Keeping up with Alette and Abria

Monday, May 19, 2008

A Weekend for Dressing Up

I had plenty of opportunities to play dress up with Alette this weekend as we went to two weddings. Luckily, she is a good sport and doesn't mind wearing dressier clothes, so far she also doesn't mind mommy playing with her hair either. I won't go so far as to say she was prettier than the brides, but she was definitely the cutest child in attendance.
Potty training is like a roller coaster ride. Some days we are way up on top and Alette is cooperative and we are accident free. Some days are just a free fall-lots of accidents and laundry to do. She does love her big girl panties, and insists on wearing them over her diaper at night. She even tried to put them on over her pj's last night, only to find it was a little to tight for comfort. We are hoping for diaperless month before baby #2 arrives!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Look how much she has grown!

We planted daffodil bulbs in the fall, and now are enjoying the fruits of our labor. What surprised me the most is the difference in Alette-she has grown so much over the winter!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Our Easter Bunny

It's not quite Easter but Alette has been getting into the spirit. I'm not sure why, but she knows the word chocolate-good thing I no longer keep it in the house! We are all looking forward to some time off for Spring Break. Aside from relaxing and spending time together, our big goal is potty training! Alette loves sitting on the potty but has no interest in actually using it. I'm getting very tired of buying diapers....so we are going to make a stab at the process.

How smart will these girls be?

Pippi was pretty good at retelling the plot of the movie to Alette, a vital literacy skill. Then they moved on to Scrabble....I wonder how long it will be before Alette and I can play? In case you think the girls spent all their time in academic pursuits, there was also plenty of playdough, hide and seek, and random chasing around.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Best Friends....Usually

Alette lights up whenever she sees Ganiyah. She can't stop trying to kiss and hug her and constantly wants to give Ganiyah her snacks and juice. But watch out if Ganiyah wants to play with her toys or use her highchair. Then our sweet and generous little girl dissolves into a puddle of tears and "mine, mine, mine!" Anyone thinking of working in foreign affairs or diplomacy needs to take care of a 2 year old and a 1 year old for awhile first!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Christmas celebrations

In Alette's world, Christmas lasts about three weeks. First came a package from Grandma and Grandpa in Canada. Of course we had to open it right away-good thing too since Grandma sewed her a beautiful new dress for the holidays! Then we had Christmas down in DC, then Christmas again up home in NJ. Alette perfected the art of unwrapping-she gladly helped anyone with their gifts. In fact, I had to rewrap several gifts that she unwrapped while I wasn't looking. She has become a busy homemaker with her new kitchen and vacuum!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Alette's birthday was on Dec. 21st, I am obviously way behind here! For her party she played like crazy for the first hour, then fell asleep and missed out on cake and candles. So we saved some and celebrated later. Unlike on her 1st birthday, Alette was more than eager to devour her cupcake.

Recent Words of Wisdom

18months

At 18months, Abria weighs a whopping 28 1/2 lbs and is 34" tall. She is a bundle of energy-she loves dancing and clapping to music, scribbling (unfortunatley not always on paper), chasing her sister, and playing with her toys. She's using more and more words but still communicates primarily by pointing and making the sign for 'more'. She's had a continual cold for the past few weeks, I've never used so much tissue in my life. Morning naps are a thing of the past :( but thankfully she is still taking a long afternoon nap.

Okay, it's not a REAL gingerbread house...

Our attempts at a gingerbread house was a fiasco this year. We mixed the dough, rolled it out, cut the patterns, put it together...only to have it fall apart. So we put it together again....only to have it fall apart again. I even tried to use duct tape and the glue gun. Finally we ditched it. I was determined to have a house for Alette to decorate so we built a cardboard house, then 'glued' on graham crackers with icing. So far it is till standing although the candy decorations are slowly disappearing.

Abria

Our last dr. appointment was not fun. Abria had a major fever and was feeling rather rotten. So the immunizations were put off a week...nothing like procrastinating the awful stuff. She's dropped to the 90th percentile for weight (although with her puffy winter fleece on-below-she looks huge!) and is off the chart for height. Not a huge suprise with a 6ft. tall mom! She loves her books, turning on and off the lights, climbing onto tables, and petting the cat. She's walking....abit. She's still pretty convinced that walking should only be done when holding onto someone's hand.

Abria

Politics According to a 3year Old

I was listening to B.Obama on NPR last week and decided to further Alette's awareness of politics by engaging her in discussion. This is how it went:
me: Alette, Barak Obama was on the radio, he's going to be our new president. Isn't that good?
alette: Obama's good?
me: yes, he is. Mommy and Daddy like him a lot. We think he's good.
alette: he listens to God?
me: I think so. We're excited that he's going to be the president.
alette: I want duck for president.
I think we have a ways to go before she's up to speed on her political saviness. Who can blame her for wanting a fun loving, mischevious duck for president though?

Introducing Abria Hope

During pregnancy I prayed for a quick delivery and a nonfussy eater. Abria came into this world on Friday, July 18 at 9:00pm, half an hour after we arrived at the hospital. With a full head of dark hair, and a voracious appetite, she behaved nothing like her older sister. Abria's now nearly 18lbs, and is a happy, content baby. She loves chewing on her hands, squealing, shrieking, and taking baths. We are still waiting for her to sleep through the night! She doesn't always need to get fed, but seems to delight in babbling and squealing at all hours. Somehow her big drooly smile makes it all worthwhile.