It's Raining Cats and Dogs...No....I mean popcorn!

I never get tired of the first snow fall of the year. And the kids get equally excited. They wanted to run outside and get a "taste" of the snow with their tongues. Annah went outside too and you could tell by her expression and body that she did not remember snow. She is just under 2 and 1/2. She exclaimed "It's raining popcorn". What a cute expression!

So it has been fun telling that story until last night. The boys went to scouts so Annah was home with Andi and me. We were watching Jon and Kate Plus 8, one of her favorite shows when we transitioned her from our bed to her own shortly before Andi was born (she calls it "Babies"). A commercial came on for Netflix. The girl goes outside with a bowl. It was literally "raining popcorn" and she went inside with a full bowl shortly after and sat down to watch a movie.

What a spoiler! I will still claim the phrase to be an "Annah" original even though I admit she may have just seen it on TV. Hmmm, I wonder when they debuted that commercial. We may have a little creative genious on our hands.

You've got Mail!

Annah delighted me with what she calls "E-mail" all day yesterday. She kept on delivering these to me when I was on the computer:



If you cannot make out the picture they were just envelopes which she always has taken from a little basket we keep by the computer. She started doing that when she was a baby. The one in the picture has a little brush in it.

Passport patience

We've done this three times before. It isn't hard to follow directions and have everything in order when filing for a passport. The first fun thing is taking an infant's picture. From past experience we stick with the post office for that to ensure the size is just right. Birth certificate? Oops. We had to go and retrieve it and return. Of course the officer had 2 other appointments booked so we prayed she'd squeeze us in, which she did. No bother that not only did we have to return but Ale & Annah were squirmy and then I had to run out to the van for the checkbook. And THEN hand the check to her only to have it returned because I forgot to fill in a line. No amout of organization would have prevented it; that is just how it is sometimes. So we are ready to go and there is water on the floor by where Annah is standing. Armando whispers..."Did she pee?" Woudn't that be icing on the cake? Whew, just my wet shoe prints from the van run in the rain.

When animals mix

Annah: "I'm a bunny...ribbit, ribbit, ribbit", as she jumped on the floor.

Mami: "Don't you mean a froggie?"

Annah: "No, I'm a bunny ribbit"

My Mami Superpower...I make milk

I don't like bottles and I don't like to pump. Maybe it is because of my nursing experience being cut short with Samuel (another story) or maybe it is because there are so many pieces and the time and effort to keep things stored and cleaned isn't worth it. I haven't pumped at all since with the other children even when I pumped they wouldn't take a bottle. That and my milk supply increases way too quickly when I pump.

With that said Andi is now 3 months and I have never pumped. She has been left once with my mom for an hour and did okay. Next week I am going on a field trip to the pumpking patch with Ale. I did the same field trip when Samuel was in 4 year old pre-school and Annah was just 2 and 1/2 months old; also my first time venturing away from my "baby".

Last night I pulled out the pump and expresses about a 1/2 an ounce just to see. The kids watched. I opened the single bottle that has been stored in the cabinet to which Ale asked, "What is THAT?". Funny what you hear in a non-bottle household. They watched in amazement as the milk came out and we put it into the bottle. Did Andi take it? Not really. She just gnawed with the right side of her mouth and sampled but no sucking.

So I will pump a bottle for my venture out. While I don't expect her to take any while I am away it puts me at ease that she has it even though she will be like her brothers and sister and prefer to wait. I suppose we could try a little dropper too but for her it is probably more about me than the milk and vice versa. She will be fine, right?

Mami

Where the dinosaurs roam freely

Last Christmas we went to see "Walking With the Dinosaurs". It turned our household into dinosaur-mania. I thought it would phase out after a couple of months but we are coming up on a year and they are still the hot item in the house (besides Leggos). We have a full collection plus some of Imaginext. And when Annah was barely walking the boys would play keep away and she would make these aweful dinosaur sounds and chase them. Now Andi makes here little noises and it isn't uncommon for the kids to have a good laugh because they think she is trying to sound like a dinosaur.