Walking on the Grass

I am embarrassed that we've skipped the whole month of February. Whenever I've got a blog post wonderfully composed in my head, something happens and I don't get it down, and then the task starts to feel bigger than I can face. So. I am not going to try and make up for all the lost time. Just a quick glimpse into the last six weeks:


Annie. Well, most of the time we are in disbelief that she is almost three, but at the same time we have to remind ourselves that she is still so young. It seems like there is not a word she doesn't know, a nuance she doesn't get, a song she can't sing. She is loving playing with words and with melodies, and is getting quite good at rhyming. She's been thrilled with the warmer weather these past few days, and we've spent most of our awake time outside. We took Eric to work this morning and when we got home she exclaimed excitedly, "the snow is gone, I can walk ON the grass!!" Her imaginative play is pretty incredible, this morning she was a stegosaurus eating ferns all over the house, she is just as often a fairy, a princess, a dog, or at Disneyland and the beach. One of her favorite activities to do is read books to Siri, and it's quite clear she's been paying attention to all the stories we've read her these past few years as she does a pretty marvelous job retelling them. She is officially enrolled at a preschool for next fall, at a local nature center, and it is so easy for us to picture her there. She is growing increasingly cuddly, and loves her morning and evening snuggles (and all throughout the day) and is having to readjust her approach to daily life as Siri grows more mobile and interactive. She is thrilled to have her to play with, but not always sure how to include her...

Siri. At nine months, Siri is such a calming presence for me. While Annie's affectionate, Siri is extremely so, and loves to snuggle while sucking her thumb. Being the second child, she spends far more time in the front carrier that Annie ever did, and I'm sure this has something to do with it. She loves to be in it, and often will look up, awaiting a kiss, which always get a big grin. In the past week, she has become a crawling expert, to the point where in a few seconds she'll disappear from view and we get to go investigate what she's been up to. Her favorite destinations are: the piano pedals, the bookshelves (to pull of all the books, of course), the bathroom, and the stuffed animal basket. She loves to eat, unless she's is the mood to blow raspberries, in which case we end up with avocados or pears or whatever she's eating all over ourselves. Needless to say, Siri is going through multiple outfits a day. As Annie is adjusting to Siri's growing mobility, so Siri is working hard to figure out how to stand up for herself. She used to be content to let Annie bring her toys, and would willingly trade whatever for what Annie brought her. Now, she is starting to have attachments to particular objects and is learning to let Annie (and the rest of us) be aware of that. Her sense of injustice is keen, and she is very able to let you know when she's been wronged (by an over zealous sister, or a failed sense of balance).


Family Fun. We had a visit from my parents over President's Day Weekend. A highlight of that trip was Annie getting to try out her new snowshoes. She was AMAZING with them, needed no coaching, just walked like there was nothing on her feet. We were impressed. We traveled to South Dakota for a weekend with my sister and her family. It was great to see them, to play in slush and mud together, and even the car ride was nice--it's not often Eric and I have a six hour chunk of time to catch up on each other's lives. Besides these weekends, we've simply been enjoying time with each other, with Eric's family, and with friends. We are starting to gear up for a few weeks in Arizona, and are so very ready for the warmth, and time with family there.