Memoirs from Narnia: April 2009

Monday, April 27, 2009

for Grandpa

here's the pictures i was supposed to post for you...

thanks for the fun new outfits!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

it seems like our little Miss B is growing up so fast now! the latest accomplishments include learning to shake her head "no" and then a week later, learning to nod her head "yes". she also now knows how to sign "finished" which we translate to "all done"- when we are finished eating, reading or any activity where it is helpful to let her know that we are done with one thing and moving on to the next. if you or someone you know has a baby i can not even express how helpful it is to teach them a few signs. generally babies can sign long before they can say words and it avoids sooooo much frustration (on both ends) when they can express to you some of their wants and needs.

but back to Miss B. she is now attempting to make some animal noises as we learn them in her books. this is super cute because most of them come out sounding much the same, but you can see her working very hard at it. reading is still one of her favorite activities, with us or on her own. give her a book and she is a happy girl.

we also had fun the other day doing some "drawing". Mommy got all set up with some fancy-shmancy, high-tech, specially designed toddler crayons that have big ole bulbous hand grips, supposedly infinitely easier for little ones to use than traditional crayons (imagine a weighted weeble-wobble with a crayon sticking out the top, if you don't know what a weeble wobble is, ask someone over 30 to explain it to you)...well of course she wanted nothing to do with these. even when i stuck one in her hand and showed her she was not interested. what she wanted was an every day average ball point pen. like the ones she sees Mommy and Daddy use daily. will i ever learn? gizmo does not equate to cooler in a child's eyes. they just want to be like the big kids. so precious. Lord, help me to behave like the kind of big kid i want my girl to be. anyhow, she was DELIGHTED to scribble with a pen and did so for about 15-20 minutes until it was time for her nap.

our sweet little Miss also enjoys trying new foods, especially fruits and veggies. (special thanks here to Mrs. Jones who advised me..."feed her anything and everything!"...safely of course) well it worked and she likes to try whatever we are eating. this morning she ate strawberries for the first time (woohoo, it's finally spring!) and enjoyed them every bit as much as Mommy does. i think we are going to try to grow some...won't she just love that! she also enjoys avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, olives, cooked carrots, peas & green beans, bananas (what kid doesn't?), apples, oranges and really whatever else we put in front of her. she has eaten enchiladas, lasagna, tortellini, steak and on the "when in Rome" theory...has also tried German sausage with sauerkraut and potatoes...and loved it. go figure. but then i never knew i liked those until we got here either. what can i say, they are just extraordinarily better here.

while we are on the subject of eating i must share more. about two weeks ago we found a fabulous Indian restaurant nearby. Miss B joined us, and we were kind of holding our collective breath as the restaurant was a little fancier than we had expected. i am pleased to report that she did wonderfully. she ate the food we brought for her, and also joined us in trying our dishes. we all had a good time and look forward to more meals out as a family. i have to say that a little consistent table manners training at home goes a long way! not that she does not have her moments. all kids do. but generally speaking she is a joy to take out and about.

happy travels await....

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Pictures, pictures, pictures & current events!

Ok, so SORRY it has taken me sooooo long to update. here are the highlights since the last post: teeth, teeth, teeth. she has been teething for the better part of the last 2 and 1/2 months, no kidding. i think she still only had two in January, our current count is seven and i think a couple more are on the way. crawling-finally, woohoo! she finally got around to this in February. Daddy was the catalyst. he sat down across from her one morning and started playing with her favorite bucket of blocks and she just had to get over there toot-sweet to get in on the action. she hasn't stopped since. Birthday, the big "1" another WOOHOO. Miss B asked "where has CAKE been all my life??? it was a quiet event with just the three of us (and her best buddy the cat) but she had a stellar time, especially after we convinced her after 20 minutes to dig in to her cake- yes, that is a miniature four layer "German" chocolate cake. like father, like daughter. (ps, interesting tidbit, this cake is not actually of German origin.) ~ saying "Dada"- who offered to buy her a pony for doing so :) ~ saying "Mama" who then considered buying her whatever other pet she may want...you just never expect how that is going to melt you. ~ pink eye-big bummer, but it is over ~ and she is also now pulling herself up standing to a standing position ~ i am sure there is more but this is everything i could think of at the moment. i tried to include enough pictures to secure forgiveness for the length of time between blogging. enjoy them.

Miss B often sleeps like this, we call it "the beach", can't you just imagine the palm tree overhead and her ipod in place?