Whew.

Long post, and two days in a row without a picture of the girls, I know. I'll put some up again in the next post, I promise.

Reduce, Reuse, Feed Squirrels

2011-11-13T23:28:00.000-05:00

Our local squirrels have been quite appreciative of the fact that we put all our Halloween pumpkins on the deck for them to snack on. Vivian, in turn, has been delighted to watch them.

That's quite a turnaround from our initial pumpkin vs. squirrel experience. We had bought our pumpkins and put them outside the front door. The next morning, the squirrels had destroyed one of the little gourds that was going to be an eye for our pumpkin. Vivian was distraught "They ate the eye!". Since we did want to have pumpkins left to carve I moved the rest onto the deck, and thought nothing else of it.

When we returned from daycare that day, Vivian started sobbing. It took me a while to figure out that she thought the squirrels had eaten all the pumpkins! She was quite relieved when I was able to show her the pumpkins on the deck.

Enjoying his daily pumpkin snack

Leaf Raking

2011-11-12T14:50:00.001-05:00

There are still a ton of leaves on the trees, so there really wasn't much point to us raking them, except the weather was glorious and you can't find a fun & free activity for the girls much closer to home!

And, if nothing else, if it snows tomorrow, we can at least says we raked some of the leaves before the second snow of the season!

LEAVES!!!!

No, Annelee, leaf raking is serious business ...

Ok, maybe not that serious after all!

Daddy got in on the action, too.

11/11/11

2011-11-11T00:01:00.002-05:00

Now, some would say it's a shame Vivian wasn't born 7 years earlier so she would be turning 11 on 11/11/11; but (a) I am most certainly not ready for an 11 year old yet, and (b) Vivian has grown so much already since her last birthday, that I'm happy for her to slow things down a bit.

So, instead she's turning 4, and - while she's not really aware of how cool the date is or how long it'll be (other than 12/12/12 next year) until such a cool date comes along again (01/01/2101) - she is very aware that her birthday is coming up. Despite the fact that Will and I keep pointing out that her birthday is not until February and that she'll turn three. There's no fooling this girl ;)

She took cupcakes to pre-school yesterday (she doesn't go to pre-school on Fridays) and when she went to bed last evening and I told her she would be 4 when she wakes up, she got a big grin on her face.

Today, we'll be skyping with Omi and Grosspapa and Ullalalala, doing some shopping for tomorrow's party, open gifts, and I'm sure we'll be trying out that new scooter that she's finally getting.

Tomorrow, we'll have a little party with her (and our) friends at our house. Probably the last time that we can decide who is coming ;)

Looking at the photos from just after her 3rd birthday, I can hardly believe that was just a year ago. She still looks so toddler-like there (although at the time I thought she looked big, of course). That's all gone. She's truly a girl now.

She's all into princess stuff and playing doll houses, painting finger nails, Barbies, and imaginary play. Lots of singing of songs, both real and made up, but also running around, climbing, dancing.

She's an expert negotiator (we fully expect her to become a famous lawyer) that never forgets anything. Just the other day, she decided she could take a handbag to daycare because "it's not a toy" (and we don't allow toys at daycare). She almost had me convinced.

Her favorite TV (well, DVDs) is the "Signing Times" series that we started watching again to teach Annelee some signs. Vivian practically knows them all and actually uses them to have conversations with us. She even chooses Signing Times over Disney cartoons in the morning!

She continues to be a fabulous big sister; and is always able to make Annelee giggle with her antics.

Happy 4th Birthday, my big little girl!

Her previous birthday posts can be found here: One, two, three.


December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

Art for Kids

2011-11-10T14:10:00.004-05:00

Katherine texted me the other day that she was taking Emma to a kids-art-thingamajig at the Frick Arts Museum on Saturday. And who could possibly resist a thingamajig :) So, at the last minute, I told her I was joining her, and this is how we found ourselves in the Faberge exhibit at the Frick, trying to spot the animals in the exhibit. The whole event lasted not quite an hour, but was done quite well for children of Emma's and Vivian's age. As an introduction, they talked about the size of the artwork, the kinds of animals, the materials, which ones would be harder to work, etc. Then, they spend about 20 minutes in the exhibit looking at some of the work from Faberge. After that, it was back to the lecture hall where they could create their own master pieces out of pre-printed paper, markers, scissors and fake gem stones.

Emma and Vivian had fun!

Vivian and Emma painting their masterpieces

Full concentration

Vivian's comment of "Mommy, I'm really good with scissors" failed to reassure me. But she did indeed do just fine.

Annelee got in the action, too

Abby was checking things out

Annelee was NOT amused when I decided she'd wreaked enough havoc tipping out the containers with the markers!

Virginia Wrap-Up

2011-11-09T14:42:00.001-05:00

Remember our trip to Virginia last month ... well, here are finally a couple more (random) photos from that trip.

Serious noise protection

Cookie Monster wants COOKIE!!!

Not sure we can let Aunt Susan babysit anymore ;)

Feeding a goat at Cox Farm

More hungry goats to be fed

Annelee in the kiddie zone

Who knew babies were hatched from eggs!

Shucking corn

Wheeeeeee ... Vivian and the Birthday Girl on one of the many sack slides

Cruise Control

2011-11-08T14:07:00.005-05:00

Apparently, Annelee needs a bit of pressure to get moving. We were at Gymkhana yesterday, watching Vivian do her gymnastics as we do every week. The benches there are perfect for cruising, but so far, Annelee had just been standing there and holding on, not moving even an inch. This time, another little girl came up to her and started grabbing for Annelee's binky. Annelee turned her head away. The little girl wouldn't give up. So Annelee took a couple of tentative steps to the side. The girl followed. Grabbed for the binky. Annelee moved ... I think that was officially the first time she cruised along furniture. All hail her binky addiction and little girls that want to steal binkies!

In the evening, Annelee was fussy at dinner out at a local restaurant. I took her to the waiting area which had a long padded bench. Put her down at one end and then went and sat in the middle. Again, duress (can't be separated from Mommy!) did its thing and Annelee started to cruise toward me. I think she enjoyed it, so hopefully, she'll even start to cruise voluntarily, soon.

Jack'o'lanterns

2011-11-07T14:53:00.007-05:00

The pumpkins in our house were worked in both the traditional way (carving - Will & Franziska) as well as painted (Vivian & Annelee) and even Mr. Potatohead managed to get in on the act of pumpkin decorating.

Painting pumpkins is great for the kids ... I think I will steal that idea not just for this year, but probably the next few.

Very tentative beginnings

Getting in the swing of things

Her paper towel is just as artistic as her pumpkin!

Who needs paint brushes!

Making sure to use every color we have. And that the stem is painted, too.

And from one second to the next we are All! Done! Mommy!!!

The final pieces of art

Franziska's Pumpkin

Will's Pumpkin

Our final Halloween display

And finally, a quick video of our two artists at work:

If you can't see the video above, click here to launch it.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

All year, Vivian had been announcing that she would be a cat this year for Halloween. I was mentally already planning what I needed to do to make a costume when she suddenly changed her mind about 2 months before Halloween. She was now going to be Rapunzel. Really no surprise there - she's Rapunzel a lot of days.

I had big plans on crocheting a cap and making a braid, but my attempts failed and she ended up with just a braid with a ribbon to tie around her head for her first Halloween event. I made a cap that evening, but she wanted nothing to do with it the next day, preferred the ribbon.

Annelee was going to be a ladybug, we already had a very cute hand-me-down costume. So we were all set.

There was a weekend full of parties for Vivian ... starting off with the Daycare Halloween Party on Friday. On Saturday, she was invited to a Halloween Party at a Daycare friend's house. She was the only girl, all the boys were dressed as superheros and a vampire. They played that the vampire was trying to get the princess and the super heros saved her. Talk about re-inventing stereotypes!

Sunday was the Halloween parade at church (gotta love a church that embraces Halloween!) and Emma's fourth birthday party, also with a Halloween theme.

Then, finally, Halloween itself rolled around on Monday. At six o'clock on the dot it started to rain (trick or treating in Mt Lebanon is 6pm-8pm). So, we changed our plans and I stayed home with Annelee (who hated her costume anyways) and Will took Vivian out. They stayed out for over an hour and came back with a bucket full of candy. Apparently, after every house, Vivian would say "I want to go home". Then she'd spot a jack'o'lantern somewhere and say "No, I want to go there!".

One of a very few shots of a smiling ladybug

Rapunzel and her long hair

I may have to work on my make-up skills

Not the picture I envisioned, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it. I hope Annelee will forgive me one day for taking it :)

Orange!

2011-10-17T22:39:00.000-04:00

Next time we go to a pumpkin patch, I should remember to dress the girls in orange so they can blend in! Just a quick one from today ... we had a great weekend in Virginia ... I didn't take too many pictures, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun, just that I didn't take many pictures :) . Some more photos to follow later.

Those pumpkins may not look real, but they were - I checked!

Popsicle

2011-10-13T14:53:00.003-04:00

Annelee has developed a taste for popsicles. Even when they are lime and she doesn't like the flavor, she will take a lick, pull a face, and then come back for more. Will videoed some fun we had with her with a (more pleasingly flavored) popsicle last month.

Click here if you can't see the video above.

Simmons Farm 2011

2011-10-12T14:33:00.001-04:00

This is the third year we've gone to Simmons Farm with Vivian, and Annelee's second. The pictures from 2009 are here. There are no pictures posted from last year, because Jenny and I took Rowan, Vivian and baby Annelee and Annelee was fussy the entire time so I barely managed to lift the camera up to my eyes. I do have to try and find what pictures I took though, because I think I have another tunnel shot there with Vivian.

This time, we went early in the season and straight after a quick breakfast. It was a glorious and sunny day, but not too crowded, getting much more crowded when we were leaving though.

The whole event is a "hayride" on a trailer pulled by a tractor down to the attractions (another sack slide - Vivian was very happy!), pick your own pumpkin and corn and then head back to the car again.

I forced the whole family into having their photo taken behind those silly cutouts ... sorry, Will and Vivian (Annelee didn't mind, she loved holding onto the hole and looking out). It's all for the good of the blog! :)

The corn-box is always a big hit

With all kids

Don't you look at the camera!
Waiting for the hay ride to start


Vivian went down the slide several times, even standing in line and getting herself ready without us anywhere nearby.

Wheeeeeee

Annelee foiled all attempts at taking a cute picture of her between the pumpkins by rolling them down the hill faster than I could line them up next to her and then lift the camera. She thought it was a great game!

This little witch cutout was the exact right size for Annelee to stand up behind and hold on.

Will put her in the tire and she was so happy with that seat and the straw that she even climbed back in when I tried to set her free.

Love that smirk.

Our other cute little witch

Mummified Daddy

Candle-holding ghostly Mommy

Gymkhana

2011-10-11T14:03:00.001-04:00

After taking tap and ballet last winter, we decided to have Vivian try something new this year. So we signed her up for Gymkhana, which several of her friends had already taken and enjoyed. Vivian enjoys a similar place called Gymsport where you can go and just do your own thing on the various gymnastic equipment, so we were pretty sure she'd like it. This is the same thing, just with more equipment and instructions on what to do.

I don't think she is ever going to be an olympic athlete. She's more like me who wanted to be good at it but wasn't. In fact, I used to dread nothing more than the annual "sports event" (I've even blocked out the real name) where we all had to compete in gymnastics. I always got the "also particpated" certificate. Barely. Anyhow. Both Will and I think it's going to be good for her to learn some of the basics of gymnastics and the various equipment and to run and move around at least once a week when we are cooped up inside for the winter. And, as I said, she really enjoys it. She works hard at doing the excercises, some with more success than others (just like the other kids). She listens well and enjoys herself.

So, imagine how lovely it was for her (and for us) when her teacher sent her this card in the mail! I think they just guaranteed themselves a sign-up for the next session! ;)

Vivian -
You are such a great listener! And your bar work was super today. Keep up the great work!
Debi + Cher

Candy Holidays

2011-10-10T14:30:00.001-04:00

When I grew up, Halloween was not something that was known in Germany. We did, however, not grow up deprived of collecting large amounts of candy by going from door to door in our neighborhood. On St Martin's Day, we'd go out in groups with paper lanterns and candles, singing songs, and receiving candy. As a total aside, I didn't realize until I just read it on Wikipedia that St. Martin's day is November 11 - Vivian's birthday. May have to do use that as a birthday party idea one year!

Anyhow, this didn't stop my Dad from using customs from both of these holidays to entertain Vivian. They carved a pumpkin together (which we finally found in a store, they were only just becoming available for the season), which then sat out on the back deck and illuminated the night for us (with faces on either side!)

As another aside, seeing Vivian on this photo with my apron on reminds me also that she and Omi made Götterspeise (jello) one day. Green and red, with vanilla sauce, yum. Next visit, the colors of the traffic light are planned, as yellow will also be added. For some reason, I have no photos of the two of them in the kitchen.

Anyhow, another night, the two of them dug out the paper lanterns, lit the candles and set out in the dark to walk around the neighborhood. My Mom and I also went along. We sang a couple of traditional St. Martin's songs ("Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne" and "Laterne, Laterne"), but, since it was still September, decided not to confuse people and ring at their doors and ask for candy ;) Vivian had a blast even without!


"Where did I put those matches?" I primarily wanted to show that there really is a candle in these lanterns. Although I understand battery operated ones also exist these days :)

Vivian is ready

Lanterns are serious business ;)

Safaripark Stukenbrock

2011-10-09T14:42:00.000-04:00

There's a different kind of zoo near my parents' house in Germany where the animals roam free(ish) and the people are in cages (well, their cars). They also have a nice little amusement park attached. So, one sunny weekday, Sebastian took a day off work and we all headed to Safaripark Stuckenbrock together. The weather was really nice, but the summer vacation was over, so we almost had the entire park to ourselves. There were just a couple of other cars driving through, and in the amusement park, every ride was just waiting for someone to say "we want to go". Zero lines. Perfect!

Everyone had a great time. I especially enjoyed how much Annelee squealed when we saw animals through the window. It seems to me that Vivian wasn't at all interested when we took her to the zoo in Pittsburgh at that same age. Having said that, now she can't get enough of zoos (and amusement parks), so it was a given that she would have a blast (which she did indeed).

The famous white lions that are being bred here

For once in their lives, the kids were allowed out of their car seats, and Vivian even got to sit up front!

Oh, I'm sorry. You wanted photos of us people? Ok. Here we go :)

Cute little wagons for rent (we just used it for the photo opp though)

Kiddie rides with no queues ... perfect

A different kind of bubble bath

Sack slide race!

I think we are all just glad we didn't fly out of our seats and survived ...

The monkey train. Really, the human train because the monkeys were outside

Inside the train ...

... and outside

It seems to be becoming a trend for me to add a video at the end. Today is no different. Don't get too used to it though.

Click here if you can't see the video above.

Street Art & Play

2011-10-08T15:03:00.000-04:00

My parents live in a cul-de-sac with a circular turn-around. For generations, this has been a place for kids to hang out and play. A new generation has just discovered that. We went out there several times, with Tobias, with Junis (the neighbor's grandson), by ourselves. Chalk featured greatly in these endeavors (Vivian drew with it, Annelee ate it), as did collecting chestnuts and riding the "bike".

Vivian and Junis

Annelee before she discovered she'd rather eat the chalk

Teamwork

Can't even reach the pedals yet, but won't let it stop her

Vrooom vrooom!

And here's a video of Vivian after she figured out the pedal-less bike thingy.

Click here if you can't see the video above.

Trampoline

2011-10-05T22:22:00.001-04:00

On our second day in Germany, we visited Marion, Sebastian and Tobias in their home. They have a HUGE trampolin in the back-yard, and of course we all had to try it out (yes, Annelee and the adults, too).

My Mom's favorite story from that afternoon is Vivian and Tobias' communication (I missed that one, so this is hear-say). Vivian was busy dismantling Tobias' lego house. He was sitting next to her.

Tobias: "Wir gehen auf's Trampolin" (We'll go on the trampoline)
Vivian keeps playing.
Tobias gets a little closer to Vivian, and speaks a little louder: "Wir gehen auf's Trampolin!"
Vivian keeps playing, doesn't even look up.
Tobias gets even closer to Vivian and speaks even louder: "WIR GEHEN AUF'S TRAMPOLIN!!!"
:)

I'm not totally sure if Vivian ever responded. But, on the trampoline we did go, and a lot of fun was had by all!

Who allowed her to look so grown up?

Annelee enjoyed being bounced about

Even falling down is fun when you are on a trampoline!

Resting on the trampoline

The bystanders

In mid-air

Tobias' favorite hobby is eating fruit

Grosspapa enjoying his grandchildren having fun

Annelee discovered the house - perfect for crawling in and out and in and ...

Omi with her two oldest grandchildren

In mid-air

A more relaxing approach

Return from collecting chestnuts (some of which even got smuggled into the US ... ooops)

Trampoline-ing is hard work!

Recording everything

Caught in mid-movement

Playing ball

Ready to water the flowers

And, if that wasn't enough, here are two videos, too.

Click here if you can't see the video above.

Click here if you can't see the video above.

Trip To Germany

2011-10-04T20:36:00.000-04:00

We've been back from our trip to Germany for a little over a week now, and - as usual - reality kicks back in way too soon. The good news is, we all recovered pretty well from our jet lag and (I am probably jinxing myself here) most nights, Annelee is sleeping better than she was before. Let's hope she keeps that up.

So, Germany. After an uneventful flight there (yay) we and our luggage (yay) arrived in Duesseldorf to be picked up at the airport by my Mom. We got the train to Bielefeld, then drove the last bit home. Overall, we were only about an hour later than we anticipated. I'll take it.

The fun kicked off almost immediately, with Marion, Sebastian and Tobias coming over in the afternoon. Vivian and Tobias played, Annelee, too (in between bouts of clinging to me). We saw a lot of them, which was nice and gave Vivian and Tobias a chance to get to know each other a bit better. Vivian also made some new friends, Gerti's (the neighbor) grandson Junis and my schoolfriend Heike's three girls.

We jumped on the trampolin at Marion & Sebastian's (I want one!), went to the Safari park with everyone, went to the playground several times, rode a walk-bike (not sure what the exact translation of that one is), drew with chalk, played cards, carved a pumpkin, made jello (Goetterspeise - please, no one tell Vivian that you can get that here, too, I keep telling her it's a German thing), and went for a walk with a lantern with a real candle (you didn't read this, Anne) while singing songs. I'm sure I'm forgetting things.

The return flight was also pretty much uneventful (which is how I like my flights), even though Annelee was a bit cranky at times. Overall, still smooth sailing. And we arrived early (!) and with our luggage (did I mention "yay"?)

Pictures to follow over the next few posts.

I'll leave you with one of Annelee and Vivian on the huge trampolin, with Omi, Grosspapa and Tobias watching them.

A Package for the Page Princesses

2011-09-11T23:03:00.000-04:00

This morning, the girls discovered a package from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Mike in the mail. They were very excited to open it (especially Vivian, who knew what was going on). They may have gotten their gifts mixed up (er, modeled them for each other ;) ) – but they sure had fun unwrapping them and loved them. Vivian is also excitedly looking forward to getting her first magazine. Thank you so much, Aunt Betsy and Uncle Mike!

Vivian holds up her new T-shirt ...

... and Annelee follows suit with her new jammies!

Annelee in Vivian's T-shirt. And, yes, that's a semi-naked Barbie in the foreground. Of course! Our house is full of them! ;)

Vivian pretends to read the letter

Vivian with Annelee's pants

Casey & Ernie Visit

2011-08-30T22:52:00.000-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, Casey and Ernie came to visit us in the 'Burgh. We had some yummy food, played cards, created art and hung out and just took it easy. It was a fun weekend. Thanks for coming up, Casey & Ernie!

Casey had brought clay for us to make a sculpture. She created a boat and then we all created ourselves. That was lots of fun!

Ernie with that great T-shirt of his

Casey builds the boat

Vivian plays with "Annelee" (created by Casey)

Annelee supervises while snacking on some melon

Vivian just loved to mash the clay around

Of course some clay ended up in her face :)


In the boat: back - Ernie, Casey, a lizard (on the back rim), Will. front - Vivian, Annelee on our sole remaining fish. In front of the boat: Jonas & Mattias, Franziska (lying down so my head won't fall off)

As per usual, the chef created some wonderful meals ...

Dinner prep

Multi-colored beets, melon, melon foam, caramelized pecans, goat cheese, bacon, salad. Delish!

Cupcakes were on the menu, too.

I'm pretty sure at least some of the icing made it into her mouth

Got icing?

And last, but not least, various Barbie-play and cuddle sessions!

Even Ernie got roped into playing Barbies

Annelee was never quite happy when not in fully body-contact with Mommy. Good thing this is just a phase!

Morning cuddles with Aunt Casey

Casey, the girls, and (of course) Mermaid Barbie

Dippers

2011-08-29T19:45:00.004-04:00

Heiko and Christel gave me some very intriguing 'dippers,' as Vivian would say, for breads and stuff. One was a pomegranate vinegar, one is thistle oil, and one is a mystery vinegar. All were sehr lecka ('Sarah Lecka,' as Aunt Susan would say)! I am so happy I remembered these as I was preparing a caprese salad and wondering what to do with a baguette. Danke papa und mama Lang!

Crazy Crawlers

2011-08-25T15:30:00.004-04:00

I love when our two girls play together and have fun!

Click here for a direct link to the video if you can't see it above.

Idlewild 2011

2011-08-24T15:32:00.001-04:00

The year in the title indicates that I should have a previous year's post to link to ... but I still don't have that one up. :( Maybe one day ...

Anyways, about a life-time or so ago (last May, I think), Marina and Kris, Katherine and I took our children (four at that point, Corwin & Kyra, Emma, Vivian, both Katherine and I were pregnant) to Idlewild. It's about 1.5 hrs from here, so it's really just a once-a-summer trip. Last year was fun, so we wanted to do this again.

This year, only Kris and Marina (and Kris' cousin Morgan) and Vivian and I (I took a day off work, Annelee went to daycare) made it.

First and most importantly, Vivian and I had a wonderful and fun day together. I thoroughly enjoyed her company, and the bonus of not carrying a diaper-bag or pushing a stroller (sorry, Annelee ;) ). It was fabulous.

Last year, we had gone to the story-book forest first, and by the time we were done it was time for me to head home so that Vivian would at least get somewhat of a nap. So we didn't manage to go on any of the rides. We fixed that this year. We went straight for the rides and spent pretty much all our time on them. We didn't get to go to the Soakzone, but I think that's high on the agenda for next year.

The first ride we went on was one of those "plunge you into the water rides". The carriages were pulled up a steep incline and then plunged down toward the water. I had absolutely no idea if Vivian was going to start crying hysterically, laugh manically, or something in between. I know I was thinking "what am I doing on this ride?!?" when we were pulled up the incline...

The verdict? Vivian LOVED it!

So much that she then dragged me on the "Octopus", and patiently waited in the long and slow moving line to ride it. I tried to watch her very blissful and enchanted face during the ride, but my stomach did not appreciate it, so I quickly focused on things further away ;)

We got a few more adult-supervision rides under our belt before heading to the kiddie-zone. There, you can only ride if you are under 56 inches, so we put the kids on lots of rides and watched them having just as much fun on those little rides as they did on the big ones.

We finally left Marina & Kris and their crew to head home, but not before we had an ice cream and went on one last ride. The entire walk back to the car I had to explain at every single attraction that you can't possibly do them all in one day and that we needed to save them for next year. Vivian is so ready to go back already!

We will most definitely be back there next year with Annelee and Will.

You were supposed to balance balls on the airstream, but Rapunzel had to test her long hair, of course

Going down that first ride, just before we hit the water

It's hard to take a picture of a short and a tall person when strapped into a ride, especially when you are one of them ...

Kris and Corwin waiting for the ride to start

My favorite shot of the day ... she's having a ball!

Everyone minus the photographer (Vivian, Marina with Kyra, Morgan, Corwin, Kris)

Serious about his driving

Looks like she's steering wildly and loving it

This ride is known as the "baby cage". We contemplated slipping them a 20 to keep the cage locked for an hour ;)

Morgan and Corwin. The stick is to help pushing, not to "encourage" the kid to do the work ;)

I did one of those rides with Vivian and they are hard work! THEN I found out there was one for children w/out adults. Sigh!

The things parents do to get their kids to smile for the camera ...

A very special water fountain

Nap time!

I love how Corwin is all focused on driving and Vivian's just relaxing and enjoying the ride

The final stretch, both are now fully into it!

Riding the motor bikes

Monkey Girl

2011-08-23T15:10:00.001-04:00

Up until last summer, Vivian was the least monkey-like and risk-taking one of her friends. I kind of liked it that way. This has definitely changed this summer. Suddenly, she's climbing and jumping and sliding, mostly by herself (she used to ask for a lot of help). Occasionally, though, she will still ask for help. Almost always, she will ask someone (anyone, even strangers on the playground :) ) to watch what she is doing.

It took me a bit to adapt to that new normal. I still often hold my breath (I'm a chicken, what can I say), but I've also gotten quite good at saying "no, you climbed up there, you need to figure out how to get down". She usually does!

Today, Vivian asked that we go to Dormont Playground. It's probably one of my favorites just because it is so different from your standard play equipment (a slide, a climbing structure and one or two sets of swings). Instead, the playground is one huge wooden structures with opportunities for climbing, running, balancing and sliding all over the place. I posted pictures of it before, you can find them here in my post from November 2009 (and while you are at it ... look at how small our kids were then!).

Today, Vivian proudly showed me her latest monkey-skill. And of course I had to document it. And post it for all of you to see :)

Shopping? Done!

2011-08-22T11:54:00.001-04:00

This was the first time that Annelee rode in the front with Vivian. It went remarkably well. Two happy girls, lots of shoppers oohing and aahing over them and I got my shopping done.

At the big grocery store, I tend to have only Annelee with me these days, as they have a supervised play area and Vivian loves to go there. In fact, mention that we need to go shopping and she'll immediately ask about the Eagle's Nest ...

old, but classic motion picture...

2011-08-20T11:27:00.001-04:00

when bambinos attack, oh no!!!

2011-08-20T11:24:00.002-04:00

Dormont Pool

2011-08-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

I think I've posted earlier that we have a membership to the pool this summer. It's a nice pool ... kiddie pool, big kid/adult pool with dedicated section for kids, grass all around. It has one drawback. We don't drive past it every time we go somewhere. We do drive past Dormont pool ever time we go somewhere. Dormont is an old long sloping pool, surrounded by concrete and struggling to scrape together enough funding to stay open every year.

The ONLY thing Vivian wanted for this summer was to go to Dormont pool. On Saturday, Will and I relented and we took the kids there. It was perfect pool weather, high 70s, it had been overcast all day (so the pool was pretty empty) but the sun came out literally as we walked out of the front door. Because the pools is so shallow, I was able to snap a couple of pictures of the girls with my cell phone.

After the pool, Annelee fell asleep in the car and was successfully transported to her crib, Will had to work some more (boooo) and Vivian and I also ended up falling asleep. Luckily, I woke up before anyone snapped my photo. The girls? Not so lucky. But they are still cute when asleep, so it's ok. :)

Drumming Session

2011-08-04T20:00:00.001-04:00

I wanted to post the video of Annelee's drumming session (complete with tribal chanting from her, additional singing from Daddy in the background, and of course Vivian's commentary) with yesterday's post, but ran into technical difficulties.

Finally got them resolved, so here it finally is:

I don't think you can view videos through the email (but you can if you click through to the actual blog), so I'm going to start posting links, too. Click here to see the video if it doesn't display for you.

Annelee's 12 Month Well-Visit

2011-08-03T21:59:00.000-04:00

Well, this child of ours continues to enjoy her food and it shows. Even the first comment out of the pediatrician's mouth was related to Annelee's delicious chubbiness.

Here are the stats. Both height and weight are somewhere in the 95-100% percentile:

Height: 31" (79cm)
Weight: 24 lb 12 oz (11.2kg)

For comparison, Vivian was the exact same height at her 12 month visit, but weighed in at only 21 lb 1 oz.

The pediatrician was very happy with Annelee's eating and the variety of food she's getting (thanks, Will!). At this point, she's eaten pretty much every food that's often an allergen and has been fine. The only one missing is peanuts and tree nuts, but she's already had peanut oil, too, so those are likely to be ok, as well.

Annelee's ears looked fine (one perfect, one very close to perfect) - yay!

The Dr. checked her hips very carefully since Annelee doesn't like to really stand up or put her weight on her legs, and said she looked good, we should just wait and see. Of course, today (only 2 days after the appointment), she's twice stood with me supporting only a little bit of her weight already. Always one to proof us wrong, just like her sister.

Annelee got three shots (ouch - and she was sure to let us know that IT.WAS.NOT.ACCEPTABLE!) and I got a parking ticket (ouch - but only for the wallet, and luckily, only $10).

All in all, a very good visit.

So I don't forget, here are a couple of other things about Annelee. She's got eight teeth by now (4 top, 4 bottom, one of the top ones is barely there, but there). She still nurses 2-3 times a day (morning, evening, sometimes in the afternoon) but I (very gleefully and happy, I might add) threw the breast pump in the trash last week, so that bane of my existence is gone!

Annelee mostly naps twice a day, and it seems that she starts about 90% of her naps in the car. In fact, there are times where we are at home and I wonder why she's so cranky ... and then I realize it's probably nap time for her, and I take her upstairs and she's asleep in less than a minute.

She's just figured out to put money in her play piggy bank, and today she got hold of a drum and started drumming (when she wasn't eating the drum-stick, that is). Talking about eating, everything, and I mean absolutely everything ends up in Annelee's mouth. I know every kid goes through that phase, and Vivian did, too, but not to this extreme. I sometimes give her the binky just so that she won't constantly graze on the floor. Of course, I could sweep, but the binky is easier :)

Birthday Girl

2011-07-27T00:01:00.001-04:00

In an ill-gotten attempt to remind me of the sleep-deprived newborn days from a year ago, Annelee spent about an hour in the middle of the night up. Partly crying, partly chatting, always restless crawling back and forth in the crib and kicking her legs. Sigh. I don't miss those days.

But it got better after that. She did not cry at daycare drop-off (as has been her habit lately) and was mostly happy in the evening. Quite happy after consuming her sugary cup cake, in fact :)

We opened presents before dinner. Vivian was very eager to help Annelee. Annelee most loved the beach ball and the toy that Vivian got. Of course. Vivian was most enamored with Annelee's new doll (of course). She told me that she wanted the same doll for her next birthday :)

For dinner, Will made mac'n'cheese - Vivian had suggested that Annelee would choose that if she could talk. Nothing to do with it being Vivian's favorite food, I'm sure. After dinner, Jenny and Rowan came over to sing Happy Birthday with us and have cup cakes. Annelee very much enjoyed her cup cake (I had to strip her down to her diaper once she was done).

Anne - have I made amends for serving Vivian a muffin for her first birthday? ;)

The gift bag is bigger than Annelee!

Vivian is helping Annelee unwrap her gifts

Blowing up the beach ball - Annelee can't wait to hold it!

The train from Grandma

Just after Vivian tried to borrow the beach ball for a second

The new doll (with magnetic binky)

Vivian and Rowan help Annelee blow out the candle

Annelee started very slow and deliberately on her cup cake ...

... but liked it enough to even rub it into her hair. Does frosting encourage hair growth at least? Pretty please?

1 Year!

2011-07-26T00:01:00.002-04:00

Wow - Annelee is already a year old. I can hardly believe it ... it doesn't seem that long ago that I was pregnant with the "tummyseed".

Happy Birthday, my little wiggleworm!

As is by now the tradition, here is Annelee's first year in my favorite photos

July 2010 - one day old

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

A visit from Cousin Rachel

2011-07-24T23:40:00.001-04:00

Vivian's and Annelee's cousin Rachel is in Pittsburgh this week for training from work. She decided to come in early and spend the weekend with us. It was about time she met Annelee ... we figured out the last time we saw her was Christmas 2009 when we announced we were pregnant with Annelee.

Now, Annelee may not have agreed a lot of the time (she loved flirting with Rachel as long as Mommy was still holding her) but even those barriers were broken toward the end of the visit.

Saturday, the girls and Rachel and I went to the Aviary (Vivian's favorite, as she reported at dinner: the birds!) and then Rachel, Will and I saw the fantabulous Roddy Barnes at a house concert (what a cool concept).

Sunday brought more Roddy Barnes as he performed at church, lunch at Molly Branigans, and then we just hung out until Rachel had to pack up (Vivian helped her pack twice) and leave for the welcome dinner for her training.

Thanks for stopping by, Rachel, we had a lot of fun having you visit! Don't wait another 1.5 years til the next visit, ok?

Vivian took her job feeding the Lories very seriously. She was disappointed that none of them would come on and sit on her arm though

One of those rare moments where Annelee was willing to sit next to Rachel and smile :) Vivian on the other hand, after 10 mins of shyness would not leave Rachel's side for the entire time she was staying with us!

Picture Day

2011-07-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

Our church is getting a new member directory and hired a photographer to take professional photos. As part of the deal, they also took additional photos and poses and we could then order copies if we liked. I think they did a great job ...

Pool Time

2011-07-16T23:01:00.000-04:00

Almost every Wednesday, and usually one time during the weekend, we all head to the local pool in the late afternoon. We got season passes so we don't feel too guilty about staying for just an hour or two. We knew from last year that Vivian is an absolute fish (not only does she like the water, she seems to spend more time under than above- by choice). Annelee loves bath time, so we were hopeful that she, too, would like the pool. And, she does, even though the water is much colder than her bath!

Since we don't have any spare hands while we are at the pool, or waterproof cameras, you probably won't get pictures from the pool. So, instead, I took some today at our "baby pool" at home for your viewing pleasure. The girls lasted a long time in the water. I finally pulled Annelee out when I was tired of taking cups away from her because she kept drinking the water. She was probably confused, because, cups - they are for drinking, are they not?

Then Vivian got out soon after. Vivian's favorite toys (at the big pool and at home, and on dry land) are Barbies at the moment. So, Barbies get to swim an awful lot in our house, too.

Hamming it up for the camera

Ken and "newBarbie" and Barbie

Splish Splash!

She *HATES* having to go into the pool!

A typical scene - Annelee retrieves toys she threw out. Vivian pours water from one container into another in the background. And often on Annelee's head, too ;)

I just couldn't get them both to look up at the same time...

Oh, THAT'S where you wanted me to look!

And, last but not least, a couple of videos. I especially like how Vivian pours water over Annelee's head in the second one and Annelee just wonders for a split-second where that came from and then just gets on with what she was doing.

Pictures from a 5 day staycation

2011-07-05T21:18:00.009-04:00

Daddy here, guest blogger. I put these on facebook, sorry if you are seeing them twice, but I wanted to share with the family.

Here is our beebalm patch, the resident hummingbird loves it.

The resident humans prefer this:

The next day, Sunday, grilling operations had to deploy amphibian mode, as the skies opened as soon as I laid down some veggies. Franziska helped me keep the food dry while Vivian helped by doing an umbrella dance.

On the holiday, Vivian took advantage of local festivities:

From goatgirl to pony express:

Glamour Girls

2011-06-22T15:52:00.002-04:00

On Monday, we visited our friends Jesse, Jamie and Angie. Jesse and Vivian decided to ham it up for the camera with their super big sunglasses!

Gigglefest 2011

2011-06-21T21:48:00.002-04:00

There's really nothing I can say that would add to this video :)

Up Up and Away

2011-06-17T17:36:00.000-04:00

This idea was blatantly stolen from my favorite Pittsburgh blogger :)

Grandma's Girls

2011-06-16T14:38:00.001-04:00

As always when I take lots of photos (trips to Virginia rank high) I get overwhelmed with them and never get around to actually go through them. But I took a look at the Easter photos today, and this one popped out at me. Grandma and her two youngest grandchildren :)

Our Little Artist

2011-06-15T11:15:00.001-04:00

I have to confess I don't do too much "artwork" with Vivian. They do plenty of that at preschool - she brings home reams and reams of scribbled-on pages (and the occasional piece that I think I may actually save for her, too).

However, Vivian got some liquid-paint glitter pens from Grandma and also some other paint-dab pens from us, and we've been trying those out. Both have been a big hit. The glitter pens didn't really write, but once we took the top off, Vivian (with help) could squeeze out the paint and then finger-paint. Well, more like hand-paint. Lots of fun!

Squeezing out the paint

"Finger" painting

Shiny!!!!

And here is probably my favorite painting that Vivian has made - I love that she's finally using more than one color and her people are all so wide and flat - cute!

And Now For Something Completely Different ...

2011-06-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for photos of cute little girls, you will be disappointed today, because I wanted to post something entirely different.

A couple of months ago, I took photos for my friend Marina and her new vet clinic that she wanted to use for the website. Her web designer had given her some images that he wanted to have recreated with her and her staff in it. Gulp. I dug out and dusted off my lighting equipment, and crossed my fingers that some of the photos would turn out. We ended up using the operating room for all photos because of the strong overhead lights ... those, together with my equipment made good photos possible. In fact, we are thinking we should do a photo shoot with the kids there one day :)

The website is up and running and I think it turned out really nice. If you open it up, the photos that it scrolls through in the beginning are all mine :) I also opened a local magazine the other day and saw one of them used in a half-page ad. Nice surprise!

Here's the link: Bethel Park Animal Clinic

Next post will be photos of the girls again, I promise!

Arts Festival & Pride Fest 2011

2011-06-12T22:47:00.000-04:00

We don't venture Downtown with the children too often, but this weekend, we actually went twice! Yesterday, we headed to the Arts Festival where we partook in some of the action for the kids ... hoolahoops, Vivian and I made a wind thingamajing out of "trash" (Grosspapa would've appreciated that place!) and then made artwork with paint at the Childrens' Museum. Fun!

Today, we got together with Jenny, Joel and Rowan and headed down to the annual Pride fest. We marched in the parade with many other members of our (and other) UU churches. We enjoyed the numerous colorful characters, were pleasantly suprised at some of the corporate sponsors (Highmark, Macy's) and then went to have Greek food for lunch before checking out a few more of the attractions for the children and heading home again exhausted!

No pictures from the Arts festival, but a bunch from today. Looking at the photos to edit them, I'm shocked at how little (not at all) Vivian noticed the "dress-up" going on all around us. In fact, I just looked at one picture with her with lots of colorful characters in the foreground and she exlaimed "There's Joel!". I had to look twice to notice him somewhere in the background :)

* Updated to add that - as soon as I typed the paragraph above - Vivian took a look at the next photo and proclaimed "I'm her". I didn't have the heart to tell her it was a he, not a she ;)

Standing on the Side of Love - the slogan on the T-shirts

Vivian can wear her shirt for years to come!

Annelee didn't want to feel left out and made her own shirt

Oooops ... you are not allowed to climb these. Snapped the pic first, anyways. After all, how much more "Pittsburgh" can you get than a Heinz-Dinosaur? :)

The banner of the local UU churches

This guy tried to preach our certain damnation to us (notice the bible in his hand, too), but was sort of swallowed up by the fun and good times everyone was having

Water just NEVER looses its attraction

With Rowan's hat

Lunch at a Greek restaurant run by Jackie Onassis' one-time chef

Rowan in her velcro suit

Vivian in her velcro suit

Stuck to the wall

And last, but not least, I just had to post these two photos together. Some things just don't change :)


Vivian - 2011

Vivian - 2008

The Goils

2011-06-07T20:17:00.004-04:00

Summer Time

2011-06-06T20:47:00.001-04:00

Ok, I know it's technically still Spring. But we've had some decidedly summer-like weather. So we got out the blankets and bathing suits and water buckets and had some fun in the backyard. Rowan joined us there, too.

I love how a couple of containers and a little bit of water can keep those to girls entertained for quite a while. I equally love that our playhouse is finally getting used! I don't like that I really need a blanket that covers the entire lawn to prevent Annelee from pulling it back and grazing the grass down to a rather short level (not pictured :). Although, maybe Will would appreciate not having to mow the lawn?

Moving water between the buckets

Onto bigger things

And here's the purpose for all the water shuffling - the water dance!

Sitting pretty on her blanket

Annelee only narrowly escaped the threatened soaking!

Copellia Dolls

2011-06-05T23:00:00.001-04:00

Vivian had her first dance recital today. The show was put on by her dance studio and ranged from a couple of classes with kids Vivian's age up to semi-professional teenagers. Overall, very enjoyable to watch. It was not at all the recital I expected - I had thought we'd see one fumbling class of small kids after another - when I really just wanted to see Vivian's fumbling class :) Instead, there were some really nice performances interspersed with the occasional class of small children that rocked the cuteness factor, if not the actual steps and movements.

Dress code for the kids was very specific - we had directions for hair and makeup, and rented the costume (thank goodness we didn't need to buy it and add to our already large collection of dress up clothes), had to buy specific tights and wear a certain color ballet slippers.

Rowan's Mom Jenny brought her makeup and did the makeup for both girls. Then we left them in the care of the other dancers and some adults that entertained them backstage until it was their turn.

Videoing was strictly forbidden, but since I was not going to buy at $35 DVD for a one-minute performance, I undertook some stealth recording anyways. That's also my excuse for the quality (or lack thereof) of the video. Vivian is second from the right, and Rowan all the way to the right. It cracks me up every time I watch this how they missed the queue to start running. Just like class :)

Anyways, I herewith bring you some photos of our young stars and their very first real life stage performance.

In full makeup and costume

Vivian's place in the program

Brushing Her Teeth

2011-06-04T22:41:00.000-04:00

Annelee still only has two teeth; however, we have started brushing them (I know from experience with Vivian that the pediatrician would look at me at the next visit and say "but you have to start brushing the teeth as soon as they have any and are eating food" - might as well get ahead of the curve where I can). Annelee actually enjoys her "bathroom routine" of brushing her teeth, washing her face (her least favorite) and brushing her hair (I think she just likes the scalp massage).

Today, she insisted on brushing her teeth herself (already?!).

And a little live-action video:

Evening Walk

2011-06-02T22:25:00.000-04:00

There's been much walking in the evening lately ... mostly it's been Will trying to get Annelee to sleep when she woke up about an hour after going to bed. I tried one time and she started crying half way through the walk. She prefers walks with Daddy, apparently.

Tonight was perfect walking weather so we headed out after dinner. Vivian was crying and didn't want to go, but (bad parents!) we made her. Needless to say she had a lot of fun once she got over her "But I don't wanna goooooo!". I think I was similar as a kid. Probably most kids are.

Anyways, there was much goofing around this evening, and we even managed to briefly pose for Will and the (cell phone) camera.

If only summer wasn't already creeping up on us with it's hot days and evenings ... we need at least another four weeks or so of days like today.

Boxed In

2011-05-27T12:58:00.001-04:00

It all started innocently enough with a photo I took of Vivian in February 2008.

When I took another one a while later and realized that it happened to be exactly a year later (February 2009), Will wanted (and got) a diptych for his cube at work.

In February 2010, Will requested another photo for the series and a triptych. I managed to take the photo, but never put the triptych together.

This year, for Will's birthday, the girls and I got together, added two more photos and framed them all individually. We even bought spare frames so that we can keep this going for the next couple of years.

Favorite Toy

2011-05-26T15:10:00.005-04:00

Daddy's baseball cap is always a favorite around here!

Wait, let me get it on properly ...

... there we go ...

... all done, your turn next!

Front-yard Picnic

2011-05-25T09:24:00.000-04:00

Not the greatest picture of the girls (especially of Annelee, who, with hindsight, was miserable not just with an ear infection, but also with roseola that day), but definite proof of our first front-yard picnic of the season. There are many more to come ... Vivian asks for every meal to "eat outside on a blanket".

Trip to the Zoo

2011-05-22T21:51:00.032-04:00

RHS hosts an annual birthday party at the zoo every year, and this time, I decided to take the girls. Free tickets, and Vivian is old enough to enjoy the zoo now, so it really was a no-brainer. This time, we started at the end (since we have always bailed before we got there) and visited the tigers, petting zoo, kangaroos, beavers, deer, playground (where we had lunch) and then headed over to the polar bears, with a detour through the tunnels to see the sharks. Then, we headed over to the RHS party where we saw some of the staff, picked up gifts for the kids and watched the beginning of a puppet show before Annelee decided enough was enough and we left. Both girls were fast asleep on the way back in the car ... a sign of a good outing, I think.

Tiger cub, tired of playing

Vivian and Annelee are hanging with the 'Roo

Riding the camel at the playground

Watching the sea lions

Smiling

Watching the sharks

Shark attack!

Books are more interesting than sharks!

Tiger cubs at play

Nine Months

2011-05-03T15:49:00.003-04:00

Annelee had her nine month check-up yesterday.

Let's start with the vitals, as usual. She's in 90-95th percentile for both height and weight:

Height: 29.5" (75cm). Vivian had her beat (just) with 30"

Weights: 21 lb 12oz (9.87 kg). Vivian continued to be a lightweight by comparison: 19 lb 11 oz. At least the gap hasn't widened from the 6 month check-up. In fact, it has shrunk :)

As usual, the pediatrician was overall very happy with Annelee. She asked if Annelee already recognized any words, but immediately added that it would be very early. The only one I could think of was "Vivian". So I turned toward the wall with her and asked her where Vivian was. She turned around to try and look at her. Imagine the beaming proud Mama I was to have one of my girls perform on command for once in my life ;)

I later thought of another word she recognizes: "fishies "(I guess I should teach her "fish" one day). Every time we change her diaper, I ask her where the fishies are (the mobile over the changing table). She looks directly at them. Then, when the diaper is changed, I pick her up and we look at each fish and the shape of his mouth (they are different) and make the sound they would make if they could speak. I used to do the same with Vivian and both girls love it.

Anyways, the pediatrician was pleased with her eating (in addition to all sorts of jars of baby food, Annelee has eaten mashed potatoes, pasta and sauce, blueberry pancakes, bagel, bananas, avocado, soup, cheerioes, grits, and probably a whole other host of things I forget). She recommended adding meat for iron. So, that evening Annelee had BBQ chicken and corn mixed with one of her jars. To round it off, she had applesauce and a taste of Daddy's home-made mango sorbet. That little baby of ours is such a gourmet!

Her grasping at things and pince grip as well as sitting up were all on target, too.

Then came the (not so) fun part. Because of her recent throwing up and stomach pains, they wanted a urine sample. Which they do with babies by taping a bag over their "girly bits" and waiting until they pee. And wait we did ... but she finally performed and all looked good.

We then went for a blood draw (finger prick) that afternoon (which they always do at 9 months) which Annelee did not appreciate. When we were leaving, someone in the waiting room asked "What were you doing to that baby?". Ooops. They may have to sound proof their office next time. :)

Next appointment after her 1st birthday.

Sunglasses

2011-04-27T23:43:00.000-04:00

Annelee borrowed Vivian's sunglasses today!

Easter Weekend 2011

2011-04-25T14:46:00.000-04:00

We drove down to Virginia for Easter weekend. Spent lots of time hanging out with family ... it was lovely. As usual, I took way too many photos to get a post up in a timely manner, but I'm finally buckling down and working on the photos. This may be a long post!

Luckily, the Easter bunny seems to have a good grasp at which children travel for the holidays, because he did visit Annelee and Vivian at Aunt Susan's house. Notice the fancy pink egg in Vivian's loot, it was discovered while the Page siblings helped Anne sort through some of Newton's stuff, and immediately handed out to the Easter bunny for reuse!

Vivian with part of her loot - candy, coins, a funky ball and paint pens. Annelee got a cuddly toy

We'll call this one "Symphony in Purple" :)

What ARE those plastic things they keep surrounding me with?

We spent a lot of time hanging out on the deck ...

... even the dogs

Ok, she's in the dining room, but still ... hanging out

Uncle Ernie and Annelee and the Easter Eggs ... yum!

The lid is the most fascinating part of this toy

Ms Vee

Susan did a great job getting a photo of me and the two wiggly girls

Vivian's dramatic pose

Sometimes, I get back into the old habit of photographing just flowers ...

Artist Vivian and her helper

Very pleased with her (and Susan's) work!

Daddy and his wiggly silly goils

Headdress

2011-04-21T12:16:00.004-04:00

Wings. Repurposed.

Easter Tradition

2011-04-20T12:36:00.003-04:00

My Dad had a beautiful Easter tradition when we were little (and even now, sometimes, even though we are grown). He would blow out and paint an Easter egg for my brother and I each year, and then go and cut some branches to hang them on. It makes for some really wonderful Easter decoration.

A few years ago, my parents divided up the eggs between my brother and I and now we get to decorate our own Easter bouquet.

With Vivian and Annelee, I am trying to keep the tradition alive, even though I don't think my painting skills have evolved since I was a child. :)

On Monday, we had a beautiful warm and sunny day, so Vivian and I set out to cut some branches, put them in the vase and then proceeded to hang up the eggs. She would point to the next one to hang up and I would either explain them (e.g., the one with the Pittsburgh Skyline or the one with Will cooking) or read out the name and the year for her.

This evening, I sat down and added two more eggs to the collection, Annelee's first and Vivian's third (oops, I missed one year). I can't wait until they are old enough to paint eggs with me.

Deja Vu

2011-04-19T15:03:00.002-04:00

Apparently, certain clothes appeal to me for certain photographic situations. Here's one that I took of Annelee yesterday.

And here's one that I took of Vivian almost 3 years ago (May 2008), not far from the spot where I took the photo today. I commented on the picture at the time that she was moving her shoulder, hence the funky blur.

Best Friends

2011-04-18T18:01:00.001-04:00

Ask Vivian on any given day who her best friend is (are - she always has more than one), and the answer is different every time. Usually it's a list of girls she plays with at preschool, but that list varies. Apparently, there are discussions of who is whose friend every morning.

But really, the answer is pretty clear-cut. Rowan. All day, every day, she asks me if she can go over to Rowan's. If Rowan can come over here. If I have sent a message to Jenny about playing with Rowan. If Jenny has answered. If they can play now. Now? How about now? It really is very cute.

Today, I tried to get a photo of the two of them. Not an easy task when really, they just want to go and play queen and princess or dogs or Mommy and baby or a bazillion different other things. I'm glad Vivian has such a great friend just across the street!

Without further ado, here are the Gypsy Lane Twins, also known as Rowan and Vivian :)

Random Mobile Phone Shots

2011-04-16T21:36:00.000-04:00

The quality is not as good since they are from my phone, but I thought posting these would at least kick-start me into some blog posts again. Those of you that are on facebook have seen most of them already ...


About 5 minutes after coming home with a goody-bag from a party

Mommy not required for walks

Snow White in sunglasses and snow boots

Delicious, just-bathed, baby chub. And blowing raspberries

Somehow, most of Annelee's naps last weekend ended up being in the car in the driveway

Three-ring circus

She insisted on the raincoat AND umbrella

What's better than jumping in puddles?

I have a feeling we'll be checking for rainbows no matter what the weather every time we walk past this spot

Bed Time Routine

2011-04-12T21:22:00.000-04:00

Since the girls have started sharing a room, our bed time routine has gone through several transitions and experiments. I think we've finally found something that works, that's fun and that's manageable (read: doesn't take all evening).

Here's what usually happens.

During dinner, Annelee starts rubbing her eyes. So, once we are done eating (around 7pm - 7.15pm), I take her to make the rounds to say good night to Daddy and Vivian and we head upstairs. Annelee's bed time is still super simple. I take her clothes off, change her diaper, put her in her jammies and sleep-sack.

Then we dim the light, make sure we have a binky and I sit down and nurse her. She's usually drifting off before I even manage to switch her to the other side, and by the time she's done nursing on both sides, she's asleep. So I simply put her in her crib, kiss her good night and leave the room.

While I get Annelee ready, Vivian gets undressed and puts on her pull-up and pajamas and then goes downstairs to play with Daddy. I join them and - if I'm motivated - we clean up before heading upstairs. Vivian does the rest of her bed-time routine with only very little help (but frequent reminders of what she should be doing ...). Brush teeth, wash face, brush hair.

Then we curl up on the bed and read a book or a story. It's often the same one many nights in a row until she finally tires of the book or I can't take it anymore and insist on a different book (usually the latter).

Then, we pick up the phone and Vivian calls Daddy (yes, we make a phone call every evening because we are too lazy to go to the basement ... ). I actually like it because soon, she will have memorized his phone number and would be able to make a phone call independently. My number is next :) Will answers the phone and Vivian says breathlessly "Daddy come up and kiss me, Mommy and I will hine [hide] for you". Then we hide under the blanket until Daddy comes up.

He and Vivian will then kiss and cuddle and tickle and whatever else (none of that "winding down before going to sleep" stuff for us, apparently). Vivian usually kicks me out for this part with the words: "Mommy, go downstairs". Once they are done, I come back up, and Vivian tells me how many kisses and hugs she wants (great practice of counting in German, she more or less makes it to 20 these days) and then I tell her how many I want.

One last quick stop to go to the bathroom, then I sneak her very very very quietly into her room, tuck her in, lay down for a minute and then say good night one final time before walking out.

It is now between 8.30pm and 8.45pm and if all goes well that's the last that we hear from Vivian until the morning, and some nights, that's even the last we hear from Annelee until she wakes up around 6am to nurse (for which she comes into our bed and often falls asleep again).

On days where Vivian starts whining and getting noisy when I walk out of the room (or when she gets up again for some reason), all bets are off, unfortunately. We have instituted a sticker reward chart for not waking Annelee up and that has been working pretty well for the last couple of nights.

One final funny story about the sticker chart. We visited with friends on Saturday and put Annelee down in their spare bedroom. Bob, our host, forgot that she was in that room and walked in, turned on the light and woke her up. Vivian's immediate comment was "Bob will not get a sticker in the morning because he woke Annelee up!". I think we have drilled that concept into her pretty well, huh? :)

Giggles

2011-03-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

Excuse the video quality, it's from my cell phone. Just enjoy the sound :)

Toys Toys Toys!

2011-03-17T19:44:00.000-04:00

There's nothing better than a turned-over toy box.

Vivian agreed (back in June 2008)

Story Time

2011-02-28T15:26:00.000-05:00

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

Reunions

2011-02-21T23:06:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-18T15:03:00.001-05:00

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

2011-02-14T15:18:00.007-05:00

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

2011-02-13T15:03:00.017-05:00

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

2011-02-12T13:57:00.001-05:00

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

2011-02-10T10:56:00.002-05:00

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

2011-02-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-08T20:28:00.001-05:00

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

2011-02-07T22:27:00.000-05:00

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! :)

New Sofa

2011-01-31T14:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, we have a new sofa. Which, by the way, also converts into a comfy bed for guests (hint, hint ;) ). But I have a feeling you are going to be more interested in the shenanigans of the girls than the sofa. I love it when they make each other giggle! Bright morning sunshine means you can't always see Vivian very well, but who would say no to morning sunshine. Enjoy anyways!

Trip To Germany - The Journey

2011-01-19T10:52:00.001-05:00

The traveling was going to be the easy part. I had already traveled to Germany with Vivian twice. The second trip (previously known as "flight from hell", now known as "well, that wasn't sooo bad") took 30 hrs, such a freakish delay would never happen again. The kids had just proven on a trip to Virginia that they are good travelers even when strapped in a car seat with no easy access to entertainment via their parents. Delta had added a flight from Pittsburgh to Paris, leaving us with just one plane change. Easy peasy.

Can you hear Karma laughing out loud as I type this? Here's what really happened.

Plan

Dec 22, 2.30pm. Leave house to pick up kids from daycare and head to airport
Dec 22, 6.20pm. Depart Pittsburgh
Dec 23, 8.20am. Arrive Paris
Dec 23, 9.45am. Depart Paris
Dec 23, 11.20am. Arrive Hannover to be picked up by Mutti with the car
Dec 23, 2.00pm. Arrive in Sennestadt
Total travel time door to door: 17.5 hrs

Actual

Dec 22, 2.30pm. Leave house to pick up kids from daycare and head to airport
Dec 22, 6.20pm. Depart Pittsburgh
Dec 23, 8.20am. Arrive Paris (so far, so good)
Dec 23, 9.45am. Flight canceled. Rebooked for 1.25pm
Dec 23, 1.25pm. Flight overbooked. Bumped from flight. Rebooked for 7.35am next morning
Check into hotel at the airport
Dec 24, 7.35am. Flight canceled. Rebooked for 1.25pm
Dec 24, 1.25pm. Flight canceled. Booked on train to Koeln
Dec 24, 4pm. Train delayed. Go to eat something
Dec 24, 5pm. Train missed. Ooops
Dec 24, 6.20pm. Next train. Depart for Cologne
Dec 24, 11.00pm. Arrive Cologne. Too late to continue to Bielefeld
Check into hotel at the train station
Dec 25, 9.20am. Depart Cologne
Dec 25, 10.15am. Arrive Hamm
Dec 25, 11.00am. Depart Hamm
Dec 25, 11.45am. Arrive Bielefeld to be picked up by Mutti with car
Dec 25, 12.30pm. Arrive in Sennestadt. Hallelujah!
Total travel time door to door: 64.0 hrs

I had a much longer post started with more of the details, but that would've turned into a book. Suffice it to say the kids held up remarkably well and the train travel was made much easier by the fact that our luggage was MIA at the airport so didn't need to be lugged around. As a sidenote, we never did get the luggage back while we were in Germany, it was delivered back to us in Pittsburgh more than a week after our return. As I am typing this, there's a box full of Christmas presents on my desk, waiting to be taken to the post office to be mailed to Germany...

Here are some pictures we took during the trip. Really, the only time we even contemplated taking photos was when the kids were sleeping somewhere. Note that some of these are from our cell phones, so the quality isn't always as good.

Waiting for yet another flight to be called or canceled...

I don't even remember exactly which part of our airport adventure this is ...

Utterly exhausted - and we haven't even left Charles de Gaulle Airport yet!

Annelee in her sexy socks, spending Christmas Eve in a Parisian Cafe (sounds quite nice that way, doesn't it)

First class travel to Koeln. We managed to snag four seats, even though we had only reserved two.

A little to tall to lie straight on her seat, but asleep nonetheless

Yum Yum Yum!

2011-01-16T23:28:00.001-05:00

I had every intention of working on photos from our Christmas trip to Germany this weekend, but then Annelee finally convinced us to give her real(ish) food, so I of course need to document that first.

For weeks now, Annelee has been grabbing at my plate, my mouth, the tablecloth, and anything else she can get her little hands on during mealtimes. We were going to wait until her 6 month well-visit with starting solids, but she just plain wore us down. So, this afternoon, the family sat down to feed her some oatmeal and cinnamon. To say she liked it would be a huge understatement. She absolutely loved it!

She was rather impatient, and always tried to grab the spoon (Daddy was spooning the food in too slowly, maybe?) and then lunged her whole body forward to meet the spoon half way. Vivian was laughing almost manically at the whole thing, she clearly thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen!

She later told Grandma on the phone: "Annelee got baby oatmeal. I'm a big girl and eat big girl oatmeal. Annelee's face was all dirty". Someone let her in on a secret: Her face is still all dirty after she has eaten, too!

And here's a video of Will and the girls in action:

Last, but not least, here are some photos of Vivian's first taste of solids (May 15th 2008, so she was about 2 weeks older than Annelee). Vivian, too, absolutely loved the food (rice cereal for her by the looks of it). They are both clearly our daughters!

Ear Worm

2011-01-02T15:05:00.019-05:00

As we take down the (very few) decorations and stash away Vivian's Christmas CD (in a very safe hiding place, lest she find it before next December), here's Vivian's rendition of "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" just one more time ...

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T12:04:00.002-05:00

Apparently, Annelee's New Year's Resolution is to pull herself up by her boot straps. The rest of us are less ambitious :) We wish everyone a happy and healthy 2011! Will, Franziska, Vivian & Annelee!

Santa Baby

2010-12-19T15:53:00.001-05:00

Nikolaus 2010

2010-12-18T15:22:00.002-05:00

As in previous years, the German Nikolaus paid a visit to 745 Gypsy Lane this year.

Because Annelee doesn't yet wear shoes, I asked Vivian to pick out a shoe from the big box of outgrown shoes of hers. Big mistake. She wanted to try on every pair, no matter how often I told her they wouldn't fit. She finally picked a pretty black one.

I then asked Vivian to pick one of her shoes to put out, too. She kept telling me in a very worried voice that she, too, needed a "nicause shoe". None of her own were acceptable. I finally figured out that she needed a "Nikolaus shoe". We settled on her tap shoe.

The next morning, Vivian went downstairs to discover the gifts the Nikolaus had brought for them (a stamp and coloring kit for her, a rattle for Annelee). Both toys were a hit.

Vivian immediately started stamping (yes, they are supposed to be used on paper, and yes, the ink is water-soluble)

Annelee immediately started a new work-out program

And then Vivian insisted that Annelee wear her "nicause shoe". Maybe to prove the gift was really for her? Kind of like the cinderella test? I have no idea. But I thought it was cute.

Sleepy Time

2010-12-17T22:43:00.001-05:00