Anna Kimball is three

Somewhere in the middle of a two-week stretch in which we all passed around a nasty cold and our house resembled a snowstorm of Kleenex, Anna Kimball turned three. (I'm beginning to think we should start celebrating her half-birthday in a bigger way since maybe then she would have enough healthy friends to have a real birthday party. January is the worst!) Mercifully her birthday fell on a day that wasn't quite as snotty or miserable as the rest and we all enjoyed celebrating her life immensely.

It's funny to look back on Emery when she turned 3 and realize how different these two girls are. When Emery turned three she had already established a passion for Cinderella. Anna Kimball could give a hoot about Cinderella, or any other princess for that matter. She knows she's "supposed" to like Snow White since Emery has already claimed Cinderella, but in truth she really has a thing for Arthur.

Here she is modeling her new Arthur "pack-back."

Emery was quick to point out that it is a "boy"color, but judging from the smile on her face, I don't think Anna Kimball minds a bit.

We kept the day simple, but full of fun surprises like trip to Target where the girls got to pick something out from the dollar section and lunch and ice cream at Chick-fil-A.

Of course there was also plenty of playtime at our neighbor's house, from whom Anna Kimball also received her gigantic three balloon.

I wish I could convey accurately in words just how silly and special Anna Kimball is. There's just something about her that's particularly fun and light-hearted. One friend has compared her to a Muppet and commented that she just seems game for anything. Just watching her putter around the house all day, terribly busy with her play kitchen and tending to her baby dolls is enough to give me the giggles. Anna Kimball adores and looks up to Emery, but when Emery is at preschool, I don't think she misses her a bit. (this gives me some relief as we anticipate kindergarten for Emery in the fall.)

There's a lot I could learn from Anna Kimball. She doesn't seem to think too hard about anything, is quick to share with her older sister and is seemingly unperturbed about her failures (i.e. doesn't mind a lick when she has yet another pee accident all over the floor). Anna Kimball, you are a bright ray of sunshine in our house and we don't know what we'd do without you. Not laugh as much, that's for sure. Happy birthday sweet Anna Kimball, we love you!

Working on manners and bottles

This is how every single sentence Anna Kimball utters these days sounds:

"I wove your kitchen ... Mommy,"

"Daddy has a truck ... Mommy."

"Henny has a pool and I can go there ... Mommy."

"Emery has her sandals on ... Mommy!"

In case I forget who I am, to her and two others, she is faithfully there to remind me. Anna Kimball also is bordering on developing another habit that isn't quite as cute, one her sister developed at exactly the same age. The one where she interrupts me whenever I am talking to another adult and insists that I  "Stop talking Mommy!" so that she can get her very important question posed, statement uttered, or what-have-you.

So we are working on manners these days and I am seriously considering strapping my four-year-old in a high chair any minute now for I am beginning to lose track of how many times in meal she slips out of her seat, ambling on toward more interesting pursuits than finishing her half-eaten meal.

We/I also working on not getting too freaked out by Jamison's recent refusal of the bottle. Just a stage, right? He's so darn cute otherwise, but I tell you, I didn't even want to make eye contact with him yesterday after he refused two bottles in a day. I heard him laughing in his crib and all I could think was "the nerve! to laugh!" But then of course I went in there and saw him kicking his left leg like crazy and doing this new adorable thing where he sucks in his lower lip under his upper lip and somehow I forget the dreadfulness of his bottle boycott.

Yes, Anna Kimball is sitting in Emery's lap - Emery wants to mother everyone right now :).

Moments before he tried to fly out of the Bumbo. Definitely not a reliable holding spot but it'll do for about 10 seconds. 

This was taken on a walk to the neighborhood playground early the other morning. The girls were so excited and kept exclaiming "we're having so much FUN!" Guess we haven't been frequenting the playground recently ... I loved their enthusiasm over it all because really, playgrounds get old pretty fast ... but not on that magical morning. That also happened to be the day a wet bed woke them both up at 5am, Anna Kimball put herself down for nap at 11am and we sure needed a little magic to see us through a day that literally would not end.

Dinners on the deck

The weather's getting warmer and we're rediscovering the deck at dinnertime. This evening, I commented to Matt that a year ago today, Anna Kimball could have been walking and tromping around the deck making mischief as she has been this week with Emery, but the poor thing was still scooting. And this made having fun outside more tricky. Oh, how grateful I am that that season is behind us ... and oh how I pray this baby due to make his/her arrival any day now will outpace his/her sisters when it comes to walking. If not, well, oh well, We know no other way!

Last night Anna Kimball snagged my napkin and I sort of wondered why, but got distracted. Then, minutes later she started trying to drag the heavy cast aluminum chairs across the deck and I got frustrated. But then, Matt told me to turn around because bless her heart, she was just trying to "set the table" for her and Emery to have a second dinner. Melt me.

Last week Matt mentioned we hadn't had fish much lately and I then explained my fish frustrations - we can't get good fresh fish here, the mediocre stuff is still expensive, who really looks forward to fish for dinner, what nutritional value other than a ton of protein does the cheapest fish, tilapia, really have, etc. etc. etc. 

But then I went and bought a bag of frozen tilapia at Target and lo and behold the girls love it. So as much as I loathe being trapped into "we always have 'X' to eat on such and such a night," pan-fried tilapia might become a regular rotation in the dinner diary now.

New habits

I really wouldn't call myself a "crafty mom." However, since we've been spending more time at home recently and since perhaps I might subconsciously be trying to overwhelm the girls with my "fun-ness" before I become the sleep-deprived, irrationally emotional mother of a newborn, we've been seeing quite the uptick in visual arts around here lately.

Today's mess, I mean craft, was scented microwave puffy paint. I know, kind of sounds a little weird, but it's actually so easy and the girls had a lot of fun with it. I wouldn't say they created anything that resembled anything, although Emery did crank out a few E's that survived microwaving, but the process of whisking and squeezing the paint more than made their morning. Especially since the craft was preceded by a dreaded trip to the dentist for Emery, who screamed so hard that at one point we were surrounded by three dental hygienists as well as the dentist himself, all trying to placate poor Emery.

Since I expended so much effort with the craft and dentist, I decided to take it easy on myself for dinner. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I am coming to grips with the fact that I often put too much pressure on myself to cook complicated dinners. Not because I think anyone around here really expects complicated, but because sometimes I don't get satisfaction from making quick-and-easy chili recipes.

I'm realizing this is going to need to change some once Baby D #3 decides to make his/her appearance, so I'd better start adjusting now. Hence, turkey chili even an eight-year-old can make. This chili comes together in less time than it takes to conduct a scented microwave puffy paint project and actually has depth of flavor. If you're like me, you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand, making it an ideal finale to a day when dinner just doesn't need to be complicated.

Anna Kimball is 2!

Our sweet, silly Anna Kimball turned two last week. It's fortunate that she seems to be in a good stretch here behavior-wise, so I have all kinds of glowing things to report about our new two-year old, who I know could hit a stretch of "terrible twos" again any day now. Around Christmas she had a slew of tantrums that compelled me to order a cheap baby gate to set up in the doorway to her room for time-outs. Of course just as soon as the gate arrived, the tantrums started to die off ... so we are enjoying these pleasant moments as they come.

Anna Kimball is far more opinionated than Emery was at age two. For instance, she won't tolerate at least half the clothes in her dresser and will definitely not wear tights right now. She knows exactly which two books she wants before bed - they aren't always the same books, but no substitutions will be accepted. She also has the odd bedtime ritual of always insisting that we switch the monkey lovey that's in her bed with the spare monkey lovey that's in her top dresser drawer. "Two monkeys!" she cries and that's when we know it's time to make the switch.

Since Anna Kimball barely wears most of her own clothes, it's a pretty good thing she's basically the same size as Emery and is now working her way into Emery's wardrobe, too. She's in the 75th percentile for height and the 90th for weight. You'd think that would mean Anna Kimball is a good eater, and I guess in some senses she is, since she's always ready for the next meal (or "MUNCH!" as she calls it) but she is still very selective about what she eats.

Currently, her favorite activities include Play-Doh, playing with her Critter doll house, pretend cooking, playing with dolls, looking at books and dress-up. In some ways, she plays better on her own than even Emery does now, something I attribute to being a second child and something that also gives me great hope that Baby D #3 will be even more independent than his/her sisters!

Anna Kimball is a cuddler for sure and her cheerful disposition brightens this house every day. I love how she's not quite a big girl yet (well, in one sense she is I guess!) but is slowly becoming more intentional and learning new skills with each passing week. It can be so fun to observe this process, especially since now I realize how brief it really is.

I supposed it's time to end this "Ode to Daughter #2" before a tantrum erupts - Happy Birthday Anna Kimball! We adore you!

These days ...

Anna Kimball still isn't walking (20 months and nearly 30 pounds, OUCH), but is scaling everything, her favorite mountain being Emery's Tripp Trapp high chair which is particularly precarious and apparently really fun to climb. Somehow she has the good sense to mainly climb in when Emery is not around, perhaps knowing this could incite a wee bit of jealousy and "SHE'S IN MY SEAT!!" Anna Kimball is also obsessed with standing on stools. So now I have two full-time kitchen "helpers."

Emery is attending ballet class and seems to like but not love it. I almost loathe it since the whole experience is 90 minutes door-to-door on Friday afternoons in the height of traffic and I don't even get to watch her! And I'm quite certain she just stands there while all the other girls dance around ... she's not a big participator in situations like this. In the spirit of being positive, I'm sure it's been a good experience for her in some way and I'm sure we'll all be grateful to get our free Friday afternoons back in 4 weeks.

Emery loves her little co-op preschool on Wednesdays and Parent's Day Out on Thursdays. So happy I can leave her and Anna Kimball for that matter, too, in situations like these and we don't deal with separation anxiety. I think Anna Kimball enjoys a little break from her older sister, too. Though she adores her, currently all Emery has to do is look at her funny and Anna Kimball simply can. not. take. it. Commence SCREAMING. Commence me trying not to scream as well.

Lots of bread baking going on, too. I think I just like the feeling of having something tangible to show for my day, something I put my hands to and was good, sometimes even great, not just a work in progress as these girls, sweet as they are, seem to be.

A post without pictures

Yikes, it's been more than a month since I last posted. I think one reason I delay posting is because I feel that in order for it to be a worthwhile post, it must have many fantastic pictures. Which means I need to take those pictures. And harder still, find the patience to load them onto my computer, a process which always seems mind-numbingly laborious to me, probably because it reminds me of how disorganized my pictures are and how I have way too many on my phone and laptop and I really need a backup solution in case either device ever crashes ... etc. etc. etc.

As I type, Anna Kimball is screaming her head off in her crib, which is new for us. Emery never did this and we thought that was normal. Maybe now I'm beginning to realize that Anna Kimball is the normal one who occasionally and vigorously protests bedtime and Emery is from Mars.

The girls have been playing together more frequently these days and with a touch more peace and harmony. I love this development and though I sometimes feel sorry for Anna Kimball having to deal with Emery snatching her toys so often, I realize she's very fortunate to have someone to play with in the first place.

Emery starts ballet next week. I don't have grand hopes for her to adore it or for this to become her life's passion. She'll likely be reserved and spend more time watching everyone else prance around than doing the moves herself. I just can't wait to see her in a leotard, tights and slippers every week!

OK, time to console AK. Which never works, so why do I try???

And I lied. Here is an irresistible picture of our ballerina.

To Michigan and back

As usual, we headed up to Michigan for the 4th of July week. This year we drove and leaned heavily on digital entertainment for keeping the girls quiet and happy during the 10-plus hour drive. I decided that portable DVD players and iPads are like epidurals - though generations previous never had them and got along fine without, if they could do it over again, they'd take the DVD player ... and the epidural.

I'm happy to say the girls did wonderfully in the car. In fact, I think they even have been whining more at home this week than they did in the car. What's that all about? Isn't there some kind of "everything is new again and I'm going to be happy and easily entertained at home for a least a week" thing that's supposed to happen when you get home from vacation?

I guess not. Anyway, here are a few snapshots of our week:

This was taken almost as soon as we arrived - we simply moved Anna Kimball from the prison that was her carseat into an almost equally torturous lifejacket ... and she didn't mind one bit! So happy to be outside and on the water I think.

Chairs are a BIG obsession these days ...

Stopping for a sweet treat ...

On this cool, rainy afternoon I went down to the little beach Matt's parents have set up by the lake and found Emery in nothing but her underwear singing "Jesus Loves Me" to a pile of sand. Totally normal, right?

Our bottomless pit adored our favorite restaurant in Fenton, demolishing her french toast faster than you can say "We love Michigan in the summertime!"

The water table provided plenty of entertainment and also helped Anna Kimball with standing and sitting on her own.

All of us!

Other highlights of the trip included Anna Kimball learning to climb up and down the stairs, and then realizing she would rather be carried since all that climbing is too much work, finishing strong in the Fenton Firecracker 5K only to be bested by a high school freshman who sprinted past me at the end, getting an overnight with Matt at the Detroit Athletic Club, enjoying my first cronut and eating way too much ice cream. Or wait, maybe that's not possible?

Miscellaneous

Whenever we go to Whole Foods, we try to park by the same bench that's right under a speaker. Usually there's some fairly upbeat music playing and Emery has gotten into the habit of wanting to dance on the bench while I pack the groceries into the car. I'm finding this so comical these days, especially since I know her little antics won't last forever.

Anna Kimball, well, she's been giving me a few gray hairs recently. She fell off Emery's bed a few weeks ago and it's taken her a very long time to get back on her feet again, quite literally. Just when I was about to take her in for x-rays, she started bearing weight on her left foot again, much to my great relief. She's still nowhere close to walking, so she gets her thrills in other ways ... this week, the playground swing just made her morning.

I don't have any pictures of this, but Anna Kimball is also in the stage where she points at everything. So when I go to get her from her crib in the morning or after nap, she immediately points at the door. I don't know why I find this so endearing - maybe it's because her pointing is silent, unaccompanied by whining or long-winded demands ... though let it be said, she finds plenty of other opportunities to show me her displeasure throughout the day! Maybe it's because I love realizing that she actually knows what she wants and can communicate it and that even though she still seems like a baby in so many ways, she is growing up!

Our living room has a new name

According to Emery, our living room is actually the "fairy room ballroom." She's been referring to the living room as such for a few weeks now and I can't help but laugh as I find myself quite seriously referring to it as such, too. As in "would you like to read your stories in the fairy room ballroom?" Or "go check the fairy room ballroom for (fill-in-the-blank) that is lost."

Apparently life in the fairy room ballroom is rather exhausting (as is a temper tantrum that kicked things off to a great start that morning) - Matt found her asleep like this shortly before her nap a few Saturdays ago.

Yesterday I was getting a little desperate for ways to entertain Anna Kimball, or rather ways for her to entertain herself, so I pulled out a big basket of toiletries and hoped for no peppermint oil baths on the bed, contact solution in the hair or soap in the throat. The result? No disasters and blissful baby, which makes for a very merry mama.

All I have to say about this one is ahhhh ... 

Some comic relief

Though every day has its share of frustrations (one being the wail that is coming from Anna Kimball's room after a mere thirty-minute nap), here's what's been making me laugh recently:

• Emery has finally become brazen enough to start tossing items in the grocery cart as she sees fit. A few weeks ago we were at Fresh Market and when we had just about finished checking out I realized we had paid for smoked salmon, pine nuts and Japanese fish sauce and were about to pay for a Ritter chocolate bar. All great ideas, yes, but not in the budget. The cashier was none too amused when she had to refund us for said items. Today we returned to Fresh Market and this time I watched Emery toss in the same smoked salmon, arrived at the checkout line to find the same pine nuts in our cart, and once again, almost scored a Ritter chocolate bar. I'm not shocked that she's doing this, but what does shock and amuse me is the repetition ... so maybe her 3rd birthday dinner will/should involve these ingredients?

• Emery got a haircut a few weeks ago and for the few hours that followed, she repeatedly asked us, "Where's my haircut?" (probably because everyone kept saying to her, "Emery, did you get a haircut?") Even now, three weeks later, out of nowhere she will inquire "Where is my haircut?" When you try to explain to her that a haircut is something that happens to you, well, you don't get very far and you begin to empathize with her confusion.

• Anna Kimball, well, she doesn't need to do much to make me laugh. Black bean soup became finger paint last night, I can't get enough of how she swings and kicks her legs in crazy mad frustration when she sees Emery running off to do something potentially very fun and she's still stuck in the highchair, and experiencing the slide at the park today was none other than hair-raisingly hysterical.

A sweet day

On Valentine's Eve though all I really wanted to do was crawl under the covers as soon as the girls went to bed, I told myself it's worth it to make the day special and exciting for the little people in this house, especially Emery. So I headed out to the craziness that is the Dollar Tree on Valentine's Eve (seriously, almost all of the junk was gone! and the lines were crazy long!) and grabbed two ballons and a Valentine stamp set, knowing full well we'd have our share of sugar the next day.

As expected, the ballons and stamps at the breakfast table were a huge hit, as was the money Henny sent, with instructions to go have a treat! Off to the donut shop we went, which also had been hit by the craziness that is Valentine's Day. All that was left were a few lonely apple fritters, a handful of glazed donuts, a potentially very messy cinnamon twist and some gnarly-looking pumpkin thing. 

A girl after her daddy's heart, Emery selected the apple fritter and I secretly was thankful that it looked huge enough to share without anyone feeling like they'd been shortchanged. Anna Kimball was openly ecstatic to participate in any kind of donut/fritter eating at all.

Then we visited with a friend at a coffeeshop and she so kindly took our picture ... while the girls so sadly didn't cooperate with their best smiles.

The rest of the day was spent delivering some Valentine's treats to friends, napping, enjoying the warm weather and sun and forgetting to take pictures. BUT, the day's sweet finish did earn a picture - my Valentine got me my very favorite dark chocolate malted milk balls, also referred to as "grown-up candy that you wouldn't like very much" to inquiring toddlers.

A day without Baby Einstein,

is a good day indeed. Not that I have anything against pulling out the screen-time card when the going gets tough, but when you're going on day nine of at least one person in the house being ill and in no shape to do anything but stare at a screen, you're pretty elated when you can make it through a day without Caillou humming in the background.

I'll spare you the juicy details, but we've been through and the stomach bug, RSV and of course what would all of this be without a token ear infection ... thankfully I've managed to bleach my way out of catching any of the germs and I do not take this for granted.

Emery at a low point ...

We had a high point when Emery was recovering from RSV and Anna Kimball hadn't quite gotten the worst of it yet ... we celebrated by escaping to a coffee shop where none of our friends go so that we wouldn't be caught breaking quarantine. Considerate, I know. But we were going BANANAS cooped up at home. (and truthfully, the doctor only told us to stay away from young children and the elderly, and nary a carseat or cane did I spy at the coffee shop)

A daffodil emerging in our front yard ... maybe a symbol of health and renewal just around the corner?

Anna Kimball at a low point ...

And the requisite cake pop while we wait for our prescription to be filled ...

Here's to many more Baby Einstein-free days to come, right? We can only hope!

Anna Kimball is one!

Yesterday was Anna Kimball's first birthday. I had to laugh, because I woke up yesterday morning after barely having slept at all, thanks to Emery getting sick in the middle of the night, and thought, well, this is exactly how I felt a year ago today! Exhausted from barely sleeping, thanks to labor pains, but also so very thankful.

We are SO very thankful for Anna Kimball and the brightness she brings to our family. Her glee is contagious, the way she lays her head on your chest is divine, her love for Emery makes my days even easier, and more fun, and wow, I really love the fact that she's given up her 5am wakeup calls!

Enthused by some birthday eve cake ...

One member of our family was more interested in cake than making a memory ...

And gladly took care of Anna Kimball's leftovers ... (strangely, neither of my girls were into their first birthday cakes very much. Oh well, more for us!)

So proud to be sitting on her riding toy (and I'm so proud to have thrifted it for $12) ...

Getting to know one of her new dollies ...

Here's to another bright and beautiful year!

A Christmas to remember

We spent Christmas in Charlottesville and oh, so many wonderful memories were made ... here goes!

Emery idolizes Tucker and ran after him like a little puppy dog the whole week. Fortunately, he couldn't be kinder to her and even teared up when he realized he would be in Disney World the last day of our stay and would miss seeing Emery! Melt. my. heart.

Anna Kimball was happy just to be held by anyone with a lap and a smile, so she spent much of her Christmast week snuggling. And smiling bright.

Tearing into the stocking ...

Anna Kimball got the hang of it, too.

This was Emery's "big" gift from us - a broom set! Doesn't take much to make a 2-year-old happy.

Henny and Papa gave Anna Kimball Raggedy Ann and Andy and it was love at first sight.

Anna Kimball also found some time to break some of her picky eating habits and devoured anything that was in sight all week long. I think it all started with the beef bourguignon ... thank you, Henny!

Lots of time for snuggles with Henny ...

and with Daddy ...

And even some time to do a little light reading in Emery's bed ...

It snowed enough to make a slushy, small snowman.

And of course there were tea parties with Emery's new tea set ...

More snuggles, now with Uncle Austin ...

The trip wouldn't be complete without some frozen yogurt, even if temps were in the 30's.

Bananas in the morning on Henny's bedroom floor - a sweet start to the day.

Though the girls were ALL STARS in the car there and back, this still became necessary.

Upon our return, Emery went directly to our neighbor's house and promptly fell asleep in her arms ...

... while Anna Kimball decided to get some exercise and find her way into my belt bag!